the hardest part

You win some, you lose some. From today's rollingstone.com mailer:

* COLDPLAY is contemplating a five-year break so that members of the band can focus on their families. "It's going to be a long, long time before you hear a new album from us," frontman CHRIS MARTIN told reporters. "We've done a few things, but we're all enjoying having families at the moment."

* All the rumors and broken promises regarding GUNS N' ROSES' long-delayed "Chinese Democracy" may soon result in an actual record. A press release announcing dates for the band's North American fall tour (which kicks off October 20th in Jacksonville, Florida) alluded to a possible release before the end of the year. "The only comment at this time is that there are thirteen Tuesdays left between now and the end of the year," the statement read cryptically.

Also, you may or may not notice that last night's rant is missing. I'm not in the habit of deleting posts, really, but it felt bitchier than necessary, so it's gone. I'm feeling a little more in control of things, too, though the paper's still not done and will probably have to be worked on tomorrow while I travel, which will SUCK. guh. Anyway. Happy monday--hope it's not pouring down rain where you are.

trading her MG for a white Chrysler LeBaron

I'm really starting to get used to this high-roller lifestyle.

In the past week, thanks to a law firm reception and 3 alumni weekend events here at the law school, I've had so much good wine, good hors d'oeuvres, good entrees and AMAZING desserts that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to return to my microwaved-veggie-burger-and-space-rice monotony without some kicking and screaming. Seriously, there was a chocolate fountain last night. One of the 1Ls working the event with me commented that he felt like he'd crashed somebody's wedding. It's always a little awkward as a student volunteer wandering around the alumni reunion--the alums are almost universally way more interested in talking with their former classmates than with you, but you're there anyway, eating their stuffed chicken and lemon tarts and drinking their wine and cocktails. Hard to beat a free meal and a $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble, though (even if it does mean that the short paper I intended to have done by this afternoon has yet to really get off the ground. Sigh).

I also raced for the cure yesterday morning, which was a ton of fun--I've never participated in a 5K race before, and oh, the swag you get afterwards! The downside was, of course, the fact that I'm pretty sure the last time I went running was before CEDARPOINT OMG, and I didn't pace myself very well. I was all GO GO GO at the start of the race, but after passing the first mile marker I felt like I was going to throw up and had to cut waaaay back. Averaged a 10-min mile, which is nothing to scream from the rooftops, but it's still an accomplishment in my book.

Need to hit the store if I want soda to drink and lunchmeat to eat in the coming week... though I suppose I'm going to be gone so much that it probably doesn't matter whether I stock up or not. It was so nice just being HOME this weekend. I don't want to go to the airport again! I don't want to! I have classes and papers and out of class work and the new TV season to watch and and and... gah. Being a 2L sucks. Someone tell me how it came to be October already? *sigh*

bring it on, bring it on, yeah

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, I watched the season premiere of Veronica Mars at tv.msn.com at, um, school today. It requires Internet Explorer (....), so rather than go through the hassle of connecting one of my old PCs to the internet, I took a pair of headphones and used one of the (snazzy new) computers in the Lexis Lab. While I know better than to spoil things for those amongst you who watch the show (which should be ALL OF YOU, boys included, because what's not to like about a hot blonde girl who kicks ass and solves crimes?), I will say that I'm so glad to have the characters back again, but I worry that it's not enough to snag those folks out there who aren't already fans. I mean, the Keith storyline confused me and I haven't missed a single episode of this darn show (I'm hoping the TWoP recap will enlighten me). Oh, well--my fingers are crossed. If woxy can experience rebirth, why not our beloved Veronica on her spiffy new network, eh?

sunshine and chocolate

I just got brownies in the mail! From a law firm! Brownies by mail! I realize they probably do this for everyone, and I shudder to think what their recruitment budgets are (I remember chipping in to buy brownies-by-mail for my college suitemate five years ago, and they were Not Cheap), but boy, do I feel special. And with NALP deadlines for holding offers open fast approaching, I'm going to have to start paring my list of firms down, but this process becomes all the more difficult when there's chocolate involved. Brownies! Wow. I could really get used to this whole being-recruited thing.

in a/v club and glee club and even the chess team

So, I posted this on our group blog, but since I've watched it, oh, seven times in the last 24 hours, I feel compelled to post about it here, as well. Go on, check it out--it's pretty much the best video ever made.

in your own world

It's been awhile since I posted about music, which sucks, because that was one of the primary intents behind this blog initially. And having just heard really, really fantastic sample tracks from the new Joseph Arthur and Now It's Overhead albums, I felt obliged to point you guys in that general direction and say, "Go! Go and get!" Joseph Arthur is just all-around amazing, both as musical collaborator and as musician in his own right, so I'm really excited to hear more of his new stuff. I have a soft spot in my heart for Now It's Overhead, though, as it's thanks to them that I saw R.E.M. a second time--for free! on a guest list!--so I'm happy to endorse their new album without reservation. They sound more mature--there are more layers to their songs, but they still retain the haunting musical aesthetic that I associate with Andy LeMaster's work. Both albums are out now, so nothing's stopping you from getting them IMMEDIATELY. Go. Shoo.

Back so soon? Well, I realized that I never wrote about the end of woxy's broadcasts, but maybe that's for the best, as Bill Nguyen is in talks with the owners to resurrect it. Woxy's a phoenix, no doubt. It would be amazing if things work out to keep it afloat, but I'm not getting my hopes up until the audio stream is online again.

