Goodbye, Volcano

Jorma, etc. Appreciation Post

2008-12-09T23:05:00.004-05:00

I have been crushing on Jorma since he was Guy Number Two:

I am so glad SNL is finally letting him be on video. I mean...the way he says "most-ily" in the video is just, like...*CRUSH*

ALSOOOO. Day Man is the best song ever and icannotgetitoutofhead and Sunny is the greatest show of our time and I don't want to hear otherwise.

I AM THE ABANDONED BLOG

2008-07-01T23:06:00.004-04:00

...Just Kidding. I took a long break, mostly out of boredom, neglect, and downright busyness.

More soon. Maybe!

Unoriginal Likes/Dislikes

2008-05-13T23:06:00.004-04:00

I like:
-Running alone
-Climbing to the tops of towers, looking out at the world, feeling small
-Watching the same movies over and over (most recently, Reality Bites)
-Riding my bike along the Charles
-Eating 2 Peppermint Patties
-Sundays

I Don't like:
-Riding my bike on scary Watertown streets getting edged off the road by mean cars
-Sitting at a desk when it is sunny out
-Eating 6 Peppermint Patties
-Writing final papers
-Mondays

If You Must Puke, Puke Glitter

2008-05-08T00:13:00.002-04:00

Santogold=things I like, lately.

Like a Dream Come True, Minus All the Flames

2008-05-02T08:41:00.004-04:00

This morning my co-worker called me and me told me not to go into work! Yay! But it's because there is a huge underground fire in Harvard Square, right underneath the building I work in. Boooo.

Give Me One Good Reason to NOT Like This

2008-04-29T23:22:00.006-04:00

Aside from the whole "But what I really wanna do is SING!" angle, I find Scarjo's first single from her Tom Waits covers album totally not bad.

(Actual video here, but I like the Lost in Translation one better.)

If You're Bored You Must Be Boring

2008-04-28T23:42:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I am going to the dentist for the first time since 2005. I can't wait for them to crank open my creaky jaw and see all the moths and cobwebs back there! Heh heh, eeeeeeeww. Just kidding, I totally floss like a mad woman.

So tonight I filled out this Dental Survey that my new dentist mailed to me, and one of the questions, amongst a page full of straightforward doctor-like questions, was: Would you change anything about your smile if you could?

Holy cow! Talk about a can of worms! And this is the amount of space they gave me to answer:_____________.

I thought about all of the things I don't like about my smile. I think it is too gummy when it is at its most sincere. My front teeth are too round (They constantly remind me of how Jim Davis used to draw crazy people, always with round teeth). And the entire bottom row is a crooked mess. There's even an unofficial snaggle tooth down there. And...I really like gaps in front teeth. I wish I could have a gap in my front teeth, they are so cute. Oh, and they could be a lot whiter too.

So I thought all those things, and then I looked at the line:_____________.

And I just wrote: Nothing :)

That's right, I drew a smiley face.

Oh, and sorry I haven't been posting. I've been so utterly bored with myself lately.

Super Movie Weekend Extravaganza!

2008-04-14T19:42:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend I saw three movies, in this order:

The Girl Next Door
This is one of those movies that plays a song when it doesn't know where the plot should go...every 15 seconds. But Emile Hirsch is charming, Elisha Cuthbert is hot (but less charming), and it has the whole last days of high school thing going for it. I am a sucker for a dumb high school movie.

No Country for Old Men
Kind of a no brainer that this movie is awesome. I had to look at the FAQ's on the movie's IMDB page afterward because I am kind of slow.

Little Children
At first, the narration of Little Children irked me, but the over-arching creepiness slowly washed over me until the voiceover seemed natural. The sets looked fake (I think intentionally), and the actors seemed to "act" as if they were in a play. But I like that sort of thing.

Oh and

2008-04-13T13:01:00.003-04:00

One more thing. I really want Jillers to start a blog like What I Wore (lovely blog, check it out), because she's so styling. If she doesn't do it I might start one called, "What Jill Wore."

Picture from last summer. Oh summer, come back!

Vidjeos

2008-04-13T12:30:00.005-04:00

I have nothing interesting to say to the internet today. Here are some videos.

