Kay. I'm thoroughly disturbed.

I went to the zoo today with Ally, Bridget, and Jason. It was quite the time. Now I'm lying bed skyping with Ally. Lalala!

I feel really sick.

Bro, you never said goodbye.

Skyping with that young Ally Graziani! We're both wearing footie pajamas. She bought me some for Christmas. I love that girl!

Merry Christmas.

Not even a legit video, but I don't care. This song=love.
CHRISTMAS EVE! GET PUMPED!

Warning!
That's all I have to say.
2 days!

I'ma watching Scrubs.
3 days!

Future metal.
4 days!

Possibly my favorite thing about Chicago.
5 days!

Blackheart Drive?!
6 days!

7 days.

My favorite. Ever.
8 days til Christmas!

9. Days. Til. Christmas!

Hey, girl in my French class with the STD you won't stop talking about, please
STFU and GTFO!
Kay, thanks.

On the phone with Ally. Yay!

SNOW DAY!

Lazy day!!

Guys, this is just . . . the best. For sure.

I want to scream like Alex. Now.

Jonny Craig. a.k.a. The Chosen One.

Thank you, @priscellaxD, for showing me the greatest music video of all time. I shall never forget this.

One of the smoke detectors in my house is broken, and it keeps beeping every thirty seconds. I'ma kill it.

Mmm, Christcore. The vocalist looks like Heath Ledger, when his hair isn't eating his face.

How have I never posted this video?

Confide makes Jonathan feel all warm and tingly inside. This band is so, perfect. Sadface that they're breaking up.

I'm in love with this song. I'm in love with Mychildren Mybride. I'm in love with Matt Hasting's gaping earholes.

This what the kids from Fall Out Boy are doing now. I just care about Keith Buckley and his vocal godliness.

I'm amused.

It's snowing. Lalala.

So I have a long list of things I REALLY dislike, and on that list is kids who don't listen to any real metal, use the term "screamo", and listen to Suicide Silence thinking they're heavy for listening to them. Don't get me wrong, I love Suicide Silence, I just tend to hate almost everyone else who loves them.

Fun Fact: From the time I was about 8 until the time I was 12, Panic! At the Disco was pretty much all I listened to. That changed.

Anti-Mother Tour headliners/fourth band I ever saw live. Their new album is epic because it has a jellyfish on the album cover, and because it's so amazingly good.

Third band Jonathan ever saw live. Kids went crazy.

So. Freaking. Good. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm so stoked for tomorrow. Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year.

Second band I ever saw live. These dudes get down.

First band I ever saw live. So good.

I want to hardcore dance. And break some faces, too. Blame this song.

I'm watching Little Miss Sunshine. For the win.

I had quite the time in Chicago today. I "got my hurr did" at a hardcore salon.

Scrumptious!

Windbreaker represent.

Fatality.

Like, oh my God.

Matthew Tully?

In Journalism, we read three articles by Indianapolis Star writer Matthew Tully. They all tied to Manual High School, possible one of the worst high schools in the state of Indiana. I found Tully's writing enjoyable and satisfying. The stories weren't boring. The writer made shocking statistics ever more shocking, without depicting Manual as a place of death and decay. He made it human and as I could connect to it. The writing was detailed and evoking, nevermind the fact that the stories themselves were gripping. Tully is obviously an intellectual. But I doubt he's the stuck-up type. I doubt this because I can see the writer reflected in his writing. And his devotion to helping Brent Jones proves that Tully has not only a brain, but also a heart. Jones' story is intersting enough. Tully's writing makes it all the more amazing and inspiring. It's as if his articles are alive. And a live story is so much better than a dead one.
Kudos to you, Mr. Tully.

R.I.P. /cryface. They broke up forever ago, but they were so good!

"M" is for metal. My favorite part is when they make it rain at the end of the video.

I <3 ESTK.

So legit, on so many levels.

Mmm, I'm sleepy. Nap time!

So as I was going for this bad boy . . .

This came up.

^This used to be my JAM.

