SNOW DAY!!!!

We got a snow day today (even though it's a Friday and I didn't have class anyways). But it's still pretty exciting because NYU hasn't had a snow day in like 25 years or something ridiculous. We also got a snow half day a couple of weeks ago and my only class of that day was conveniently in the afternoon, so I didn't have to go. I hear there's a snow ball fight going on in Union Square right now but that's too far for me to go in the snow. Oh well... I'm sure there will be pictures on facebook in like an hour.

Concerts

Sooo, as you can tell, I've kind of been slacking on the whole updating my blog thing. Anyways, because of that, it's allowed me to write one giant concert post about all of the shows that I've seen this school year. Here we go...

In the fall, Lindsay and I went to the Mika concert (he's this really awesome British singer who's just so peppy and upbeat and colorful). You can see how fun the set was with all of these hanging balls.
And then all of these kids stood in front of us so we couldn't see...
I don't know you if you can really see it in this picture, but one of his backup singers was wearing the coolest skirt I've ever seen. It was layers of different colored neon tulle. She's on the far right.

And then I got the chance to go to John Mayer's "Battle Studies" album release concert at the Beacon Theatre. And even though my seats weren't that good (there was a problem with the online buying website), it was a pretty small venue, so basically everyone's seats were good.
The concert was awesome, as his usually are. And they aired it on Fuse. Maybe you can see me...

And then last night, I went to another John Mayer tour (this makes 8, not that I'm counting...). I had floor seats at Madison Square Garden, which was kind of cool. It was also almost exactly 2 years since I had gone to his last concert at Madison Square Garden (with the same person too - how weird!). Annnddd, I bought this awesome moleskine journal that was made especially for his tour and is one of 1250. Sure to become a collectors item.

And just cus I'm still pumped up after the concert last night, I'm posting a video of JM playing I think my favorite song (definitely top 2) from his new album at the Beacon Theatre. It's like the most amazing finale song and he used it to close both shows, as well as his album. (The very end is the best part). Also, you'll get to see the AMAZING faces that he makes when he sings. They're the best.

A Conversation with Jonathan Lethem

So NYU has a really awesome (and I would argue underappreciated and overlooked) Creative Writing department and they frequently hold great events for students. One of their reoccurring events is their "A Conversation with..." night where they invite an author to come to NYU, do a reading, and chat with us. We're fortunate enough to have some AMAZING, drool-worthy authors who also teach in the department (Jonathan Safran Foer and Zadie Smith, anyone?) and our most recent prof and series guest is Jonathan Lethem. His new book, Chronic City came out last year and has received a ridiculous amount of coverage - you know how there is like one huge book a year? well this one's it. And I, coincidentally, happen to be reading the book (Thanks, Mom!)



Anyways, the event was great. He did a reading from the book, which was hysterical when he read it and not so much when I hear it in my head, so that alone made the trek to the Creative Writing house in the freezing cold with the wind beating at me and no gloves worth it. Then he answered some questions from the moderator, as well as some from the audience. He is clearly an incredibly intelligent person and was throwing out all kinds of literary references that flew wayyy over my head. I kind of wish that I had taken notes and then devoted a year of my life to reading everything he mentioned, but alas, I was paperless (is it rude to take notes on your iPhone because people just think you're texting even if you're not? I think the iPhone as a notepad thing should be made socially acceptable.)

And then it concluded with wine, which is always great, because I feel like I'm really getting my $50,000's worth when NYU gives me free alcohol.

Anyways, I'm not done reading the book and probably won't be until the end of the semester, but so far, so good. The moderator called it to a modern day Great Gatsby, which I think is a loaded, but fair comparison

Grammys

So I avoided hw the other night and watched the Grammys instead. It was pretty boring, but here are the highlights in case you missed it...

Lady Gaga and Elton John: such an excellent pairing. And for those of you who don't know (Dad, you can disregard this since you do know) Lady Gaga is an NYU alum! Anyways, this video isn't all of her performance, just the part with Elton.



Greenday is coming out with a Broadway show based on their album "American Idiot." I'm super pumped about this, mostly because it features cast members from "Spring Awakening," which in case you didn't know, is the BEST. MUSICAL. EVER. They did a little preview at the Grammys and even though the Spring Awakening alums weren't featured, the women were really amazing and I think I like the song better with them. I'm planning on seeing this show when it comes out...