1. Iron Man. Ever since I heard Robert Downey Jr. was playing Tony Stark, I was on board. With great reviews (it's at an unbelievable 95% on Rotten Tomatoes) and the 10th best US opening weekend ever ($100 million domestic, $200 worldwide), I'm nothing but happy for both RDJ and Jon Favreau, both whom I've been a longtime fan. If you haven't yet, go see this. It's just two hours of pure fun and it may help you understand my man-crush on RDJ, perhaps the coolest man in Hollywood (check out this long interview with him at GQ.

2. Spoon's latest single "Don't You Evah" debuted at number one on the Billboard Singles Sales. Cool.

3. I found out Chris Cornell is touring this summer and he is coming to both Pittsburgh and Cleveland... but he's doing it with something called Projekt Revolution. It's raising money for some good cause, I guess, but that means he is sharing stage time with Linkin Park, The Bravery, and Ashes Divide. And Linkin Park is headlining, not Chris Cornell. LAME. NOT GOING. SORRY.

4. Not too much longer for Indiana Jones. Huh.

5. In a year and a small handful of months, I will be in charge of a high school classroom. This is both awesome, because I will be in the real world, and disheartening, because I will be in the real world.

6. Bills are a frustrating reality that I learn more and more about each month.

7. I've written 26-pages of the script for No Passing Zone so far (shooting for 45-pages), the movie we're going to make this summer with some loaned, very expensive HD cameras, our finely matured minds, and a copy of Adobe Premiere. Whereas I often look back at what I write and dislike or even hate it after reflection, I'm really, genuinely happy with what I've written so far. I think this is going to turn out well.

8. I've decided I'm going to have a novel published by the time I am twenty-five and that this is a realistic goal.

9. I cannot, for the life of me, get this catchy song out of my head.

10. I am out of control.


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You know how advice is. You only want it if it agrees with what you wanted to do anyway.
-The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

If you're going through hell, keep going.
-Winston Churchill

Yes - Ben Roethlisberger and I were grinding on the same girl at the same time. There's plenty more to the story, of course, but it's no big deal. After all, it's just another day in the life of Jon Burdick.


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Relatively soon, I will die. Maybe in 20 years, maybe tomorrow, it doesn't matter. Once I am dead and everyone who knew me dies too, it will be as though I never existed. What difference has my life made to anyone? None that I can think of. None at all.
-About Schmidt

I never thought I'd see the day, but I'm in love again. She's so bright and she makes me feel so warm, although I admit she's a little on the big side. Yes, that was my dorky attempt at humor and saying that I'm in love with the sun and I'm glad it has been back at full force the past week. Having it back has made me realize even moreso that a year from now, I am definitely, unarguably leaving this place in hopes of finding a place where the sunshine and warmth are more plentiful. And when I leave, I don't think I'll ever look back (okay, except maybe for Christmas).

Not that the sunshine is some magical force that makes me suddenly extremely happy or less discontent, but there's something comforting about it all the same. It's nice not having to warm up the truck. It's nice to be able to take a long walk by the lake, meet new people while they're out on their own long walks. Sunshine makes everyone less grumpy. Neighbor Mike has three kayaks, so we've taken that up as a new hobby, kayaking all around Edinboro Lake, and we'll be hitting up French Creek maybe as early as tomorrow (I'll probably be purchasing my own kayak within a month or two - they're affordable, a lot of fun, a good workout, and a great hobby).

This summer should be memorable and keep my mind occupied. While I am going to work a lot (walking out with so much cash this past weekend was so satisfying), I'm not going to hoard all of my money in the bank like I have in the past, as if the $.03 in interest I get a month as a result is going to pay for my future child's college. I'll save enough to pay my ever-increasing bills, then the rest I'm going to enjoy. On top of the Foo Fighters concert (pit tickets, baby!) and possibly lawn tickets for the Eric Clapton concert, I decided I will have no less than five camping excursions, whether at Cook's Forest or a larger area or my camp in Ohio. And you know what, I'm young, I'm in college, I should put the money I'm making to use - it's time for a little irresponsibility (which I haven't been lacking lately). I already have trips planned to Philadelphia, North Carolina, and Long Beach CA (finally), and if I think I REALLY want to blow some money, I'm seriously going to do it... I'm going to put my passport to use and go to Europe.

