I used to love Mariah Carey. Everything she did before The Emancipation of Mimi (with the exception of the whole Glitter thing). But now?

I first heard her new song, “Obsessed,” on B96 a couple of weeks ago. But I didn’t know it was her at the time. I had just changed radio stations in the car while driving, when I heard this completely unappealing voice croon “So oh oh oh oh.” I assumed it was some new chick trying to make it in the music biz with some unoriginal track produced by some Timbaland-wannabe. Later, on some other occasion, I was listening to the radio again when the DJ said something along the lines of, “Here’s Mariah’s new song,” and when I realized it was the same song, I was amused. I’m still a huge fan of Mariah’s music, but the garbage she puts out nowadays irk me. And why does she still try to be such a sex symbol? I don’t find her sexy. She looks…like an old woman trying to be sexy and it’s not working. Seriously, I don’t know why I’m not digging Mariah anymore, but I just felt like I had to say my piece.

Anybody remember the days when Lil Jon and “crunk” were all the rage? And, OK, it wasn’t too long ago, but it was back in high school for me, so it feels like ages now. I noticed this last week when I was making a “black people music!!! fasho!!!!!!!” (a little inside joke between me and my friends ) playlist on YouTube. I was filling the playlist with my high school classics, such as “Get Low” — which in turn was inspired by The Proposal (in which Sandra Bullock does a hilarious rendition of that song) — when I realized you just don’t hear music like that on the radio anymore. Everything’s all Auto-Tune nowadays. Kanye, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, now the Black Eyed Peas… I suppose I don’t mind too much, but it makes me wonder what kind of music fad is going to be next.

Just a few things first, domain-wise:

• Animato, my small fansite for the J-pop artist Utada, has now been reopened. I started it way back in 2004 and it’s been missing since, but not anymore! So come and give it a visit.
• I’ve been debating on whether to add more substantial content to this blog. It seems pretty bare at the moment, I realize, but the thing is, I usually reserve my more personal content for my personal website, Stargazer, which I’m working on revamping as well. If there’s someone out there with any suggestions, feel free to share.
• In light of that realization, I’ve started a summer movie log. Basically it’s a collection of short reviews of all the films I’ve seen so far this summer. Though really, it’s just a way for me to keep track of all the movies I watch at work. *wink*

So I think my mom’s in a bad mood. She asked me yesterday if I could cash her check for her, and if I wanted to go shopping with her. I refused, mostly because I just didn’t feel like doing anything that involved leaving the house at the time. I don’t know if that ticked her off or anything, but she’s doing that thing again where she locks herself in her bedroom and doesn’t talk to any of us. Then today, my dad tells me she drove herself to work this morning, which is definitely unusual because my dad drives her everywhere. I don’t know if I can stand any more of her mood swings. What the fuck, woman.

“I’m still waiting for that brother who makes me that damn weak.”

I think I might have a huge crush on Keri Hilson right now. The woman is gorgeous. At the Taste concert yesterday, she just totally rocked the show. She wore these black and blue pants that I’m pretty sure I could never pull off in real life, and her in-between comments weren’t cheesy or rude, but friendly and charming. And her dancing is siiiick.

For the concert, we managed to get standing room right near up to the fence that separated the reserved seating from the open lawns for Keri’s set, so that was a blast. But while waiting for Ne-Yo to come on, though, my friends and I tried to see if they were still letting people in the seating area. We couldn’t find a way in, so we ended up losing our spots on the lawn. I had to settle for standing way in the back by some lamp post to listen to Ne-Yo. I couldn’t even see him on stage like I was able to see Keri, I had to watch him on the big screen. But he was pretty good too. His set lasted a lot longer, and he went off and sang all his slow, depressing songs in one long medley at one point, when all we wanted was to hear “Miss Independent.” But I enjoyed it overall.

As for the Taste itself, it was exactly how I thought it would be. I had fried cheese ravioli, which tasted warm and delicious considering the weather was cold and rainy. I’m going again Friday, and the forecast says it should be sunny and warm, so that should be much more exciting.

I seriously friggin’ love the city. Every time I go there, it just makes me more jealous that I’m stuck out in the suburbs. While on the L, we managed to get into the front car and I found out you can actually see through the window and watch as the train zips through the tunnels. It was pretty badass.

So I just came back from work — a 6 hour shift that ended up extending all the way to 2:45 in the morning thanks to Public Enemies. I had to (OK, more like offered to) preview one of the prints to make sure it was ready for tomorrow’s opening. And boy, am I ever glad I did! Not only did I just get paid for watching a movie, I got paid for basically watching two of the sexiest men ever play a game of cat and mouse onscreen. Johnny Depp was absolutely marvelous in this movie; seriously, I can’t recall seeing him any better. In all honesty, I stopped liking Johnny Depp after all the Pirates of the Caribbean hoopla, but damn the man is a good actor. As for Christian Bale, the guy honestly just manages to tug at my heartstrings no matter what role he plays. I don’t know how.

Oh, and Channing Tatum makes a random cameo in the beginning. I never liked him much, but I thought it was random. And apparently he gets major billing in the film, even though his appearance was quite short.

I just hope that I don’t end up regretting having to stay up late tonight, because tomorrow I’m going to the Taste of Chicago. For the very first time ever. Yes, that’s right. I’ve lived in the Chicago area for pretty much all my life, and I have yet to ever attend the annual summer festival. I used to be ashamed of this, but when I realized that there were actually other people like me out there, who’ve never gone, I felt much better. I’m super excited because Ne-Yo and Keri Hilson are due to perform in a free concert at the Taste. Hopefully it’ll be fun.

So The Fray and Jack’s Mannequin play tonight at Tinley Park — and I’m not there. I’m a bit frustrated. They’re my favorite band, and I couldn’t find a single soul to watch them with me. And it’s frustrating, because I made a promise to myself back in 2007 after I first saw them that I would go to their every major tour concert in Chicago, and already I couldn’t even keep it.

I don’t think I’m being very selfish by saying this, but why is it so hard for people to accommodate themselves for me? I’m starting to feel like all I do is give and give, and yet not one person so far this summer has ever bothered to really, truly ask me: “What is going on in your life right now?” I can think of one person whom I have seen at least every week this summer, and even though I know what’s going on in her life, I’m pretty sure that she has not yet considered asking me how the fuck I’m doing in mine. It’s the most difficult feeling to have, because it’s not like I have been holed up in this house the entire summer. I’ve actually been out, hanging out with people and working. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that people ask me to do things with them rather than vice versa. It just makes me feel more pathetic, how nobody ever bothers to listen to me anymore.

To make my mood even worse, the U.S. lost the Confed. Cup final to Brazil today. And I’m downright disappointed. Yes, this was valuable experience for them, but at the same time it was just repulsive the way the U.S. totally disappeared in the second half. A 3-2 result I’ll take, but I’m expecting much better next year in the World Cup.

On a much lighter note, I am super duper happy that the White Sox spanked the Cubs today, 6-0.