i got a haircut.

also, i'm going to california in less than two days. 36 hours, actually. hooooly crap.

here's my packing list.



i hope it is a successful trip.

i really really do.

just a sad song list. no order

fire and rain - james taylor
long december - counting crows
in the sun - joseph arthur -or- michael stipe
let it be - the version from across the universe or the beatles
fever dream - iron and wine
harmony - miles to dayton
top of the world - dixie chicks
goodbye my lover - james blunt
fire sign - david berkeley
hide and seek - imogen heap
traveling soldier - dixie chicks
black balloon - goo goo dolls
such great heights - iron and wine
world spins madly on - the weepies
golden slumbers - beatles
i can't make you love me - bonnie raitt
and so it goes - billy joel
sparks - coldplay
on a tuesday in amsterdam long ago - counting crows
landslide - fleetwood mac -or- dixie chicks
comfortable - john mayer
fell in love - moxy fruvous
fly - moxy fruvous
resolution - nick lachey
don't go away - oasis (acoustic)
wonderwall - oasis
last kiss - pearl jam
goodbye waves and driveways - the rocket summer
last day on earth - stephan couture
the seer's tower - sufjan stevens
6th avenue heartache - wallflowers


alright that's all i got for now.

oh hey i passed all my classes last semester.... three more classes and i get a fancy piece of paper

ah, christmas eve.

i'm working today, in an hour, til, well, scheduled til 7:15. but i'm not stayin' that late cause i gotta get home for a nice lil get-together with the fam and the gf's fam and whatnot. no brother though, which is too bad.

did all my xmas shopping yesterday and the day before, as is the norm. unfortunately for the economy, the stores really weren't that crowded. i mean, sure, they had a respectable amount of people shopping, but it sure wasn't a booming craze of consumerism. which is a shame. but not as much of a shame cause i didn't have to wait in line forever and whatnot.

i'm pretty excited cause last night han banan and i played a good few hours of rock band and unlocked a venue that has a gig that is a 58 song set. that's right, 58 songs. every song in the game. i looked up about it and people say it takes a good 4.5-7 hours to complete without too many breaks. i have to get in contact with my roomies and benny so we can get the old band back together and rock the crap out of them. i love ridiculous things like that, like watching a full season or two of lost in one day/weekend.

well, time to shower and shave and get clothes and put the presents in the car and whatnot.... preparations for xmas eve and xmas, you know. might pick up a few more little things....probably from radio shack...today for a few extras.

i hope that everyone reading this has a faaaantastic christmas. for realz.

look a weird blue picture of me

soon i will post a 'luke's all-time sad-list'

which will be a list of songs that are particularly sad for me. i have a headache.

also i'm a bit on the bummed side, so that's the motivation.

i'm gonna do it so readers can listen to the songs. just gotta figure that out first. well, maybe i'll post one song while i have a moment. heading out in a few minutes... after i eat something cause i think that's at least partially why i have the headache.

so song one...not the saddest, but definitely up there. 'black and blue' by the counting crows. just give it a listen and you'll understand.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/52747094c9c8a11b/

well, that's the link to it, though i wanted to be able to play it right in here...well, either way, it's there.

soon, like i said earlier, i'll make a full... probably 10+ song playlist. but anyway.

have a wonderful evening, and don't forget that things will always turn out ok for you. just sayin'.

i'm thinking about growing my hair out again. i have fond memories of the long flowing crazy curly mop that was my hair.

i like my hair at this length, actually, too. it's a bit grown out and it's pretty good. only thing about it is if i shower then just let it dry it poofs out and looks ridiculous. so i discovered, relatively quickly, and as is evidenced in this blog, that there is a way to combat the fro. and that, of course, is to either not shower or constantly wear a hat. sure, i'll have hat hair but it's better than the fro.

though perhaps i'll cut it again. i like the nice short look.

well, either way, i'm not shaving it.

hooo boy what a movie this is. dark knight, i mean. hoooo boy. i worked at the ol' shack 9-1 and we all watched most of it there, and i'm watching the second half now. love love love this movie. soon i shall shower, which'll be nice. i have my geology and CPL 300 exam tomorrow... CPL 300, you may ask. i haven't been very good at all at explaining the class... but the title is Introduction to Global Issues in Resource Development. it's not bad. i'm not fully prepared for it, though. and geology? not the best at that either. buuuuut i will be studying today and tonight and tomorrow so i'll be ok, i think.

then i have but two more written exams, theatre history and astronomy (grossss) but then i'm done! on december 16th! hooray!

i wanna get more hats. i think i'm pretty decent looking in hats. and what's even better is that they keep my hair from fro'ing out, and that's pretty sweet.

