7.22.2008
all my relationships i fucked up in all the right ways
Last night while he was sleeping, I finished his first mix. I'll let you figure out the rest:
1. Fuckup - Rock Plaza Central
2. 5 Years Time - Noah and the Whale
3. Jackeyed - Micah P. Hinson
4. Red and Purple - The Dodos
5. Fools Rush In - Etta James
6. Baby - Os Mutantes
7. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Bob Dylan
8. Please Don't Be Gentle With Me - The Minutemen
9. Give You My Lovin' - Mazzy Star
10. In My Lady's House - Iron and Wine
11. When I Hold You In My Arms - Neil Young
12. Welfare Bread - King Khan & His Shrines
13. July, July! - The Decemberists
14. White Water Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
15. Tume To Go - Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
16. Paper Tiger - Spoon
17. Glad Tidings - Sound Team
18. Be Still My Heart - The Postal Service
19. Way Too Good - Figurine
20. Sweepstakes Prize - Mirah
21. My Slumbering Heart - Rilo Kiley
22. While You Were Sleeping - Elvis Perkins
23. Thirteen - Elliott Smith
1. Fuckup - Rock Plaza Central
2. 5 Years Time - Noah and the Whale
3. Jackeyed - Micah P. Hinson
4. Red and Purple - The Dodos
5. Fools Rush In - Etta James
6. Baby - Os Mutantes
7. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Bob Dylan
8. Please Don't Be Gentle With Me - The Minutemen
9. Give You My Lovin' - Mazzy Star
10. In My Lady's House - Iron and Wine
11. When I Hold You In My Arms - Neil Young
12. Welfare Bread - King Khan & His Shrines
13. July, July! - The Decemberists
14. White Water Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
15. Tume To Go - Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
16. Paper Tiger - Spoon
17. Glad Tidings - Sound Team
18. Be Still My Heart - The Postal Service
19. Way Too Good - Figurine
20. Sweepstakes Prize - Mirah
21. My Slumbering Heart - Rilo Kiley
22. While You Were Sleeping - Elvis Perkins
23. Thirteen - Elliott Smith
Labels: lovedones, mixtapes, music
6.02.2008
Miniature Soundtracks : Episode Four
Miniature Soundtracks is my small experiment in mp3 blogging. I'll be using a beloved image from my flickr photostream or favorites, reflect on it for a few sentences, and then give you a song that evokes the same feelings. If your photo or song is featured and you'd rather it not be, let me know and I'll take it down immediately.
Rissa and Braedyn, from Rissa's flickr
Moms that I know have a lot to live up to, because my mom is a singularly spectacular human being who imbues everyone she meets with her infectious love and kindness, patience, creativity, and awe. I was the luckiest girl in the world and most people can't compare. But I lived with another mom -- and kiddo -- for the past two years, up until a couple months ago, and she has managed to exceed my expectations every single day I have known her. As it turns out, Rissa's son is the luckiest person I know, tied with myself. His mom pours an unreal amount of unselfish love his way and remains beautiful and funny and sharp and smart and interesting in the process, setting the best possible example for adulthood that a boy could have. She's lucky too, because Braedyn is an exceptional small person who is equally excited to talk to anyone who walks into his world about anything from The Karate Kid to scorpions. Watching them together sometimes will make you insufferably jealous because they have a bond that is so far above and beyond what most of us experience in our every day lives. It's complex, sure, but at the same time it isn't. It's the kind of bond that defines the word family -- more broadly than just blood, because they're both in mine. Together, they're an unstoppable example of the beauty of the relationships you don't have to question. Unconditional is the word I'm looking for.
Entry Way Song - Bright Eyes from the Amos House compilation.
Rissa and Braedyn, from Rissa's flickr
Moms that I know have a lot to live up to, because my mom is a singularly spectacular human being who imbues everyone she meets with her infectious love and kindness, patience, creativity, and awe. I was the luckiest girl in the world and most people can't compare. But I lived with another mom -- and kiddo -- for the past two years, up until a couple months ago, and she has managed to exceed my expectations every single day I have known her. As it turns out, Rissa's son is the luckiest person I know, tied with myself. His mom pours an unreal amount of unselfish love his way and remains beautiful and funny and sharp and smart and interesting in the process, setting the best possible example for adulthood that a boy could have. She's lucky too, because Braedyn is an exceptional small person who is equally excited to talk to anyone who walks into his world about anything from The Karate Kid to scorpions. Watching them together sometimes will make you insufferably jealous because they have a bond that is so far above and beyond what most of us experience in our every day lives. It's complex, sure, but at the same time it isn't. It's the kind of bond that defines the word family -- more broadly than just blood, because they're both in mine. Together, they're an unstoppable example of the beauty of the relationships you don't have to question. Unconditional is the word I'm looking for.
Entry Way Song - Bright Eyes from the Amos House compilation.
Labels: love, lovedones, miniaturesoundtracks, music
6.01.2008
in which i crack myself up on google chat.
me: there's a song on the upcoming okkervil river album called "On Tour With Zykos"
like, really.
gomillis: haha
so are you still down for hanging out tomorrow?
me: yeah man.
"on tour with zykos" though? really? i can't stop wondering what that song will sound like.
gomillis: it'll just be about hanging with the dudes
having fun, playin jams
me: i'm hoping he actually sings 'booher' at some point during the song
'booher is everywhere'
'look at his hair'
'bear'
'bare'
that's a really good impression of okkervil river lyric stylings right there.
like, really.
gomillis: haha
so are you still down for hanging out tomorrow?
me: yeah man.
"on tour with zykos" though? really? i can't stop wondering what that song will sound like.
gomillis: it'll just be about hanging with the dudes
having fun, playin jams
me: i'm hoping he actually sings 'booher' at some point during the song
'booher is everywhere'
'look at his hair'
'bear'
'bare'
that's a really good impression of okkervil river lyric stylings right there.
Labels: funny, internets, lovedones, music, okkervilriver
5.26.2008
Miniature Soundtracks : Episode Three
Miniature Soundtracks is my small experiment in mp3 blogging. I'll be using a beloved image from my flickr photostream or favorites, reflect on it for a few sentences, and then give you a song that evokes the same feelings. If your photo or song is featured and you'd rather it not be, let me know and I'll take it down immediately.
Matthew, by me. March 15, 2005 (was it that long ago? really?)
There are photos. Rare ones. That capture a second you remember so perfectly that it's time travel to look at them. The smell and the feeling in your heart and the music you listened to that day, the way your cat acted, the way it was at the airport, and later walking across the town lake bridge, and later still playing pool in a dark place. The sun and the gate of the apartment and the tiny sidewalk in front of it. It's even weirder when a person is like that, where just looking at them brings on a wave of senses and feelings and sounds so intense that you feel like you're drowning in it just to see them. It's weirder still when a person does that to you right at first, when you barely know them, when you've ended up at their apartment and you're stepping on their feet dancing to Sigur Ros. Then a week later you're on a bus crying over a Prince song and everything has been rearranged. The world feels like a tetris cube in and after those precious moments. You just turned a corner you didn't know was there. Suddenly, there's a whole side of red! And then, the moment or the week or the person is gone and you flip the cube over and realize the other side isn't matching at all, and you have to start over again.
When those times happen, you lose your sense of time and space but grab on tightly to everything else in the world -- the wooden attic, the shoulders, the way the words sound like 'it's you' even though they're actually in a foreign language, the people outside and the memories wrapped up in them, the tiny pieces of skin you're biting off of the inside of your lower lip. I posed Matt for this picture and it was a time when I knew as I was pressing the shutter that it would be this beautiful, because I knew it was one of those days and Matthew is one of those people. Before the picture was ever developed in a darkroom, it was stamped behind my eyelids forever. Sometimes, still, when the world is dark and cold and scary, I can close my eyes and be right there, right then. And that, my loves, is forever.
Sometimes In Snows In April : Prince from Parade
Matthew, by me. March 15, 2005 (was it that long ago? really?)
There are photos. Rare ones. That capture a second you remember so perfectly that it's time travel to look at them. The smell and the feeling in your heart and the music you listened to that day, the way your cat acted, the way it was at the airport, and later walking across the town lake bridge, and later still playing pool in a dark place. The sun and the gate of the apartment and the tiny sidewalk in front of it. It's even weirder when a person is like that, where just looking at them brings on a wave of senses and feelings and sounds so intense that you feel like you're drowning in it just to see them. It's weirder still when a person does that to you right at first, when you barely know them, when you've ended up at their apartment and you're stepping on their feet dancing to Sigur Ros. Then a week later you're on a bus crying over a Prince song and everything has been rearranged. The world feels like a tetris cube in and after those precious moments. You just turned a corner you didn't know was there. Suddenly, there's a whole side of red! And then, the moment or the week or the person is gone and you flip the cube over and realize the other side isn't matching at all, and you have to start over again.