New crush, Allison Weiss:

I love how she always says, "Hello Internet!" at the beginning of her videos.

Old crush, p!atd on SNL last week:

Usually bands sound bad on live shows, but they sounded really good. Such professionals.

Ghost Posts

2008-04-12T13:36:00.013-04:00

Lately this thing has been happening where I write something for my blog, and then decide not to post it. I guess I lost my mojo. Anyway, I'm feeling oversharey today (must be the warm weather) so here are the last 5 or so blog posts that were never blogged.

Untitled (written on 4/7)

This makes me laugh every time I read it. Swears are funny.

From the Street Boners "aboot" page:
STREET BONERS
Gavin McInnes is a fucking piece of shit on the bottom of your shoe that likes to talk to animals and get lost in the cold. His best friend is a 2 foot tall fat woman and he gets beat up about once a day. He started Vice Magazine with two other guys back in 1994 and recently split to do his own stuff. He's been a cartoonist and a singer of punk.

TV CARNAGE
Derrick Beckles is a smarmy shitstain that watches TV approximately 24 hours a day and thinks the world revolves around his crappy attitude. He was the face of the Truth campaign and began TV Carnage by himself back in 1994. He's been a filmmaker and a singer of punk.

***

Is It De-Lurking Day Yet? (Written 4/7)

It's no secret that I really like to look at photos. My capacity for looking at pictures of people I have never met is kind of embarrassing, and pretty stalky. Oh well. Here are some of my favorite photomograph blogmobiles:

Epicly Later'd
I wish I was a teenaged skaterdude from the Lower East Side. Cuts and sneakers and stuff are cool. Also, hipsters and Morrissey. And puppies!

Teenage Unicorn (RIP)
The cutest named photo blog that is sadly never updated anymore. I wrote Amy Kellner an email saying something like, "Sorry for stalking you, but update your blog!" Or something.

The Skullset
These are the most artful pictures of rich kids from NYC and LA on the internet. Also hipsters and Morrissey. Less puppies. (maybe!)

Mareen Fischinger's Tumblog
This girl takes really lovely pictures. Also blogs with WORDS. It's different from the others, you see.

***

In Case You Were Wondering (Written 4/5)

Ryan Adams pulled a mega-prank on his devoted readers (guilty!) today and dramatically quit his blog. His computer, lovingly named "Foggy" by Senor Crazypants McSexy, started tumblring soon after:

I AM THE ABANDONED BLOG

The man, the one who typed on me has left. He abandoned me so, after running a few system diagnoses I found an internal relay system for the keyboard. He always hit my keys so hard. That deaf strange man.

***

Tiny Happiness (written on 4/1)

Last Sunday Luke and I happened upon a letter taped to the sidewalk in Watertown Square, scrawled in a little kid's writing. It said, "If you want to play street hockey come to my house on Saturday and sign up. NO fighting, no cheating, and no hurting people unless it is an accident." Then it said, "If you want to be goalie raise your hand." Hee hee.

Luke: We should send this to Found!
Me: Let's send it to 2004 when people cared about Found!

***

It's Honeybun Backwards (written on 3/1)

The other day my Mom reminded me that our family used to have a secret codeword that could be used in a time of emergency. The idea was that if my Mom ever sent someone to come pick us up at school or our house or wherever because she was somehow unable to get to us, they would have to tell us the secret word so we would know she had sent them.

We weren't overly paranoid or anything, it was more preventative based on those horror stories about kids getting into cars with strangers because the person said the kid's mom had sent them.

So my Mom called to see if I remembered the word. I had no idea. She asked my 3 other siblings and everyone else remembered. What's my problem??

Anyway, want to know the word? The word was...are you ready for this? It's really good!

NUBYENOH.

That is the most secret word ever! Now, you might sound it out like this: nub-ya-no. You would be correct. But for some reason, my entire family pronounced it like this:
nub-ya-noy.

Even more crazy secret!

Did you and your family ever have any secret codes?

Weekend Warriors

2008-03-30T13:26:00.011-04:00

The weekend is for looking at stuff online that you can't look at when you're at work, didn't you know?

