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Date: February 19th, 2020.

Time of Writing: 9:02 PM.

Weather: Clear, windy, coldish.

Mood: Fulfilled.

Day Overview: I didn't have the best start to my day at all. I woke up a full two hours before my alarm for no discernable reason, and I couldn't fall back asleep. On the plus-side, this meant that I got to shower and get dressed in time to grab some breakfast. They were serving fried tostones, which I haven't had in years. Class today was fairly low key. We learned about early Christianity, and the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. After class I got some lunch at my least favorite dining hall, ran into Gianna again but that was as I was leaving so I just said hi and that's all, then I went to the library and read Vampire: The Masquerade supplements for a while before my discussion section started. That was also pretty sedated. Managed to talk in class, which was a plus.

Spent a surplus amount of time today listening to albums, which was good! It's rare that I knock out more than three in a day, and I've heard four today so far! On my way down to dinner I saw that there was an event in the RASC (Residential Academic Student Counseling???) office about choosing housing for next year. I didn't go because it was packed, but I probably should figure out who to meet with to talk about that with. I've got a bunch of options and I have no idea which one is going to be the best fit for me. After dinner, which I ate alone, I ran into a friend from high school in the elevator. He asked me how I was doing, I mentioned my radio show, he told me to shoot him a link, idk if I want to do that given the stuff I'll be playing this week he'll probably think that it's pretty whack but whatever who knows what I'll do at this point.

On My Mind: I really need a hat. Well, a hat that fits me. My Netline hat is okay, but it's not wintery enough, and I think I fucked up the size adjustment strap at some point. Plus it has Letters on it, and I'm bound to swear with letters on if I wear it around too much. I was just thinking about this because of how much the wind messed with my hair today, I had to wear my hood basically all day and it wasn't fun. Sure, hat head would murderize me if I started wearing a hat all the time, but it wouldn't be all that bad compared to how the wind destroys it. My hair is shorter now anyways.

• Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub: When this album first came on, I braced myself for something unforgiving and noisy, but it didn't take too long for the fuzzy, staticy guitars to peel back a bit and reveal some more traditional songwriting underneath. When I heard that come through, I was initially relieved, but as the album went on I was wishing to get more noise rock in there. It turned out to be a fairly standard, but good, album. Maybe I'll find a way to use it in an upcoming show. 7/10.
• Clube da Esquina by Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges: Trim the fat from this album and it could be a 9, maybe even a 10. As it stands, it's got too many skits that drag down the pacing and a couple of the songs, while nice mood pieces, don't really do anything specific. There are some wonderful gems on here for sure; Um gosto de Sol and O trem azul are sure to see regular rotation from me in the coming weeks. But on the whole there are a few flaws that drag it down. Incredibly pleasant and comfy, still. 8/10 overall, Nascimento's songs are best.
• Surf's Up by The Beach Boys: The high points of this album blow Pet Sounds out of the water, pun intended. But the low points of this album are pretty much garbage. Mike Love can fuck off, Student Demonstration Time sucks so much ass, it's a terrible song, and it brings the album down at least one point on its own. The middle of the album is generally lower in quality than the rest by a good margin, too. Take the first few songs and the last two songs and you have a 10/10 EP, but that's not the body of work I'm evaluating. This album is a 7/10. Maybe it'll appreciate in value to me overtime, like Pet Sounds did, but that one only got to a 7/10 for me as well.
• Desire by Desire Marea: This is the kind of forward-thinking music I should spend more of my time listening to, if I'm being totally honest. There were moments in this where I almost pressed the 9/10 button. The last track, Studies in Black Trauma is sublime and moving, incredibly intense over its nearly ten minute runtime. But some of the other experiments on the album didn't do it for me, which is bound to be expected in such a varied album. For a debut it's incredibly strong, and it's being greatly underrated in the few spaces I've seen it talked about. Go check it out if you're into weird artsy pop music or electronica. 8/10 easily, and this one has a good chance of appreciating in value.

• Minecraft developed by Mojang: Getting a little bored of my current world. I had a crappy Nether spawn, and there isn't a fortress anywhere near the portal. My current objective of getting a full enchanting area isn't going too well either.

Works Produced: I wrote probably a little over 1,000 words of creative stuff, and a couple hundred of academically intended works, by which I mean my fucking homework lmao. Good day, at least I didn't do zero things.

Other Thoughts: Thank you for reading my blog. I'm happy about the blurb I've been writing in this section lately, and it's incredibly important to send me your dreams for the show because I have like three and I need a lot more than that right now thanks: This week's episode of my radio show The Theme Machine is about Dreams, and one thing I'd like to do is read some dreams on the air; but, I need your help! Please send me your weird dreams! Anything PG-13 is good, and if you think I could tell it in a PG-13 way by omitting some things that would be good too. You can listen to the show on WMUA Amherst, 91.1 FM, at 12:00 AM to 2:00 AM on Friday mornings. Online, you can find it here.