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Tougher than the Rest from the Bruce Springsteen concert in Barcelona. Which I was at - if you listen carefully, you can hear me squeeing madly in the background.

The concert was awesome - not as good as the one I went to in December, by virtue of being bigger, open air, and also by virtue of being in the seated area all the way on the other side of the stadium. But it was amazing, and one of the things I love about the E-Street Band is how their energy reaches across the damn stadium, so it doesn't matter as much that you're about a kilometre away - you're still part of concert. And it was damned fun, yelling lyrics and dancing like a lunatic and trying to recognize the songs by their opening bars. And Patti was there this time, which was very cool - she looked gorgeous. Oh, and all the little Springsteens came out at the end!

Also! They played This Hard Land as per an audience request, which surprised me and thrilled me - gay cowboy song! Yay! Also, one of their encores was Bobby Jean, which is possibly my fourth or fifth favourite song and is a pair, in my mind, with No Surrender which I heard in December, so it felt all book-endy. YAY! Also, man, Youngstown is pure awesome live. It's so damn angry!

They also did Mary's Place which is the best song ever live and was nine minutes of pure, pure happiness. I can't even explain it, but the whole song just made me so happy, I thought I might cry right there. Which would have been an experience in itself. This recording from The Rising Tour gives you some impression of the song, but it's not like being there - it's not like being amid 75000 people who are suddenly very, very quiet.

I also had a fun conversation with a French woman about how it's impossible to talk about Bruce Springsteen concerts without resorting to clichés. It was magical! It was religious! It was like a revival!

Man, I can't wait for the tour dvd.

1. So, yesterday I may have shrieked 'IN A CONFESSIONAL' loud enough for everyone in my house to hear me.

But, really - talk about ticking ALL my boxes. The confessional scene! The awkward no-we're-not-having-a-personal-conversation-in-public conversation! "I've never wanted anything so much"! Also, hello Kieron's collarbone! And hi, the kiss at the end? BOYS! GAH!

(I'm totally ignoring the first conversation they have, because it's silly. Very silly.)

2. Yesterday I went out, got drunk and had fake lesbian interaction with my Bean and K from our course. T'was awesome and needs to be repeated. (Have I mentioned that I love my coursemates? And that Bean and I are possibly the weirdest people in the world? In a good way. And that I HAVE NO SHAME? It's not good. Except for the part where it is.)

3. Exams? What exams? *whistles*

3a. Essays? What essays?

Q: Is there anything better than new books?

A: Time to read said new books, preferably with coffee, a blanket and Gemma.

In a fit of possibly Valentine's Day related madness, or possibly just plain madness, I bought myself Un Lun Dun which I've wanted for maybe six months now, and features sentient umbrellas and Cloud Atlas maybe possibly mostly for its cover and the way Gemma looked and me when she found it and said, 'you'll love this book.' (One does not doubt the Gemma when she makes these pronouncements. She is always right.) And then today, my books for uni arrived - Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels and Evelina, all for six pounds (yay for Penquin recyclables.)

Of course, I have to read Crusoe by Thursday, I still haven't really started my passage analysis (two pages of handwritten notes does not equal a coherent piece of work, self!) and the language part of my critical theory module is fascinating, but hardly something you can half-ass (if you look very closely, children, you can see the exact moment when trying to describe words using words makes Chris's head explode!) so I need to focus on that (and not think about Bahktin and The Realm of Possibility, because any analysis of that book will only end in tears) and I'm currently writing three things as well as trying to edit two stories.

This really should be more stressful than it is. Life really is kind of awesome.

Also, I watched Ratatouille with Gemma last night, and the ending is pure distilled joy in DVD form. I'm still all a-glee. Oh, Paris!

I. I just want to squish their little faces. Seriously! How are they so ridiculously cute? "Spend Christmas with me!" Boys! BOYS! So cute!

♥

(erhm. this is really an entirely silly thing to be watching when the Gem is, oh, in a different country)

(Also! What is with soap opera boys right now? YOU GUYS I DON'T NEED A FANDOM!)