When those times happen, you lose your sense of time and space but grab on tightly to everything else in the world -- the wooden attic, the shoulders, the way the words sound like 'it's you' even though they're actually in a foreign language, the people outside and the memories wrapped up in them, the tiny pieces of skin you're biting off of the inside of your lower lip. I posed Matt for this picture and it was a time when I knew as I was pressing the shutter that it would be this beautiful, because I knew it was one of those days and Matthew is one of those people. Before the picture was ever developed in a darkroom, it was stamped behind my eyelids forever. Sometimes, still, when the world is dark and cold and scary, I can close my eyes and be right there, right then. And that, my loves, is forever.
Sometimes In Snows In April : Prince from Parade
Labels: love, lovedones, miniaturesoundtracks, music
5.25.2008
Sorry In Advance
I made this very short, very terrible animated short short as a 'present' for someone last year. I don't see why you shouldn't watch it now and scoff at my (lack of) skillz. To be fair, I completed the project in about two and a half days and drew the frames on 3 x 3 pieces of scrap paper with a black felt tip pen. At least you can't call me a perfectionist!
Oh, life.
Oh, life.
Labels: love, lovedones, youtube
5.21.2008
Miniature Soundtracks : Episode One
While I'm in the mood to spend some time with this blog, I'm going to try an experiment in mp3 blogging. A couple times a week, I'll be reflecting an image I like -- probably from my flickr photostream or my flickr favorites -- and choosing a song I think you'll like to match it. Make sense? Let's try.
I was seventeen, Isaac was nineteen. We met at a grocery store where Isaac worked and where I bought strawberry popsicles as a lame excuse to talk to him. It's a movie theater now and sometimes I go there and walk by the counter where I would stall and flirt for months, before Theresa made my first move for me and invited him over for s'mores. After the night of our first kiss, he came over and told me he didn't want to see me romantically anymore and then a thunderstorm blew through and I laid in the front yard of my dad's house getting soaked to the bone. Theresa and Jerry were there and the four of us made tea in the kitchen and waited out the storm. I didn't see Isaac for a couple months after that night. Later, he told me that when we kissed he felt like I was attacking him. Then the night he walked back into my life, he and Rhymi and I stayed up until the middle of the night assaulting eachother with wet white chalk. We were together for more than three years after that. He hated this particular photo, which I kept in a frame by my bed for most of our relationship and a long time afterwards. I love it because he looks so alive that when I stare at it for more than a second, I get the distinct feeling that Isaac's nineteen year old self is going to jump out of the photo, take me by the hand, turn back time, and make everything simple again.
Kiss : Scout Niblett from This Fool Can Die Now
I was seventeen, Isaac was nineteen. We met at a grocery store where Isaac worked and where I bought strawberry popsicles as a lame excuse to talk to him. It's a movie theater now and sometimes I go there and walk by the counter where I would stall and flirt for months, before Theresa made my first move for me and invited him over for s'mores. After the night of our first kiss, he came over and told me he didn't want to see me romantically anymore and then a thunderstorm blew through and I laid in the front yard of my dad's house getting soaked to the bone. Theresa and Jerry were there and the four of us made tea in the kitchen and waited out the storm. I didn't see Isaac for a couple months after that night. Later, he told me that when we kissed he felt like I was attacking him. Then the night he walked back into my life, he and Rhymi and I stayed up until the middle of the night assaulting eachother with wet white chalk. We were together for more than three years after that. He hated this particular photo, which I kept in a frame by my bed for most of our relationship and a long time afterwards. I love it because he looks so alive that when I stare at it for more than a second, I get the distinct feeling that Isaac's nineteen year old self is going to jump out of the photo, take me by the hand, turn back time, and make everything simple again.
Kiss : Scout Niblett from This Fool Can Die Now
Labels: love, lovedones, miniaturesoundtracks, music
5.20.2008
Reasons Why I Am Quitting Myspace (Tomorrow!):
- I like facebook, goodreads, and flickr a hell of a lot better - design wise and content wise - and I would rather support and encourage websites that match my aesthetic and my beliefs.
- I spend way (way way way) too much time looking at myspace and, specifically, unhealthily obsessing over a small set of people's profiles, comments, and updates.
- I think that rather than trying to articulate my personality with words in a way that will seem appealing or magical or sexy or cute or funny, I should just try to BE all of those things in real life. And, relatedly, I think it kind of takes the fun out of getting to know people naturally to be able to refer to a list of all of their favorites and a concise summary of who they think they are.
- I would like my 'internet presence' to be content based and myspace is definitively personality based.
- Top friends. Need I say more?
- It's kind of cool to not have it at this point, right?
All of that said, I'm kind of cheating. I put up a music profile awhile back with some of my silly songs, and for now I'm keeping it. I've been working on music again and planning a show (!), so I feel like it makes sense for me to leave it there. I have a fraction of the friends that I have on my regular profile there and I'm not going to promote it any further until there are songs I'm more proud of up. I'm hoping that since I've made the definitive move of canceling my personal account, I won't start using that one the same way. To safeguard against that I'll be turning off email notification on that account and only checking on it maybe once a week.
& so that this post isn't solely an over-analysis of a trivial matter, here's a list of fake bands I've been a 'member' of:
- Shock The Nation / Shark Attack (third grade - me, Andrew, Jackie, Julia)
- Megalife (me, Isaac, Josh, maybe Robert/Mona/Jen?)
- Quicksilver Stallion (me, Sarah, Michelle, Isaac)
- The Poison Vixen Trio (me, Sarah, Michelle)
- Magic Action (me, Michelle)
- Man-Boy (me, Meaghan, Sarah Bear - 70s cover band)
- Another Day, Another Man (me, Mandy, Jen Mo)
- The Post-Sunset Muffins (me, Andy, Craig - possibly not-fake someday?)
- Slow Little Oranges (me, Mandy -- name coined by Kathleen in reference to a tree full of baby sloths (!!))
- Sloth Cabinet (me, Patrick)
- I spend way (way way way) too much time looking at myspace and, specifically, unhealthily obsessing over a small set of people's profiles, comments, and updates.
- I think that rather than trying to articulate my personality with words in a way that will seem appealing or magical or sexy or cute or funny, I should just try to BE all of those things in real life. And, relatedly, I think it kind of takes the fun out of getting to know people naturally to be able to refer to a list of all of their favorites and a concise summary of who they think they are.
- I would like my 'internet presence' to be content based and myspace is definitively personality based.
- Top friends. Need I say more?
- It's kind of cool to not have it at this point, right?
All of that said, I'm kind of cheating. I put up a music profile awhile back with some of my silly songs, and for now I'm keeping it. I've been working on music again and planning a show (!), so I feel like it makes sense for me to leave it there. I have a fraction of the friends that I have on my regular profile there and I'm not going to promote it any further until there are songs I'm more proud of up. I'm hoping that since I've made the definitive move of canceling my personal account, I won't start using that one the same way. To safeguard against that I'll be turning off email notification on that account and only checking on it maybe once a week.
& so that this post isn't solely an over-analysis of a trivial matter, here's a list of fake bands I've been a 'member' of:
- Shock The Nation / Shark Attack (third grade - me, Andrew, Jackie, Julia)
- Megalife (me, Isaac, Josh, maybe Robert/Mona/Jen?)
- Quicksilver Stallion (me, Sarah, Michelle, Isaac)
- The Poison Vixen Trio (me, Sarah, Michelle)
- Magic Action (me, Michelle)
- Man-Boy (me, Meaghan, Sarah Bear - 70s cover band)
- Another Day, Another Man (me, Mandy, Jen Mo)
- The Post-Sunset Muffins (me, Andy, Craig - possibly not-fake someday?)
- Slow Little Oranges (me, Mandy -- name coined by Kathleen in reference to a tree full of baby sloths (!!))
- Sloth Cabinet (me, Patrick)
Labels: funny, internets, lists, lovedones, politics
5.05.2008
Mix Projects.
Hi. Sorry I have been lax in updating; life happened to me and I haven't fully recovered.
However, I will let you in on the best idea we [Mandy and myself] ever had.
Project Mix Tape!
It started at Hole In The Wall a few months ago. We wrote out a list of 'categories' and people we knew loved music, had lots of it, and actively make mixes. (Btdubs, we had to keep the list of people pretty short to accommodate party plans, and many of the people including were Mandy's friends, so please don't be hurt if you meet those criteria and you weren't part of the original group...). We sent the list out and everyone made apropos mixes, and then we had a party where we listened to some of the categories and drank and danced and loved each other's faces off. The party for the second go round happened Friday night. Both have been two of the best nights of my life. As I've explained it to some people -- "this is what parties would be like if everyone always acted exactly how I want them to."
