"Wasting is an art

like the nights we spend in backs of cars."
- "End of a Spark" by Tokyo Police Club

I distract myself way too late on the internet.  It's usually after I've finished closing at work and I come home and foolishly convince myself that I can restrain myself to 10 minutes that turns into 3 hours.  But there's a lot of blog browsing to be caught up on, and photo-bragging of course.  I will say that I've had a few fantastic days with my friends that make up for the long hours at work.

Exhibit A: A free concert on Sunday evening.  My friend Jenny, who goes to college with me, came to my house for dinner (I went to her house the last time).  She brought a freshly-baked peach pie (♥), then we saddled up and went to a park a few lakes over for a free concert.  Chairs were sprawled on the grass, grills were going, and loads of boats and family's were parked in the harbor to revel in the summer ambiance. 

It was the Sim Redmond Band (http://www.simredmondband.com/), who are a few decades ahead of us, but they're folksy serenades about love and living fully were definitely to be admired.

 We were entertained just by watching the hippy parents with their barefoot children.  And the crazy beards!  (Jenny insisted upon taking this... sorry for whoever you are... :B)

Exhibit B: Another free concert!  In the summertime, you don't have to look hard or far to find decent music in public spaces.  In this case, we kinda went far, but the ride was worth the spoils of seeing one of my favorite bands up close and for free.

Tokyo Police Club !!!

They're an indie-rocking post-punk progressive quartet from Toronto: David Monks on vocals and bass, Josh Hook on guitar, Graham Wright on keyboards and Greg Alsop on the drums.  I was so unbearably happy that they came across the border to play a free concert because I was screwed out of seeing them back in April at Ottawa.  I was probably ten feet away from the stage; it was crowded, but not sardine-jammed so I wasn't slick with other peoples' sweat for once.  Their music was so passionate and real, yet... better.  AH :D

 

The lead singer, Dave Monks, used to have very shaggy hair.  As you can see, he cut it!  Did you know that these guys are one of the privileged bands to be pictured at the bottom of my blog?  Ehhh, bet you didn't know that!  Please, I beg you, if you haven't heard any of their music please take a quick listen to the following and let me know what you think : "Your English is Good", "In A Cave", "Breakneck Speed" and my personal favorite, "Bambi".  Maybe I'll post one of my videos-- at a decent hour of day.

Yeah, I can't lie, my friend (not going to point him out bahaha) can be temperamental with me from time to time, but he really pulled through with this one.  He drove us out to the concert and was happy that I had such a good time :).  Those boys really knew how to jam.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!  Tell me about the fun things you're doing!

Yeah Buddy

I found this cheery little political quiz on Facebook.  

It's harmless, and somewhat insightful.  The results don't surprise me one bit; in fact, I'm pleased!

My Political Views

I am a left moderate social libertarian

Left: 6.75, Libertarian: 1.93

My Foreign Policy Views

On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world.  

You scored: -5.45

My Culture War Stance

Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side? This scale may apply more to the US than other countries.  

You scored: -5.56

Political Spectrum Quiz

Go ahead and take the quiz, then post it if you dare :).

In other, ravishing, ground-breaking news in the world of Nicole, I went thrift shopping with my boys Tucker and Nick the other day. 

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We ambushed our friend Caitlan at Wegmans, where she was making pizza during lunch rush hour.

We had Philly cheesesteaks (chicken cheese, for me) on the sidewalk, watching people about their business.

And we strolled a bit more, because I'm in search for a beautiful woven tapestry to hang on my wall at school next spring. The shop unfortunately wasn't open, but we found some intriguing street art. Who's the Banksy wannabe, I wonder?

At the Salvation Army, I bought an unrelentingly bright, cotton romper, a sheer floral button-down, the perfect yellow rain jacket with a hood (kind of a big deal for me-- I don't own any jackets with hoods), and a new pair of leather shoes!  Found'em in the men's section but they're broken in and fit quite nicely. 
And the grand total : $11.34 :D

Yeahhh buddayyy!  That was one of those 'so-annoying-can't-help-but-say-it' taglines at work tonight.  Cheers to the weekend, everyone!

Listening: the Yeasayer album, Odd Blood

Bonafide Berries

And I wonder why I'm so exhausted everyday..?

 

So you know all those berries that I picked a few weeks back and posted about?  Well, they certainly went to a good cause: my stomach.  And the select others who were lucky enough to have some ;).

Strawberry and oatmeal smoothie (!); I mean, I adore oatmeal as you know, though perhaps we'll just limit it to it's solid form.

Strawberry Muffins! Modified with applesauce and a generous amount of cinnamon. Let me know if you'd like the recipe.

I invited to dinner at my friend Jenny's house, so I used the remainder of our blueberries and strawberries into another haphazard baking attempt.

A layered cake, with a berry crumble filling inside! Flipping those things out of their pan might have been easier if I had remembered to flour them first...

Jenny was displaying her master grill skills, and I supplied dessert.

And while it wasn't the neatest presentation, it sure tasted good.

I'm lamenting the end of berry season.

I love plucking these black raspberries off the prickly brambles around our yard.

What's your favorite way to eat summer berries?  In a sense, I'm a purist because I don't feel that fruit this good needs to be covered and disguised in various dishes, but if you handed me a can of whipped cream I would go at them like no tomorrow.

Listening: "All Day" by Girl Talk