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street are legends. I can't even beign to explain how awesome - almost in the original sense of the word - yesterday's concert was. There's just something about the energy, like you haven't lived until you've shouted tramps like us at the top of your lungs and still been unable to distinguish your voice from the rest of the crowd. Just, the entire atmosphere of the place was amazing. Particularly during Radio Nowhere, Badlands, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (LOVE!), >The Promised Land (seriously, amazing.) and Born to Run. I got shivers during the River though - it was beautiful, so beautiful, and the crowd response - quietly, quietly singing along and swaying. The same for Magic where the chanting of 'This is what will be' sounded almost religious as the crowd took up the murmur. And Bruce's face, light up against the dark stage in both those songs was amazing - he just *looks* like the music. It's hard to explain, but it's incredible.

And speaking of religious, the opening of Livin' in the Future (which is an amazing number anyway, and my favourite off the new album), where Bruce listed all that he saw as wrong with America had the crowd yelling in agreement - I swear, I heard more than one Amen among the crowd, it was electric. I think we would've bought anything he told us. Same goes for American Land, the finalé which is basically an anthem of immigrants and a codemnation of US treatment of immigrants.

Also, Bruce Springsteen speaking Danish is ridiculously adorable.

And, finally, as their second number, they played No Surrender and Steven kissed Bruce. I. Err. That was pretty awesome, too.

♥

( The Set-List )

Yes I am. I had a crappy afternoon, but it is all okay because of the following things:

- Gemma
- A long, rambling and utterly weird conversation with two of the awesome people I live with
- Chaucer
- This piece of gorgeous, sexy meta about fandom being a queer, female space (yay!). This makes me want to grab a random fandom girl and just snuggle her (incidentally, it's in the folder of my bookmarks called [I want to make-out with fandom right now]. I thought you might like to know.)
- The Ratatouille soundtrack
- I might as well admit it - I'm a little in love with Luke/Noah. But look how adorable and angsty they are! 'I think about you all the time'! Puppies!
- I just made awesome veggie stir-fry
- I have Big Fish on DVD

I am currently cuddled up in bed, listening to classical music and reading The Passion of St. Edmund in Old English while sipping warmed cranberry juice with honey.

I feel like I should be wearing tweed or something.

I made a really, really undignified noise just now, scrolling down my friendspage to read this on crack_van: Pairing: Dick Winters/Lewis Nixon.

Speaking of things that give me glee and Winters/Nixon, I want to reccomend After Rain, a Band of Brothers vid which is just *beautiful*. thefourthvine recced it as part of her happy-making post, and it is. I've watched it a few times now and each time, by the end, I'm just sitting there smiling. Even the song (which is wonderful) makes me smile. Go, request the password and *see it*.

Also, my torrent of Much Ado About Nothing finished downloading; it is still hilarious and remains my favourite of the Shakespeare Re-Told stories. It's also my favourite play of the one's down, but that's neither here nor there. Macbeth is really the best executed of the four, but I don't know. There's just something so *appealing* about Much Ado.... It doesn't hurt that Sarah Parish, Damian Lewis and Billie Piper are all made from awesome and pretty.

And now, I am going to go pack some more and maybe panic about my finacial state just for a change!

I AM FREE! Granted, my history examination sucked so much I could've hired it out as a hooker and made good money, but it doesn't matter because I AM DONE. And, with any luck, I've scored the 40% which will insure that I never take another history class in my life ever.

This deserves a dance or eight.

Also, my birthday was awesome, which I'm very squeeful about, and I am currently experiencing amounts of GLEE that cannot be contained about next year. Because I am a loon, I spent ten minutes reading the newly published dissertation titles while waiting for the English office to sign my slip, and I CAN'T WAIT! Can I do it next term? Can I? Can I? But even without the disseration, next year will still be awesome. Chaucer! Sense & Satire! Critical Theory, love of my academic life!

Also glee-inducing? Human Nature. Oh, Martha! I'll have more comments after this weekend, but seriously. Glee! Who just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

I have no wise comments on FanLib and Warriors of Innocence, because I'm not up to speed on them; please to be providing links to get me so?

Finally, I have a million books I want to read. And time to do so now! (Oh - and the entire first season of DuckTales. Because Gemma = awesome!)