Here are the lists & my picks:
Volume One:
The Theme Song To The Movie Of Your Life: That Summer Feeling - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
A Song That Always Makes You Happy: Love Power - Dusty Springfield
Your Favorite Song When You Were 13: Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
Your Mom's Favorite Song: What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
A Song You Remember From the Best Live Show You've Ever Seen: Westfall (live) - Okkervil River
The Song You Would Most Like To Hear Live, But Haven't and Can't: Summer Babe (Winter Version) - Pavement
Your Bender / Lost Weekend Anthem: Kiss Off - The Violent Femmes
The Song You Want To Be Playing The First Time You Kiss Your 'One True Love': Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
The Ultimate Doin' It Song: Come On In My Kitchen - Robert Johnson
Your Favorite Beatles Song: Blackbird
A Song You Wish Was Written About/For You: Love And Some Verses - Iron and Wine
A Song For Riding Your Bike Around After The Apocalypse: Wake Up - The Walkmen
High Speed Car Chase Song: Let The Poison Spill From Your Throat - The Faint
'Guilty Pleasure' [A Song You Love But Would Never Put On A Regular Mix For Someone]: Bathwater - No Doubt
A Song You Should Have Written But Someone Else Did It First: A Better Son/Daughter - Rilo Kiley
A Song In A Foreign Language You Wish You Spoke: Tengo un Trato - La Mala Rodriguez
The Song That Always Makes You Cry: Two-Headed Boy Part Two - Neutral Milk Hotel
A Love Letter To Someone Specific: I'll Be Yr Bird - M. Ward
A Song You Want Played At Your Funeral: When I'm Gone - Phil Ochs
The Ultimate Dance Track: Let's Go Crazy - Prince
Volume Two:
Your Fight / Duel / WWF Song: To Hell With Poverty - Gang of Four
Your Favorite Song From The Last 12 Months: Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Explain 'Rock and Roll' To Aliens: Good Lovin' - Young Rascals
Your Father's Favorite Song: Be Here Now - Mason Jennings
Your Favorite Cover: Dancing In The Dark - Mirah
The Vocal Performance You Wish You Could Replicate: Bye Bye Baby - Mary Wells
The Ultimate Singalong Song: If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out - Cat Stevens
Your Favorite Instrumental Song: La Valse d'Amelie (piano version) - Yann Tiersen
A Song That Reminds Someone Of You: New Slang - The Shins
A Song Dedicated To Your Current Crush: Season Of The Shark - Yo La Tengo
The Ultimate Breakup Song: Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone
Your Favorite Country Song: Blue Wind Blew - The Flatlanders
Your Favorite Bob Dylan Song: You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
Your Favorite Holiday Song: Rebel Jesus - Jackson Browne
The Ultimate Summertime Roadtrip Song: Jogging Gorgeous Summer - Islands
The Best Fast Skate Song: A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday - De La Soul
Your Favorite Song About Death: Black Eyed Dog - Nick Drake
Volume Three is in the works. A slightly different format has been called for, and it might go something like this:
1. What does the place you're from sound like?
2. What does your heart sound like?
3. What does your brain sound like?
4. What does your body sound like?
5. What did being little sound like?
6. What did high school sound like?
7. What did college sound like?
8. What does DRUNK sound like?
9. What does winning sound like?
10. What does an orgasm sound like?
11. What does eye contact with a stranger across the room sound like?
12. What does falling in love sound like?
13. What do your dreams sound like?
14. What loneliness sound like?
15. What does your best friend sound like?
16. What does waking up sound like?
17. What does your future sound like?
We'll see! Do it with your friends! It's the most fun ever!
Pictures from the last party to give you an idea just how much fun we're talking here:
However, I will let you in on the best idea we [Mandy and myself] ever had.
Project Mix Tape!
It started at Hole In The Wall a few months ago. We wrote out a list of 'categories' and people we knew loved music, had lots of it, and actively make mixes. (Btdubs, we had to keep the list of people pretty short to accommodate party plans, and many of the people including were Mandy's friends, so please don't be hurt if you meet those criteria and you weren't part of the original group...). We sent the list out and everyone made apropos mixes, and then we had a party where we listened to some of the categories and drank and danced and loved each other's faces off. The party for the second go round happened Friday night. Both have been two of the best nights of my life. As I've explained it to some people -- "this is what parties would be like if everyone always acted exactly how I want them to."
Here are the lists & my picks:
Volume One:
The Theme Song To The Movie Of Your Life: That Summer Feeling - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
A Song That Always Makes You Happy: Love Power - Dusty Springfield
Your Favorite Song When You Were 13: Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
Your Mom's Favorite Song: What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
A Song You Remember From the Best Live Show You've Ever Seen: Westfall (live) - Okkervil River
The Song You Would Most Like To Hear Live, But Haven't and Can't: Summer Babe (Winter Version) - Pavement
Your Bender / Lost Weekend Anthem: Kiss Off - The Violent Femmes
The Song You Want To Be Playing The First Time You Kiss Your 'One True Love': Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
The Ultimate Doin' It Song: Come On In My Kitchen - Robert Johnson
Your Favorite Beatles Song: Blackbird
A Song You Wish Was Written About/For You: Love And Some Verses - Iron and Wine
A Song For Riding Your Bike Around After The Apocalypse: Wake Up - The Walkmen
High Speed Car Chase Song: Let The Poison Spill From Your Throat - The Faint
'Guilty Pleasure' [A Song You Love But Would Never Put On A Regular Mix For Someone]: Bathwater - No Doubt
A Song You Should Have Written But Someone Else Did It First: A Better Son/Daughter - Rilo Kiley
A Song In A Foreign Language You Wish You Spoke: Tengo un Trato - La Mala Rodriguez
The Song That Always Makes You Cry: Two-Headed Boy Part Two - Neutral Milk Hotel
A Love Letter To Someone Specific: I'll Be Yr Bird - M. Ward
A Song You Want Played At Your Funeral: When I'm Gone - Phil Ochs
The Ultimate Dance Track: Let's Go Crazy - Prince
Volume Two:
Your Fight / Duel / WWF Song: To Hell With Poverty - Gang of Four
Your Favorite Song From The Last 12 Months: Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Explain 'Rock and Roll' To Aliens: Good Lovin' - Young Rascals
Your Father's Favorite Song: Be Here Now - Mason Jennings
Your Favorite Cover: Dancing In The Dark - Mirah
The Vocal Performance You Wish You Could Replicate: Bye Bye Baby - Mary Wells
The Ultimate Singalong Song: If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out - Cat Stevens
Your Favorite Instrumental Song: La Valse d'Amelie (piano version) - Yann Tiersen
A Song That Reminds Someone Of You: New Slang - The Shins
A Song Dedicated To Your Current Crush: Season Of The Shark - Yo La Tengo
The Ultimate Breakup Song: Do What You Gotta Do - Nina Simone
Your Favorite Country Song: Blue Wind Blew - The Flatlanders
Your Favorite Bob Dylan Song: You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
Your Favorite Holiday Song: Rebel Jesus - Jackson Browne
The Ultimate Summertime Roadtrip Song: Jogging Gorgeous Summer - Islands
The Best Fast Skate Song: A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday - De La Soul
Your Favorite Song About Death: Black Eyed Dog - Nick Drake
Volume Three is in the works. A slightly different format has been called for, and it might go something like this:
1. What does the place you're from sound like?
2. What does your heart sound like?
3. What does your brain sound like?
4. What does your body sound like?
5. What did being little sound like?
6. What did high school sound like?
7. What did college sound like?
8. What does DRUNK sound like?
9. What does winning sound like?
10. What does an orgasm sound like?
11. What does eye contact with a stranger across the room sound like?
12. What does falling in love sound like?
13. What do your dreams sound like?
14. What loneliness sound like?
15. What does your best friend sound like?
16. What does waking up sound like?
17. What does your future sound like?
We'll see! Do it with your friends! It's the most fun ever!
Pictures from the last party to give you an idea just how much fun we're talking here:
Labels: lovedones, mixtapes, music
1.01.2008
2 0 0 7, y'all.
Albums of the year:
1. The Stage Names / Golden Opportunities mixtape - Okkervil River
2. Cease To Begin - Band Of Horses
3. Neon Bible - The Arcade Fire
4. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? - Of Montreal
5. In Rainbows - Radiohead
6. Kala - M.I.A.
7. Armchair Apocrypha - Andrew Bird
8. The Shepherd's Dog - Iron & Wine
9. Ola Podrida - Ola Podrida
10. Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman
EP of the year: my friend Seth's band The Tiny Tin Hearts' demo.
Saddest: the death rattle of Dinosaur Jr's 'Beyond' and, even though I usually hate this accusation, the actual selling out of Rilo Kiley.
Movies of the year:
1. No Country For Old Men
2. Darjeeling Limited
3. Juno
4. Paprika
5. Grindhouse (really, Planet Terror)
Overrated: Waitress
Way, way, way better than I thought it would be: Enchanted
I still don't really know if it was brilliant or terrible: I'm Not There
(I still haven't seen Atonement, Into The Wild, and lots of other lauded films. It's been a bad year for me and movie-time.)
Love:
1. The Stage Names / Golden Opportunities mixtape - Okkervil River
2. Cease To Begin - Band Of Horses
3. Neon Bible - The Arcade Fire
4. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? - Of Montreal
5. In Rainbows - Radiohead
6. Kala - M.I.A.
7. Armchair Apocrypha - Andrew Bird
8. The Shepherd's Dog - Iron & Wine
9. Ola Podrida - Ola Podrida
10. Night Falls Over Kortedala - Jens Lekman
EP of the year: my friend Seth's band The Tiny Tin Hearts' demo.
