i'd also like to mention that you can now hit me up at my super-duper fantastic gmail email account. it's pablohoney atgmail.com; i'm making a return to the internet days of high school, when pablohoney at aol.com reigned supreme (and still does, through instant messenger). i do hope you get the radiohead reference. i'll probably still be using catherine atzunta.org as my main account, so i'm not really sure why i even wanted a gmail account; but it was granted, and there you have it.

credit to ms. jessica yu for passing the gmail fun along to me. we will rule the world with our email superiority.

and also, i just have to post this except from a wired article, if i'm going to mention instant messenger at all:

"IM is my medium," Burton [who's developed an app that digs for the IM address of people who are online at internet cafes] says with a laugh. "If I can get a girl to respond to my chat message, I'm golden." The trick, he confides, is to deploy certain "social hacks" in the instant message. "Like smiley-face optimization," he says. "You can say anything to a girl if you put a smiley face or a wink after it. I've said things like 'You should come over to my house and have sex with me. :) :) :)' and it's fine because they just think I'm joking. And then, more often than not, they'll come over and have sex with me!"

this is also how i prefer to work the IM scene. excessive smiley faces do, in fact, lead to hot sex.

(hat tip to ffoggy.com)

i cannot take anymore freaking work. i know, work is *technically* what i get paid to do, but this is beyond ridiculous. i've been working steadily since 8:30 this morning, with only brief visits to a few sites and twenty minutes for lunch (a slice of alberto's pizza, best in town?). doesn't my company realize that i'm actually paid to SURF THE INTERNET, SHOP ONLINE AND HAVE COMMENT WARS ON BLOGS?

anyway, my body has rejected any more straining at the computer screen and editing content that i couldn't care less about. for the last hour of the day, i'm just going to sit here, glassy-eyed and slack-mouthed. then i'm going to go running at the gym. then i am going to go home, shower, get prettified, and go do something. i'm not exactly clear on what the something is, but hopefully someone reading this can help me out. a bar in d.c.? dinner in arlington? a musical event? i realize not everybody has the day off on friday, but surely someone can join me in some nyah-nyah-no-school-tomorrow escapades. how about it?

The Fort Reno schedule has been announced. Here it is:

• 6/19 - The Carlsonics, The Fatales, The Hard Tomorrows
• 6/21 - Blackie Night, The Intersection
• 6/24 - Edie Sedgewick, French Toast, Sentai
• 6/28 - Gist, Temporary Basement, Thee Snuff Project
• 7/1 - The Evens, Ted Leo
• 7/5 - Q And Not U
• 7/8 - 1905, Red Line Index, Bear And The Butterfly
• 7/12 - Mary Timmony, Sarah Azzarah
• 7/15 - Navies, The Routiners
• 7/19 - Medications, Like Language
• 7/22 - Brandon Butler
• 7/26 - Beauty Pill, Semaphore
• 7/29 - Del Cielo, 302 Acid
• 8/2 - Rancho Notorious, Ambassador Now!
• 8/5 - City Goats, Confidence Man
• 8/9 - The Out Circuit, Metropolitan, Pagonda
• 8/12 - ...

As usual, all shows are free and begin shortly after work in a field near AU. No alcohol, but it's a prime after-work picnic opportunity. Hell, there's usually even parking.

A few things stand out. First -- Ted Leo! He's not even from DC (although I guess his old band, Chisel, was)! Having just discovered Mr. Leo and the Pharmacists, I'm most excited for that show. But Q And Not U is also something not to miss, and Metropolitan puts on a fun show. I don't know a lot about many of the other bands -- my sister has a friend in the Fatales, the Carlsonics seem pretty good based on the two mp3s I've heard (Charles hates em), Beauty Pill is ok and 302 Acid should be avoided at all costs.

What about you guys? Any good bands on this list that I'm missing? I feel like I've heard of City Goats... help me out here, people!

Finally, there's that mysterious final date featuring "...". Being google-proof (like !!!), I can't determine whether it's a band or not. My guess is that it isn't. So -- a surprise show? Who's conspicuously absent from a schedule they played year after year? Maybe it's wishful thinking, but my money is on the Dismemberment Plan or, more likely, Fugazi. The former hinted at occasional hometown reunions at their last show and the latter is supposedly not really broken up. Either way, August 12 might be a good date to set aside.