We watched Toy Story 3 in Journalism today. This is the second time I’ve seen it. I cried the first time. Not joking.
Reason I cried: THE TOYS MIGHT NEVER SEE ANDY AGAIN! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!
Sadface.
I grew up on Toy Story. Along with lots of other television shows and movies aimed at the 4-year-old demographic.
Which is why Toy Story 3 is such an amazing movie.
I’m 14 now, and the last movie I cried watching was Toy Story 3 when it came out in theatres. I feel like such a loser. But it’s not my fault that this movie is so, epic.
It takes me back to 4 years old. It takes a lot of people back. It forces you to relive Toy Story and Toy Story 2. All the ties between Toy Story 3 to the first two movies can only be understood by people who saw the first two movies when they were fresh, years ago. And, being of the group who get Toy Story 3 and all the clever links to the earlier movies that make you cheer, I feel a certain amount of contempt to today’s toddlers. The same contempt one might feel for someone who takes their identity from them. It’s weird, I know. But little boys and girls who saw Toy Story 3, they can’t understand and laugh and love the same way as teens and grown-ups who saw the movies years ago. Of course those little boys and girls of today probably have watched Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on DVD, but it still isn’t the same. (I watched them on VHS.)
But I digress.
It’s all the moments that you remember and feel from your young, young youth when watching Toy Story 3 that make the movie perfect.

Okay, so, Cradle of Filth = really creepy. I am aware of this. But they are extremely talented musicians. The main riff in this song is so freaking simple, yet amazing. I can play this song on guitar and piano. Oh, and they're British.

I love the keys on their new album.

I'm so doing this at my wedding.

We're playing a show in Steger tonight. So stoked!

P-p-p-postitive message!

I just found this song. I love it.

This makes me want to grow my hair long enough to do hairocopters.

I Need Stars.

My fall break was quite perfect.
Thursday: I slept until about 1 in the afternoon. When I woke up, my friend Liam was asking if I wanted to hang out with him and some of our other friends. Sure. We went to Family Video to rent a movie, but there was nothing good. So then we went to Subway on Route 30. It was freezing outside. Already, the story of this day is boring me. But I digress. We ate Subway. Then we went to Starbuck's because I needed wifi so I could check my facebook messages to see if Ally had sent me anything. I'm creepy obessesed like that. After that, I walked home. Thursday was boring. Oh! But I talked to that one girl who's my friend on the phone for about 5 hours while I watched a movie about a zombie dog holding a woman with a mustache and her ghoulish son hostage in a sedan on a farm.That made me happy.
Friday: I don't remember what time I woke up. But I remember Ally's gift came in the mail along with some stuff that I bought myself. I love getting stuff in the mail. Later that day I hung out with my friends again. We went to Family Video, again. Then we rented the Exorcism of Emily Rose. I love that movie! That was pretty much all of Friday night. And I talked to that girl, again. Which, was really the best part of my day.
Saturday: Lots. I got up, and got out. I had to buy a single white v-neck and a ton of glow in the dark stars. I got the v-neck. But I didn't get the stars. I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find them. I was so upset. They were supposed to be a surprise for Ally's birthday. Oh well, we promised each other we have to get them eventually. Soon. At 5 pm I went to the practice house to load up all of the band equipment. We played a show that night at a party in Dyer. I never realized how much gear we have. We got to the party house at 6. We started setting up immediately and we finished at about 6:30. We played at 7. My costume, as it was a costume party, was basically everything I'd usually wear (grey Converse hi-tops, skinny pinstriped pants), with a fake-bloody white v-neck. So creative. The show went well. Except for the part where Austin's patchcord broke (the cord that hooks the guitar up to the amp) and I had to give him mine because, while Austin can only play guitar, I can play guitar and keyboard. Which, I was doing both already anyways.
Then I just played keyboard on our last three songs. Everything sounded good and I think it went great. After we finished playing, we went to partying. I had an amazing time that night.
Sunday: Austin and David stayed the night. Halloween. Ally's birthday! I bought her a Pierce the Veil shirt and a pair of Pierce the Veil shorts. She loved them, for the win. We spent most of the day trick-or-treating. The rest we spent in the basement. Semi colon followed by a capital "d".
I love my fall break!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_rE0RzrFY8 Autotune for the win!

