LOL, EXPOSITORY JOURNALISM.
in the great & helpful ficwriting spirit of damnyouwentz,
sonstoodstammer & sobrellevar
bring you:
Pete Wentz & Lauren Hoffman: a Primer.
We go in-depth for no apparent reason (other than goodwill & compulsion), into the things ficwriters might want to know about this little blip on the Wentz radar, with pictures and blog quotage and downloadables and uh, more stuff.
(and also so, y'know, when we post Pete/Lauren fic, you'll be in on the game, f'realz.)
A warning? When we say in-depth, we mean this thing is longer than the Great Wall of China, the distance between earth and the moon, the lines of coke Paris Hilton probably inhales, etc.
+
Use these handy links to navigate:
| The Beginning & the Story So Far | About Lauren |
| the Pete-Lauren Dynamic, Whatever | Ehm-Pee-Threes |
[ The Beginning & the Story So Far ]
The Pete-Lauren thing is another example of why Pete has powers over Teh Intrawebs. On March 17, 2006, our favorite Fancypants posted the following entry on the falloutboyrock.com journal, about a song he liked:i found this song that is so rad- total "listen late at night with one light on barely, drinking sleeptime tea" song. i don't know who it's by. i will find out though.
...EDIT: okay- the song is called "fall away" and it's by lauren hoffman- i have no idea anything about her but it's perfect to listen to when you are falling asleep alone- "I heard the warning of the sun, Remember all the days I strayed, I found you, The moon fell down and made no sound... Where's my mind I lost it too, And you put my love away".
And with that, many people discovered Lauren Hoffman's lovely lullaby song Fall Away. People visited her site and Myspace by the droves, almost overnight. See, this is when Lauren became one of the people who was officially Touched by the empirically powerful (and semi-metaphorical) Golden Hand of Peter Wentz.
She posted this in her journal:Saturday, April 22, 2006 / fall out boy falls asleep to 'fall away'
a few weeks ago, peter wentz from the band fall out boy posted something in his online journal about one of my songs and how it's perfect for late at night alone with sleepytime tea or something like that. i didn't really know who peter wentz or fall out boy were until that happened, but it turns out i must be living in my own little bubble because they are like the biggest band in america right now - or at least the biggest band on myspace and on mtv.
so i got all these e-mails and myspace adds from fall out boy fans, which was really cool. it especially means a lot to me when teenage girls connect with my music - i remember how deeply music affected me as a teenager, i remember feeling fuck-up inside and music being the only language that spoke to that part of me. so when i'm told that someone is having that experience with my music, i feel the deepest satisfaction...
and when i hear that a rock star is falling asleep listening to my song? : ) yeah, that's pretty cool too.
And so some love was shared, some appreciation went mutually and spread, and things were generally in a happy place. We totes believe that there were some phonecalls and emails or something, between Pete and Lauren, because a few weeks later, Pete was gracious and sweet enough to invite Lauren down for a show.
From Pete's blog:Saturday, May 6, 2006
The blisters on my thumbs have a love/hate relationship with my sidekick, as does my sense of selfesteem. You get it or you don't. The last week has been amazing. I got the chance to meet lauren hoffman, who wrote one of my favorite songs to fall asleep to. Its so strange to put a face with a song. I also got the chance to hang with some of the guys from the band damnation ad which is oretty much the only thing that got me through age 14 to 18. Its so weird to get nervous and shake around people who sing the words that make you heart beat- but it happens to all of us I think.
It was a lovely time for all, and Lauren's opinion of Pete went up considerably in contrast to those of an old childhood acquaintance, the balding, ranty musician known as Dave Matthews. Peterpanda had effectively won some chivalrous manpoints for his good behavior. See, from Lauren's blog:Thursday, May 04, 2006
dave matthews down 1, pete wentz up 3
Category: Music
there's defintely some history there. when i was thirteen, i sat in the room while dave matthews wrote some of the songs on his first album. at fifteen, i would walk over to trax and hang out with his band after my ballet class during their sound check. a couple of years later, i worked in their management and merchandise office. this was all because my father was dave's mentor... but when i was eighteen, things changed. success changes people, and you hear stuff like "it's not personal man, it's business".
that was a long time ago, so, like, water under the bridge, right?... but maybe you can't let go of the past so easily.
