Every year, I celebrate Memorial Day by doing 2 things:

1. I attend the USS San Francisco Memorial Ceremony in San Francisco, in memory of my grandfather. He was on board that ship during WWII, and was at The Battle of Guadalcanal. That battle is considered the "turning point" in WWII, keeping Japan from taking over The Pacific Ocean and preventing them from invading Australia (among other places).

2. I then drive to Berkeley and exercise the freedom I have to do whatever I want, because of soldiers like my grandfather. First, I stuff my face at Top Dog on the most epic hotdog money can buy, then raid the local music stores. This year's haul looked like so:

Eels - The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett (Deluxe Edition)
INVSN
The Get Up Kids - Simple Science
Time In Malta - Alone With The Alone
... plus a new dust cover for my turntable.

\m/