***

NYTimes has an article in the science section this weekend about how some evil geniuses made a machine that could create a black hole that would do whatever it is that black holes do to planets. No biggie.

Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho contend that scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, have played down the chances that the collider could produce, among other horrors, a tiny black hole, which, they say, could eat the Earth. Or it could spit out something called a “strangelet” that would convert our planet to a shrunken dense dead lump of something called “strange matter.” Their suit also says CERN has failed to provide an environmental impact statement as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

***

There's also a piece in the NYT City section (what, JA isn't good enough for the Styles?) called Channeling Carrie that spends a good portion of time talking about Julia Allison:

Ms. Allison knows the adventures and misadventures of Carrie & Company by heart, and she uses them as something of a road map for her own life.

Julia "quit" her blog on March 6th, saying: "I'm done. I can’t do this anymore. It’s ruining my life." (Her blog has been updated 17 times since then, but always timidly and apologetically.) Anyway, receiving press in the Times is probably just the sort if gentle cooing she needs to get back in the blogging game.

***

I love the idea for Paul Ford's Six-word Reviews of 763 SXSW MP3S. It's a really handy guide and can be used in a number of ways.

1. Go through the list and see how many songs are by people you've actually heard of:
Martha Wainwright: Great, commercial-proof lonely woman lament.

2. Go through the list and see how many bands are from Boston--cringe at bad song reviews.
Neptune: Sounds more like your Uranus! LOL JK.

3. Go through the list and check out songs that got a good rating by clicking on convenient link:
Mittens on Strings: This song could date my sister.

4. Read pithy obervations dispersed throughout:
SOMETHING ELSE I GLEANED

Many people don’t write songs for an audience. They write songs for Gray’s Anatomy, for Zach Braff, and for Apple advertisements (Volkswagen if they’re not ambitious). If I was in a band I would write a slow song with an 808, reverb, and a female vocalist, and call that song “Zach Braff’s Eyes Reflected in My Nano.” I would make sure it got to the right people. By which I mean Zach Braff, or one of the leechlike marketing creatures that feed from the skin of Steve Jobs under his mock turtleneck.

[Ed. Note: "Zach Braff's Eyes Reflected in My Nano"--ha ha ha.]

5. Get mad in a "Hey, I've been saying that for the past three months, but wasn't clever enough to write it down" way:
IMPORTANT LYRIC

“So there’s a broken mirror on my bed. I’ll clean it up. So what? You don’t have to be such an asshole all the time. Awwww, don’t be like that. Ha ha. (Hic.) Whooooo, ooo ooo oo oo, a uh uh oh oh oh.“ —The Virgins, Rich Girls.

***

Two useful music links:

Muxtape allows you to make your own mixtape and share it, or just listen to other people's.

Pandora lets you create your own radio station. You put in bands you like and it plays those bands and other bands that sound like those bands. I listened to it all day long at work the other day after putting in about five artists' names. Awesome.

***
These College Humor Prank War videos aren't new, but I just discovered them. If you watch just one, I would suggest Prank War 5: Amir's Big Break (with Human Giant). They are all so so painful (in fact they're so over the top mean that I half question their authenticity). Happy Schadenfreude Sunday!

TOTALLY BORED the musical

2008-03-25T21:59:00.008-04:00

Ryan Adams has a Tumblr:...and I highly recommend reading it.

I am in no respect a Ryan Adams expert. I don't listen to his music very often. I've never seen him play live. But I think I just fell in love with him.

Not Just Pants

2008-03-25T21:21:00.003-04:00

The other day I proofread Luke's review of Xiu Xiu's live show for him.

Me: Your article is so smarty pants.
Luke: Does it sound smart? Or just pants.

Oh Great.

2008-03-25T00:18:00.006-04:00

No! Seriously, great. I can't wait to see this Julia Allison reality tv show play out. (Her besties--sorry, CO-STARS--can be found disseminating fashion opinions here and Geeking Out! here.)

For now, this is my favorite JA televised moment:

(go here for the the full dramz...reality! tv!)

Oh, Jules. I remain, your humble conflicted follower, & etc. etc.