i recently ran into dave after many years, and he seemed so overjoyed to see me, introducing me with compliments to everyone around. he invited me to come out to the studio, telling me he couldn't wait to hang out, i should have dinner with them and maybe sing on a song of theirs, etc etc... so we set a date... but when the time came, he blew me off. didn't take my call, didn't call me back, didn't even have one of his 'people' give me a message. just straight up blew me off. it was so lame and insulting and just made me feel like shit ... and what made it even more loaded was the history; he made me regret giving him the benefit of the doubt.
on the other hand, pete wentz invited me to his show with fall out boy last night and was totally gracious and respectful and awesome. their tour manager and crew were all very cool and took care of me and my friend - i was really impressed with their whole scene and vibe.
it turns out that my song, fall away, meant even more to him than i realized - he said it was one of his top favorite songs of all time and he'd been listening to it before he went so sleep for like a year... so meeting was weird, in a really cool way, for both of us : )
in the end? well, the dave thing was a bummer, but the pete thing was super cool - so in the final balance of my rock-star encouters, i think i definitely came out ahead : )
plus, i wrote a new song last week. hell yeah. i love that after-new-song-feeling.
♥ lauren
A picture from Lauren's Buzznet (sobrellevar made it smaller and prettier, heh):
Yay for Pete and his innate talent for intrapersonal relations. Boo for blurry and flash-ridden photos.
...And more time passes. You are now free to wander into that beloved Mystery Zone of Fanfic Situations. Lauren doesn't forget about how nice Pete was, and does a sleepy and pretty cover of "Of All the Gin Joints..." and features it on her Myspace as mp3 of the week. On the FBR.com Q&A section, Pete was thankful and gracious again, probably for more Hoffman Chivalry Points:
asked by Erin on May 20 2006 3:13PM
How did you feel when Lauren Hoffman did a cover of Gin Joints and dedicated it to you?
answered by peter on May 20 2006 3:16PM
its amazing. its like someone you really admire saying the stuff you do is ok. besides i think she may have done it better than us.
You'll find a YSI link to the cover at the bottom of this primer.
Yay for Mutual Appreciation Between Musicians, and hurrah for lullaby-like covers.
+
So. Let's talk about this charming, smoky-voiced New York chanteuse:
[ About Lauren ]
Some quick links for quick info: Official site // The Myspace // The Buzznet
You can learn a lot from the biography on her site and/or Myspace, but here is the long and short of it:
Age-wise: Lauren's birthday is not listed on her myspace nor her site, but her bio does say that she was 3 years old when John Lennon was shot. Lennon was murdered in December 1980, so that would make Lauren around 28, less than a year older than Pete, who was born in 1979. (Thus concludes the math skills of this primer. All of my brain cells have been used up, what with the subtractions. Ugh. -- sobrellevar )
Lauren and the Music Business:
01. Music was a big deal in her family. Her dad worked intensively behind-the-scenes in the recording industry, there was always a lot of music around her, etc.
02. She cites Madonna, Bob Dylan, and Sting as some of her childhood music memories. Remember Pete's picture with Sting? Yeah, so did we.
03. Speaking of hobnobbing with stars, Lauren got to know many musicians, such as Dave Matthews and even the tragic Jeff Buckley, who she met when he was touring to promote his first release.
04. Lauren initially didn't want to be a musician. If ever, she planned to work behind the scenes, like her dad. But meeting Jeff Buckley inspired her to follow her dream. Sadly, he died exactly a month before her first album's release. The advance copy she mailed him didn't even get there on time.
05. Lauren still flounders between wanting and not-wanting the musician life, but for now she's decided she's in it, f'reals, we guess.
Other bits and bobs:
Lauren is very idealistic and believes in a lot of causes, such as AIDS education, the promotion of literacy, and the eradication of poverty.
Aside from her FOB cover, Lauren also covered "Helena" by My Chemical Romance, in similar smoky-jazzy sparse-instrumentation style.
+
[ The Pete-Lauren Dynamic, Whatever ]
a.k.a. the section where sonstoodstammer and sobrellevar speculate, f'reals.