Now, if you'll pardon me, I have a journal outline to finish (narrgh) and a burgeoning head cold to nurse. *snif*

don't know when I'll be back again

Another first: blogging from the airport. Five hours ago I balked at the thought of paying $8 for wi fi here at LaGuardia; however, now that my plane has been delayed from 6:45 until 10:30 (and we'll probably sit on the runway for a couple of hours before we're allowed to take off, since every other flight out of Chicago this evening has done so), the $8 seems like money well spent. At this point, I'm hoping my stupid flight home doesn't turn into a red eye, for crying out loud.

More pressingly, however, there's a little grey mouse running around the empty concourse. The floor's pretty gross--lots of food debris, ergo lots of good pickins for the little fella--and he's so skittish. He's probably not long for this world, but maybe he's a fighter. I'd probably be freaked if he were in my apartment, but in this big, empty airport terminal, I don't mind the company. You keep on truckin', li'l brudder. Keep on truckin'.

the waiters are all stars

Greetings from NYC! I'm paying $12.95 for the privilege of having internet access in my room (grr), so I figured I may as well blog it up to make the most of it. I have an interview this afternoon--well, in an hour--so I can't stay long, but a conversation with a friend in the airport while wating for my plane to board got me thinking about the food I'm expensing to firms. With four interviews under my belt (though one was local, which means they got off really cheaply), I've sent in receipts for:
3 tall Starbucks Awake teas
2 Starbucks lowfat lemon muffins
1 Starbucks espresso brownie
2 Pretzel Time pretzels, one with cheddar cheese
1 lowfat cranberry muffin (possibly the best muffin I've had in recent memory)
1 ABP mediterranean salad (purchased outside the sterile zone, but the packet o' salad dressing was still allowed through the x-ray machines. SUSPICIOUS. Vinaigrette bombs are next, mark my words.)
...and assorted beverages (diet coke, vitamin water, etc.).

I was kind of worried that they'd take one look at my carb-heavy diet and deny me an offer simply on the basis of potentially-diabetes-related insurance costs, but it's really not as bad as I thought (though I foresee several more Awake teas and lemon muffins in my future). Also, since this hotel provides no free continental breakfast (boo--it's probably really gauche that I prefer Fairfield Inn and Suites to gussied-up places like this, but at least there the internet is free and the cereal is plentiful), I'm probably going to order up room service tomorrow morning. I think I've only had room service once in my life, and that was so long ago I'm fairly sure my age was still in single digits.

And a final food-related thought: I have a really difficult time sleeping on planes, partly because I have to be a vigilant ear-popper on ascent/descent, and that takes up a good hour of the flight. But more importantly, I just can't stand to miss out on my free drink and snack. Seriously. I will wake myself up if I hear the flight attendants rattling around on the cart nearby. Those Biscoff cookies or bbq soy nut snack packs will NOT pass me by, no sirree, even if it means curtailing some much-needed shut-eye.

(Oh, and I have two offers now. Hooray! Not only do I have a job, but I have a choice!)

loud and clear we all shout and cheer

I'm increasingly impressed at what a small world the internet really is.

See, in my efforts not to read this long article for my Supreme Court class tomorrow, I breezed by the 2 Skinnee J's message boards, as I do from time to time, just to see if there was anything new about the band's status. Instead, I find a link to this message board talking about "Nerdcore in '04" and how the Js were at the front of a movement (kind of). So I scroll down, and lo and behold, there I am. Er, I mean, there's a link to my website, in reference to the fact that I alerted friend Misch to their musical goodness via my college radio show. Crazy. Maybe not WHOA-unheard-of crazy, but weird enough.

And if you're looking for music to work out to, it doesn't get much better than Volumizer, really. I intend to make a kick-ass workout playlist for the 5k run I'm doing in two weeks (am I training? not so much. It'll be a big ol' character-building test of will), and "Horns of Destruction" is going to be front and center, no question.

maybe I'm crazy, maybe diminished

Things I can't deal with right now:

1) Comcast. I clearly spoke too soon last week when I was all elated at the repairman coming early. The LINE TECHNICIANS can't seem to get their act together, because my cable's still unwatchable, and I've spent an hour on the phone today trying to get that information through to someone on their end. FINALLY got a helpful person on the other end of the line who promised to call me tomorrow with more info, because their computer system is down right now. *headdesk* I just want to watch The Office without fuzz! Is that too much to ask? (NBC's the worst. The other channels aren't great, but NBC is absolutely unwatchable. Sigh.)

2) My bathtub. It keeps backing up, but not when I'm using it. Random times. And it's sewer water, so it smells like sewer and leaves little black hunks of stuff in the tub. I shudder to think what those little black hunks are. My whole apartment smells like sewer when this happens, and it's not pleasant and DEFINITELY not sanitary, and maintenance won't be back till monday, but it's SO GROSS AND I CAN'T DEAL WITH IT.

3) Laundry. Why can't it wash itself? I don't have three hours to spend messing with you tomorrow, Laundry, but I must, or I won't have shirts to wear to interviews, sheets to lie on, or towels to dry off with. Fie on you, laundry. Fie.
[See also (3a) Ironing--but we'll cross that complaint once the clothes are clean and dry, thanks.]

