To be completely honest, I don't want to write this week's column. I'm in such a great mood and I feel like if I sit at this desk for one more minute I'm going to burst into a cloud of confetti!

But I suppose that wouldn't be fair to you, to just walk out on the job and run across the street to go play kickball in the park or something, because that'd leave you with a big blank page in the middle of the paper. Nobody wants that.

One reason I'm so happy, in case you're wondering, is because the past couple of weeks have been full of great shows and great people. (Another reason is because I've only eaten cookies all day.)

On Friday, July 25, Blue Sky Mile kicked off their first national tour with a sugary-sweet bang at a Ground Zero CD-release party/ice-cream social. The place was packed with familiar faces and confection-high BSM fans going crazy over old favorites and a few new songs from the full-length the band just finished recording.

The boys are on the road until September, but to get a BSM fix, you can check in on them through their new online journal at www.livejournal.com/users/blueskymile. Tell them I said hello.

On Wednesday, July 30, the November Group played the last show they'll be playing for a long time--Blair, their guitarist, is going to grad school in New York. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to the show (I couldn't miss my mom's birthday dinner!), but lucky for you and I, my good friend Dan was in attendance and he reported that the show was fantastic. The Group played some new material ("Hardcore to the political max!" I think was the phrase used), and the crowd was thrashing around and singing along the entire time (despite the fact that it was the hottest day of the year and everyone was crammed in the Punkin House's sticky, sweaty basement).

Dan also fell in love with The World We Made, a local "heartcore" band that takes one step closer to becoming my favorite every time I hear or see them. If you've wanted to check them out, you have a great opportunity on Tuesday, August 12, when they play 2nd Avenue Pizza with Humble Ary, Crawl Not Walk, and Tragic Remains of the Ashes. The show's only $3-$5 (pay what you can), and it starts at 6 pm sharp.

It's a bummer that there's no room left to talk about the Aquabats show, because that was super rad too.

Boom! MEGAN SELING

megan@thestranger.com