Saddest: the death rattle of Dinosaur Jr's 'Beyond' and, even though I usually hate this accusation, the actual selling out of Rilo Kiley.
Movies of the year:
1. No Country For Old Men
2. Darjeeling Limited
3. Juno
4. Paprika
5. Grindhouse (really, Planet Terror)
Overrated: Waitress
Way, way, way better than I thought it would be: Enchanted
I still don't really know if it was brilliant or terrible: I'm Not There
(I still haven't seen Atonement, Into The Wild, and lots of other lauded films. It's been a bad year for me and movie-time.)
Love:
Labels: lists, lovedones, music
11.12.2007
camp poetry.
I went camping with a bunch of friends this weekend and, dorks that we are, we spent hours playing the 'poetry game'. Each player gets a page to start a poem and then passes it to the person next to them. As the poems get passed around, each player folds over the lines above the one they just wrote so you only get to see the line right before yours. Then when the papers are full, you read aloud. It was pretty much the funniest, most inspiring, bizarre, wonderful time ever. Although a lot of the poems were super ridiculous and silly, we impressed ourselves by collectively writing some genuinely beautiful stuff. Here are a few extra-solid examples of what we did. Keep in mind, these were written by eight people who had been drinking since 10:30 am.
Writing by Summer, Laurie, Kelly, Patrick, Gabriella, Bryan, Thomas, and Mandy, otherwise known as 'River Krause' :
-
She was under the music’s spell
She closed her eyes and dropped her guard
dropped her shirt and shoes.
Before she fell to the floor in a crumpled mess they all laughed and pointed.
She meant to fall down.
Scraped knees are dirty dignified badges.
Distinguished bruises, I cruise my memory for thoughts of you, morning pancake days.
Coffee, smokes. Pictures of you – every day.
A fresh start
But how many “fresh starts” do we each get?
Zero. Nothing is really new, is it?
But what did you really want to know?
I could tell you everything in five minutes but the truth would lose it’s luster.
-
Even when we yelled,
It tasted like a whisper
And then I heard silence coming back in from the cold wind.
And it was fascinating to hear silence.
The echo of empty it embraced
Like a rock tossed in a well.
Dark, cold, alone.
In a dungeon of doubt.
Handing on the cliff of a memory
holding on because letting go would mean something ended. You hate endings.
There’s a possibility that this won’t stop being painful, but what the hell.
It’s not always healthy to feel good.
Sometimes, it is necessary to die.
To be re-born…
-
Her eyes were tired.
Dark circles made her seem older, more experienced, sexy.
She was tired. Possibly.
Possibly because she was on some awesome drugs.
Or just seeing clearly for the last time.
The last time she opened her eyes, it hurt.
And she wished she were blind.
So she wouldn't see his...
It's not scary, not scary, not scary.
It's cinematic.
And profoundly monochromatic.
Meditated upon like Rothko.
-
Otis had it rough
and tumble
down down down until there was only me.
Well me, and that guy, and this girl make three.
Changing who I thought I could be.
You know, something kind of new. Maybe pink.
Maybe blue. For boys and sky -- two things I hate most of all.
"I'll break myself of it once and for all."
He said for the fourth time.
She watched the progress of her cigarette,
to be interpreted as the shortening of her patience.
He left without words, he wanted to hit her.
He ran to his car and punched the window.
Fuck!
You!
-
Hills ran for miles through the window of the train
the rain raced rivers on her cheeks,
cutting through the beauty shell.
I wash my face and stare at the mirror.
And hope they have forgotten my bad-luck incidents with their ancestors.
The ancient dead have no reason to forgive our bullshit.
But it doesn't matter, we leave them flowers.
Posies for rememberance, it feels like it's been hours.
Hours, or days -- it's easy to lose track.
Lose time, lost mind. Missing hours spent with an ex-boyfriend,
taking Zanax and talking on the phone.
Was that my phone going off? Hold on.
As per usual,
everything is always the same.
-
This is a great first line
It came from the record player, scratchy and proud
like a goddamn lullaby in the middle of the day
sung with conviction -- enough to believe.
They had stars like firecrackers in their eyes and then they stopped.
She reached out her hand like a ghost
and stuck it right through him.
"Oh," he said, "that feels nice."
But really, it felt awful.
...like a thousand tiny submarines of grief.
like a bathtub full of blood or money -- what's the difference?
Different strokes, different folks.
"That's the way," people say, "the game is played."
Cheaters win, and love becomes suspect.
Sluts win! Sluts win! Sluts win!
But we let them.
Writing by Summer, Laurie, Kelly, Patrick, Gabriella, Bryan, Thomas, and Mandy, otherwise known as 'River Krause' :
-
She was under the music’s spell
She closed her eyes and dropped her guard
dropped her shirt and shoes.
Before she fell to the floor in a crumpled mess they all laughed and pointed.
She meant to fall down.
Scraped knees are dirty dignified badges.
Distinguished bruises, I cruise my memory for thoughts of you, morning pancake days.
Coffee, smokes. Pictures of you – every day.
A fresh start
But how many “fresh starts” do we each get?
Zero. Nothing is really new, is it?
But what did you really want to know?
I could tell you everything in five minutes but the truth would lose it’s luster.
-
Even when we yelled,
It tasted like a whisper
And then I heard silence coming back in from the cold wind.
And it was fascinating to hear silence.
The echo of empty it embraced
Like a rock tossed in a well.
Dark, cold, alone.
In a dungeon of doubt.
Handing on the cliff of a memory
holding on because letting go would mean something ended. You hate endings.
There’s a possibility that this won’t stop being painful, but what the hell.
It’s not always healthy to feel good.
Sometimes, it is necessary to die.
To be re-born…
-
Her eyes were tired.
Dark circles made her seem older, more experienced, sexy.
She was tired. Possibly.
Possibly because she was on some awesome drugs.
Or just seeing clearly for the last time.
The last time she opened her eyes, it hurt.
And she wished she were blind.
So she wouldn't see his...
It's not scary, not scary, not scary.
It's cinematic.
And profoundly monochromatic.
Meditated upon like Rothko.
-
Otis had it rough
and tumble
down down down until there was only me.
Well me, and that guy, and this girl make three.
Changing who I thought I could be.
You know, something kind of new. Maybe pink.
Maybe blue. For boys and sky -- two things I hate most of all.
"I'll break myself of it once and for all."
He said for the fourth time.
She watched the progress of her cigarette,
to be interpreted as the shortening of her patience.
He left without words, he wanted to hit her.
He ran to his car and punched the window.
Fuck!
You!
-
Hills ran for miles through the window of the train
the rain raced rivers on her cheeks,
cutting through the beauty shell.
I wash my face and stare at the mirror.
And hope they have forgotten my bad-luck incidents with their ancestors.
The ancient dead have no reason to forgive our bullshit.
But it doesn't matter, we leave them flowers.
Posies for rememberance, it feels like it's been hours.
Hours, or days -- it's easy to lose track.
Lose time, lost mind. Missing hours spent with an ex-boyfriend,
taking Zanax and talking on the phone.
Was that my phone going off? Hold on.
As per usual,
everything is always the same.
-
This is a great first line
It came from the record player, scratchy and proud
like a goddamn lullaby in the middle of the day
sung with conviction -- enough to believe.
They had stars like firecrackers in their eyes and then they stopped.
She reached out her hand like a ghost
and stuck it right through him.
"Oh," he said, "that feels nice."
But really, it felt awful.
...like a thousand tiny submarines of grief.
like a bathtub full of blood or money -- what's the difference?
Different strokes, different folks.
"That's the way," people say, "the game is played."
Cheaters win, and love becomes suspect.
Sluts win! Sluts win! Sluts win!
But we let them.
Labels: funny, lovedones, mywriting, poetry
6.19.2007
Adventures!
About the top of the BookPeople parking garage:
There are bats! EVERYWHERE! Do you think it would work to get a fishing line and try to catch one?
About the 'name game':
Calling some random person on the street 'Tobin' is probably the funniest thing you could ever think of. Ever.
About 'Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer':
Cheesiest superhero movie since Adam West as Batman. Worse than Daredevil. For real. Also, I really hate Jessica Alba.
About Noah Baumbach's 'Kicking and Screaming':
I know I've talked up this movie to anyone who will listen enough already, but OMG how hilarious is it when Max is doing a voice for some stranger in the bar and he says "I'm thinking about getting 'I hate it' tattooed inside my mouth."? I LOVE THAT SHIT!!
About the jukebox at Austin's pizza:
Turns out that 25 selections is about 20 more than good songs in that thing. Oops.
About the arcade:
I feel like I'm pretty good at DDR and then I see the sweaty sweatshirted hispanic kid literally moving faster than the speed of light (literally!!!) and I don't really know what to think. I suck at Street Fighter, though. If only I had been Chun Li.