Halloween is so amazing. Happy birthday, Ally!

We're playing a party tonight! Yay!

I owe you guys two videos since I didn't post one yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiNc2ZMedS8&feature=related His voice is so ridiculously high.

\m/

The power of Christ compels you!

The British kids are back!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xX0ECDYGRs&feature=fvst Okay, so Austin, Josh, and I were at Austin's house last night (this morning). And we were watching Youtube videos. This is the best one of the night. Just because of the guy on the motorcycle. For sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3lVdsufn0Y&feature=grec_index This is by far the best video Youtube has ever reccommended to me.

Majestic Britishness. I need an Enter Shikari shirt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US-CLwCc1AI&feature=related I sincerely hope Matthew Hasting cleans his gauges regularly.

Should I Get the Booty Shorts Signed?

At his first time at the Vans Warped Tour this past summer, hardcore dancer Jonathan Van Hecke made sure he left with scars.

At 11:30, Jonathan and his friends Priscella Pulido and Jason Ernst entered into the First National Bank Ampitheatre. They walked past the Glamour Kills and AP stages where The Cab was playing, to a small stand where showtimes and stages for the bands performing at this year's Warped Tour were available. Taking out the notebook and pen Priscella told him to bring, Jonathan copied down the when and where's for the bands that he and his friends wanted to see.
First up, Haste the Day.

The Christian metalcore outfit was just beginning their set at the Glamour Kills stage as the three arrived. "Merit for Sadness" was the first song in the set. And it was the first song Jonathan ever really hardcore danced to.

Jonathan wore a new shit that day. A white, Bring Me the Horizon shirt with a surfing dinosaur on it. He did not anticipate the blood that would paint the day.

In the pit, about 9 young men are running around, throwing their fists, kicking their legs, thrashing about. Jonathan is among them.

Hardcore dancing looks a lot like a four-year-old throwing a tantrum, as most people describe it.
Jonathan knows this. "But it's just so fun!"

Most of the other people in the mosh pit are bigger than the fourteen-year-old. He doesn't care. He just keeps banging his head and moshing. He falls for the first time. He feels the stained stone beneath him as it scrapes against his skin, cutting him. A kid about his size helps him up and pats him on the back.

Back to moshing. Jonathan falls about 4 more times in the thirty minutes that Haste the Day plays. At the most intense point of the most intense song, a stranger grabs Van Hecke by the shoulders, and punches him in the face. Completely arbitrary. He falls. And he gets back up. There is blood dripping from his nose.
"Awesome."

After Haste the Day ends their set, Jonathan is covered in his own blood. His shirt is ruined. He couldn't care less.

Next is Parkway Drive.
"I was crowd surfed by these big guys about 6 times. They were cool."

Jonathan was crowd surfed once more later that day, just after 6:45. And he fell into an empty pit of cold cement. "Ow."

That night, at around 9:30on their way to their car, the three stopped at the Pierce the Veil tent to buy band merchandise. And at the tent was Vic Fuentes, singer and guitarist of Pierce the Veil.

"Should I buy the booty shorts in, like, XL so they're just shorts and get them signed by Vic?" Jonathan's ex-girlfriend had the same shorts. So he want them, just to make her mad. And because he didn't see anything else he wanted to buy to have Vic sign.

Eventually, he bought a tank top. And he left happily that night with Vic's signature on it.

He gladly changed shirts and stuffed his bloodied, Bring Me the Horizon shirt in his bag.

Fantastic.

There's your metal for today, kiddies. I think I have an eye lash in my eye.

Svengoolie. . .Creature Features!