Seeing as Pete was a Political Science major at DePaul University (at least, until he dropped out the semester before graduation to focus on the band), he and Lauren would probably have a lot to discuss about global issues, and such. We totes know this is heavy stuff for fanfic, but that's the kind of people they both are: they can love the heaviness of a tough conversation.
Lauren was also really impressed by the way Our Boy Fancypants uses Teh Internets to reach out to fans, which is probably why she uses her Myspace and blogs and Buzznet much more often now. The Buzznet is actually a pretty recent thing, probably influenced by Pete's, and was opened in April.
They'd have a lot to talk about. Lauren and Pete's blogs also sometimes touch on the same topics, and they sometimes tend to phrase things in similar ways. sonstoodstammer will go more into this in Primer Part II, in her Big Pete&Lauren Table of Doom. *nod*
...And while Lauren seems like the classical vintage beauty, all poise and clever conversation, even over straight whisky, Pete would be a total fanboy. F'realz.
+
OH DOWNLOADABLES, BECAUSE SHARING IS CARING!
[ Ehm-Pee-Threes ]
Please replace the 'hxxp' with 'http' to reach the YSI link. Comment if it's down so sobrellevar can re-upload. Also, you can help by uploading and giving us a mirror for the download links! ;D
01. Fall Away (the lullaby that started it all)
- hxxp://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=4CB01DD80CB58A21
02. Of All the Gin Joints in the World (FOB cover)
- hxxp://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=C96EBB1373A16FAF
03. Helena (MCR cover)
- hxxp://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=5A380CD72AB6DDD8
If the YSI links are broken, you can try these permanent links provided with trueblue generosity by anne_elliot! The password is damnyouwentz.
Fall Away // Of All the Gin Joints... // Helena
-- END OF PART ONE -- GO ON TO PART TWO --
Oh, hard work. You never seem so difficult when babbling about the Many Attachments of Wentz.
...We would like a Hush Sound fic!primer, plz. <3
Anyone up for it? We want more angles for our angsty fueledbyramenslash love polygons. (Actually, sobrellevar just wants an Excuse to Write about Darren. Mmmhm.
Make us happy & leave comments on how we can improve this primer, or condolences for all the time we have killed to do it. Heh.
DYW, ILU!
xo, sobrellevar & sonstoodstammer
sonstoodstammer & sobrellevar
bring you:
Pete Wentz & Lauren Hoffman: a Primer.
We go in-depth for no apparent reason (other than goodwill & compulsion), into the things ficwriters might want to know about this little blip on the Wentz radar, with pictures and blog quotage and downloadables and uh, more stuff.
(and also so, y'know, when we post Pete/Lauren fic, you'll be in on the game, f'realz.)
A warning? When we say in-depth, we mean this thing is longer than the Great Wall of China, the distance between earth and the moon, the lines of coke Paris Hilton probably inhales, etc.
+
Use these handy links to navigate:
| The Beginning & the Story So Far | About Lauren |
| the Pete-Lauren Dynamic, Whatever | Ehm-Pee-Threes |
[ The Beginning & the Story So Far ]
The Pete-Lauren thing is another example of why Pete has powers over Teh Intrawebs. On March 17, 2006, our favorite Fancypants posted the following entry on the falloutboyrock.com journal, about a song he liked:i found this song that is so rad- total "listen late at night with one light on barely, drinking sleeptime tea" song. i don't know who it's by. i will find out though.
...EDIT: okay- the song is called "fall away" and it's by lauren hoffman- i have no idea anything about her but it's perfect to listen to when you are falling asleep alone- "I heard the warning of the sun, Remember all the days I strayed, I found you, The moon fell down and made no sound... Where's my mind I lost it too, And you put my love away".
And with that, many people discovered Lauren Hoffman's lovely lullaby song Fall Away. People visited her site and Myspace by the droves, almost overnight. See, this is when Lauren became one of the people who was officially Touched by the empirically powerful (and semi-metaphorical) Golden Hand of Peter Wentz.