While I might wait until next summer, I'm antsy. I'm almost 22 years-old and I've never swam in the ocean. I never even SAW it until this past summer on my Connecticut trip. This is depressing to me. So, with my discovery of Couch Surfing and the possibilities it opens (as well as the money it will save), anything is possible. I want to see the world, I want to meet new and interesting people, I want to learn from them, I want to get lost in a city where I don't speak the language and eat strange foreign foods that make me queasy. And I cannot wait. I love the fact that I'm going to be a teacher a little over a year from now and will actually have enough money to do that every summer (as dorky as it sounds, I've already done some budgeting, and a summer trip can easily be taken on even a $35,000 salary if you're smart with your money - bonus points, of course, if there is a second salary from a significant other - but for me a summer part-time waitering job might be in order too).

Onto other things, in college lately I've noticed that "dressing down" has become an overwhelming style of its own. It's almost amusing. For some people, they just throw on some sweatpants with a raggedy hoodie. For others, it's almost dressing up by dressing down - a carefully structured, multi-layered ensemble of pinks and stripes and clothing I don't quite understand. But hey, we get it. You look totally hot even when you dress like a bum with the word "PINK" written in blue on your bright green sweatpants.

I'm not sure if I would ever want to be a college professor. High school teachers have it easy. They are working with impressionable kids, they are the authority, they can throw around detentions, suspensions, threats of principal intervention. Professors though tend to want to treat their students with respect since they're adults (at least legally), but as it goes, the respect isn't always reciprocal. Something I find both fascinating and dreadfully annoying, in literally every class I have, people always start packing their books and notebooks and cell phones and what have you about three minutes before class is officially over. This is the point in class when the professor is trying to wrap up his lecture, bringing it full circle to hit home with the ultimate points he was trying to make. Yet, it takes only one person to quietly try and slip a notebook into his or her backpack, then as though it were an official cue, the next few minutes are just a constant shuffling of papers and books, as the professor looks mildly annoyed, but continues his lecture, only a little louder and with a little more urgency. For the professor, I wonder why he doesn't simply tell everyone to shut the hell up. As far as the students, I always wonder what it must feel like to be in such a hurry that I can't possibly wait 30 extra seconds after class to pack my stuff up, in such a hurry that I have to sprint out the door immediately upon the conclusion of the class, fighting to get to the door as though salvation lay beyond. Maybe they all have turkeys in the oven. I'm glad my life isn't so demanding.


Movie Recommendations of the Moment
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. I know, I know - the trailers weren't very funny, but J. Beardsley recommended I check it out anyway, and it was downright hilarious. There is one scene in particular when Dewey first encounters drugs that has made me burst into spontaneous laughter in class and at work when I was thinking about it . In theatres, I highly recommend Forgetting Sarah Marshall. If they made more romantic comedies like this, it wouldn't be considered wussy for guys to say they like romantic comedies. Sure, there is no way a guy like Jason Segel could ever get chicks like Kristen Bell or Mila Kunis, but regardless, if you're a dude and you've ever been dumped, this movie is for you. Turns a lot of the romantic comedy cliches on their head and is one of the better comedies I've seen in a long while (Judd Apatow can do no wrong!).

Book Recommendations of the Moment
I finished The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger recently and absolutely loved it. The concept of time travel has always fascinated me, so this was right up my alley. Well-written, carefully thought out, and brilliantly structured, this would appeal to those who want to boggle their mind with time travel theories, or those who want interesting, realistic characters, or those who just want a smart, brutally honest love story. Read it quick, before the movie adaptation starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana comes out at the end of the year. If you want another cup of brutal honesty, check out John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent, a very un-Steinbeckian book in that it deals with a middle-class family in a small Northeastern town in 1950s America. It's a quick read, but very thought provoking.

Music Recommendations of the Moment
Right now, I can't get enough of The Kooks, a catchy indie rock band out of England that gained international fame opening up for the Rolling Stones on their 2006 tour. Their second album Konk was just released a little over a week ago ("One Last Time" and "See the Sun" being my favorites off the new album. Other favorite off their first album: "Ooh La" and "I Want You Back").

Gomez is my other band of the moment, a folk indie rock band also out of England. Impossible to describe, each album of theirs is distinctly different. Start off with "Notice," "GirlShapedLoveDrug," "See the World," "Hamoa Beach," "Get Miles," "Whippin' Piccadilly" and "Chasing Ghosts With Alcohol."

Lastly is Grand Archives, a Seattle-based indie rock band that was formed last year by Mat Brooke, a former guitarist of one of my all-time favorite bands Band of Horses. Like his previous band, he's really breaking the mold of generic rock music. Check out "Orange Juice," "George Kaminsky," and "A Setting Sun" off their self-titled debut album.