you know, i liked maggie gyllenhaal in the movie. i liked katie holmes too, actually.

but anyway. i have callbacks to go to tonight! hooray! last night was auditions and it rocked pretty hard. so many good auditions! i'm excited for 420's audition because it'll be really fun to cast my show. there are so many strong women in the department, i have many to choose from. hooray hooray.

i don't want to work overnight on thursday. i don't want to work overnight at all, really. just doesn't do it for me anymore. i prefer to work over at the shack and just screw around the vast majority of the time. workin' 30 hours next week, that's pretty sweet too. i'll probably work one or two nights/week in the coming month or two.

niice, i was just checkin' my schedule out for the spring... three classes, all on tuesday and thursday, from 9:30-5 with a three hour break. pretty much the same schedule as now but without class on monday and friday. that's nice.

'nough ramblin'.

showertime.

ps here's a random picture of me



i hope people like lookin' at me. haha

ahhhhhh wife swap.

i'm not gonna explain it. but elise and i are watching it and it's really ridiculous. (ok it was texas horrible woman and ny shock jock hippy woman... so good. sooo good and crazy.)

really really ridiculous. but we are enjoying it so much.

soon i will write more. haha, i say that every time, but only sometimes is it true.

in other sad news i have a bunch of article summaries to do for tomorrow's geology class... 12... but they're easy, or so i've heard, so i should get it done eventually. it'll be a late night, i'm sure.

i'm pretty boring, tbh. i should really do some craaaazy stuff. so i have things to talk about and tell my THOUSANDS OF READERS.

i got the new ipod touch yesterday. sold my older one because the newer one has an internal speaker and that's something i wanted. so i bought it after selling the other on craigslist. and i have a case and everything and it's awesome. love love lovin' the speaker and volume rocker (the two things that are different)

i don't like when i shave and my neck gets all sensitive and whatnot. :( but anyway, time to shower. then go in to school to see a theatre 100 play. then lotsa work.

tomorrow is auditions for the foreigner! which i'm ad'ing!

hooray!

love
luke

omg omg omg just saw grease at ppac.

well, saw it last night. but it hit me so hard that it feels like i just saw it.

see now i feel bad because i honestly enjoyed it, and those last two sentences make it seem like i didn't. so, to clarify, i did enjoy the performance. but what i enjoyed most was


TAYLOR HICKS

awww yeah he's too old to play any of the main characters so he played 'teen angel' and sang 'beauty school drop out' to frenchie.

and i'll be the first to tell you that i was never really big into mr. hicks, there. or american idol at that moment. but now that i saw this show? well, i will also be the first to say that he stole the show.

really, he did. good song, good acting, really enjoyed himself. of course, he has sang this song hundreds of times, but he seemed to really enjoy it. and thus, i did too.

ahhhh i was doing so well those first two weeks of blog!

and now look at me. 8 days from post. come on, luke, pull it together.

sooooo anyway, check out this song cause i love this song and it's really good. can't really remember the origin of it, to be honest, i think it has something to do with the falconridge folk festival.... sister could clarify for me, i'm sure.

the video i did find on youtube is about a baby, too. so... not only is it a great song, there's a cute baby to look at when you listen. ....other than creepy baby eyes at times.



i'm a small amount bummed cause the version i have is more acoustic, but i couldn't find that one.

i'm gonna update more, i swear.

NOOOO LUDO NOOOOO

i just posted that last vide and was browsin' the tube, as we all do from time to time, and a 'featured video' was a song by the worst band in the whole world, Ludo.

i know this because over the summer there was a kid i worked with overnight who had 3-4 songs by them on his shuffle and they just kept cycling through...

they're just the worst. the worst.

and i quote: (from their song 'japan it!')

Let's go to Japan
I'm not joking this time
So go get your bags packed
We'll be just fine
We'll both wear Kimono's
No shoes on our feet
Just take my hand
Japan it with me

Its an archipelago exotic and pure
Of ancient enchantments, so says the brochure
I need a place where there's no room to grow
Watch out Tokyo
I'm coming

you read correctly: archipelago. really? really!?

so a ways back i downloaded 'i can only imagine', which is of course an album of christian pop songs. and you may be familiar with this song -

awesome god.

now, the original song is pretty fantastic. but mia has opened my eyes to the glory, the ABSOLUTE GLORY of the -

rap version. of awesome god.

unfortunately the only way i can listen is through an itunes preview...and i can't find any downloads anywhere. WAIT i'll try youtube.

...and reason #28236 why i love youtube:



haha.

i'll be honest with you... not showering makes hair so much more fun. lookit








that being said, time for a shower!

2day's 2 do

oh nooooo i made a sweeet video and it didn't upload for whatever reason OH NOOOOOOOOOOO

soon, faithful readers. soon you will see my glorious mug and all will be well.

as a little sample:

do you ever get a 'what's the point' sort of vibe? i guess it just takes one little sentence to get me into this mood.

my theatre history teacher just reminded me of the fact that we're all gonna die. don't get me wrong, i'm not on some immortality kick, i just don't think about it much.

it sucks pretty bad, the idea of me dying. sucks pretty bad thinking about everyone else dying. just sucks.

aaaaaand well done, ipod. 'everybody hurts' by rem. you understand me best, ipod touch. hah.

well, here's what i'll do. i'm gonna go to international zone and buy a calzone. then i'm gonna eat that calzone SO HARD then i'll be happy. i am a baby. get some food in me and i'll stop being cranky or sad and i'll start giggling. a big hairy 21-year old baby. yep.

amber by 311. another wise choice, ipod touch. you do know how to cut to my core.

this week on just hair gelled or just showered!

cookies and cream

an actual vlog post!

oh man

hah, not to belabor the black friday thing, but last night.... this morning, i suppose i was reading some material at target about their november 28th plans....

or, i should say, their plans for

green friday.

haha, that's probably waaaay worse than any others. other than maybe happy friday or something. there was a bunch of product that came in, though, that was marked as 'black friday merchandise'... not like written labels but legit-ass printed labels. so it's not a widespread memo apparently. but green friday?! i mean, come on!

sometimes typing in wingdings is the best idea because when you’re in astronomy and the annoying frat guy right behind you is probably looking at your screen along with shaking your chair with his foot you don’t really want him to read what you’re writing, especially when it’s probably pretty angry toward him. that being said, he’s a dick.

anyway, tonight i head upstate to target.

over the summer, i worked at target 3-5 nights a week as an overnight worker. the job is not very difficult, it’s just taxing because it’s from ten pm to six am. over the summer, though, i had two jobs, working full time at radio shack then at night. oftentimes they would coincide nicely, but there were those couple times where it really got tough on me.

i won’t detail the job as much as i would in person, but i was and am basically an overnight stocker. i restock the shelves so you and your families can come into target and get what you came for. and probably a little more!

it pays relatively well and i like the people i work with and i’m pretty good at it. so it’s a good job.

you know what’s funny? hot friday.

hot friday, luke? well what in the wide world of sports is that?

i’m glad you asked, luke. ‘hot friday’ is apparently the new name for black friday (the day after thanksgiving).

possible reasons for this.

-black friday sounds like the black plague, and that’s no fun.
-black friday doesn’t seem to encourage consumers to purchase things
-black friday also could refer back to black monday, the day the stock market crashed and caused the great depression... with the stock market as it is nowadays we probably want to stray away from any and all references to said time.
-black friday is no longer acceptable because our president is black (barry!!) (!!)

whatever the reason, i’m not a fan. well, i’m a fan of our new president elect! but other than that, no.

because! because black friday isn’t a negative thing at all! it’s called that because businesses on that day are pretty much always in the black, and that’s a good thing! cause they’re not in the red! and i like it because it does have that ‘dread’ sort of feel to it, and having a job in retail, i can strongly appreciate that aspect of the name.

i swear there are some videos coming sometime.

this here is another play that i wrote, but this one is from last semester... back in the spring. i was in a bind about whether or not i’d get the rights to the play i did, ‘guys’...which is here now:

ok wait i'll add this later tonight, apparently i don't have it in a small (100mb) version yet. soon, though!

so i really quickly wrote this little diddy, which the professor said i could do if i wanted. i decided against it cause i really loved ‘guys’, but i am proud of this one, entitled

Ketchup
By Luke Allard

Two people, A and B, in a living room, perhaps a basement. A couch, a recliner, a coffee table and a stereo system with relatively large speakers on either side. A is lying, stretched out, on the couch, with a container of fries in his hand. B has the stereo receiver on her lap, and is connecting the speaker wires to the back of the receiver. B keeps her head down and focused on the task at hand throughout A’s first speech. A stares at the ceiling, hands behind head, thinking. They sit/lay in silence for a few moments when A, with a furrowed brow, says

A
you know what really gets me? (pause) ketchup packets.

B
oh?

A
yeah, ketchup packets. I can’t stand them. I mean, there is absolutely nothing practical about them. Nothing.

B
well, other than the…ketchup part, you mean.