About 'The Last Waltz':
Better than I even remembered. Robbie Robertson's face! Dylan et al! Neil Young is so high! Van Morrison is so gross and awesome! I could kill Neil Diamond! I love Joni even when she's being a hippie! Yes!
About small jeans and very precise guitar playing and the funniest jokes ever and:
A thousand times yes.
There are bats! EVERYWHERE! Do you think it would work to get a fishing line and try to catch one?
About the 'name game':
Calling some random person on the street 'Tobin' is probably the funniest thing you could ever think of. Ever.
About 'Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer':
Cheesiest superhero movie since Adam West as Batman. Worse than Daredevil. For real. Also, I really hate Jessica Alba.
About Noah Baumbach's 'Kicking and Screaming':
I know I've talked up this movie to anyone who will listen enough already, but OMG how hilarious is it when Max is doing a voice for some stranger in the bar and he says "I'm thinking about getting 'I hate it' tattooed inside my mouth."? I LOVE THAT SHIT!!
About the jukebox at Austin's pizza:
Turns out that 25 selections is about 20 more than good songs in that thing. Oops.
About the arcade:
I feel like I'm pretty good at DDR and then I see the sweaty sweatshirted hispanic kid literally moving faster than the speed of light (literally!!!) and I don't really know what to think. I suck at Street Fighter, though. If only I had been Chun Li.
About 'The Last Waltz':
Better than I even remembered. Robbie Robertson's face! Dylan et al! Neil Young is so high! Van Morrison is so gross and awesome! I could kill Neil Diamond! I love Joni even when she's being a hippie! Yes!
About small jeans and very precise guitar playing and the funniest jokes ever and:
A thousand times yes.
Labels: lists, love, lovedones
4.18.2007
The Summer and Jeff Show Takes A Field Trip: Wan Fu!
A dining review written by Summer and Jeff as soon as we got back to Jeff's apartment last night...
Our young heroes order Wan Fu to be delivered in times of need. But last night, they wanted to sit down somewhere, so a momentous decision was made. Eating inside at the original Wan Fu on east Oltorf.
Summer and Jeff entered the warehouse like building confused, wondering if the people loitering at the front door were in line. It turned out to be homeless people, as confused as we were. Summer was wearing a green and blue skirt and a green jacket, Jeff was wearing whatever he always wears. They were surrounded by ornate decoration in the massive front area. They were finally seated by a woman pleading for death. She immediately questioned Summer frantically about why she was wearing green and whether she was in uniform. The desperate hostess tried to explain that the previous customers had also been wearing green. She made a mysterious choking motion, hands around her neck, prompting Jeff to remark later on that she has probably been pleading for death every night for four years, but since no one understands her silent signals, she has to work another day. Every day. Forever.
Summer and Jeff were seated among the pseudo-authentic eastern décor, peppered with statues, a burnt out Budweiser neon, and piles of boxes. Our waiter greeted us -- “We have a problem.”
He held his chest tightly. “The soda machine doesn’t work.”
We tried to assure him that we didn't want soda anyway, but he clearly thought we were lying and promised to go work on it.
Attempting to find a vegetarian appetizer, we blindly ordered fried won-tons. They were sampled cautiously…
Summer was the first to speak up. “These wontons are the chips and salsa of the orient.”
The phrase “orientalmex" was born.
The dipping sauce accompanying the wontons resembled thick cherry kool-aid and was pronounced by Jeff to taste just like ketchup. Summer objected to the description, but time would tell...
The radio blared generic 90s music, identified by Summer as Third Eye Blind. “You know, they came out around the same time as Matchbox Twenty”. The music faded in and out and varied in volume constantly as though they had given a small child exclusive rights to the volume knob.
Our waiter was a nervous wreck. He apologized constantly, a Hugh Grant without charm. We ordered entrees and he inquired “how would you like your chicken roasted?”
Jeff was confused again. Summer asked if to imagine that he was headless chicken, and he speculated that his soul was leaking out of him.
They discussed the apocalypse. Jeff proposed war over plastic troughs of waters like the ones we were gulping. Summer eyed her water cautiously.
When our entrees arrived, there were accompanyed by many mysterious empty plates of various sizes. One was quickly ushered away, accompanying by more whining from our sleepy waiter.
“I usually serve the lady first but my hands were full. I’m so sorry.”
His eyes pleaded for death as well. This was not our beautiful house.
Summer’s pepper-slathered fried rice was enough to feed a family of Schwartzeneggers. Jeff’s seasame chicken resembled nothing so much as testicles cooked in brown sauce and covered in pencil shavings.
While shoveling broccolis and spoonfuls of pepper into her mouth. Summer notixed some abnormally large cans in the back room.
Jeff turned around to check it out and immediately turned back. "One of those is ketchup." The can was approximately the size of a fire hydrant.
We didn’t know how to leave; paying the bill made Summer wring her hands with despair and confusion. If we stayed much longer, we too would start signaling strangers to put us out our misery.
On the way home, Summer tried to remember the name of a Billy Bob Thornton movie and she said she thought the title was a four letter word.
Jeff: “Poop? Back? Owls?”
Our young heroes order Wan Fu to be delivered in times of need. But last night, they wanted to sit down somewhere, so a momentous decision was made. Eating inside at the original Wan Fu on east Oltorf.
Summer and Jeff entered the warehouse like building confused, wondering if the people loitering at the front door were in line. It turned out to be homeless people, as confused as we were. Summer was wearing a green and blue skirt and a green jacket, Jeff was wearing whatever he always wears. They were surrounded by ornate decoration in the massive front area. They were finally seated by a woman pleading for death. She immediately questioned Summer frantically about why she was wearing green and whether she was in uniform. The desperate hostess tried to explain that the previous customers had also been wearing green. She made a mysterious choking motion, hands around her neck, prompting Jeff to remark later on that she has probably been pleading for death every night for four years, but since no one understands her silent signals, she has to work another day. Every day. Forever.
Summer and Jeff were seated among the pseudo-authentic eastern décor, peppered with statues, a burnt out Budweiser neon, and piles of boxes. Our waiter greeted us -- “We have a problem.”
He held his chest tightly. “The soda machine doesn’t work.”
We tried to assure him that we didn't want soda anyway, but he clearly thought we were lying and promised to go work on it.
Attempting to find a vegetarian appetizer, we blindly ordered fried won-tons. They were sampled cautiously…
Summer was the first to speak up. “These wontons are the chips and salsa of the orient.”
The phrase “orientalmex" was born.
The dipping sauce accompanying the wontons resembled thick cherry kool-aid and was pronounced by Jeff to taste just like ketchup. Summer objected to the description, but time would tell...
The radio blared generic 90s music, identified by Summer as Third Eye Blind. “You know, they came out around the same time as Matchbox Twenty”. The music faded in and out and varied in volume constantly as though they had given a small child exclusive rights to the volume knob.
Our waiter was a nervous wreck. He apologized constantly, a Hugh Grant without charm. We ordered entrees and he inquired “how would you like your chicken roasted?”
Jeff was confused again. Summer asked if to imagine that he was headless chicken, and he speculated that his soul was leaking out of him.
They discussed the apocalypse. Jeff proposed war over plastic troughs of waters like the ones we were gulping. Summer eyed her water cautiously.
When our entrees arrived, there were accompanyed by many mysterious empty plates of various sizes. One was quickly ushered away, accompanying by more whining from our sleepy waiter.
“I usually serve the lady first but my hands were full. I’m so sorry.”
His eyes pleaded for death as well. This was not our beautiful house.
Summer’s pepper-slathered fried rice was enough to feed a family of Schwartzeneggers. Jeff’s seasame chicken resembled nothing so much as testicles cooked in brown sauce and covered in pencil shavings.
While shoveling broccolis and spoonfuls of pepper into her mouth. Summer notixed some abnormally large cans in the back room.
Jeff turned around to check it out and immediately turned back. "One of those is ketchup." The can was approximately the size of a fire hydrant.
We didn’t know how to leave; paying the bill made Summer wring her hands with despair and confusion. If we stayed much longer, we too would start signaling strangers to put us out our misery.
On the way home, Summer tried to remember the name of a Billy Bob Thornton movie and she said she thought the title was a four letter word.
Jeff: “Poop? Back? Owls?”
Labels: funny, lovedones, mywriting
3.13.2007
Hello.
It is pouring rain for the third day in a row. Sunday night, Patrick and Larissa and I ran down Red River screaming and soaked and it was one of those times where you feel like you're in a movie directed by John Hughes. Now I am just sitting at Cafe Caffeine (stupid name, cute place) and listening to The Weakerthans on my ipod and staring at the rain and trying to decide what I have to say that could possibly interest you.
I have really fond memories of thunderstorms in Austin, and whenever one happens now I get the kind of nostalgia that gives me goosebumps all over my arm. I want to just lay in bed with the covers over my head and listen to the thunder crash straight into my nervous system.
I've had a really weird and difficult and emotional week for a lot of reasons I certainly don't feel like explaining here. But suffice to say my week has included: sleeping way too long for a normal person, crying in the manager's office, and screaming in Patrick's ear at Sidebar. It's been really hard to not cut my hair (my automatic defense mechanism for bad times).