4) Snow Patrol. Damnit, your concert was supposed to be THREE MONTHS AGO, when I had TIME to go to concerts. I DO NOT WANT TO SPEND ALL NIGHT SEEING YOU TONIGHT, but I spent the money and I'm not missing it. I might have a (begrudgingly) good time. But I would be a lot happier if this were June 10, like it was supposed to be, rather than Sept. 16.

5) Dinner. I'm FREAKING HUNGRY which is probably why I'm so pissed off. Grrrrrrrowl.

joyful and triumphant

For once, I can honestly say that today was one of those good days that everyone blogs about now and again:

I got a job offer! hooray! Now I can proceed through the arduous callback process knowing that I've got SOMEplace to work (and a pretty darn nice place to work, too). I also had a really fun (seriously!) callback yesterday, so even if that offer doesn't come through, I met some supernice people and had a tasty meal. If only I knew how to make mushroom paella myself--I think I might eat it all the time. yum.

We were delayed on the tarmac at LaGuardia this morning (yeah, yeah, when AREN'T you delayed on the tarmac there), and traffic was HORRENDOUS on the way out of O'Hare, so I was really, really worried that I wouldn't get back in time to do my (videotaped!) 3pm negotiation with my classmate. The cab? Rolled up in front of school at 3:04pm. Nearly perfect. (Also, the negotiation went pretty well--I pretended I'd just flown in from a big meeting with a client. Heh heh. whooo. Anyway.)

And perhaps most importantly, today marks a year for The Boy and I! (Coincidentally, we aren't the only ones celebrating an anniversary today. Congrats, you two!) I honestly can't imagine struggling through the highs and lows of law student life without him, mostly because I only struggled through a very little bit of it before he came along. We're going out for tapas tonight to mark the occasion, which is good, because what better way to be festive than to enjoy some dates wrapped in bacon? mmm. bacon.

Tomorrow I research, I read, I write email and work the Lexis lab and get caught up, but I'm taking tonight off. I do believe I've earned it.

the clouds came tumbling down

So, I've said before I'm big on anniversaries. And I've felt, on past anniversaries of this treacherous day, that I genuinely had something to say, that I felt something that I needed to share.

It's odd, then, that today, I'm spent. I've got nothing.

I haven't watched any of the news recaps. I sure as hell didn't watch "The Path to 9/11." I felt no need to see United 93 or World Trade Center earlier this year. I haven't forgotten where I was that morning (German class), what I did that day (voted, under the clearest, emptiest blue sky), even whose music I listened to (Ben Folds), though the intense feelings I had initially have faded, as feelings tend to do. I do still get angry at times, still feel a twinge whenever I see an old photo with the towers spiraling over lower Manhattan, looking so stoic and constant.

But what can I say? We were never as safe as we thought we were, and we're probably not as safe as we think we are now. We re-elected a president who made a mess of our foreign policy in the wake of the tragedies. We accept regulation after regulation of our air travel, as though suffering these minor indignities will somehow atone for those four doomed aircraft on that bright September morning. We live in a different world, perhaps--but in many ways, it's the same world with the veil pulled back. I wish, as we all undoubtedly do, that our nation didn't have to suffer tragic loss to achieve such jaded understanding.

The worst part, though, the part that is keeping me from focusing much on the memories of today, is that I fear the way we've changed is exactly wrong. I worry that I'm not the only one who has lost the big picture, and that really, really frightens me. Saddens me. Drives me to think about other things, most of the time.

But right now, I'm thinking about five years ago, how I stayed up all night with the other Glee Club officers deliberating on our roster and our feelings. How I was lucky not to lose a loved one. How maybe, just maybe, the worst was over, but wondering if, really, the worst was yet to come.

Goodnight, America. Tomorrow's a new day. Tonight, we sleep.

honey in my chemicals

Another week, another hodgepodge post to make up for my lack of posting of late:

First off--go Comcast! Not only did my cable repairman show up early (which, I suppose, could be bad if I had anything to do other than sit around here all day), but he got the job done WITHOUT hitting on me the whole time, like last year's Comcast guy. More importantly, he told me that the cable problem is a "line issue" (meaning it's the entire 2nd/3rd floors of my building, not just my apt), so they're sending someone out to fix it either today or tomorrow. See, Creepy Cable Guy last year told me the same thing, but instead of offering to send someone out to fix the line, basically said, "Yep. Nothing I can do, you've just gotta live with it." Maybe if I'd agreed to go golfing with him (*eyeroll*), he would've stepped up... really, all I want is to be able to watch The Office's season premiere without fuzzy cable (NBC was the worst--bizarrely, the upper cable channels were fine. The Boy says it's because I'm the only person watching Bravo or Animal Planet. Har har).

In other news, I'm tired. No surprises there, but I fell asleep last night without washing my face or brushing my teeth, and I feel like my conscience woke me up every two hours as if to give me a shot at remedying the situation. But no, I rolled over and went back to sleep each time, and now I feel beat up. Fnurrr. I think I'm also still groggy from the 4:10 wakeup Thursday morn to get to my 7am flight to NYC, then turning around and flying back here that same evening. I need to recover faster from these callback trips, because I'm not going to have the freedom to spend the day sitting around watching Project Runway reruns and sipping diet berry Dr. Pepper for much longer. (Technically, I probably don't have that freedom right now, but whatever.) Speaking of, I missed the first ep of this season, so I taped it over Labor Day weekend and didn't get the chance to watch it till, well, right now. And some of the photos they used in the little montages to introduce Jeffrey and Uli were photos of them wearing the outfits they designed for themselves last week! Ok, so it's not such a big deal, but it's nothing I'd've noticed were I watching two months ago. (Also, I had no idea Jeffrey almost got kicked out on the first challenge. whoa.)