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Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
-Winston Churchill

As Jon Beardsley so aptly put it, "you have by far some of the worst luck I've ever seen."

And as I responded, whether it's luck or not (I do like to think I have a little more control over things, but I reckon sometimes I just don't), things do tend to break in my life quite a bit, without much reasoning behind it. Nada. Zip. If it is a result of Lady Luck, I'm genuninely not a fan of hers, nor do I consider her much of a friend. She won't be invited to my wedding, that's for sure.

First my car broke. A ridiculous amount of money down the drain. Then my computer broke, pretty much everything was replaced, and once again I spent far more money than I ever should have. Then it was the back window of my car. Then, the entire muffler system decided to fall off of my car fifteen miles from home, resulting in the most ridiculous amount of money spent yet. Then a tire on my truck explodes. Then today, I woke up, and my computer monitor no longer worked. At all. Broken. Sheesh.

All that would have paid for my journey to Europe this summer and then some. If I had invested all of that money, I'd probably be a rich man right now, swimming in a vault of cash like Scrooge McDuck.

Just a strange time in my life, I guess.

Ah, but I don't want pity, which reading over this, it sort of sounds like I do. Truly, I don't. Save pity for those who need it. Things will turn around soon, and before long, I'll be lounging in my summer home in the Italian countryside, writing my second Pulitzer-winning novel, before I fly to my penthouse in Paris to meet with my literary agent to discuss the potential of drafting my first novel as a Hollywood screenplay for Spielberg.

Mark my words.


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"Ellen, only last night, asked, 'Daddy, when will we be rich?' But I did not say to her what I know: 'We will be rich soon, and you who handle poverty badly will handle riches equally badly.' And that is true. In poverty she is envious. In riches she may be a snob. Money does not change the sickness, only the symptoms."
-The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

This was an absolutely awesome, awesome concert. Of course, Spoon blew my mind (not even the really tall, awkward guy in the front who chose to stand directly in front of Britt Daniel could lessen our experience), but both The Walkmen and White Rabbits were far better than I could have ever expected. I could go on, but we'll leave it at that: awesome.

I captured a lot of video too, but the sound is terrible. I'll see what I can salvage.

Click on the pictures for the higher-res versions.







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Everything hits at once.
What we needs is just what we wants.
-Spoon

Just a couple of days ago I bought two tickets to go see Foo Fighters in Cleveland on July 25. Right in the pit. I'm going to make sure I fight my way close enough so I can be drenched in Dave Grohl's sweat. Anyway, they're my favorite band, Grohl is my hero, and it's going to be nothing short of mind-blowing, that much I'm sure.

Exactly a week from today, I'll be seeing Spoon, The Walkmen, and White Rabbits down in Pittsburgh. In the past half of a year or so, Spoon has worked its way near the top of my favorite modern bands, topped only by Foo. I've taken quite the liking to the other two bands these past weeks as well. Being only FIVE rows from the stage (and in aisle seats, mind you), it should be an amazing concert.

Nothing else worth blogging about in my life, really. I've been writing for my university's weekly newspaper for a few months now and just today they offered me the paid position as the sole Arts & Entertainment editor next year. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I might have to turn it down, since my workload is going to be insane next year, between field experience, student teaching, and my waitering job (which starts up here again in a couple of weeks actually - it will be nice to be making money again, but it's nice having the freedom of every weekend off these past couple of months).

Speaking of my teaching stuff, it's really starting to truck along. I'm in the process of getting clearances, since the second half of next semester I'm going to be teaching actual classes - something I didn't realize until just last week. Anyway, criminal record check, FBI fingerprinting, Act 151 child abuse, tuberculosis tests... they go all out to make sure I'm safe. Hard to believe that in about a year and a half I'm going to be a teacher, out in the real world. A year and a half ago I had just started my first semester at Edinboro as a sophomore. They ain't kidding when they say the older you get, the faster time goes by.

But that's about all. Life is just weird lately. I'm pretty discontent. If I had the money, I'd transfer somewhere just away for my senior year. Sticking around for another year isn't a big deal, but I look forward to leaving, to moving on. Sometimes I'm angry with myself for ever coming back from Florida. I'm angry for not going out to California after I graduated, like I originally intended. Ah, such is life.

Here's the mix of now. Listen to 'em in your browser or just 'Right Click, Save Link As.'