A
no, that part is cancelled out by all the other negative aspects of the ketchup packet. Alright so say you’re in a restaurant, a fast food establishment, and you order and all that, and they give you your food and they say ‘you want sauce?’ and of course you want sauce and they plop a fistful of these ketchup packets right down on your tray. That’s where the impracticality starts. Because now that I have this fistful of ketchup packet, I feel obliged to use every packet that’s in front of me, because I’m not going to return the packets I don’t use and I’d really prefer not to dispose of an unopened packet. Then you sit down and go to work on these things. And you go to tear one open and it’s not enough of an opening to quickly empty, or it’s too big and it gets all over your fingers, or HEAVEN FORBID you’ve had a fry or two already and your fingers are too greasy to even get a grip on the little edges, but finally, finally you get a decent pile of ketchup on your paper placemat. And what do you have, just to the side of your ketchup? An even larger pile of the former homes of the ketchup, cast aside now that they have been vacated of their original inhabitant. It’s a fucking shame.

B
that’s America for you.

A
It is! That’s my point! We create these horribly wasteful little ketchup filled non-biodegradable mother-earth abusing…

B
…catalysts of counter-existence?

A
touché.

B
So what do we do about it?

A
We exclusively go to fast food places that have those hand-pump and paper-cup ketchup dispensers. and! And! We find a use for the empty packets.

B
what the hell could empty packets be used for?

A
hm. Well, we could…refill them?

B
you can. I have my own social and environmental injustices to struggle with.

A
like what?

B
eh, I don’t know yet. But I’ll find some.

A
Oh no.

B
(pause) what?

A
I just thought of all the people who make those ketchup packets. If it wasn’t for those little harbingers of the apocalypse, hundreds, perhaps THOUSANDS of blue collar factory workers would be out of a job, no longer able to support their families, unable to provide little Billy or Jenny an opportunity, nay, a glimmer of hope to…to make something of themselves.

B
true.

B stands up and places the receiver back on the table it belongs. Plugs in the power, hits the power button. The receiver lights up. She turns a dial and it clicks twice before Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” comes on, softly. B turns the volume up to a reasonable volume and the two remain still, listening. A closes eyes and smiles, slightly. The song ends and the two continue to be still in the silence. A opens eyes.

A
we should make a movie.

B
what about?

A
…about… about war protest.

B
which war?

A
depends on how we wanna do it. Do we want to make it back in time, say world war two or one, or the civil war, or revolutionary war, or Korean, or Vietnam, war on terror, war on drugs, war on-

B
we could make up a war.

A
but we have so many to choose from that aren’t made up!

B
true, but think of the creative freedom we could have if we created our own one… we could make a war over… over spilt milk.

A
isn’t that a saying or something?

B
yeah. it’d be ironic.

A
but why would there be a war over spilt milk?

B
does it have to be war on a grand scale?

A
I hadn’t thought of it that way…no, it doesn’t.

B
it could be a ‘war’ in a house! Of like three people…roommates….



A
and one spills milk but doesn’t clean it up for some reason…

B
and another gets unnecessarily pissed over it!

A
well, spilt-spoiled milk…I’m not sure if there’s a limit to how pissed one can get over that.

B
true. Regardless. The spiller thinks it’s an overreaction. So, just to piss off the angry roommate he doesn’t clean it up.

A
but how can he stand the stench?

B
he just stays in his room and away from the kitchen, whereas angry roommate has the room closest to the kitchen AND loves to cook. Also, he’s got a girl who he wants to date coming to the house the following night.

A
is it really necessary that he loves to cook?

B
alright forget the culinary affection.

A
so how is this a war protest movie?

B
I’m glad you asked. To add some humor to the movie, we’ll have the third roommate, a hippy-type character who doesn’t want to take sides-

A
how can you be on the spiller’s side?

B
hm. Well, we’ll figure that out after.

A
alright.

B
(pause) You know, we could make a movie of just us talking. Could be interesting.

(pause)

A
…Nah.

B stands up and takes out another record, unknown to the audience, and puts it on the turntable. She turns down the volume a bit and the song “Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkle comes on softly, and 30-45 seconds into the song, the two speak. The song continues in the background.

A
do you think we’re not productive enough?

B
how do you mean?

A
well, we spend a lot of our time laying here, talking about our plans, but rarely do we actually act on those ideas.

B
well, I just put this stereo system together.

A
and I’m so proud of you. I know it takes a lot of thought and concentration to put a wire into a little hole that is specifically made for said wire.

B
I don’t see you jumping up and doing this.

A
hey, I personally enjoy the…’sound of silence’. Heh heh heh.

