I really hate to be thatperson, but it has come to my attention. No, this verse has come to my attention and I now must repeat it. (It is the result of spending too many hours watching Mad Men on the couch) As I was “resting” to get over a cold, I fell in love with these words:
Now I am quietly waiting for
the castastrophe of my personality
to seem beautiful again,
and interesting, and modern.
The country is grey and
brown and white in trees,
snows and skies of laughter
always diminishing, less funny
not just darker, not just grey.
It may be the coldest day of
the year, what does he think of
that? I mean, what do I? And if I do,
perhaps I am myself again.
I really hate to be that person. I mean, I just copied that verse from an Amazon customer review. (Yes, I did. I guess I’m over feeling ashamed that it happened that way.) But, it is really beautiful and I wanted to share.
While reading Spin Magazine’s list of the “20 Best Albums of 2009… So Far” I discovered this video of Grizzly Bear performing “Ready, Able” on Letterman:
Not just the violinists plucking strings held my attention during the jam at the end of the song, but also the cool-looking instrument Ed Drooste is playing on stage. Any idea what it’s called?
Summer 2009 has been packed with good music, movies, and just (good) times in general. Here’s some of the music that has made this year pretty darn awesome:
Music
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Thanks to a co-worker, a few months before this CD released I started listening to Grizzly Bear. I liked Yellow House after a few listens, but immediately fell in love with Veckatimest. Since its release, there is not a day that passes where I don’t listen to at least one song off of the album – if not the whole shibang. Tunes that rock include: Southern Point; Foreground; and Ready, Able
Regina Spektor – Far
If you know me well, this choice should have been obvious. What I love most about the new CD, is that her lyrics have improved. Her music is poetic: jammed packed with vivid images that will put you in a trance. Tunes that will get you lost in your thoughts include: Eet, Man of a Thousand Faces, and Human of the Year
M. Ward – Hold Time
I first heard M. Ward two years ago, but his music didn’t stick. Maybe it was just bad timing? (I got my hands on a copy of Post-War after a friend filled my new iPod with so much music that I couldn’t keep up — and ended up removing a ton of it). Anyway, this new album has stuck, and certain songs play on repeat in my head. Tunes that will get stuck in your head include: Rave On, Stars of Leo, and Blake’s View
Books in the book club and Breakout program are set apart on so-called endcaps — narrower shelves that stand at the front or end of aisles — with specially designed signs….
[T]he conspicuous display helps sell books. “Still Alice,” which was a Target book club pick early this year, has sold 51,000 copies in its Target edition. Louise Burke, publisher of Pocket Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster that released “Still Alice,” said that the book — which has sold 174,000 copies over all, according to BookScan — has sold more in Target than in any other outlet.
Sounds like good news for the publishing industry and especially for the new and upcoming writers putting long hours into producing those “sleepy titles.” But haven’t grocery stores and Wal-Mart been doing this for years?
Either way, I think this is great. If putting a sticker of approval on overlooked books published by unknown authors is what it takes to get people reading good books then let’s keep it up.
Target/Retailers: keep noticing “indie” books, and customers don’t stop buying them — so that writers have the motivation necessary to continue paddling upstream.
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day…
Hard to believe
But I’ll be buried six feet underground
I’ll be dead and gone, no longer around
I’ll be buried six feet underground
Today is my birthday. The quote above is a bit morbid, I know, but it is also very true. It’s important to live life to its fullest (as cliche as that sounds) because we only get one chance.
After reading a number of great blog posts on lessons learned, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I’ve learned in my 25 years, and also about how much I hope to accomplish in the next 26. Here’s a list of some things I’d like to do before I turn 27. Hopefully, there are at least 26 things to add to this list. We’ll see…
Learn Spanish (enough to at least hold a conversation)
Travel abroad (I’m planning a trip to Honduras this August)
Complete the first draft of my novel (even if sucks…)
Revise at least two short stories and start submitting to lit mags
Start a book club (in the works at work)
Read at least 4 nonfiction books (already in the queue: The Shock Doctrine, 3 cups of Tea, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, The Ascent of Money)
Save money (at least 10% of my pay check each month)
I’m on the train, on my way to the AIDS walk. While sitting here sans book, I’ve been asking myself two questions: 1) Would I look good with bangs? — a girl sitting near me has them and they’re super cute…, and 2) Why did I wake up at 7 am on my day off to walk for AIDS?
