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kallielWhat even WAS this month? I have no idea, and I have no idea where it went. I spent most of it [THESE ENTRIES AREN'T ABOUT WORK], well. Okay, then. Here are my non-work highlights!
Linkin Park: Linkin Park put out a new album, and linked up with some indie record stories to host listening parties (a full playthrough of the album a week before its release), one of which was only 30min from where I work?! In some random upstate down, population 6,000?? A "listening party" is not something I would go to in a million years, except that it's Linkin Park, my musical gateway drug, one of my favorite bands since I was 13. So I went, and it was very small and low-key, and I enjoyed it supremely. I teared up multiple times as they played the album.
I love the new album, btw. We already bought our concert tickets for next year. <3
Horseheads Mall: And the record store was in what is now my favorite mall of all time. It is the most liminal space I've ever experienced. From the outside--and frankly, from the inside--it looks like one of your typical Saddest Malls in America: Slightly empty, a little haunted, kinda grungy. It has typical mall stuff, like your JC Penney and Claire's and Bulrington Coat Factory and whatnot. But this mall has also been colonized by Nerd Kingdom, because it also has: a sword store, a massive board game/TTRPG store, a diecast store, an axe throwing place, an airsoft range, pickleball, a "break stuff" place, an arcade, a gaming lounge (separate from the arcade), and a bunch of other specialty/nerd ephemera stores. Guys, it has a SWORD STORE.
Also, when I went for the LP listening party, it was also hosting a Comic Con, unbeknownst to me, so a ton of people were in cosplay. But half the people were also just there to do normal mall things?? And it's the combination of both happening at the same time I am so in love with. The paid portion of the Comic Con was set up in what used to be a Macy's, and even though it was filled with rows of comics booths IT STILL LOOKED VERY MUCH. LIKE A MACY'S.
I went back the next week to pick up my copy of the LP album (because I liked the record store so much--this is like, an 80-mile roundtrip lol), and it honestly wasn't any less liminal. There was a woman with a giant, live white rabbit just draped over her chest and shoulder. In the mall.
I also got a massage at the mall, which was also liminal--you could hear mall sounds, but they were also playing poorly looped ambient "spa music"--and not particularly atmospheric, but felt really good. It hurt like hell, and then hurt like hell for a day, but then it felt really good. Would totally go back.
Legend of Zelda: Hm, what else? At the record store (I got my mileage out of this mall, what can I say), I impulse-bought a copy of Ocarina of Time--I figured IT'S A TIMELESS CLASSIC--and I've played way more of than than I should have. It's utterly intoxicating. And even though I don't really play video games, it turns out I am a smarter person than I was when I last regularly played a Zelda game, because I am not finding it as excruciatingly challenging as I remember it being as a child. It's fun-hard (and... any time it gets more than fun-hard I just look stuff up on the Internet, which was not something that was possible the last time I regularly played a Zelda game). So I guess I play video games now?
Bread: I also learned the other day that there are *three* indie bakeries in Ithaca I didn't know about, in addition to a new Taiwanese cakery at the farmer's market, all of which I'm very excited about. One of my new year goals is to make a local bingo card of stuff/places to try, and there's about to be a whole row just for bread. As is only appropriate.
...Oh my god. Now I remember what November was. WE HAD AN ELECTION. HAHAHAHA. Oh god, we did. (No, we didn't.)
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Date: 2024-12-02 09:56 am (UTC)Anyway. Glad you had some non-work highlights, especially a new favorite mall!
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Date: 2024-12-02 11:50 pm (UTC)I have legitimately told almost everyone I know about this ridiculous, liminal mall lol. And I will continue to tell them. I've written it about it in a handwritten letter, I've texted it, I've Discorded it, I'm going to Tumblr it, I've LJ'd it here... I've told all my students about my love of it. What a mall!!!
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Date: 2024-12-03 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-03 06:26 pm (UTC)I truly did! <3
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Date: 2024-12-05 06:52 pm (UTC)If you want to distract yourself from American politics, look at what's happening in South Korea! The funniest Internet comment I read was "Oh, we had a military dictatorship for 40 minutes. That was wild."
Linkin park!!!!!!!!!
I just finished listening to the album with my new headphones that I bought specifically to listen to the album (and future ones, because I fully plan on buying more albums for my phone. (The digital release of From Zero was 6 USD, and I downloaded a free VLC player to listen to it.)
Do you have a favorite song? I want to say Two-Faced and Heavy is the crown is my favorites, but the song I sing along with the most is Over Each Other. Which doesn't have any rock cred at all and doesn't sound at all like a Linkin Park song!
Are you going to the concert in New York? I hope you were able to find decent prized tickets, and didn't have to pay outrageous resale prices.
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Date: 2024-12-05 08:43 pm (UTC)I'm becoming increasingly fond of all of them--"Emptiness Machine" had the biggest head start, as the first single, obviously--but I also really love "Heavy is the Crown" and "Good Things Go."
Not in New York, but I did purchase tickets for concerts in San Jose and Toronto--we figured we might as well go big, fuck it. I was working when tickets went on sale but the friend I'm going with + her sister grabbed decently-priced ones up quick! <3333
I'm glad you're enjoying the album, too! I felt a little ridiculous because I drove 80 miles roundtrip to pick up a CD for an album I was literally already listening to digitally on YouTube, but!!!
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Date: 2024-12-06 05:45 pm (UTC)Naw, it's not silly. You turned buying the album into an experience, and you supported the record store which is important!
I find it crazy you can just drive to Canada and hang out.