1. Oasis - Acquiesce
2. Why? - The Vowels Pt. 2
3. Eric Clapton - Old Love (Unplugged)
4. MGMT - Kids
5. The Decemberists - Summersong
6. Cat Power - Wonderwall (Oasis Cover)
7. Jimi Hendrix - Bold As Love
8. Lenny Kravitz - I'll Be Waiting
9. Bloc Party - On
10. Death Cab for Cutie - Title and Registration
11. Ben Lee - Gamble Everything
12. The Walkmen - All Hands and the Cook
13. White Rabbits - The Plot
14. Spoon - Everything Hits at Once
15. Foo Fighters - Walking After You
16. Foo Fighters - Still


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I don't know what it is
that makes me feel alive.
I don't know how to wake
the things that sleep inside.
I only wanna see the light
that shines behind your eyes.
-Oasis

Another spring break has come and gone. While I decided it wasn't in the best interests of my bank account to go to Germany or California (isn't this always the case?), it was still an enjoyable, busy, relaxing(?) week, full of nights that never ended before four a.m. and mornings that never began until noon. The end of the break also marked the end of Samuel's extended visit. We failed in convincing him to stick around (or maybe it was those icy roads that convinced him otherwise), so he's back in NC for the remainder of his six or so months with the Marines. Then we can go to India.

In other news, I'm more than likely going to see Eric Clapton this summer. Since he's easily one of the greatest guitarists ever and a musical god, this is obviously pretty cool. I was going to go see Tom Petty again (I still might), but since I've seen him twice already, Clapton gets the priority here.

The mix of the moment is below. As always, listen to these in your browser or just 'Right Click, Save Link As.'


1. Jonny Lang - If We Try
2. Keane - We Might as Well Be Strangers
3. Bob Marley - Stir It Up
4. Ben Harper - Walk Away
5. Bloc Party - So Here We Are
6. Snow Patrol - Run
7. Keane - The Way You Want It
8. Oasis - Don't Go Away
9. Beirut - A Sunday Smile
10. Band of Horses - Ode to LRC
11. Ben Folds - Sentimental Guy
12. John Mayer - Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
13. John Mayer - Dreaming With a Broken Heart
14. Glen Hansard - When Your Mind's Made Up
15. Jonny Lang - Goodbye Letter


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Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nastiness, and fabulous flashes of glory in the conjugal conspiracy. It was time when they both loved each other best, without hurry or excess, when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity. Life would still present them with other moral trials, of course, but that no longer mattered: they were on the other shore.
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

I'm very pleased with the Oscars this year. My Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay choices all took the prize. Harrison Ford presented an award. Cormac McCarthy was actually in the audience. Jon Stewart made me laugh. And it was a VERY cool, classy, and memorable move to invite Markéta Irglová back out to have her moment (did you realize she isn't even 20 years old yet? Crazy). I've also decided I have an elementary-like crush on Amy Adams. I think I might write her a note to see if she'll be my girlfriend. If anyone could pass her the note for me, that would be appreciated.

Not too much going on right now... just the school thing. I should have a pretty busy couple months coming up though, thankfully.

What I'm looking forward to:
1) March 8 -16: Spring Break (TBD still)
2) April 7: Going to see Spoon with The Walkmen and White Rabbits... 6 rows from the stage
3) April 12: Finally going skydiving
4) April 25-26: Whitewater rafting?
5) Early April: Making money again
6) May: Getting the semester over with
7) May 22, 2008 (henceforth known as Indiana Jones Day)
8) Summer: Taking it a little more easy than usual
9) Leaving the country this summer for a week or two to put that passport to use (TBD where)

What I'm not looking forward to:
1) Having to actually go back to work to make that money

Alright, so here's the mix of the moment. Again, not really much of a theme here other than it being music that I've been listening to lately and most of it being new music as I continue to seek out new bands that I know little to nothing about. You can listen to them in your browser or just 'Right Click, Save Link As' them.

1. Wheat - Don't I Hold You
2. Keane - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)
3. Beirut - Nantes
4. Keane - Fly to Me
5. Band of Horses - The Funeral
6. Straylight Run - It's For the Best
7. The Kooks - Ooh La
8. Spoon - Chicago at Night
9. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová - Falling Slowly
10. The Decemberists - O Valencia
11. Frank Capello - For You
12. The Beatles - For No One
13. Bruce Springsteen - Gypsy Biker
14. Radiohead - All I Need
15. John Mayer - Find Another You

Now stop being lazy. Leave a comment.

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The road has its own reasons and no two travelers will have the same understanding of those reasons. If indeed they come to an understanding of them at all.
-The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy