Tomorrow is my oral final in speech class (that sounds unintentionally dirty…), and Monday is my written final. I am not really looking forward to tomorrow’s speech, but I am happy that it’s almost over with. I expected speech class to be much harder than it’s been, but even so, I’m glad the end is in sight.

I am giving my speech on “The Need for Informative Sexual Education in Public Schools”. I might even post my speech here after the fact, because I feel pretty strongly about this subject.

There are a few things coming up this summer that I am looking forward to as well.

I’m hoping to get to see Promise to Burn this Friday at one of the local clubs. They are a local-ish band with a pretty big following. They have a few original songs and do a lot of 90’s cover as well. I always have a damn good time when I go see them. I’m also going to see Joan Red again in June, when they are going to kick off a local music festival. I had quite a bit of fun at said festival (Bone Stock) last year, even though dodging scuzzy people was a full time job. Hell, after a while, I think I might have become one of the scuzzy people myself. Either way, it is all about having fun, and the proceeds of the even go to charity, so, yeah. What was I saying again?

I’m probably going to hit another Promise to Burn show in June as well, and hopefully some other good events along the way. If anyone knows of any decent shows coming up in the Missouri/Arkansas/Tennessee areas, be sure to let me know.

Of course, I really am holding out to see the band Live, which happens to be my favorite group. I haven’t had the chance to see them yet. Ed Kowalczyk has an awesome voice, and happens to be a songwriting genius IMO. I wasn’t a huge fan of Songs from Black Mountain, but did enjoy a few tracks off it. Other than that, I’ve listened to (and owned) every other Live release with the exception of the newest one.

If I get the chance, I also want to go see Breaking Benjamin again this year. I’ve loved both shows of theirs I’ve been to, but I would really like to see them headline a tour rather than co-headline. While I didn’t mind seeing Three Days Grace, they aren’t one of my favorite bands. They are just OK. Breaking Ben, however, I absolutely love. Again, I focus a lot on the vocals in my determination of what I enjoy. When I listen to music, I judge on vocals first, music second, specifically the primary instrument and rhythm patterns. Lastly, I will unravel the lyrics, and usually will learn at least part of the song by the second or third play. I think this is partially because I used to sing a lot, mostly in church, and would learn lyrics by simply listening to songs. Rarely would I have to use a lyric sheet when singing back then. Therefore, I am pretty quick to pick up on lyrics. It’s at least mildly frustrating when I can’t understand what the vocalist is saying, though it doesn’t seem to bother me when I listen to Rammstein. Of course, I don’t sing along with them, either.

Well, now that I’ve rambled endlessly about nothing at all, I’m going to go try to get a decent nights’ sleep so I don’t fall asleep during my speech tomorrow. :)