Re: the callback... I think it went fine, but looking back, I can tell that it was my first callback and absolutely have a couple of places in mind where I should've responded differently. Oh, well--with practice things should go more smoothly. My class schedule is settling into place, more or less, but there are still a couple things up in the air that need to get figured out by Wednesday. You know, lots of time, no problem. Sigh. And if I may voice a pet peeve? PLEASE please please please, people--if someone has emailed you or phoned you and left a message about a time-sensitive matter, GET BACK TO THEM. I am juggling far too many things right now to get bogged down because someone can't reply to an email or return a phone call. I'm a little less incensed about all of this than I was yesterday, as replies/responses have gradually trickled in (or, in some cases, I just said, "To hell with it," and moved on), but the point remains the same. I realize I need to have a little less of a visceral reaction to this in order to keep sane, particularly as I embark upon a legal career, but I've had about six or seven different variations of this same problem occur over the past four days, so I'm having a hard time being charitable about it.

Finally, is there a countdown special that Michael Ian Black doesn't participate in? WTF, man. I don't even know what I'm watching (Bravo's countdown of Best Sitcoms?), but there he is. I'm sure if I popped over to VH1 he'd be blathering on about metal videos or how much he loves the 90s or something. Sheesh.

punishing our transgressions

Oh, for crying out loud.

Sometimes it really, really sucks to have to claim Ohio as my home state. November '04 was one of those times. This, too, is one of those times. Guh.

Also, I had to be told by a music blog that Facebook has apparantly gone through a not-very-popular facelift involving a news feed that updates every change your friends make to their profiles. (Sucks for the guy on my friends list who just had to switch from "in a relationship" to "single." Chin up, Adam!) I guess I'm a bad mass-social networker for not knowing about this by now.

Really, though, I'm just plain busy. I've only had two days of class but it feels like it's been a week and a half. I have my first callback tomorrow. I'm so, so tired. The weekend really can't get here fast enough.

(Also, am I the only one who thinks Suri Cruise looks like a baby Bjork?

all the king's horses and all the king's men

I know, it's been practically a week since you've heard from me, and I'm too tired to say much of anything right now--

but the Crocodile Hunter died! And this makes me sad. Between this, the news about Pluto, and Woxy's impending demise, I dare say bad things really do come in threes.

Classes start tomorrow. aiieee. More soon.

too much of a good thing

Well, despite all my glibness of a few weeks ago, I do kind of see the benefit of a private/totally anonymous blog because I could perhaps speak with greater freedom about my particular OCI anxieties, which are pretty much all I'm dwelling on in my idle moments these days. But then, who the hell would I be speaking to? That being said, I guess I can divulge that the odds are looking better and better at yours truly being gainfully employed in New York (City) next summer. Nothing's in stone so everything's subject to change/abject failure at callback interviewing, but I will be visiting firms over mid-to-late September/early October to see if they still want me after talking to me for longer than 20 minutes apiece. Some of them will even have the pleasure of dining with me! (Memo to self: careful ordering soup or spaghetti. Don't be afraid to use a knife with your salad. Dribbles on clothing ≠ professional image, nor a cheap dry cleaning bill.) I have two more introductory interviews, but I'm far from being out of the woods yet. I get a momentary reprieve tomorrow, though...

...and I'll be spending my day trying to narrow my law journal topic idea(s) to something that's a) interesting, b) both in the subject area of my journal (criminal law) and the expertise of the professor I'm hoping to get to advise me, and c) not pre-empted (meaning nobody's written on that precise topic yet). I spent three and a half hours being oriented to my journal for the first time this evening, and I've got four more to look forward to on Thursday, when we'll be introduced to the joy that is "source and cite." I have only the most rudimentary knowledge of this particular activity at the moment, but I do believe it involves finding (hard copies of) sources and seeing if they really say what the author of the article says they do, as well as checking all the citations in the article for correctness. Hooray! I can't wait till I'm a 3L and can boss my own crop of 2Ls around, making them do all the journal (busy) work, because that's gotta be the light at the end of this particular tunnel. That, and building character, of course.

A final query: does anyone else think "bidet" rather than "B - day" when they see the title of Beyonce's new album? Because if I were her, I'd've re-thought that apostrophe. B'zarre, indeed.

edited to add: nooooo--another cutie from the '90s bites the dust. Or, at the very least, a twinkie or ten. T.S., you were SO CUTE in Mallrats! sigh.

if there's some confusion, who's to blame?

I'm presently on hold with Verison DSL.

I'm a Sprint cell phone customer and my internet is provided by MDI. So why am I on hold with Verizon?

Because someone in New York with my first and last name, spelled identically, just set up a Verision DSL/phone account and the invoice confirmation was sent to my email address (firstname.lastname@gmail.com). Rather than ignore it--I mean, how annoying would it be to get, like, bill invoices every month?--I called Verizon to let them know that they had the wrong email, but their only recourse was to cancel the whole account. I guess it makes sense--I mean, I have this person's new phone number and address, so I could stalk them at will. I do feel bad about cancelling their phone service, but really, now--if you weren't quick enough on the uptake to grab firstname.lastname@gmail.com, then don't start giving it out as your personal email address, cherie. You've probably forgotten a middle initial in there (or maybe you forgot to specify the "T" in your (*scoff*) Americanized version of my last name).

