Metal mouth, tin grin, railroad tracks. I can't think of any others.

I'm starting an experiment tonight. For the next two weeks, I'm going to wear my retainers to bed every single night. I don't plan on this being a pleasant experience. Right after I got my braces off, my orthodontist told me I should wear the retainers all the time for the first six months and then just at night for a year after that. He also said most orthodontists are starting to recommend that former braces-wearers just wear their retainers for the rest of their life.

Ha, I said. We'll see how that goes.

I've hardly worn them every night since that day, much less all the time. My longest streak of consecutive nights wearing the retainers is probably four days. And I can always tell that it helps keep my teeth together, mainly because the mornings after I wear them to bed, my teeth are in excruciating pain. I can hardly chomp on my Golden Maple Quaker Oat Squares.

So hopefully these two weeks won't be awful for me. But they probably will be.

-Jon

P.S. Remember that time that UNI upset the best team in the nation for a school-record breaking NCAA tournament run? That was pretty awesome.

I can hear my stomach grumbling at me.

After I graduated, I challenged myself to write one blog a week. It didn't go well until the end of February, and I think since around then I've kept it up alright. So the only real reasons for this blog are that I want to get my one blog for the week and I'm hungry and don't have much brain capacity for anything deeper than this.

I am very hungry right now. Colleen is meeting her mom out for dinner tonight so I've got to fend for myself. I could just eat a microwaveable pizza, but who the heck wants that when there is truly an assemblage of great fast food places close by? Here's the rundown:

McDonalds:

Great tasting food, but I feel worse after I've eaten a Mickey-D's meal than any other fast food place. Why? Not sure, it might be from that documentary Super-Size Me, which I didn't even see. Thanks brain for ruining a perfectly delicious restaurant. Super cheap and great fries. Except they have Coke products. Bummer.

Burger King:

One of my favorite fast food places. Cheap and good. And again, great fries. Good chicken sandwiches too, all on the dollar menu. Again though, Coke products. But after I'm done I don't feel like I ingested straight fat into my arteries like I do after the golden arches.

Taco Bell:

Hey gang, let's head south of the border! TB is such a great place to eat. A nice change from the normal cheeseburger. And even though every item on the menu is some permutation of cheese, beef, beans, and a shell, it's all still really good. And Pepsi products, so I can get my Mt. Dew. Except for the Mt. Dew Baja Blast they have is awful, tastes like Listerine. Gross.

Long John Silver's:

Anybody want flies on their food? Didn't think so. Granted, I haven't been to LJS' for years and years, and I remember loving it when I was a kid, there just always seemed to be three or four flies cruising around the joint every time I ever went there. Weird. I should give it another go sometime soon.

Hardee's:

Worst ad campaign ever, which is probably why most people I know say they "hate" this place. Too bad for them, because Hardee's is the best fast food joint there is, no contest. It's a bit on the pricier side, but it's so worth it for what you get. Delicious, crispy fries, regular or curly. Giant drinks (even their medium puts other places larges to shame). Huge angus beef patties. I don't even know what angus beef is, but man is it tasty. It's just all fun food to eat. What a great place.

So there's a quick rundown of what's around to eat. I could also just get a large pepperoni pizza from Little Caesar's for $5.35. One of the best deals around. But in the end, who really cares where I go for dinner except me? Weekly blog done.

-Jon

Spring Music Preview '10.

Rolling Stone has published their annual Spring Music Preview, giving its readers a sneak peek at new albums coming out through the summer. Here's what I think.

1. Erykah Badu - New Ameryikah Part Two: Return of the Ankh (3/30)

Weirdest title ever. What is the deal with Erykah Badu? Do I like her or do I not? It's a tough one. Sometimes she's like a female D'Angelo, sometimes her music is just a tish too freaky for me. But I'll probably get my hands on this album eventually. She seems like one of a few truly creative and free-thinking minds in R&B today, and that goes a ways with me.

2. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way (4/06)

This one actually isn't profiled by the Rolling Stone article which is weird because it will almost certainly be better than most of the other albums on their list. There are not many groups these days with such an authentic, old-school sound. They are straight soul/funk/R&B. They sound like the JBs have time-warped fifty years and connected with Sharon Jones to make just the purest sounding soul music. I'm sure this album will be no different.

3. Keane - Night Train (5/11)

Another one not profiled by RS. I'm iffy on this album because I haven't even heard Keane's last album, Perfect Symmetry, back from late '08. So I should probably pick that up before getting excited about a new Keane album. That's sort of how Keane is for me though. I don't get excited about their albums, I get them months (or years) after they are released and then I have a quiet appreciation for them. It'll be the same with this album I'm sure.

4. Jack Johnson - To The Sea (6/01)

Considering the change between In Between Dreams and Sleep Through The Static, I can only imagine this is going to be a killer album. And Jack Johnson has long hair now. Weird.

5. Sara Bareilles - Title TBD (Date TBD)

Remember how great Sara's first album was? Word on the Wikipedia is that ?uestlove and James Poyser (both of The Roots) are helping her out with this one. Enough said. It's going to be incredible.

6. Maroon 5 - Title TBD (Date TBD)

Oh wow, Maroon 5 is coming out with a new album? Forget it guys, you released a totally phenom first single, a decently good debut album to back it up, and followed it up with kind of crap. It's going to be hard to redeem yourself after taking like four years between albums. Who do you think you are, Sade?

7. Mark Ronson - Title TBD (Date TBD)

One of the best producers around. Whatever he does with this album is going to be awesome. His second album was great, Amy Winehouse's Back To Black was great, the stuff he does with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings is great, Rhymefest's Blue Collar was great. It doesn't matter what direction he goes in because he can do great stuff in any genre. Bring it Mark.

So those are the albums that stood out. None of my favorite artists have stuff coming out, but man is this year already looking miles better than last year's spring preview. And so far, this year has been waaaay better than last year. Already, we've got new albums from OK Go, Sade, Jamie Cullum, Daniel Merriweather, Corinne Bailey Rae, and in the next month, Broken Bells, Gorillaz, and Jimi Hendrix. While none of these are Top 5 Favs for me, the number of albums I'd like to get is way bigger than normal. Awesome. Cheers to 2010 huh?

-Jon