I think the best feature in the yearbook was the John Decker feature. It had the most powerful effect on me of all the stories. That's human interest. That's the point of a feature. The story about the girls team and the bus breaking down was awful, I'm sorry. It simply wasn't interesting. Perhaps it's something with value and appeal to the team and their friends, something a freshman wouldn't understand. But still, of the features, Welcome To Prison was by far my least favorite.
Do they still run creature features late at night? Not that I'll watch them. Old horror movies are horrible. By that I mean, they're not scary at all. New horror movies are horrible. The only horror movies that get even the slightest rise out of me are the Horrorfest movies.
The last "horror" movie I saw was The Human Centipede. You may be familiar with it, you may not. If you aren't, get to know it. I promise you, it is perhaps the funniest movie I have ever seen. Granted, you have to watch it with a group of friends to make it funny. Otherwise it's just a disaster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0piFZXT8Zxo

I feel like hardcore dancing.

I'm posting a new video everyday, in case you've not noticed.

Is it odd that I know this song by heart? I can't help it. I love the vocals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In_bIiOoMUA&feature=related  Chiodos! I just found this video. It's rather odd. I love it.

lalala.

Hardcore Dancing In The Living Room: Yes.

Wednesday night was rather fun. It was the second band practice this week. We finished our fifth song. One more to go before our first show next Saturday. We're playing a party in . . . I don't know.
The set is as follows: Intro Song! (The "Halloween" theme disrupted abruptly by a discord to go along with the scary parts in a black and white horror movie after 50 seconds. Then, breakdowns, breakdowns, breakdowns for about a minute and a half), Thursday's Thirsty (3 minutes of Every Time I Die -esque groove and hardcore), That's An Excellent Question, Dude (Fives minutes. Extremely emotional outro. It sounds like Jesus.), Zombeh (heaviest song in the set. Lots of tricky keyboard.). And soon to be added, The Phantom of the Opera Was Evicted Last Week. I wrote this one. I also wrote all the piano for it. As well as the keyboard parts in Zombeh. I teach Luke the keys after I write them. The way we write our songs, usually Austin, David, and Luke go over the lyrics first. Then I come up with a riff. Then Austin and Joshua come up with rhythm. And Brien puts together a beat. And we just keep building from there.
I should probably get into the line-up.
David -vocals.
Luke -vocals/keys.
Austin -guitar/vocals.
Joshua -bass.
Brien -drums.
Me -Lead guitar.
Aside from our show next Saturday, we've lined up a Halloween show at a party in Dyer, and a bar gig in Steger on November 6 with some other local bands.We were rather pumped at first because we heard a rumor Oceano would be playing there that night. That would have been decidedly sick to open for Oceano.
But we learned they'll be there, just on different night. There will most definitely be more shows to come.
Ah, but alas, I'm loving my bandmates and loving the band. It's really an awesome experience. I see bright stars and good memories.

As Soon As We Die has a Facebook!
I can't provide a link because iPrism is the devil, but if you go home and type "As Soon As We Die" in your Facebook search bar, you should be able to find us.

Don't steal music, kids!

Dave.

The class has just said goodbye to Dave Stud, friend of our teacher Mrs. Lolkema and hero to senior Cesar Pulido. We had difficulty at first trying to contact Dave via Skype video call, but after roughly five minutes he returned our call. We talked for nearly eighteen minutes with Dave about his work, how he got to be where he is, what it is exaclty that he does, and the people he meets on a regular basis (Dave's Times Square office is intimate with MTV and its stars). Later today he might see Justin Timberlake. It must be exciting with a job like Dave's, and at such a young age. I hope that when I'm all grown up I too will have a job that I love. I know I will if I walk on convictions. I can hold hands with the stars if I simply put my hand out to them. Even now, I feel like my life is . . . perfect. I have everything that I could ask for at blooming fourteen, going on fifteen. I have a good family and a good home. Home-cooked meals and a place to rest my tired head at night. I have the best of friends. People whom I love with all my heart. I have the most amazing, awesome, breath-taking, heart-stopping, perfect girlfriend in the whole wide world. A girl who means everything to me. And I have my talent. Tonight, after school, I have band practice. I'm quite enjoying being in a band and playing and writing and having the fun that I have. It's great. Life is going good. So what's to say my life won't be great when I'm 26 like Dave?