But the bottom line, honestly? I'm clearly not as unique and beautiful a snowflake as I thought I was. Oh, well.

it was for freedom

I've posted a little bit recently, but only about stuff and things, not about what's been happening on this end, so I'm going to try to rectify that now. First of all, greetings to Paul, maintainer of 2sj.com--dunno if you'll stick around or if some awesome act of googling only brought you to my Pluto post, but I support your online endeavors, as well. I'm an irregular lurker at the 2sj message boards, as they're my go-to reference for any tidbits about possible reunion tours, etc. Thanks for stopping by!

Anyhow, it's been a pretty relentless week of interviewing, but the bulk of my OCI duties are over with. I had no idea how exhausting the process would be, nor how busy busy busy my schedule would become (evening receptions, researching firms, hanging around in my suit between interviews, etc). I've had some luck, which is really, really gratifying, but as I've said to myself countless times, callback ≠ job, so I'm hedging my bets for the time being. Much like in bowling, I'm not at all sure what it is I'm doing right. I mean, the Boy and I were at Lucky Strike yesterday and in my first game, I bowled a 126--which is awesome for me--and then followed it up with a 76, which is pretty much par for the course in my book. I couldn't begin to tell you what I did differently between the two games, only that one worked out and one didn't. I feel that way about a lot of these interviews, too--when they go well, it's fantastic, but I don't really know why they go well. I can only hope I can keep doing what I'm doing and be able to report back here in a few weeks with a finalized job offer for next summer.

In other news, I think I'm coming down with a cold. I'm echinacea-ing, zinc lozenge-ing and zicam-ing the heck outta my sinus passages and throat, so hopefully it will be a minor cold and not a kick-me-on-my-ass cold, as I really don't have time for the latter. I blame being in close quarters with dozens of people whom I haven't seen all summer and who have, somewhere along the line, picked up and passed along germs. Blerg. I also can't believe that classes start in a week--well, a little over a week. I'm still wavering on my class schedule, and as of this moment, I'm only definitely taking Business Associations and Negotiations. I'm enrolled in Federal Jurisdiction as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, but I need to drop one or the other of those two. I was all Fed Jur gung-ho at first, but seeing as how I'm going to be verrrrry busy this semester, a challenging class like that might not do wonders for my GPA. The U.S. Supreme Court promises to be a little less demanding and the prof got some stellar course ratings last year--but that was for a seminar, not a lecture, so I don't know if the change in class structure will make a difference. I'm also enrolled in Computers & the Law, whose subject matter is right up my alley, but if I can make Directed Reading & Research work out in conjunction with my journal topic, I'll have to drop the seminar, I think. I'm coming into this semester with 4 credits from the summer Judicial Practicum and it just doesn't make sense to hang onto them and cash them in at a later date. 13-credit semester, here I come.

In more "fun" news, the Boy and I saw Little Miss Sunshine yesterday, and it was great. The theater was packed, too, with latecomers sitting on the floor in the aisles, and this was for a 3:30pm showing! The buzz around this film must be ridiculous. Anyway, it's genuinely funny, and the climax of the film is gasp-out-loud hysterical, but the characters seem real, not merely caricatures, which makes the whole experience a lot more meaningful. Steve Carell is a wonder, to be sure, but the film is generally well-cast (especially Greg Kinnear as the failing motivational speaker). Definitely worth seeing.

Also, my ninth They Might Be Giants concert was this past Friday at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I had no idea what to expect, never having attended a Zoo Show before, but the stage was in an... odd location. I mean, we ended up parking ourselves in a nook between a blanket and some folding chairs right in front of the stage, but some people had to sit waaaaaay off stage right because the lawn seating area was not very deep. First opening act was Tally Hall, who looked young enough to be still in high school but who played a solid quirky-pop set. These guys clearly grew up listening to artists like TMBG and their music reflects similar lyric sensibilities, only with the addition of more harmonies (three of them take turns singing lead vocals). I was pleased enough by their set that I intend on checking them out further--I'm sure they have a myspace, as all the kids these days do.

Second opening act was The Bad Examples. They played an hour and fifteen minutes, which was about an hour too long. They weren't terrible, they just were wholly unremarkable and boring. Enough said.

Anyway, TMBG were awesome. I realized when they whipped out "Dang [sic--it was an all-ages show, friends] Good Times" that I hadn't seen them since '03, so anything off The Spine was totally new-sounding live. The set was resoundingly upbeat--seriously, I think "New York City" was the slowest song. We got some crowd-pleasing faves like "The Guitar" and "No One Knows My Plan" (with Flans getting downright testy about the crowd's inability to either a) conga or b) get out of the way of the conga line), classics (yay for "Birdhouse" and "Don't Let's Start"--but when it came to "Particle Man" and "Istanbul," honestly? John and John sounded bored, but the newbies demand to hear them, I suppose), and some from-left-field choices--"The Famous Polka"? "We're The Replacements"???!! I loved that "Spider" went right into "The Guitar," as that's the way I expect it after hearing those two songs on tape/CD so many times. Also, I don't think I've ever seen them play outside before, nor for quite so all-ages a show, so there was definitely a different energy and enthusiasm than I remember from, say, the string of shows I saw at Toad's back in the day. They mentioned that they're working on new songs, too, which just warms my heart. I mean, these guys were MY first band. Even though I'm not so over-the-top crazy about them as I was ten (or fifteen?!) years ago, I'm still thrilled to see them perform, and I'll still keep buying whatever music they release. I will scream the words to "James K. Polk" (though I do miss the confetti cannon), I will annoy others with my poor imitation of the "Ana Ng" dance, and I will jump and jump and jump through "Twisting," just like the first time I heard it so many years ago.