She posted this in her journal:Saturday, April 22, 2006 / fall out boy falls asleep to 'fall away'
a few weeks ago, peter wentz from the band fall out boy posted something in his online journal about one of my songs and how it's perfect for late at night alone with sleepytime tea or something like that. i didn't really know who peter wentz or fall out boy were until that happened, but it turns out i must be living in my own little bubble because they are like the biggest band in america right now - or at least the biggest band on myspace and on mtv.
so i got all these e-mails and myspace adds from fall out boy fans, which was really cool. it especially means a lot to me when teenage girls connect with my music - i remember how deeply music affected me as a teenager, i remember feeling fuck-up inside and music being the only language that spoke to that part of me. so when i'm told that someone is having that experience with my music, i feel the deepest satisfaction...
and when i hear that a rock star is falling asleep listening to my song? : ) yeah, that's pretty cool too.
And so some love was shared, some appreciation went mutually and spread, and things were generally in a happy place. We totes believe that there were some phonecalls and emails or something, between Pete and Lauren, because a few weeks later, Pete was gracious and sweet enough to invite Lauren down for a show.
From Pete's blog:Saturday, May 6, 2006
The blisters on my thumbs have a love/hate relationship with my sidekick, as does my sense of selfesteem. You get it or you don't. The last week has been amazing. I got the chance to meet lauren hoffman, who wrote one of my favorite songs to fall asleep to. Its so strange to put a face with a song. I also got the chance to hang with some of the guys from the band damnation ad which is oretty much the only thing that got me through age 14 to 18. Its so weird to get nervous and shake around people who sing the words that make you heart beat- but it happens to all of us I think.
It was a lovely time for all, and Lauren's opinion of Pete went up considerably in contrast to those of an old childhood acquaintance, the balding, ranty musician known as Dave Matthews. Peterpanda had effectively won some chivalrous manpoints for his good behavior. See, from Lauren's blog:Thursday, May 04, 2006
dave matthews down 1, pete wentz up 3
Category: Music
there's defintely some history there. when i was thirteen, i sat in the room while dave matthews wrote some of the songs on his first album. at fifteen, i would walk over to trax and hang out with his band after my ballet class during their sound check. a couple of years later, i worked in their management and merchandise office. this was all because my father was dave's mentor... but when i was eighteen, things changed. success changes people, and you hear stuff like "it's not personal man, it's business".
that was a long time ago, so, like, water under the bridge, right?... but maybe you can't let go of the past so easily.
i recently ran into dave after many years, and he seemed so overjoyed to see me, introducing me with compliments to everyone around. he invited me to come out to the studio, telling me he couldn't wait to hang out, i should have dinner with them and maybe sing on a song of theirs, etc etc... so we set a date... but when the time came, he blew me off. didn't take my call, didn't call me back, didn't even have one of his 'people' give me a message. just straight up blew me off. it was so lame and insulting and just made me feel like shit ... and what made it even more loaded was the history; he made me regret giving him the benefit of the doubt.
on the other hand, pete wentz invited me to his show with fall out boy last night and was totally gracious and respectful and awesome. their tour manager and crew were all very cool and took care of me and my friend - i was really impressed with their whole scene and vibe.
it turns out that my song, fall away, meant even more to him than i realized - he said it was one of his top favorite songs of all time and he'd been listening to it before he went so sleep for like a year... so meeting was weird, in a really cool way, for both of us : )
in the end? well, the dave thing was a bummer, but the pete thing was super cool - so in the final balance of my rock-star encouters, i think i definitely came out ahead : )
plus, i wrote a new song last week. hell yeah. i love that after-new-song-feeling.
♥ lauren
A picture from Lauren's Buzznet (sobrellevar made it smaller and prettier, heh):
Yay for Pete and his innate talent for intrapersonal relations. Boo for blurry and flash-ridden photos.
...And more time passes. You are now free to wander into that beloved Mystery Zone of Fanfic Situations. Lauren doesn't forget about how nice Pete was, and does a sleepy and pretty cover of "Of All the Gin Joints..." and features it on her Myspace as mp3 of the week. On the FBR.com Q&A section, Pete was thankful and gracious again, probably for more Hoffman Chivalry Points:
asked by Erin on May 20 2006 3:13PM
How did you feel when Lauren Hoffman did a cover of Gin Joints and dedicated it to you?
answered by peter on May 20 2006 3:16PM
its amazing. its like someone you really admire saying the stuff you do is ok. besides i think she may have done it better than us.
You'll find a YSI link to the cover at the bottom of this primer.
Yay for Mutual Appreciation Between Musicians, and hurrah for lullaby-like covers.