If Songs Were Acorns

2008-03-22T20:24:00.007-04:00

Remember when Zooey Deschanel sang in the movie Elf? She was really quite good, wasn't she? Now she's a hot ticket in a collaboration with M. Ward called She and Him. A bunch of songs are on their myspace for your listening pleasure.

My favorites:
Sweet Darlin'
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here
I Was Made For You

Related: Elf is a really, really good movie.

Frumpy Like Me

2008-03-22T13:38:00.008-04:00

I enjoy these photos of celebrities before they were professionally styled.

Stars, they were just like us!
(Via ex-Gawker Doree's blog.)

How-To

2008-03-19T21:48:00.011-04:00

My nascent beginnings as an internet over-sharer can be observed through these Xanga screen captures. Evolution is cool.

Day Off

2008-03-19T17:37:00.003-04:00

Today was a very lazy day. Just me and my slippers.

How Embarrassing.

2008-03-19T14:02:00.006-04:00

So...

for about two months in 2006 I wrote an ill-fated Entertainment column for the Lowell Sun. The concept was "Dinner and a Movie." I was supposed to see a movie and then relate it thematically to a dining establishment. For the record, I thought this was a horrible idea, but I was operating under the belief that I should write ANYTHING an editor asks me to in order to get clips and make connections.

I could never even bring myself to look at the edited versions online, because I knew that they were adding in even lamer lines than I had already written. Good thing Ricky Gervais wasn't around in those days. Dude can be so ruthless.
(Link is to a video of Gervais making fun of the Lowell Sun, if you don't feel like clicking through. Relevance!)

Here is one of my hack articles, horrifically cheesy and lame, in its unedited entirety:

Usually fairy tales and dreams only come true at the movies. Take
She's the Man, a goofy comedy that pulls a quill from Shakespeare's
pen. Modeled loosely on Twelfth Night, teen queen Amanda Bynes plays
Viola, who poses at school as her twin brother Sebastian, which
results in countless goof-ups and gender bent tween-appropriate jokes.
The dream here belongs to Viola: to make the male's soccer team by
feigning masculine and prove that she's as good a player as any boy.
There's an unlikely romance or two along the way, and it doesn't ruin
any of the fun to tell you that the fairy tale ending is predictable
from the get-go.

Shakespearean comedies always whet my appetite, how about yours?
Especially Twelfth Night, which was first performed at the close of
London's long winter feast in 1602. Belle's Bistro, a romantic
hideaway with a charmed tale of its own, is likewise welcoming
winter's end with a new menu to celebrate spring's arrival. Head over
and check out the new additions and old favorites. With highlights
like grilled tuna over spicy stir-fried vegetables and sea scallops
with an applewood smoked bacon risotto, you'll have more to look
forward to than fair weather.

Bynes is surprisingly funny as a prepubescent manchild who, in an
attempt to be one of the dudes, says lines like "I'd tap that," with a
southern twang. When she's not busy donning fake sideburns and
avoiding group showers, Viola is preparing for the debutante ball,
where she'll be presented to society as lady. But she seems to be
picking up bad habits from the guys; at a charm class Viola is
instructed to "Chew like you have a secret," after scarfing down
chicken wings with reckless abandon. Don't worry, there are no such
constraints at Belle's. Just be sure to say hello to the owners'
Burmese Mountain dog Belle, who likes to hang out when the climate
suits her.

Opening last July, the story behind the Bistro attests to the fact
that dreams can come true even off the big screen. Owners Nancy
Blanchard and John Mastrangelo hoped to someday own a coffee shop,a
comfortable space where people could hang out. That day came sooner
than expected when they saw the local Beef and Ale for sale in
Westford. When they began renovations, the idea was to specialize in
beverages with the food playing a supporting role. But when chef Glen
Jordan walked through the back door a month before opening to see if
he could help, the vision for Belle's changed to a gourmet restaurant.

Such a star-crossed path and serendipitous fortune seems like the
stuff that only Shakespearean plays are made of. Lucky for you it
occasionally happens in real life too. Go see for yourself why
Belle's is undeniably "the man."

Yikes.

On the bright side? Rick Gervais is in Lowell filming a movie! And blogging about it.