Wow, this was a long post. Before I go do more firm research, please keep my mommy in your thoughts and prayers. She's having surgery tomorrow and everything should go well, but I worry--and I worry more because I'm far away. I'm going home over Labor Day, though, so I'll see her soon. Thanks, friends.

circling all round the sun

Terrorists are scary, to be sure, but it's this sort of thing that makes me really freak out about flying. I know, I know, statistically, you're in a lot more danger in your car. But I appreciate the control I have as the driver of my vehicle--not that the pilots aren't trained, but if they screw up, it's my life on the line... whereas if I screw up driving and hurt myself, it's my own damn fault. Also, being in the air is just so unforgiving--a crash from 10,000 feet is a crash you're not likely to survive, while a car crash seems to offer you a few more viable options for survival.

Anyway, I'm not sure I have much of a point, other than I'm not really an anxious flier. I've traveled frequently by air over the years and I've never even lost a bag (nor, thankfully, my lunch). I just don't care for takeoffs and landings, mostly because of stories like this one. Also, I've heard most flying mishaps happen during takeoff/landing (Bruce, want to back me up on this?).

And since I'm going to be doing some flying in the coming weeks... yeah. I just hope my pilots take the correct runway.

nevertheless this alien remains illegal

All I can say is if 2 Skinnee J's were still touring, the International Planetary Coalition or whatever it's called would NOT have demoted this small remote to affiliate. Oh, well. Sorry, kids. Small minds, apparantly, can't see past Uranus, after all.

the screen doors of discretion

From FakeGayNews.com, via the Nields Nook (via my father, if we're being detail-oriented here):

Iowa Not Like Dar Williams Song, Report Disappointed Lesbians

heeee.

Anyway. Four interviews down, five tomorrow, two (maaaybe three, if I can get on another firm's list) on Thursday, and then I get a three-day break. Oh, and orientation for 1Ls begins this Friday! I can't believe it. I totally remember the stress of it all last year, and while I'm certainly under a lot of stress now (and STILL sleeping really poorly, dagnabbit), it's entirely different. The faces in the halls are friendly (or, at least, familiar), I know my way around, and I have a confidence that I lacked for, well, much of first year, to be honest. I don't know when my insecurity cracked--maybe it was during my externship/judicial practicum, maybe it was taking some time to be with folks from other parts of my life this summer, but I feel a lot more take-charge now than I did then. Hopefully this exuberance is being reflected in my interviews--I am a strong, fun, smart person who knows what she's doing (at least, for the moment), and you WANT to hire me!

...right. Anyway. I am going to bed earlier tonight, so I'm researching one more firm and hitting the sack. If I can get through tomorrow, the worst scheduling day is over, so it should be relatively smooth sailing from there on out. I hope.

yours to keep if you want me

OCI began today--that's "on-campus interviewing," for the uninitiated. I ranked 50 firms and received twenty 20-min screening interviews over the course of the next two weeks, the goal of each being a half-day callback at the firm's HQ. I only had one today, but I have three tomorrow and five (!) on Wednesday, so it's not all fun and games, believe me. This being a somewhat public blog, I don't want to talk about the OCI process in any more than vague terms--suffice it to say that I'll report back with good news and, probably, slide bad news under the rug (perhaps I'll wave my hands and distract you with the Flaming Lips or Little Miss Sunshine or something). I'm getting a lot of positive support from The Boy, The Career Counselor, and The Mom (though that last one is genuinely chipper about everything I do in law school, having little or no knowledge of the conventional wisdom surrounding any of this, so I take it all willingly but with many grains of salt). I'm not sure I'll believe any of their optimism till I get a callback, though. Supposedly Firm #1 will let us know by the end of the week.

So, I wait. Twiddle the thumbs, casually research tomorrow's firms, watch a Grey's Anatomy rerun and an old ep of Alias that Friend Matt zapped to me (just what I need, another TV show to get hooked on, albeit a cancelled one). Fortunately, the next round of interviews doesn't start till after lunch, so I can take a somewhat leisurely morning and drink my tea out of a mug rather than a to-go cup. More than anything, though, I really, really hope I stop sublimating my stress into physical ailments, because I feel as though someone has jabbed a letter opener into the right side of my neck and has begun to twist it, slowly, every time I try to tilt my head to the left.

Yeah, alright, smartass, I won't try to tilt my head to the left anymore. But maybe a sound, peaceful night's sleep will help. Sigh.

oh, I'm ready for it

Saw Snakes on a Plane.

My recommendation? See it in a theater with as many people as possible. You will laugh together, you will hiss together, and when Samuel L. says his famous line (which comes remarkably late in the film, and it seems like after all that happens, it's a particularly odd straw that breaks his camel's back, but whatever), you will clap and cheer. There was a bit of this going on at our 2:30pm screening yesterday, but I would've rather seen it later in the day with a bigger crowd. The snakes are cgi-craptastic, the plot is as flimsy as an airsickness bag, and the characters are, for the most part, stereotype-arrific, but seriously? SO MUCH FUN. Between the snake-vision, gratuitous violence/nudity and sheer absurdity of having snakes from all over the world on a plane to kill one guy... yeah. It's grrrrreat.