B
wow, really? You really just said that?
A
mmm, I sure did. (pause) I’m thirsty. I’m gonna grab some “Mountain Lightning” from upstairs. (stands up, walks to base of stairs)

B
“Mountain Lightning?” you don’t mean…Mountain Dew?

A
Oh no, no no. I mean Mountain Lightning, freshly purchased for 25 cents a can at our local Price-Rite. Should I get two?

B
mark me down for a water, Zeus.

A
you got it! (runs up the stairs)

B stands up, walks over to the McDonald’s bag that is laying beside the couch. She picks it up, lies down, and reaches into the bag. She pulls out a fry and enjoys it. She reaches back in and pulls out a ketchup packet. She looks at it for a moment, looks up towards where A is getting the beverages, and reaches back into the bag and takes out two more. She tosses the bag back to the ground and sprawls out, head hanging upside down. She rips open the ketchup packets and pours them onto her skin and face, like blood, and smears it about. She lays still as A starts heading down the stairs

A
I think the secret ingredient to the mountain lightning is the real lightning. I mean-

Sees B laying motionless, covered in “blood”. Responds accordingly. He drops the drink with a smash and rushes over to her body. He gets some ketchup on him, looks inquisitively at it, swipes it with his finger and licks it. Looks peeved. B pops her head up and says as she reaches her hand up with ketchup packet in it

B
I guess they’re not…totally useless. (smile)

last night was my good pal benny’s birthday. i was at a loss for what to get him... i’ve never been a very good gift giver, and, as with the rest of my life, never very timely about it. so last night at about 9:30pm i said well, i should probably get the ol’ boy something. had it been his 21st birthday i likely would have bought him a drink and that would be that. it was not his 21st birthday. so i’m sitting there on the couch, the couch he regularly occupies for overnight stays, and i say ‘oh he broke his sidekick’s screen the other day. i should get him a new one.’ on i venture to the world of craigslist. i pointed out to sej how happy i was that the only clicked link on my craigslist was ‘casual encounters’. i’ve never gone through with one, but damn are they fun to read. no, this time i clicked on the for sale > electronics and searched sidekick. i emailed a few people, to no avail, even texted a dude (who promptly said he didn’t have it any longer) then finally i reached someone named artison. i checked all over google to see if this person i was dealing with was a fellow or lady, to no avail. so i explained the situation and that i wanted to get it tonight... luckily they were compliant. they were from providence, so i said we should meet at the burger king next to the ihop next to providence place (you know, somewhere neutral, well lit, etc.)... but said seller wasn’t down with that idea, as said seller couldn’t get there, because said seller didn’t have a car. so said seller gave me the address and i put it into googlemaps and found a picture of the house... 198 amherst st. give it a whirl, you might have a similar reaction. it seemed to be in the, excuse my language, the ghetta.

regardless, sej and i hopped in the car, sej armed with a tiny swiss army knife and a larger one and me armed with naught but my charm and gruff demeanor. i had asked said seller for their telephone number, but they said ‘no, my friend’s grandmother gets mad if people call late at night so i’ll call you in 30 minutes’. red flag? should be, for a less trusting person. or a normal person. me? oh no that’s fine, that’s fine. so off we go. we get off of 95 and drive down manton ave, had a small conversation about what ‘colortyme’ is, and eventually we pull up to the home, in olneyville. at eleven o’clock. sej and i sit there for a pretty long time, though maybe it wasn’t that long, it just felt that way. said seller had told me i could honk the horn but i didn’t want to make a disturbance so we sat there. eventually the door opened and a young man, probably 16-18 years old, walks down the stairs as i get out of the car. i had, for some reason, put the allotment of cash in my inside pocket of my jacket, a move i now regret a bit, because it was quite an uneasy look i got when i reached inside my jacket in front of artison. he was a nice enough fellow, handed me the sidekick and i handed him the money, trying to do so as nonchalantly as possible. then an awkward ‘thanks for the stuff’ moment and i was back in the car. sej had had his knife at the ready and had locked the door after i exited the car. i got back in and we sat there for a bit until we saw a car roll up behind us. then back down south we went. the phone wasn’t working, though. both sej and i are not well versed in the world of the sidekick so i thought i had been hosed, played, screwed, shisted, but apparently they just take a long time to charge a dead battery.

well, in the end it worked out and benny was really excited and blown away by the gesture. and he was even more blown away that we went all the way to olneyville at 11:00pm to get it. soon his thumbs will be dancing all over the keys on his new sidekick, though, and that’s all i could have hoped for.

hey, that’s just what i do for my pals.

this is my blog.  well, it's more of a video blog.  vlog.  my name is luke.  and you are reading (watching) my life.  

riveting.