Things I am grateful for when things are rough:
- My house.
- Braedyn and Larissa.
- Patrick.
- Margaret.
- My parents.
- Everyone else.
- Double iced mochas.
- Breakfast tacos.
- Mixtapes filled with sad songs.
Anyone got a mix CD theme for me? Kester, I'm working on your songs like photographs mix, again. It's been difficult to finish; I think I've been overambitious about it. I made a CD for some of our family friends titled "The New Classic" -- it's music made in the last ten years by people of (more or less) my generation that I hope will define 'my' time for my kids and their kids.
Here's the tracklist:
First Day Of My Life - Bright Eyes
Major Leagues - Pavement
There's Too Much Love - Belle & Sebastian
Wake Up - The Arcade Fire
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Rainbows In The Dark - Tilly And The Wall
Jackeyed - Micah P. Hinson
With Arms Outstretched - Rilo Kiley
A Passing Afternoon - Iron & Wine
Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
Waltz # 2 - Elliott Smith
Good Woman - Cat Power
Monument - Mirah
Lost Cause - Beck
The Book of Love - The Magnetic Fields
Red Right Ankle - The Decemberists
War Criminal Rises & Speaks - Okkervil River
She's A Jar - Wilco
I'll Be Yr Bird - M. Ward
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
It is pouring rain for the third day in a row. Sunday night, Patrick and Larissa and I ran down Red River screaming and soaked and it was one of those times where you feel like you're in a movie directed by John Hughes. Now I am just sitting at Cafe Caffeine (stupid name, cute place) and listening to The Weakerthans on my ipod and staring at the rain and trying to decide what I have to say that could possibly interest you.
I have really fond memories of thunderstorms in Austin, and whenever one happens now I get the kind of nostalgia that gives me goosebumps all over my arm. I want to just lay in bed with the covers over my head and listen to the thunder crash straight into my nervous system.
I've had a really weird and difficult and emotional week for a lot of reasons I certainly don't feel like explaining here. But suffice to say my week has included: sleeping way too long for a normal person, crying in the manager's office, and screaming in Patrick's ear at Sidebar. It's been really hard to not cut my hair (my automatic defense mechanism for bad times).
Things I am grateful for when things are rough:
- My house.
- Braedyn and Larissa.
- Patrick.
- Margaret.
- My parents.
- Everyone else.
- Double iced mochas.
- Breakfast tacos.
- Mixtapes filled with sad songs.
Anyone got a mix CD theme for me? Kester, I'm working on your songs like photographs mix, again. It's been difficult to finish; I think I've been overambitious about it. I made a CD for some of our family friends titled "The New Classic" -- it's music made in the last ten years by people of (more or less) my generation that I hope will define 'my' time for my kids and their kids.
Here's the tracklist:
First Day Of My Life - Bright Eyes
Major Leagues - Pavement
There's Too Much Love - Belle & Sebastian
Wake Up - The Arcade Fire
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Rainbows In The Dark - Tilly And The Wall
Jackeyed - Micah P. Hinson
With Arms Outstretched - Rilo Kiley
A Passing Afternoon - Iron & Wine
Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
Waltz # 2 - Elliott Smith
Good Woman - Cat Power
Monument - Mirah
Lost Cause - Beck
The Book of Love - The Magnetic Fields
Red Right Ankle - The Decemberists
War Criminal Rises & Speaks - Okkervil River
She's A Jar - Wilco
I'll Be Yr Bird - M. Ward
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
Labels: lists, love, lovedones, mixtapes
3.02.2007
Wan Fu, Too!
So, last week Larissa and I ordered a ton of food from local resteraunt Wan Fu Too (open till 3 am!). We were really excited about our new house but the oven hadn't been replaced yet, so our food order was large and in charge, including two main dishes (at Wan Fu their entrees could easily feed four) and fried spring rolls (yes!) I gave Rissa my credit card to pay for our $30 of good eatin'.
Jeff came over to watch up eat and hang out in our house, which is a lovely place to be with or without awesome chinese food. We were excited! An hour passed and our food hadn't come, but the Wan Fu person had told Riss it would be awhile. A knock came. I answered the door and Larissa and Jeff tuned out, assuming I was TCB.
I blinked at the person at our door, a skinny older guy wearing running shorts with a tiny weird dog on a leash. He blinked back. "I ate your food." I was confused. "What?" "Is this [our address]?" I nodded, still unsure of what was going on. "I live across the street." He pointed vaguely at the weird housing complex across from us that has plastic kid's furniture stapled to the outside wall. "They delivered your food to me and I ate it. I shared it with my neighbors. But they charged it to your card." He paused. My brow was intensely furrowed, trying to process what he was saying. "You ate our food?" "Yeah." I was really weirded out by this dude and I'm not very good with confrontation, so after a few awkward seconds I just waved in front of my face, as if batting flies of how FUCKING WEIRD this situation was and I told him it was okay. Now he looked confused. He handed me the credit card receipt."I came here to pay you back."
This is part of this story that is hard for me to explain, but put yourself in my shoes for a moment. This guy is totally freaking me out. There's clearly something wrong with him and he wasn't doing anything with his hands to indicate he actually had money to pay me back with. He was wearing shorts with no pockets. Clearly he didn't actually mean what he was saying, and I didn't want to look at him anymore. "Oh, well, that's okay..."
He glared at me "I'm TRYING to do the HONORABLE thing here!"
I wanted to say that the honorable thing would have been not to eat our food, but I kept my mouth shut. "Really, don't worry about it. I'll figure something out." I tried to close the door, but he interrupted "I'll cook you chinese food sometime."
I closed the door.
Larissa and Jeff turned, confused about why I wasn't holding mountains of fried rice. I explained, and they were understandably incensed. I tried to explain why I wouldn't 'let' dude pay me back (because he clearly couldn't or wouldn't even though he offered) and we decided to call Wan Fu and tell them we never got our food. When Riss called, the girl knew exactly who we were.
"Yeah, apparently your food accidentally got delievered to your neighbor and he, um, ate it, and then he, um, called us to tell us that he ate it. Which is weird."
They remade it and delivered it minutes later.
I haven't seen our food thief since.
Jeff came over to watch up eat and hang out in our house, which is a lovely place to be with or without awesome chinese food. We were excited! An hour passed and our food hadn't come, but the Wan Fu person had told Riss it would be awhile. A knock came. I answered the door and Larissa and Jeff tuned out, assuming I was TCB.
I blinked at the person at our door, a skinny older guy wearing running shorts with a tiny weird dog on a leash. He blinked back. "I ate your food." I was confused. "What?" "Is this [our address]?" I nodded, still unsure of what was going on. "I live across the street." He pointed vaguely at the weird housing complex across from us that has plastic kid's furniture stapled to the outside wall. "They delivered your food to me and I ate it. I shared it with my neighbors. But they charged it to your card." He paused. My brow was intensely furrowed, trying to process what he was saying. "You ate our food?" "Yeah." I was really weirded out by this dude and I'm not very good with confrontation, so after a few awkward seconds I just waved in front of my face, as if batting flies of how FUCKING WEIRD this situation was and I told him it was okay. Now he looked confused. He handed me the credit card receipt."I came here to pay you back."
This is part of this story that is hard for me to explain, but put yourself in my shoes for a moment. This guy is totally freaking me out. There's clearly something wrong with him and he wasn't doing anything with his hands to indicate he actually had money to pay me back with. He was wearing shorts with no pockets. Clearly he didn't actually mean what he was saying, and I didn't want to look at him anymore. "Oh, well, that's okay..."
He glared at me "I'm TRYING to do the HONORABLE thing here!"
I wanted to say that the honorable thing would have been not to eat our food, but I kept my mouth shut. "Really, don't worry about it. I'll figure something out." I tried to close the door, but he interrupted "I'll cook you chinese food sometime."
I closed the door.
Larissa and Jeff turned, confused about why I wasn't holding mountains of fried rice. I explained, and they were understandably incensed. I tried to explain why I wouldn't 'let' dude pay me back (because he clearly couldn't or wouldn't even though he offered) and we decided to call Wan Fu and tell them we never got our food. When Riss called, the girl knew exactly who we were.
"Yeah, apparently your food accidentally got delievered to your neighbor and he, um, ate it, and then he, um, called us to tell us that he ate it. Which is weird."
They remade it and delivered it minutes later.
I haven't seen our food thief since.
2.18.2007
In which I am a fashion icon.
See Photo # 7
You can buy me and Rissa practically poster-sized if you want. Oh, the possibilities.
You can buy me and Rissa practically poster-sized if you want. Oh, the possibilities.
Labels: funny, internets, lovedones
2.15.2007
Four Sqaure
[1] My valentine this year is my new house. All I want to do, ever, is be there. Cooking in our giant kitchen, hanging out on our huge patio, sleeping in my new bed, staring at the extra room in my closet, peeking in on Braedyn sleeping under dinosaur sheets, and staring at the giant pile of boxes we've unpacked.