Also, if you bring your own (fake!) snake and attempt to bite your friends/loved ones with whom you're seeing the film, it adds to the majesty of the occasion.

Also, I kind of like that Cobra Starship song. eeek! But in my defense, it's rather catchy, the video is glossy and funny, and it's the perfect campy song for a campy film. C'mon, bring it...

you really think you're in control?

Great article about how record companies need to start adapting their business model in order to stay relevant in the modern music industry. While I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get the newest album by "actress-singer" Mandy Moore or, god help me, "the remnants of star 90's grunge acts Stone Temple Pilots and Filter," I think it's important that major record labels wake up and start understanding that they are increasingly irrelevant to artistic success. Before the internet and the direct access to fans that it provides, sure--a major label could reach the corners of the country that you personally could not. But now? What up-and-coming artist would so readily sign away HUGE percentages of their music rights for a crummy advance and the chance at making a music video no one will see? It makes a lot more sense to use the labels as distribution outlets and to do the rest in-house, if possible, to keep the royalties from your music sales in your pockets rather than someone else's. That being said, the Decemberists' major-label debut drops in a matter of weeks, so they must've felt something was missing with Kill Rock Stars that Capitol could give them instead. I'd be curious to see what provisions their contract entails. (Also, I'm really, really excited to hear the album. But I've digressed.)

I did listen to Gnarls Barkley, and I'm rather bummed. I *heart* "Crazy" (I don't listen to the radio, so I'm not tired of it yet) and love "Smiley Faces," so I thought I'd be safe buying the whole album. Alas. There's a dullness to it--is it overproduction? I hesitate to call it that, because the two aforementioned singles are drenched in production and they're still great. "The Last Time" caught my ear, but everything else is too all over the place (or, in the case of "Feng Shui," too darn short) to really stick with me. Sad. Should've just bought the singles like everyone else. Oh, well.

was it a story, or was it a song?

Alright, kids--finalized just in time for CEDARPOINT OMG, my third annual summer mix!


Summer Sounds '06:
1. Mellowdrone - Oh My
2. Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
3. Teddybears Stockholm - Yours to Keep
4. Office - Wound Up
5. Of Montreal - The Party's Crashing Us
6. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
7. Longwave - There's a Fire
8. Oh No! Oh My! - Walk in the Park
9. Jim Noir - Eanie Meany
10. Tarkio - Eva Luna
11. The Raconteurs - Steady as She Goes
12. Duels - What We Did Wrong
13. Golden Smog - 5-22-02
14. Belle & Sebastian - The Blues Are Still Blue
15. Headlights - Lullabies
16. Guster - Satellite
17. Bravo Silva - I Can't Say Goodbye
18. Oppenheimer - Breakfast in NYC
19. Matt Pond PA - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
20. Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
21. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

At the very least, I think it's turned out pretty darn well because I can't stop listening to it--I was genuinely disappointed when Project Runway came on because it meant turning off my playlist. It's also new music-rich, so those of you who prefer to use mix cds as a gateway to discovering new artists should be pleased. And it's heavy on fun, bright, poppy tunes, because it's summer (for a few more weeks) and school's out (for a bit longer), so the accompanying soundtrack ought to evoke sunshine and breeziness, with maybe a hint of edge for those dark, humid nights. I went on an iTunes binge and got new albums by the Pipettes, Gnarls Barkley, the Raconteurs and the Flaming Lips (that last one didn't make the CD, but that's only because their tunes work so fantastically well as part of an album that I couldn't pick one favorite. SERIOUSLY recommend At War With the Mystics), so I'll report back with reviews of those shortly.

And finally, courtesy of friend Erica, a test run of Magnum in line (also an inadvertant Pepsi ad):



But don't forget to watch out for snakes (and, um, a 5-ticket lizard) on a plane!

dance with me, it'll be all right

Hi there, reader. I'm back! And I'll write more soon, but suffice to say that I suffered through two liquid and gel-free flights and am not the worse for wear (and my liquid-filled checked bag arrived safely at both ends of the journey, proving my fears of bag loss baseless once more). I do encourage you to check out our group blog for details of our trip, philosophical ruminations about what exactly constitutes a liquid and/or gel, as well as just how EXTREME! we are.

Also, I have some swell college pals. Who else would ride the Magnum rollercoaster four times just to keep trying to successfully be photographed doing Magnum on Magnum? Next summer Dollywood won't know what hit it...

with all your power

So Sanjida did a whole bunch of these, which piqued my interest to do a couple, as well. Apologies for the lack of real content, but sometimes a girl's gotta meme.

You Are A Fig Tree

You are very independent and strong minded. A hard worker when you want to be, you play hard too. You are honest and loyal. You hate contradiction or arguments. You love life, and you live for your friends, children, and animals. A great sense of humor, artistic talent, and intelligence are all gifts you possess.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

They clearly need higher standards:

You Are 10% Weird

You're totally, completely normal. And that's pretty darn weird!

How Weird Are You?

