The state of things

Well - I've finished my first year of law school. It was harder than I expected, and took up much more time than I had anticipated. I did well though.

Cristina and I went to India in January, and to New Orleans in April. No trips in May. We're going to Charlotte at the end of this month, and then to visit my parents in Virginia. Mid-July, we're going to Kansas City to visit some of her friends. In August, she may be going to Austin for the National Poetry Slam - she made the team this year as an alternate.

Right now, we're concentrating on clearing out and reorganizing the house. We're almost finished cleaning out my storage. There's only a few bookcases, a table, and some pictures left. We found this fantastic thing called Freecycle. You post things that you no longer want, and other people come and take them off of your hands. We've gotten rid of the strangest things that way. We're focusing on making a space together, that we both enjoy and can live in peace with. We no longer want to be so tightly bound to our possessions.

It's been a great summer so far.

Hot Topic = hardcore??

FULL DISCLOSURE: I like Hot Topic, and I buy things from them from time to time.

Can a band really be "underground" when Hot Topic is presenting it? Apparently, the House of Blues in Orlando thinks so. When I opened the email from them yesterday, this is what I read:

Hot Topic Presents Sounds of the Underground with GWAR and Chimaira, Every Time I Die, Job For a Cowboy, Necro, Darkest Hour, Amon Amarth, The Acacia Strain, The Devil Wears Prada, HeavyHeavyHeavyLowLow, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Goatwhore, This Is Hell, 2 Cents***This Show is at UCF Arena***

I'm sure I know several people who will be going to the show. (FYI, Goatwhore is terrible. I saw them a few years ago, possibly with Pantera, but I wouldn't swear to it.) I wonder if they feel that GWAR and Chimaira have sold out. How much can one accept from the corporate gods before the soul shrivels and the hardcore balls shrink? For that matter - is it "selling out" to market your 12" at Hot Topic? Or just a canny use of "the man" to reach hitherto un-evangelized masses?

I think the real, ultimate, burning question is this - can you be hardcore if you buy your concert-gear and records at a mall? Discuss.