+
So. Let's talk about this charming, smoky-voiced New York chanteuse:
[ About Lauren ]
Some quick links for quick info: Official site // The Myspace // The Buzznet
You can learn a lot from the biography on her site and/or Myspace, but here is the long and short of it:
Age-wise: Lauren's birthday is not listed on her myspace nor her site, but her bio does say that she was 3 years old when John Lennon was shot. Lennon was murdered in December 1980, so that would make Lauren around 28, less than a year older than Pete, who was born in 1979. (Thus concludes the math skills of this primer. All of my brain cells have been used up, what with the subtractions. Ugh. -- sobrellevar )
Lauren and the Music Business:
01. Music was a big deal in her family. Her dad worked intensively behind-the-scenes in the recording industry, there was always a lot of music around her, etc.
02. She cites Madonna, Bob Dylan, and Sting as some of her childhood music memories. Remember Pete's picture with Sting? Yeah, so did we.
03. Speaking of hobnobbing with stars, Lauren got to know many musicians, such as Dave Matthews and even the tragic Jeff Buckley, who she met when he was touring to promote his first release.
04. Lauren initially didn't want to be a musician. If ever, she planned to work behind the scenes, like her dad. But meeting Jeff Buckley inspired her to follow her dream. Sadly, he died exactly a month before her first album's release. The advance copy she mailed him didn't even get there on time.
05. Lauren still flounders between wanting and not-wanting the musician life, but for now she's decided she's in it, f'reals, we guess.
Other bits and bobs:
Lauren is very idealistic and believes in a lot of causes, such as AIDS education, the promotion of literacy, and the eradication of poverty.
Aside from her FOB cover, Lauren also covered "Helena" by My Chemical Romance, in similar smoky-jazzy sparse-instrumentation style.
+
[ The Pete-Lauren Dynamic, Whatever ]
a.k.a. the section where sonstoodstammer and sobrellevar speculate, f'reals.
Seeing as Pete was a Political Science major at DePaul University (at least, until he dropped out the semester before graduation to focus on the band), he and Lauren would probably have a lot to discuss about global issues, and such. We totes know this is heavy stuff for fanfic, but that's the kind of people they both are: they can love the heaviness of a tough conversation.
Lauren was also really impressed by the way Our Boy Fancypants uses Teh Internets to reach out to fans, which is probably why she uses her Myspace and blogs and Buzznet much more often now. The Buzznet is actually a pretty recent thing, probably influenced by Pete's, and was opened in April.
They'd have a lot to talk about. Lauren and Pete's blogs also sometimes touch on the same topics, and they sometimes tend to phrase things in similar ways. sonstoodstammer will go more into this in Primer Part II, in her Big Pete&Lauren Table of Doom. *nod*
...And while Lauren seems like the classical vintage beauty, all poise and clever conversation, even over straight whisky, Pete would be a total fanboy. F'realz.
+
OH DOWNLOADABLES, BECAUSE SHARING IS CARING!
[ Ehm-Pee-Threes ]
Please replace the 'hxxp' with 'http' to reach the YSI link. Comment if it's down so sobrellevar can re-upload. Also, you can help by uploading and giving us a mirror for the download links! ;D
01. Fall Away (the lullaby that started it all)
- hxxp://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=4CB01DD80CB58A21
02. Of All the Gin Joints in the World (FOB cover)
- hxxp://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=C96EBB1373A16FAF
03. Helena (MCR cover)
- hxxp://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=5A380CD72AB6DDD8
If the YSI links are broken, you can try these permanent links provided with trueblue generosity by anne_elliot! The password is damnyouwentz.
Fall Away // Of All the Gin Joints... // Helena
-- END OF PART ONE -- GO ON TO PART TWO --
Oh, hard work. You never seem so difficult when babbling about the Many Attachments of Wentz.
...We would like a Hush Sound fic!primer, plz. <3
Anyone up for it? We want more angles for our angsty fueledbyramenslash love polygons. (Actually, sobrellevar just wants an Excuse to Write about Darren. Mmmhm.
Make us happy & leave comments on how we can improve this primer, or condolences for all the time we have killed to do it. Heh.
DYW, ILU!
xo, sobrellevar & sonstoodstammer