Don’t you just love it when all your favorites things turn out to be connected to your other favorite things?! It always makes me feel like I am doing something right with my life–like I am on the trail to the bestest most favoritest thing ever.

Last weekend was Iowa’s Homecoming (and I hear that I am lucky to be such a nerd and to have chosen to do homework over watching the game. Cmon Hawkeyes! make Nate Kaeding proud!) and to celebrate there is always a concert after the parade—this year was Rooney!!!!! (and Chuck Berry, also very cool) AHHHH, MICHAEL MOSCOVITZ IN IOWA CITY!!!! I saw the Princess Diaries movie before reading any of the books, so Robert Schwartzman will always be Michael to me. Whether he likes it or not. sly smile.

anyway, so I got out of work and walked downtown to wait for my friends before watching the parade. Wait, what do I hear?? is that a heavenly angel doing a soundcheck? NO IT WAS MICHAEL MOSCOVITZ! (omigosh I hope Robert doesn’t google himself and read this…) The stage for the Homecoming show is just out in front of the Old Capitol Building, so the Rooney boys were essentially just doing their preshow stuff outside–meaning that I could literally just walk right up to the stage and watch. Don’t worry, I tried to look cool. I leaned against a rock and took out a newspaper while slightly shaking my head along to the music. OMG! there were literally only like five other people there watching with me–so chances are good that maybe the guys in the band made eye contact with me??!! I was trying really hard to have a quirky-Midwestern-girl-I-am-enjoying-your-music-very-much-but-I-am-not-throwing-myself-at-you smile, which is really hard to do. Especially when you are panicked that you are giving a I-may-look-23-but-if-I-come-face-to-face-with-you-i’m-going-to-scream-and-steal-some-of-your-hair-for-a-scrapbook smile. here is a representation of the situation:

A re-creation of me trying to act cool while standing front-row while Rooney soundchecks.

except imagine my hair shorter, and Robert looking less like Michael Moscovitz.

oh, and just to make a connection between Rooney and another teen-girl book sensation. Their video for “Are You Afraid of Me” is all about vampires. Yes.

oh and this is one of the songs they played while I was watching soundcheck and my eyes glazed over. Totally reminds me of Phantom Planet’s “Hey Now Girl”–as in I love it.

amberj.

This is the best thing ever–or at least in the top 30 of best things.

YOU. CAN. FLIP. THE. PAGES!

The internet has finally caught up to the technology of the book! It freaks me out just a little on how real it looks–like I’m sitting here, but somewhere else I have a phantom hand doing my bidding. I hope when it isn’t turning pages, my phantom hand is off petting poor homeless puppies in Italy.

Click here to see the Iowa Digital Library’s first edition of the first printing of Peter Rabbit. Best thing ever. (side note: I still have not seen “Miss Potter” yet, very lame of me)

Or you can click here to see the British Library’s “Turning the Pages”–which includes such manuscripts as Jane Austen’s “The History of England,” sketchbooks of Leonardo Da Vinci and William Blake, and the original “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” written AND illustrated by Lewis Carroll. And I thought Robert Schwartzman in The Princess Diaries made me swoon.

Word on the street is that the technology that does this is cheap, too! If so, then whycome I am not turning the pages all over the internet!? (Although, it is possible that I misunderstood the word on the street) Nerd on!

amberj.

I take my dancing very seriously, and I have recently discovered the secret to having a crazy fun dance time (not to be confused with the rules on how to have a super fun dance party–I won’t name them here since I assume the only people who read this blog are also the people who I have forced to watch a certain video masterpiece created by a certain dancing goddess and her goddess friends).

The formula to have a crazy fun dance time is simple yet genius:
1. Energy–the jumping, sliding, hopping, arm pumping, stomping kind of energy
and
2. Music by the Schwartzman Brothers.

The new fave–Robert singing along to Coconut Records’ (aka Jason’s) Nighttiming:
 

The previous new fave–Robert and his Rooney mates wondering when my heart went missing:

And my all-time favoritest bestest I could dance to this song foreverest–Jason drumming along to Phantom Planet’s “Hey Now Girl”

And bonus NERDGIRLMOMENT:
So I’ve always just had an iPod shuffle, but this Christmas I became a real woman and got an iPod Classic. Totally awesome. But I still haven’t quite figured out what to do with it while I’m having a crazy fun dance time–right now I’m just sticking it into my pants (or even more embarrassing–my underwear when I’m wearing loose pj pants that won’t hold those heavy 80 GB of information).

And fyi, in the above photo I was listening to Coheed and Cambria/the Fratellis which means I was having a mega fun dance experience, but that is for another post.

amberj.

Coconut Records
Rooney
Phantom Planet

And just so I can tag this to Meg Cabot, this blog’s favoritest lady–I hope you all recognized Robert from his role as Michael in The Princess Diaries movie!!!! swoon-worthy of course. oh wow, I’m getting all giggly and flashing back to junior year of high school ::talking to self:: I am a mature young woman who has deep intellectual and creative experiences. I am a mature young woman who has deep intellectual and creative experiences. I am a mature young woman who needs to read Princess Diaries number 9: “Princess Mia” so she can find out if Michael and Mia stay together despite their distance–oh, I hope so because they are totally made for each other! but I’m going to wait until the library gets it on audioCD.