JuNo, No, No

2008-03-03T22:41:00.005-05:00

I know that a lot of writers on the internets didn't like Juno when it first came out in theaters. Now that Diablo Cody won an Oscar, they EXTRA don't like it.

But I stand by my assertion that I would watch Juno 100 times. Looking forward to it, even!

However, this post on Stuff White People Like does make me feel really, really dumb. And really white.

From #57 Juno:
...the film takes place in a fictional suburban town in Minnesota, but imagine the same storyline in say West Baltimore or Socorro, TX. My guess is that there would be less qurkiness, less acoustic guitar and zero references to Dario Argento.

Some other posts with snippets that I (a white person!!!) liked:

#38 Arrested Development
Firstly, since the show was cancelled before it jumped the shark, it’s effectively like a rocker that dies at 27.

#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
Often times if you ask a white person about where to travel, you will get a lot of responses. But if you ask them about New York, white people will go nuts. They love the city universally and all either live there, have lived there, will live there or want to live there.

#1 Coffee
I promise you that the first person at your school to drink coffee was a white person. You could kind of tell they didn’t enjoy it, but they did it anyways until they liked it - like cigarettes.

Julia Allison, One Day and A Year Shy of Being a Leapling

2008-02-29T12:32:00.005-05:00

Happy Leap Day! And happy belated 27th to Julia Allison!

Julia has taught me why one shouldn't post so many pictures of oneself on one's personal blog.

Why, you ask?

Because girlfriend posts enough personal pictures for me, you, and everyone else.

You Have a Cat So I Don't Have To

2008-02-28T20:44:00.003-05:00

Salon's Broadsheet has some Good News for Cat Ladies! today:

So it is with great glee, it is with pride and satisfaction and cat hair attached to my clothing, that I tell you of a new study suggesting that cat owners are 30-40 percent less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than people who don't own cats. The study added, "No protective effect of dogs as domestic pets was observed." Meooow.

Oh good. Cat people needed a pick-me-up, ever since that NYTimes ewwww cats! article was published way back in December. An excerpt from The Cat Lady Conundrum piece:

The basic facts: Toxo can infect many species, but it undergoes sexual reproduction only in cat digestive tracts. Once the parasite reproduces, the cat passes it in its feces, where the next unwitting host picks it up by digesting it (intentionally or unintentionally). Then the cycle starts again. In the long run, Toxo must find its way back to a cat’s stomach to survive. So the parasite has evolved a complicated system for taking over its hosts’ brains to increase the likelihood that they’ll be eaten by cats.

Bob Buttons and other cats across the globe salute you, Broadsheet!

Self-Obsessed and Yellow

2008-02-26T10:59:00.006-05:00

You can look at the date to find out when old digital pictures were taken. It kind of takes away from the romanticizing of times gone by, no? Picture taken by Leo 6 years ago tomorrow.

In another yellow room, two weeks ago.

In this case I like the graininess of the first, it mirrors how the moment looks in my constantly nostalgic mind.

Goodbye, MTV

2008-02-26T10:12:00.001-05:00

I love this song. Why did they have to make the video...like this? Well I watched it the whole way through so it can't be all bad. As a commenter says: "Blatantly they cudent be arsed to be in a video."

A good Cribs video:

And is anyone else as intrigued by MGMT's Time to Pretend video as I am? It reminds me of those Lisa Frank folders I used to buy. Pre-Angela Chase days, obvs.

I like the song but "Kids" is my favorite on the album.

Buh-ut You

2008-02-26T01:17:00.000-05:00

It's really hard to squeeze the word "turd" into a folk (sorry, ANTI folk) song and pull it off.

Anyone Else But You lyrics by Moldy Peaches

You're a part time lover and a full time friend
The monkey on you're back is the latest trend
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

I kiss you on the brain in the shadow of a train
I kiss you all starry eyed, my body's swinging from side to side
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

Here is the church and here is the steeple
We sure are cute for two ugly people
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

The pebbles forgive me, the trees forgive me
So why can't, you forgive me?
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

I will find my nitch in your car
With my mp3 DVD rumple-packed guitar
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

Doot doo doo do...