[2] It's a busy weekend, which makes me sad because even though I am excited about seeing Jules' band (tonight), and Of Montreal (tomorrow), and ladies night (Saturday); there is a huge giant part of me that really, really just wants pick up the discs of Lost Season Two that arrived today and maybe rent Science of Sleep and watch movies on the floor with Rissa and Patrick and big cokes.
[3] Sometimes the headlines on pitchfork media news totally read like Onion parodies... See: 'Gnarls Barkley holds haiku contest'.
[4] New Bright Eyes EP... Not that awesome*. What is happening????????????????????????????
* Not bad, per se, just not up to par. Except for the song 'Tourist Trap', which I like a lot.
[2] It's a busy weekend, which makes me sad because even though I am excited about seeing Jules' band (tonight), and Of Montreal (tomorrow), and ladies night (Saturday); there is a huge giant part of me that really, really just wants pick up the discs of Lost Season Two that arrived today and maybe rent Science of Sleep and watch movies on the floor with Rissa and Patrick and big cokes.
[3] Sometimes the headlines on pitchfork media news totally read like Onion parodies... See: 'Gnarls Barkley holds haiku contest'.
[4] New Bright Eyes EP... Not that awesome*. What is happening????????????????????????????
* Not bad, per se, just not up to par. Except for the song 'Tourist Trap', which I like a lot.
2.10.2007
Wheeeee house!!
Larissa and Braedyn and I found a house (well, a duplex), in our neighborhood and price range, yesterday. We start moving stuff into it tomorrow. It all happened really fast and we're in a crazed rush, but really I just can't wait for it to be Tuesday or Wednesday and to be unpacking boxes and making this blank slate full of color and toys and life and all of the things Larissa and I love. We can paint and stuff like that so we're thinking of making giant stencils for our walls. We also have a giant porch/yard thing that has a fire pit, so we'll be stringing up lanterns and inviting people over. I have my own bathroom (!) and a walk-in closet (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and Braedyn will have his own room (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I love moving. I moved around kind of a lot as kid and I complained about it a lot, but as an adult I've found it to be sort of like my own personal new years celebration. Obviously I don't want to keep moving Forever, but every time I move I feel like it's a chance to re-evaluate all my old patterns and discard the ones I'm tired of. Also, decorating. Eee!
Pictures coming soon. House house house.
I love moving. I moved around kind of a lot as kid and I complained about it a lot, but as an adult I've found it to be sort of like my own personal new years celebration. Obviously I don't want to keep moving Forever, but every time I move I feel like it's a chance to re-evaluate all my old patterns and discard the ones I'm tired of. Also, decorating. Eee!
Pictures coming soon. House house house.
Labels: lovedones
2.08.2007
Gulf Coast Highway
Although my childhood wasn't perfect (whose is?), there are a few extra-amazing things that my parents did for me that I could never thank them enough for -- in addition to keeping me fed and clothed and all of that. These are the things I pray to emulate if I ever have kids:
- Unschooling.
I don't talk about it as much as I used to, but suffice to say I am not a big fan of the public school system. This is one area where I'm all about revolution over reform. My public school stories aren't very horrifying compared to some I've heard, and I was only in school through third grade, but I don't think I'd be the same if I had stayed. I'll save my specific problems with public schooling for another time, but thank goodness my mom read John Holt. Instead of being shuffled around and graded and condescended to, I read books I wanted to read, I went to the zoo with my mom, I played with kids who (relatively speaking) all loved each other, I hung out with entire families instead of just kids my own age, I debated politics with my dad, I ran around the real world, I loved my brother, I started volunteering when I was 12 and started working when I was 14. There is no personal philisophy more important to me than the idea of choice and free will, and there is no part of my life where I've experienced all of choices laid in front of me like I did with my self-education.
- Honesty.
I don't believe in the 'radical honesty' movement that is popular with some of the unschoolers I know. I don't want to be completely honest with everyone all the time, I think that there are plenty of feelings that can't and shouldn't be expressed out loud. However, I do strive to be as honest with my family as I can and I think they mostly do the same. Questions were encouraged, about anything from spirituality to politics to my friends. As an adult, my relationship with my parents resembles my relationships with my best chosen friends, because we lay our feelings in front of each other as often as possible. I love that.
- Freedom.
Related to homeschooling, but more than that. As a teenager, when many kids I knew were being handed curfews and rules as complicated as bibles, my parents trusted me. They believed that I would make smart choices, and from a parents' perspective I almost always did. Probably not an unrelated consequence. you know? Once I felt more or less like an adult, my parents more or less treated me like one and I don't know how I would have dealt with them not believing in me. As a result of not having a curfew or rules about who came over, I cultivated what remains one of the healthiest relationships with another person I've ever had, spent lots of late late nights really getting to know my friends -- male and female, and never drank or did drugs or slept around or broke laws. And the trust that we had made it natural to transition into a mature, loving relationship with my parents as we all matured. Awesome!
- Music.
There was always, always, always music around me. I remember my mom blasting Austin singer-songwriters in the minivan and sitting in the backseat thinking of who each song reminded me of. We went to go see bands and musicians all the time, my first trip to Kerrville Folk Festival was at age 10. My mom accompanied me to my first show-of-my-own-choosing, They Might Be Giants, cause she loved them too. She taped Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell and I jacked the tapes for my Walkmen. I talk about new music and indie-rock an awful lot, but no song in the world breaks my heart like Nanci Griffith's 'Always Will'. My parents each have excellent taste and I bet I could be listening to My Chemical Romance right now if it wasn't for them.
- Unschooling.
I don't talk about it as much as I used to, but suffice to say I am not a big fan of the public school system. This is one area where I'm all about revolution over reform. My public school stories aren't very horrifying compared to some I've heard, and I was only in school through third grade, but I don't think I'd be the same if I had stayed. I'll save my specific problems with public schooling for another time, but thank goodness my mom read John Holt. Instead of being shuffled around and graded and condescended to, I read books I wanted to read, I went to the zoo with my mom, I played with kids who (relatively speaking) all loved each other, I hung out with entire families instead of just kids my own age, I debated politics with my dad, I ran around the real world, I loved my brother, I started volunteering when I was 12 and started working when I was 14. There is no personal philisophy more important to me than the idea of choice and free will, and there is no part of my life where I've experienced all of choices laid in front of me like I did with my self-education.
- Honesty.
I don't believe in the 'radical honesty' movement that is popular with some of the unschoolers I know. I don't want to be completely honest with everyone all the time, I think that there are plenty of feelings that can't and shouldn't be expressed out loud. However, I do strive to be as honest with my family as I can and I think they mostly do the same. Questions were encouraged, about anything from spirituality to politics to my friends. As an adult, my relationship with my parents resembles my relationships with my best chosen friends, because we lay our feelings in front of each other as often as possible. I love that.
- Freedom.
Related to homeschooling, but more than that. As a teenager, when many kids I knew were being handed curfews and rules as complicated as bibles, my parents trusted me. They believed that I would make smart choices, and from a parents' perspective I almost always did. Probably not an unrelated consequence. you know? Once I felt more or less like an adult, my parents more or less treated me like one and I don't know how I would have dealt with them not believing in me. As a result of not having a curfew or rules about who came over, I cultivated what remains one of the healthiest relationships with another person I've ever had, spent lots of late late nights really getting to know my friends -- male and female, and never drank or did drugs or slept around or broke laws. And the trust that we had made it natural to transition into a mature, loving relationship with my parents as we all matured. Awesome!
- Music.
There was always, always, always music around me. I remember my mom blasting Austin singer-songwriters in the minivan and sitting in the backseat thinking of who each song reminded me of. We went to go see bands and musicians all the time, my first trip to Kerrville Folk Festival was at age 10. My mom accompanied me to my first show-of-my-own-choosing, They Might Be Giants, cause she loved them too. She taped Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell and I jacked the tapes for my Walkmen. I talk about new music and indie-rock an awful lot, but no song in the world breaks my heart like Nanci Griffith's 'Always Will'. My parents each have excellent taste and I bet I could be listening to My Chemical Romance right now if it wasn't for them.
Labels: lovedones
2.02.2007
"Try some, boy, and have some of your friends drink some also. "
Highlights of the Troll 2 screening / cast Q&A at Alamo Drafthouse last night:
- Mr. Waits hugged me. A lot.
- He is a dentist. He shows Troll 2 to his patients.
- Joshua described the Italian director getting in his face and yelling 'Bigger! Louder!'
- None of the crew spoke any English and the cast rarely knew the context for their lines. I knew it!
- That playboy son of the Coopers looks EXACTLY the same.
- Joshua is Mormon.
- Michelle asked them if any of them actually thought it would be good.
- Joshua's description of his Dad reading the script and saying "this is a pretty weird movie."
Grandpa! Are you really in Hell?
No! But I know a trick that a friend of mine who went there taught me!
- Mr. Waits hugged me. A lot.
- He is a dentist. He shows Troll 2 to his patients.
