the trip to South Carolina was a great time…really relaxing. usually I figure that with a long trip and stuff to do and that sort of thing, vacations usually end up being more stressful than real life, but this wasn’t quite like that. I’m sure attitude has something to do with it, and I went down there thinking that I didn’t really give a damn what happened. so it was all fun, and I got to see some good friends that I haven’t seen in a while, and hang out doing nothing, drinking lots of caffeine. I’m usually very strongly anti-energy drinks, because they just seem like watered-down sugary replacements for coffee, but I tried this stuff called Bawls, and it was actually decent. it was like a version of seven-up that actually tastes good, with a bunch of caffeine and guarana. they also make a version of bawls that is completely sugar-free, so I could dig that. anyway…I was thinking about it today, and I don’t really make much, if any, mention of music on this website…so today I’ve been listening to Wilco’s new album, “A Ghost Is Born,” which is really rockin. anyone who knows me knows that I’m a hopelessly hopeless Modest Mouse fan, and I’ve been listening to their new album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News for the last few weeks, and I like it a lot, too. there are a lot of times when I’ll sit down to write and play all of the other Modest Mouse CDs on random, (Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks, The Moon and Antarctica, The Lonesome Crowded West, and This Is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About), and I really get into just about every song in the playlist. so when I heard the new CD for the first time, I was a little skeptical, as it has a different sort of sound…not to mention the fact that they’re actually getting playtime on the radio, which can be a bad sign for a band…but I must say that I’m still quite impressed with their work. props.