Up up down left right left right B A start
Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

You are always trying to keep it real
I'm in love with how you feel
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

We both have shiny happy fits of rage
You want more fans, I want more stage
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

Don Quixote was a steel driving man
My name is Adam I'm your biggest fan
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

Squinched up your face and did a dance
You shook a little turd out of the bottom of your pants
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

Doot doo doo do...
But you

I Heart Jake and Amir

2008-02-26T00:33:00.002-05:00

The College Humor site makes my eyes hurt and my mac explode, but I am in love with the Jake and Amir sketches from Hardly Working. Now I just go straight to the source.

Canada is one of my favorites, but really I like them all.

Canada from Amir on Vimeo.

Two Reviews I Did Not Write

2008-02-25T23:35:00.003-05:00

A while back, Luke and I went to 53 South so he could do a Barcode. The owners were so nice and they even called in their best bartender to make us drinks.

We couldn't finish all of the cocktails.

Then this other time I went with Abby so she could review Clink at the Liberty Hotel. Honestly? This place would fit in more on Pleasure Island than in Boston. The food was a little too fancy and the atmosphere a bit too themey. See the bars in the background? Read more here.

But most things turn out fun when you're with Abs!

Saturday Nerds

2008-02-23T14:31:00.000-05:00

Luke: Hey do you want to play a game online?
Me: Sure, what is it?
Luke: Go to quadradius.com.
Luke: It's like checkers but with bombs and secret weapons.

Indeed it is just like that. I lost, but it wasn't a bad way to spend 20 minutes of a Saturday afternoon.

Russia, Why?

2008-02-07T09:52:00.000-05:00

Just some stuff:

The other day my coworker asked me if I am a pessimist or an optimist and I answered optimist. But then I admitted I'm afraid to have children because the world is so messed up, and I don't think that's a very optimistic thought. He responded, "Well, that's not pessimistic. That's neurotic." Agreed.

***

Might I suggest courting new friends with Mix CDs. It's better than having to answer the conversation-stopping question: "So, what kind of music do you like?"

From Christina to me, Fall '07:

The Moneymaker ~Rilo Kiley
Everyone Gets A Star ~Albert Hammond Jr.
Fell Down the Stairs ~Tilly and the Wall
The Well and the Lighthouse ~Arade Fire
On the Radio ~Regina Spektor
Phantom Limb ~Shins
Lay Your Head Down ~Keren Ann
Dress Up In You ~Bell and Sebastian
Shoreline ~Broken Social Scene
The Story ~Brandy Carlisle
Where Is My Mind ~Bobby Bare Jr.
Favorite ~Neko Case
True Love Way ~Kings of Leon
Evil ~Interpol
Nature and the Wreck ~Mates of State
I Feel It All ~Feist
My D*** Sux ~Giant Drag
Sea of Love ~Feist
Love and Longing ~StellaStarr*
Like a Prayer ~The Packway Handle Band
Hide and Seek ~Imogen Heap

From me to Xtina Winter '08:

Venus ~Frankie Avalon
The Opposite of Hallelujah ~Jens Lekman
Happy Go Lucky Me ~Paul Evans
John Brown ~Papercuts
Tears for Affairs ~Camera Obscura
The Start of Something ~Voxtrot
Momma's Boy ~Chromeo
Amour du Sol ~Yelle
Dirty Mind ~Pipettes
Mirro Kissers ~Cribs
The Don ~The View
Toothpaste Kisses ~Maccabees
Walk Away ~Franz Ferdinand
Starlett Johansenn ~Teenagers
Anorak Christmas ~Sally Shapiro
What's a Girl to do? ~Bat for Lashes
Rich Girls ~Virgins
I'm a Realist ~Cribs
Time Stands Still ~Cut Copy
Ice Cream ~New Young Pony Club
Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken ~Camera Obscura
Jessica ~Adam Green
Supertramps and Superstars ~Simple Kid

p.s. lists are boring but I can't resist sharing anyway.

***

When I read people's blogs, I skim over a lot of the words. Unless the writing grabs me from the start, I skim skim skim and focus on images instead. I think I have definitely changed over the past five years when I was once, a long time ago, a patient reader.