As for the bangs, I don’t think I could pull them off. Bangs do not work with the shape of my face… but a girl can dream.
And as to why I signed up for the AIDS walk, I guess I have a few reasons. I have never participated in a walk. Out of curiosity, I suppose, when Lauren asked me to join I said yes.
Part of my curiosity stemmed from the fact that my uncle passed away from the disease. It happened when I was really young, too young to have an opinion about the disease or a passion to help support research for the cure. But now I am old enough.
Even if my small donation — a combination of money from friends and family — doesn’t put a dent in helping to find a cure, for me it’s really about being there today at the event and showing support for those people suffering.
In addition to walking for those that are suffering and for those people who have passed away too soon, I am walking for the survivors. By survivors I mean the people who lost someone to AIDS and are living in their shadow attempting to make a difference.
My reasons for walking probably sound like everyone else’s reason, but it doesn’t make them any less original.
Tomorrow morning I will head to the post office to mail these knit roses and a book to my mom for Mother’s Day. After taking into account the amount of time I had available, I chose to only work on the rose pattern. Amanda helped me get started on Sunday, and then I made another one on Monday and finished the third one during lunch at work today.
It took about two hours to knit each, and then another two hours to press, roll, and sew them all into the rose shape. Had I started earlier, say two weeks ago, I would have had more time to try the other patterns/knit more flowers for my mom. Que SeraSera… there’s always Christmas!
Here are a couple more pictures:
Up next, a knitted bouquet of summer flowers for the apartment… hopefully!
“I was recently talking to a friend of mine here, and he felt like he should be able to make a living from being a musician in Washington, D.C. I don’t believe in that. I don’t believe you have that entitlement, to think that just because you want to make a living from music, you can. I don’t really believe in the idea of a professional original musician. You can be someone that plays weddings and bar mitzvahs; you can get that kind of work and do covers. But just because you’re a musician doesn’t mean you get a job. So, living in Louisiana, you want to do something and there’s no scene for it, and if your idea of success is based on renown and financial gain, you may not find success in that sense. I don’t see success that way. If you’re a musician and you write a song, then you’re a success.”
– Ian MacKaye, The Believer, July/August 2008 Issue
Seattle has given birth to such artists as Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, etc., so it comes as no surprise that the radio station KEXP 90.3FM Seattle plays music that is both refreshing and inspiring. I have been listening to it for a while today, and am really enjoying the combination of new indie rock and old 90s music in their play lists.
Broadcasting music over the Internet has been around since the late 1990s. I have been hesitant to join the crowd, because there are no buttons on my computer to record the songs I like — that is, no “record” or “play” buttons to push simultaneously as I did on my old boombox.
I remember running across my bedroom after hearing the first couple notes of my favorite song to press record. Sometimes I let the tape run out, recording commercials and songs I didn’t care for, to try and catch another good song while I was outside playing kickball in Pismo Court with my brother and our neighbors, or swimming in Jenn P.’s pool.
Alone in my bedroom I would replay the songs, a few seconds at a time, writing the lyrics down in my black spiral notebook. Before doing a search on A-Z lyrics was possible, before I started owning tapes or CDs and reading liner notes, I would listen to my favorite songs over and over, ten to twenty seconds at a time, writing and learning the lyrics.
Back then 92.3 K-Rock played quality music. I listened to live broadcast for hours without any interest in Internet radio. After K-Rock switched from playing alt. rock and 90s grunge to the poor grade performers who were topping the charts, I stopped listening. I bought CDs instead, and made my own mix tapes.
Even now, despite the many hours of music I put into play lists in my iTunes, I can never match the original K-Rock quality of old and new music. I’m still searching, but hats off to the radio deejays at 90.3 for making my segue to Internet radio a little easier.
Thanks to the Lion Brand Yarn staff at on 15th Street/btwn 5th and 6th Ave, I now have a great plan for Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, it involves following a few complicated knitting patterns.
This weekend I will attempt to knit a bouquet of flowers. Here are a few free patterns on Lion Brand’s site I really like.
