this weekend re-enforced the general consensus that this is the best summer of all time. previously this distinction was held by the summer of 98. just before my senior year of high school. when i developed some good friendships with people in hibbing and went to a lot of camps, seminars, and toured colleges. fast forward to this summer: i have a solid group of best friends that have stood by me for the last 3 years. i have made friends with some people this summer that i'm willing to put into my little circle of people that i would drop anything and everything for. i have a sweet ass job. i spend my nights with my friends doing what we do best. chilling out and having a good time. i spend my weekends going on adventures throughout the northeast. i've become totally at peace with myself and the world. i realize that no matter what happens, it's all good. it's all good.

so to continue this introspective mood that is rare for a monday, i'll delve into the subject of songs and albums that i associate with definate moments of my life. we all have these, and they all trigger powerful emotional responses. so here's a little closer look into the psyche of christopher john reger...

shimmer by fuel. this is the song that is the summer of 98. it is also my favorite song of all time. that summer was the summer where i did a lot of emotional and spiritual growing, it pretty much is the summer that sent me on the path that i am now following and the experiences from that summer are the ones that have molded the reger that you all know and love. this song just grips me everytime i hear it. i can't explain.
She dreams a champagne dream
Strawberry surprise, pink linen and white paper
Lavender and cream
Fields of butterfliess, reality escapes her
She says that love is for fools that fall behind
And I'm somewhere in between
I never really know
A killer from a savior
'Til I break at the bend

inside out by eve 6. i first heard this song when i first came to wpi in the summer of 98. me and my dad drove out to the east coast to see colleges cuz that's where i decided that i wanted to spend the next few years of my life. i came to worcester and i heard this song just before i got out of the car to tour wpi. i must have heard it a thousand times on the way back home then. i bought the album as soon as i got home. this song marks a time when i realized that the midwest wasn't the place for me anymore. i needed to break out and explore. to see more of the country. to enjoy my youth instead of wasting it like i saw so many of the kids in my hometown do. i was going to be something. and this is the song that reminds me to grab hold of the world and squeeze every drop of sweet nectar i can get from it.
I would swallow my pride
I would choke on the rhines
But the lack thereof would leave me empty inside
I would swallow my doubt
Turn it inside out
Find nothing but faith in nothing

l train by shootyz groove. this defines freshmen year of college. thanks to chove, strekas, and regan this song was pushed into the psyche of all TKEs that year. every party. every social. anytime we had the party room speakers going, i could guarantee that this song was going to be played. it didn't really kick in til late b term, or that's when i remember hearing it all the time. but this song just opens the flood gates on everything that was right with my first year at wpi.
so clear the streets
shake the cops
lets go get these punks
are you all down?
yo nobody better front
Sometimes I am a player
sometimes I am a pawn
No energy to run
but I gotta carry on

that's it for individual songs, so onto the albums. only 2 have become associated with anything concrete.

hybrid theory by linkin park. this is album that is last summer. more specifically the road trip to the TKE conclave in new orleans at the beginning of august 01. let it be known that the 5 guys in a dodge shadow without AC for 30 hours in the south is actually a good time. a great bonding experience and a ridiculous partying experience. there is so much that went on in those few days that we traveling and partying and learning about TKE. it kicked fucking ass. and we listened to this album about 5 times straight on the way back just cuz it kicks so much ass.
I find the answers aren't so clear, wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts they make no sense, I found bliss in ignorance
Nothing seems to go away, over and over again, just like before

where have all the merrymakers gone? by harvey danger. this album isn't associated with any particular time frame or experience. it just kind of goes along with my entire life. this whole album has lyrics and sounds and melodies that anytime i listen to it, happy or sad, it brings me to a point where my head is cleared and my soul is calmed. it invites nothing but good vibes. i feel this album. if you want to know what reger is, then listen to this record.
some people will surprise you with a real depth of feeling
others still may shock you with all that they're revealing
but one thing's sure:
there's always more information than you ask for.
ask for this:
just enough knowledge to know i don't know anything
some things are personal (at least they should be)
or is it too much to ask you just to maintain a little
maintain a little
maintain a little
maintain a little
maintain a little
maintain a little
(take the cynical saint to the stake and burn it)
it's radio radio silence silence.


so if you've got greatness in you, won't you do us all a favor? and keep it--keep it to yourself?