I know, we've been over this before. But in case you're that type of person too, here are some images to focus on:

***

If you made it this far, check out this cabinet of curiosities: English Russia. Man does Russia have some strange aesthetics.

VOTE

2008-02-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

Get out there and get 'er done!

Vampires! Scary.

2008-02-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

I like the new Vampire Weekend album. Right when you think you have them figured out, they surprise you with happy haunted wind instrumentals. Except it's probably a keyboard making that sound. I don't know! And they seem to have an affinity for Cape Cod. Charming.

I CAN Read!

2008-01-31T10:06:00.000-05:00

illustration from Mr. Falker

I went to my first class last night, and it seems like it will be totally tolerable. The group has a good vibe, in a women-only space kind of way (thirty people, one dude...that makes him an unintentional honorary chick).

My professor is high energy, wears floaty scarves, and is not awkward at all. You know how sometimes teachers can be so awkward on the first day of class? Someone will walk in 45 minutes late and the teacher won't acknowledge them and then that person will be whispering to everyone asking questions and the teacher is obviously distracted but just ignores them anyway? My prof isn't like that at all. When people were filtering in way too late, she would stop talking, look at them, and say, "Hello! What's your name?" Nicely done.

The class is called Understanding Reading, and it's about teaching literacy K-12. She read us a children's book to start, Thank You, Mr. Falker, and let me tell you I was just as entranced as if I'd been a 6 year-old sitting on a rainbow rug. I would highly recommend getting it from the local library. It made me cry. About a little girl who has trouble learning how to read. I won't ruin the surprise ending.

2 Things

2008-01-29T13:09:00.000-05:00

We went out on Saturday to celebrate Minh's last weekend in Boston. Anchovies in the South End has yummy Italian food and wine for super cheap. A nice place to say goodbye to an amazing friend as you cry into your enormous bowl of mussels.

We just found out they don't do wine doggy bags.

That's better.

On Sunday Luke and I went to this Duran Duran press thing. It was hosted by Mix 98.5 and held at 11 am in the freezing cold Regatta Bar.

Stars.

Apparently I don't know very many Duran Duran songs. How could they NOT play Hungry Like the Wolf.

I Can't Read

2008-01-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

I kind of dread it when people ask me if I've read anything good lately. These days I'm just really dumb and illiterate and can't keep my eyes focused on a page of text that doesn't have embedded links. I think the last full book I read was The Secret History and it was a secretly long time ago. And um...that line from the beginning of Less Than Zero about how people are afraid to merge goes through my head every time I get on the Pike. Deep. But that's pretty much the extent of my current bookishness. Maybe all that carrying around pretentious novels as badges of honor I did in my early twenties ruined the whole reading thing for me, now that I'm old and jaded and lost all my ideals. I dunno.

You know what I do like? Pictures. Images. Illustrations and photographs. I'm what you might call a "visual" person.

I could spend hours looking at these comics and sketches on featherbed's flickr. Would that count as reading something good, lately?

Discovered from this post on SBTVC, which, like I said before, I've spent far too much time reading today.

Best in Snark

2008-01-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

Duh! Everyone knows by now that Gawker jumped the Snark. Some of their ex-writers/editors blog here, here, and here. (Oh my gosh tumblrs! Laaaame.)

Now I guess Vice is trying to get serious, so it's founder(s?) has jumped ship and created Street Boners and TV Carnage. Useful if you've been looking at the same Do's and Don'ts archives for the past three years, and are in the mood for something new, yet exactly same.

UPDATE: I just spent the last two hours of my Sunday Morning reading SBTV and it is actually useful for a lot more things. I can't think of what, specifically, right now, except maybe pooping away hours of free time. But in a good way.

Shiny Happy Emails, Furry Happy Monsters

2008-01-26T12:26:00.000-05:00

I was one of those weird kids who didn't watch Sesame Street when I was young. I don't know if it's because I had older siblings who were sooooo over it that I was trying to look cool when I was 5. I remember one time my best friend was watching it at her house and all I could think about was what time would Three's Company and Night Court be on. I was sooo edgy in the '80s.

So I've basically missed out on an entire genre for frames of reference. Now whenever everyone wants to reminisce about their favorite muppet, I am totally in the dark.

