but he left all the books to her

Yeah, so, hi. Little dusty around here, I know. I finished exams, I graduated, I ran off to Stratford, Ontario for four theater-packed days of Shakespeare Festival with my fambly (more on that soon), and now I'm about to embark on a weekend of wedding-related events for a college suitemate and her awesome beau. So, all that is by way of saying you'll probably hear more from me soon, most likely in the form of BarBri-related grousing (that's the bar exam prep class for you non-law school readers).

In the meantime, I've heard very, very mixed reviews of the new ("red") Weezer album, but I'll give them an A+ for their so-meta-it-hurts video for "Pork and Beans." In fact, by the time it concluded, I was left wondering if they were grasping too hard for memes...? Anyway, check it out, and happy Memorial Day:

so many possibilities

Hey, kids. I'm back!

Mostly back to say that R.E.M.'s new album, slated for April release, will be called Accelerate, and "I'm Gonna DJ" is going to be on it, and they say that they recorded it quickly, according to this article. All of this leads me to believe that they've abandoned some of the studio overproduction that has plagued their last couple of albums, so I'm VERY optimistic that the ROCK sound of their live show will be evident in this new album. Next question: a tour? That I can attend? Pretty please?

Also, when Ken Stringfellow mentions in the article that he called Mike Mills for his birthday? Mr. Mills's birthday happens to be December 17, as is a certain other very important person's. Ahem. *tosses hair and preens*

Anyway, holidays were lovely, family is great, kitty is playful and seems to be doing well, I managed to catch a terrible cold from which I'm still recovering, friends descended upon Chicago and we tore up this city for New Year's, I pulled every muscle in my back playing Wii Sports yesterday (that says more about how out of shape I am than how vigorous the Wii games are), and I've been dithering online for the last hour and a half rather than doing my reading for tomorrow. So, really, nothing new.

Quick holiday movie update: saw The Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd, Beowulf, I Am Legend, and No Country for Old Men, all of which I enjoyed (though Sweeney Todd and No Country were the best of the bunch). Still want to see Atonement, There Will Be Blood, Juno, Charlie Wilson's War, and Walk Hard, among others. Chances are school will catch up with me before I see even half of those, but I guess that's what DVD rentals are for.

Finally: Britney, wtf? I stop reading my gossip blogs for a week and all hell breaks loose. No matter how stressed out I get, I can take solace in the fact that I have never been ambushed for an intervention by Dr. Phil, thank god.

reindeer really know how to fly

oh, my. I'm... flabbergasted.

Because, see, I thought I was the Best Girlfriend Ever. I got the Boy a Wii! At great expense, from a secondary retailer! With an additional remote, so I can play, too!

...but he got me? An iPhone.

*freaks out*

Good thing my cell contract with Sprint ended a couple months ago, eh?

*freaks out some more*

Merry Christmas, dear reader. I'm off to Warm 'n Cheerful tomorrow, even though I'm not quite done yet (see relentless paper second draft, supra). But soon, very very soon.

hold on to these moments as they pass

yay! birthday!

...that's about all I've got in me at the moment. I've spent the day at Starbucks outlining Antitrust in the hopes of taking that exam tomorrow, because I still have that second draft of a paper to finish before I leave for the holidays bright and early Thursday morning. Damn our school calendar for taking away any hope of birthday-day fun for the second year in a row. Thankfully, there will never be another exam on my birthday, ever ever, and maybe next year I'll start to feel more generally festive before, er, December 20.

It hasn't been all sadness and attempts to monopolize, though, I swear. The Boy will be taking me to a nice restaurant on Wednesday, but thoughtful fellow that he is, he also got me a beautiful red sweater I admired recently in Anthropologie's window so I'd have something to open today. (I also got this lovely watch from my parents while I was home for Thanksgiving.)

Anyway, I'm older than I've ever been, now I'm even older, and this outline won't write itself, so it's back to it.

blurry even without light

I love that WOXY is including Nada Surf's "Blizzard of '77" on their Holiday Mixer, because it's totally in my Christmas playlist, too. hee. Other non-holiday-yet-holiday-ish songs on my playlist:

AFI, "Love Like Winter" (who is this? why do I have this song?)
Belle and Sebastian, "Fox in the Snow"
Counting Crows, "A Long December" (obviously)
Death Cab for Cute, "The New Year"
Joshua Radin, "Winter"
Keane, "Snowed Under"
Linkin Park, "My December" (I can't even be embarrassed about this one. I really like it... the embarrassing part was being introduced to it when Josh Groban covered it in concert. Sigh.)
The Long Winters, "Cinnamon" (This one's hard to explain... you'll have to trust me. It would be facially easier to relate if it were entitled "Nutmeg," or possibly "Vanilla Extract")
Moxy Fruvous, "It's Too Cold"
The Nields, "Snowman"
Rufus Wainwright, "Hallelujah" (blah blah Jeff Buckley blah blah)
Sarah McLachlan, "Fallen" (from listening to it in a cold car on a cold December night four years ago. I do have her holiday album, though)
Sister Hazel, "Your Winter"
Sting, "All Four Seasons" (this one led off a holiday collection I got at Bath & Body Works a couple years ago. The "Classics" disc of the 2-disc set also features Michael McDonald's "On Christmas Morning," whom I now can't think of without mentally chuckling about either the 40-Year-Old Virgin or the New Pornographers' green screen contest... but I digress)
Tori Amos, "Winter"

Also, apropos of nothing, I totally love "River." What a lovely, lovely song.

Anyway, the worst part about this Holiday Mixer is that it keeps introducing me to MORE CHRISTMAS MUSIC I NEED. I had no idea that the Dandy Warhols covered "Little Drummer Boy," but there it is, on an Indie Christmas collection that came out in September (?). I'd buy it in a second... except there are two Decemberists songs on there I already own, so maybe I should just grab a couple of the songs off iTunes? I've already bought the Killers' Christmas offering this year (mostly on the strength of this wacky video), so perhaps I should stick to the holiday songs I have...

(But Jack White has one! Nellie McKay has one! How have I not heard about these songs?)

...or maybe I should just stick to getting my work done. Bah. Humbug.

peace on earth

If you're not listening to the WOXY Holiday Mixer, you should be--I've heard several favorites in the hour since I got home (including Bing and David Bowie's Drummer Boy duet, and the Fountains of Wayne/Eclectic Café staple "I Want an Alien for Christmas") and I felt so spirited that I finally put my little tree up:



Oh, and my USB tree, too.



And nothing says "holiday spirit" like editing journal page proofs! Ho ho ho.