Can You Hear Me Now?
So I never thought I'd do it, but this past week I got an mp3 player cell phone. I decided on the new "chocolate" phone. I thought it was time to upgrade technology and I wanted to have music "on the go". So I know what your thinking - what is your iPod for? Well, here is my reasoning to further validate and rationalize my purchase: I would like to listen to music short periods of time - while not having to carry my iPod. So I got like a 1 Gig or 2 of storage space depending on what card I put into the phone. I have currently loaded up the phone with some of my latest purchases. I lovin' it so far! So in answer to Verizon guy... What did you say? I can't hear you... let me turn off my music.... :-)

Support your local record store...
I was just thinking today I hadn't been to my local record store in a few weeks. That is a long time for me. I usually go every 2 weeks or so. I really enjoy going to the record store and browsing for new music. In fact, I have found that my local record store is even more cost effective than any big name chain store. I know these stores can buy in bulk and offer cheaper CD's, but my local store sells used CD's for around $2-$7. This is great news since I prefer having the CD as opposed to downloading. I like having the CD artwork that is included in the album. I think that the artwork is part of the artistic statement of the CD. I still do download, but I always count it a bonus when I can get a copy of the CD from the store. In addition, my local record shop has a great selection of underground bands. I think they get their good selection by stations or other music outlets passing along their CD's to be sold used... I also know that the people who work at my record store are as passionate about music as me. They remind me of the people in the movie High Fidelity with John Cusak. The record shop in there had some true "music nerds" or "rock snobs". They loved it and were admittedly a little stuck up about it, but for good reason. So before you start thinking how much of a music nerd I am - I want to remind you that John Cusak was a bigger nerd in that movie than me. I don't have a list of breakup songs or have arranged my CD's autobiographically.. :-) Anyway, I would encourage you to keep your local record store in business. It is the life of the local music scene. If you need suggestions of some good record stores in NYC, Philly, or NJ I can help out.

My European Vacation...
It's been a while since I have posted something and that is for good reason... The last 18 days I have travelling in Europe. I had full intentions of posting some entries from there, but I was too caught up in my travels. So I thought I'd mention some highlights of my trip with a few snapshots of me in various places.
My trip was with a group of friends to Spain, France, and Italy. We went to the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento among others (basically following the Mediterranean coast). Overall, the trip was very packed with travelling and seeing each city. The tour we were on was very fast paced so when I got home I felt like I needed to relax a bit before returning to the normal "grind". The weather was very hot throughout the cities I was in. So this made the sightseeing a little more exhausting. Although, the Mediterranean beaches were nice place to cool off.
I did a journal of the trip which captured a lot of my insights to the places I went and things we did. There is no way to capture all that in one blog entry so I thought I would list my favorite highlights of the trip to give a snapshot on the things I enjoyed the most:

• Antonio Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona, Spain - I love his Art Nouveau/ gothic style
  
• Cinque Terre (5 quaint villages on the mountainous coast of the Italian Riviera) - a step back in time..
  
• The Roman Forum and Colessum in Rome, Italy - the history was almost overwhelming!
  
• Pompeii and learning more of how this former town of 20,000 lived - very fascinating
  
• The Amalfi Coast of Italy... what more can I say than breathtaking

Well I have included a few pictures of me above in different places (Barcelona, Florence, Pisa, Capri, and Rome). I'd love to hear your comments if you have travelled to any of these places recently and your thoughts..