Christina emailed me this video today, saying she's always thought it was one of the best things ever. It will enchant your eyes and ears for a full two minutes! It's magical! Exactly how are crayons made?

It also reminded me to re-watch this video that Luke and I were obsessed with for a while. Ladies and gentlemen, Furry Happy Monsters:

Also, Sarah sent me an email (all the way from Germany!) with the subject:
Freundin

And the text:
Means female friend...

aw.

Consumer-isms

2008-01-25T02:14:00.000-05:00

Today I bought this shampoo and conditioner that I've never tried before. It said at the bottom, "FOR DRY FRIZZY HAIR THAT'S FINE."

Well, jeesh. You don't have to say it like that, shampoo bottle! Whatever happened to "Adds Volume" or "For Shiny Hair that Won't Act Dull"?

It seems like usually you buy beauty products based on physical attributes you want to have, not those you actually possess. No one wants to purchase a lip plumping lipstick that says, "For thin upper lips!"

So, I guess...thanks for the honesty, Loreal, or whichever CVS brand that had the guts to just tell me it like it is. Thanks for keeping my personal hygiene real, and my voluminous hair aspirations grounded.

Absorb a Little

2008-01-24T02:01:00.000-05:00

Design*Sponge is hands-down my favorite new website. Introduced to me by Christina. My favorite part is the sneak peek category. You basically get to snoop around someone's sweet apartment and read what they have to say about it. It makes me want to be crafty and designerly. The whole darn site makes me want to...craft something!

Design*Sponge is a digest of every home magazine and HGTV episode I would read/watch, but it takes out the mind-numbing quality of those things and injects some inspiration instead. I like it!

Things That I Hope I Do

2008-01-23T01:20:00.000-05:00

Consider this my New Year's post. Resolutions optional.

1.Visit Sarah in Dresden
2. Visit Minh in L.A. (related: Why oh why must she move to la?)
3. Go on sabbatical with Abby to nyc
4. WRITE, as in put words into sentences into paragraphs into stories that I have been wanting to write
5. take more classes at UMass, I guess
6. Hang pictures in my apartment
7. Take pictures with my non-digital camera
8. Figure out what job I actually want to have
9. Buy a new iPod
10. Buy these boots
11. Fix my bike by spring: this involves: pumping air into tires, replacing the bike seat, putting lights on it for night time riding, and buying a new helmet

Juno

2008-01-23T00:40:00.000-05:00

Juno was the last movie I saw in the theater. I really really loved it a lot. In fact, I have been known to say such things about it as: "I would watch that movie a hundred times." At work one day, some co-workers were talking about Juno, and how funny it is.

You know what?

I cried like four times while watching Juno. Even when it was happy, I was crying. I mean, it was funny too. But it was mostly sad, with a chance of funny. I loved the Kimya Dawson songs, too. Ellen Page? She is just so pretty. Perfectly pretty. Michael Cera's role was grossly underwritten, and if that was on purpose it wasn't obvious enough.

Last night, I watched Hot Rod on TV. It wasn't anywhere near as funny, sad, or 100-times-watchable as Juno.

My So-Called Lameness

2008-01-23T00:04:00.000-05:00

When My So-Called Life came out, I was 14 years old. I was in 8th grade. And I thought I was Angela Chase.

I've considered sharing this fact before, but it just seems so...unoriginal. Since I have become an adult I think I've met about 5 other women who felt exactly the same way. But still, I had the same (badly) dyed red hair. I had the same trademark bulbous nose and weird-o grunge style (It's rumored that Clare Danes had a nose job, my bulb remains healthy and flourishing). When this show came out I started tucking my hair behind my ears obsessively and pursing my lips and rolling my eyes and slouching against lockers, '90s backpack slung over one shoulder, basically just moping through the world thinking, "Oh poor me, I AM Angela Chase!"

The reason I bring any of this up, is because I've been re-watching the show through Netflix with Jill, and although I find it all sorts of guilty pleasure entertaining, I feel embarrassed for Angela. I mean, she's kind of a turd. And seeing it now, I know I was one too.

I am Fickle.

2008-01-22T15:13:00.001-05:00

Tumblr just never felt like home. I am fickle.