You may think...

Cage the Elephant, originally uploaded by nicolemonet2002.

"You may think you offered gifts to the trea-
sure tower... but that is not so. You
offered them to yourself."
--The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin - Page 299

So... the picture above is quite possibly one of my all time favorite concert photos period. Which is cool, because Cage the Elephant was one of the best shows of the weekend... In my humble and very simple opinion that is.

However, Coachella was week ago. Present day sees me inhabiting a mixed bag of emotions. Chief among them being, exhaustion. On one hand, [as is generally the case] I've just realized what is most likely a reason... Lack of iron. On another... Allergies. Yet another gift from Sacramento.

Another major emotion dominating space in the bag is a mild case of dysphoria. The Spring semester is almost over and I need to find a job as well as a cheaper place to stay. To make things a tad more pressing I need to find an alternative place to stay by the end of July. Both tasks are proving to be quite difficult.

Lastly, well actually no. I think everything else just kind of falls into sub-categories of my dysphoria. That's not to say, I'm feeling particularly 'woe'-filled... Just... slightly anxious.

Blame it on the alc.. Just kidding.

Blame it on the exhaustion

Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer, originally uploaded by nicolemonet2002.

Be gone, evil migraine! I smite thee with my hot cup of coffee and motrin!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way... I can tell you the awesomeness that just happened! And what is that? You ask?

A couple hours ago I submitted 3 of my Coachella photo's to the official website to be hosted in their 2009 gallery. Then, realizing I was out of soy milk and wanted some for my coffee... I hopped on the bike and went to buy some.

On my return, I decide to browse the gallery to see what pictures had already been accepted and what do I see? Why, all 3 of my pictures! Which is made doubly awesome, because the last time I submitted pictures [in 2007] all 3 of those were accepted as well.

Now for those of you, who are more inclined to call shenaningans then to believe me... I present you with THIS! A link to the page with the first two pictures.

-The 1st is the 3rd picture on the top left side.
-The 2nd is the 2nd picture [which is the same as the one posted here] on the second row.
-For the 3rd, you have to press the back button. Once you do, my picture is the last one on the last row.

ps: The pictures say posted by prettyragdoll. That's just my name on the Coachella message board

The Do Lab

The Do Lab, originally uploaded by nicolemonet2002.

Once again Coachella has come and gone; only this time around I'm a bit numb in my post-chella depression.

And to be clear, my numbness has no bearing on the festival itself. Because, Coachella was with out a doubt still amazing -- I just feel like the days flew by. And i dont mean that in an entirely good way. In part, I'm blaming this on the set times.

Out of all the bands I wanted to see, 90% of them were playing at the same time. And not just a mash up of, one band vs another. But more like... Main Stage vs Gobi vs Sahara. Or Main Stage vs Outdoor vs Mojave. [For those not up on their Coachella lingo: Outdoor, Gobi, Mojave & Sahara are the four other stages] And it sucked.

Beyond just having to pick one band to see and thereby missing at least two others... The fact that everyone I dearly wanted to see came on at roughly the same time meant that the rest of the time there would be no one I was overly excited to see.

So... That was a bit.... blah.

But the bands I did see were amazing! And of the bands I saw, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs thoroughly surprised me. I went to their set prepared to be underwhelmed, only to leave their set later then intended because of how good they were.

X was amazing. Which was awesome if you consider they're one of the original DIY Punk bands; while also being one of the only punk bands to never sell out. On top of that, every single member of the band was moving/dancing/jumping as if they were still the same age they were when they first started. And that is cool.

Other then all of the bands, the Art at Coachella this year was definitely top notch this year. From the Do Lab & the Bambo Piece, to the Hand of God and the flaming dragon... It was brilliant.