- Joshua described the Italian director getting in his face and yelling 'Bigger! Louder!'
- None of the crew spoke any English and the cast rarely knew the context for their lines. I knew it!
- That playboy son of the Coopers looks EXACTLY the same.
- Joshua is Mormon.
- Michelle asked them if any of them actually thought it would be good.
- Joshua's description of his Dad reading the script and saying "this is a pretty weird movie."
Grandpa! Are you really in Hell?
No! But I know a trick that a friend of mine who went there taught me!
1.30.2007
My friends...
are awesome.
If you use the iTunes Music Store, you can download the new Grand Champeen record 'Dial T For This' for 9.99. That's a deal for 13 perfect bar pop songs. My favorite at the moment is "Cities on the Plain". Check it out and then, if you live in Austin, come with me to the Kinks tribute at Emo's on Saturday night, where Champeen will be kicking out the jams, yo.
And meanwhile, Brad has uploaded his new JFK music video. You will pee laughing. I did, anyway.
If you use the iTunes Music Store, you can download the new Grand Champeen record 'Dial T For This' for 9.99. That's a deal for 13 perfect bar pop songs. My favorite at the moment is "Cities on the Plain". Check it out and then, if you live in Austin, come with me to the Kinks tribute at Emo's on Saturday night, where Champeen will be kicking out the jams, yo.
And meanwhile, Brad has uploaded his new JFK music video. You will pee laughing. I did, anyway.
Labels: internets, lovedones, music
1.27.2007
'People' Mix 2007. Limited Edition.
When I was eighteen or nineteen my friend Rhymi and I started making tapes for each other with a theme. We would pick out songs that very specifically reminded us of the loved ones (or arch enemies) in our lives and mix them for each other, explaining who they reminded us of in the case notes. Michelle made one too (Quiche Lorraine reminded her of Josh Gauthreaux!)
Later, the tapes were expanded into elaborate CD plans. By the time the project lost it's steam, I had bought an entire set of children's books on manners I planned to use as packaging for the ultimate people mix CD collection. I still have Rhymi's elaborate tracklists, and some notes of my own.
Fast forward to a couple months ago, Larissa and I revisit the project and make lists of 20 of the most important people in our lives and assign them all songs. In the people projects, some of the songs remind you of people because you once listened to them together, or kissed to them, or danced to them. Others are intangible -- some part of the essence of the song bears a relation in your heart to the essence of that person. Others are very literal -- the lyrics of the song could easily be your own love letter to that particular friend. It just depends. Anyway, it's a fun experiment and you should try to remember some of the songs that remind you of your favorites.
Now, just because I am sick and bored, is a miniature version for you. This one is obviously incomplete in covering the important people in my life, and is really just a collection of a few songs that immediately spring to mind as being intrinsically linked to this person or that one.
Nature Anthem - Grandaddy dedicated to Braedyn.
Incidentally, a recording of Braedyn singing this song is the ringtone on Riss's phone right now.
Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground dedicated to Isaac.
Neither of us has pale blue eyes. When I got my wisdom teeth removed I listened to Isaac singing this song on repeat during most of the surgery.
Eau D' Bedrrom Dancing dedicated to Rebekah.
Even if she didn't love it so much I think it would remind me of her.
New Slang - The Shins dedicated to Jeff.
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procul Harum dedicated to Brad.
I can't even remember why this song reminds me of Brad but a long time ago I started thinking of him when I heard it and now I always do.
The Ballad of El Goodo - Big Star dedicated to Kester.
So Begins Our Alabee - Of Montreal dedicated to Margaret.
For lots of reasons, beginning with the fact that Kevin Barnes' voice reminds me of Margaret's heart.
Later, the tapes were expanded into elaborate CD plans. By the time the project lost it's steam, I had bought an entire set of children's books on manners I planned to use as packaging for the ultimate people mix CD collection. I still have Rhymi's elaborate tracklists, and some notes of my own.
Fast forward to a couple months ago, Larissa and I revisit the project and make lists of 20 of the most important people in our lives and assign them all songs. In the people projects, some of the songs remind you of people because you once listened to them together, or kissed to them, or danced to them. Others are intangible -- some part of the essence of the song bears a relation in your heart to the essence of that person. Others are very literal -- the lyrics of the song could easily be your own love letter to that particular friend. It just depends. Anyway, it's a fun experiment and you should try to remember some of the songs that remind you of your favorites.
Now, just because I am sick and bored, is a miniature version for you. This one is obviously incomplete in covering the important people in my life, and is really just a collection of a few songs that immediately spring to mind as being intrinsically linked to this person or that one.
Nature Anthem - Grandaddy dedicated to Braedyn.
Incidentally, a recording of Braedyn singing this song is the ringtone on Riss's phone right now.
Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground dedicated to Isaac.
Neither of us has pale blue eyes. When I got my wisdom teeth removed I listened to Isaac singing this song on repeat during most of the surgery.
Eau D' Bedrrom Dancing dedicated to Rebekah.
Even if she didn't love it so much I think it would remind me of her.
New Slang - The Shins dedicated to Jeff.
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procul Harum dedicated to Brad.
I can't even remember why this song reminds me of Brad but a long time ago I started thinking of him when I heard it and now I always do.
The Ballad of El Goodo - Big Star dedicated to Kester.
So Begins Our Alabee - Of Montreal dedicated to Margaret.
For lots of reasons, beginning with the fact that Kevin Barnes' voice reminds me of Margaret's heart.
Labels: lovedones, mixtapes, music
Baaaaby boy!
That's my friend Patrick. Today is his birthday. He is a gem among boys and one of my favorite humans on earth. He had a party at his sweet li'l duplex last night and there was a lot of laughing and a little bit of dancing and some improvised songs. My friend Bart made up a song about me and in the verse where he was talking about me and Larissa living together he sang "They do things that some of us would never do. Ever." Which is accurate and hilarious.
Happy birthday to Patrick, who will get coffee and watch Lost and talk about girls with me until the day I die, if I have things my way.
Labels: lovedones
1.26.2007
Doing it like it's 1999.
After years of BBSes and Prodigy Online, I started my first website in 1998. I was sixteen. There was some vague personal information and poetry, as well as some fervent worshipping of the Disney movie Lady & The Tramp. In 1999 I bought a domain name and called it boingyboingy . com because of a jubilant and bizarre 'dance' that my friend Cory and I used to engage in at Not Back To School Camp. I also started a 'journal' on my site around that time, chronicling my adventures as a rollerskating hormonal seventeen year old homeschooler. The earlier example of this awesome 'blogging' that I can find on the Web Archive is from June of 2000 and I had just returned home from visiting my aformentioned friend Cory. Be forewarned, I also talk a lot about the Austin Poetry Slam. Later that year, I started to slack on updating my website and I started a Livejournal. The older entries are short and serve mostly just to remind me how not-funny I was six years ago...
Here is an excellent example of what we're talking about here.
Even my close friends actively made fun of my journal.
But some things never change.
My livejournal lasted for many, many years as boingyboingy fell by the wayside. And then Myspace happened. And happened and happened. And I know -- I know we don't heart myspace. Mypace is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Myspace is hard to navigate, full of incredibly annoying ads, and populated by scores of sexually frustrated teenagers and shirtless Confederates. I know. But, despite all of these problems, myspace gives me something I missed from the BBSes and the Prodigy Online and even the very early days of that livejournal -- a cohesive sense of community. And plus I like telling my friends I love them in new and creative ways. And by creative I mean a little comment box. But as myspace fades from the collective hearts of everyone else I know and wonderful sites like flickr and youtube take it's place, I feel that it is once again time for a change.
I am prepare to launch a new site with comics and crafts and art projects, and I feel that it is time to join the smart people and start a 'real' blog. Eight years of 'blogging' that has borne no relation to the adult world of Andrew Sullivan and the Fugly girls is coming to a close. Here I am, atom feeds and all.
Hallelujah?
Meanwhile, bat bombs?!
Here is an excellent example of what we're talking about here.
Even my close friends actively made fun of my journal.
But some things never change.
My livejournal lasted for many, many years as boingyboingy fell by the wayside. And then Myspace happened. And happened and happened. And I know -- I know we don't heart myspace. Mypace is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Myspace is hard to navigate, full of incredibly annoying ads, and populated by scores of sexually frustrated teenagers and shirtless Confederates. I know. But, despite all of these problems, myspace gives me something I missed from the BBSes and the Prodigy Online and even the very early days of that livejournal -- a cohesive sense of community. And plus I like telling my friends I love them in new and creative ways. And by creative I mean a little comment box. But as myspace fades from the collective hearts of everyone else I know and wonderful sites like flickr and youtube take it's place, I feel that it is once again time for a change.
I am prepare to launch a new site with comics and crafts and art projects, and I feel that it is time to join the smart people and start a 'real' blog. Eight years of 'blogging' that has borne no relation to the adult world of Andrew Sullivan and the Fugly girls is coming to a close. Here I am, atom feeds and all.
Hallelujah?
Meanwhile, bat bombs?!
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