I don't know what a dosha is (wikipedia, here I come), but I don't think this one's particularly accurate. My memory isn't spotty and I don't find new people unsettling. I agree that I get onto "kicks" where I'm really passionate about something for a few months and then stop... but that's primarily regarding food, to be honest. Anyway, here goes:

Your Dosha is Vata

Creative and restless, you take in all of life's pleasures (maybe a little too much!). You're quick witted and very talkative, but you also tend to have a spotty memory. You tend to get very into ideas, people, and lifestyles... but only for a short time. It's difficult to hold your attention, and you sometimes feel with what life has to offer. With friends: You are very uncomfortable in new situations or with new people In love: You fall in and out of love very easily To achieve more balance: Live in a warm climate and spend some quiet time in nature

What's Your Dosha?

And a couple follow-up thoughts from yesterday: This Salon article expresses my thoughts about the whole terror threat situation very well (there are also some worthwhile letters in the comments section on both sides of the issue). Yes, I get that it's not the shampoo, but the possibility of something that looks like shampoo yet could be turned into a bomb. But where does it stop? Aren't we all at risk, to some degree, every time we fly? And if the liquid explosive threat has been around for years, why ban liquids now, when such a terror plot has been recently foiled (and not by security checkpoint screening, I might add)? I don't know, but what I do know is that if these regulations are permanent, I'm going to be a hell of a lot less inclined to fly anyplace within a 700-mile radius. Thank God I'm turning 25 in a few months and can therefore rent cars with impunity, though that's just swapping the frustration of air travel with the crushing expense of gasoline.

Honestly? I think it could all just be part of the Samuel L. Jackson media hype machine (clever, getting the REAL British police in on the action!). This quote from the woxy message boards has the right idea:

"It's good to see the 007 foiled another plot. Good going James! Also, are Snakes listed as liquid? They should not allow snakes on the plane."

...right. At any rate, I've got a Meerkat Manor and a Project Runway on tape, and I also have a couple hours till I need to go to the courthouse (for the last time this summer!). Hmm. What to do, what to do...

oh my, what a wonderful day

Just in case anyone missed the TSA announcement this morning and the associated news articles...

So, if liquid bombs made out of shampoo and hair gel (sounds sticky, not scary) are terrorist de rigeur now, does this mean our days of traveling carry-on only are once and for all over? Because I don't know about you, but I don't have the discretionary income to buy all of my toiletries new every time I travel, only to throw them out before I re-board the plane home. I'm scared to death of losing my bag (even though it's never happened to me, knock frantically on my wooden desk) and I love the convenience of not having to wait forever at the baggage carousel when I'm taking a short trip (like I'm doing this Saturday--oh, the timing, it's exquisite). I also really feel for the travelers who've gotten caught by this new regulation--if it had happened three weeks ago, while I was camping for four days and blissfully free of internet and other forms of news communication, I'd be the one chucking body wash and lotion left and right (or, more probably, biting the bullet and checking my bag). There but for the grace of God, and all.

I know I'm talking about this new rule like it's permanent, and while I'm sure we won't stay at "high" threat level forever, I can certainly see the whole "no liquids" thing taking root even after we're back to our normal "elevated" level, assuming liquid bombs are the threat that the media is making them out to be (which, of course, is a pretty grand assumption). It's also worth noting that you can't take bottled water on your flight anymore (at least, I think that's what they mean, assuming "sterile area" = post-screening airport gate realm), and don't even try to finagle a cup of starbucks or a soda. This pisses me off, honestly. Dehydration is nobody's friend, and it's not like commercial carriers in this day of bankruptcies and cutbacks are falling all over themselves to offer you a beverage. Perhaps now is the time to start a rainy-day fund for my own private jet. Hm. I think I've got a couple quarters lying around...

girl, you got those eyes that see

Well, I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but here we go again:

Vote for Foxy in the latest Stuff on My Cat contest!

Er, Foxy Fruvous, that is (her full name this time, as insisted upon by my mother). She's actually received 3% of the vote without my even checking the website until just a moment ago, so good for her! However, Bendi and Natasha have an almost insurmountable lead, so I doubt we've got it in the bag this time, either. Oh, well. There's some totally unsolicited praise for her craziness in the comments, including someone who got the band reference in her name (and who I believe is the same Rhiannon from the Nields Nook, so it's a small intarweb after all).

I have had Raconteurs songs in my head all day. I've never been moved to go out and buy a White Stripes album, but I don't think I can survive much longer without Broken Boy Soldiers. August is such a rough time of year in terms of wishing for things, as it's a good 5 months until gift-giving season for yours truly. Guess I have to pony up the cash myself (or convince The Boy that he needs the album, as well, and that "fair use" of his personal copy includes burning a backup to stash at his girlfriend's apartment. You know, just in case of fire or flood at his place. Can't be too careful about these things).

even though you've made it pretty obscure

I've been meaning to write a post about my take on internet anonymity for a long time, but kept putting it off in favor of the World Series of Pop Culture and other such Important Thoughts and Commentary.

But, as my attention's been drawn to this article, I suppose now's as good a time as any:

Hi, Mr. or Ms. Future Employer. You can find me on the internet. It's not difficult. Yes, I'm on Facebook, I'm on MySpace (even Friendster, but like, who uses Friendster anymore? psssshhh). But I've been google-able for years, even before googling people became commonplace, and there's not really much I can do about it. The nice part is that my life is a fairly open book and I don't feel like I have anything to hide. You'll discover that I once spent a lot of time talking about a now-defunct band. You'll find references to my college radio days and possibly some stuff about the undergrad glee club or my a cappella group. There's an archived email I wrote to a photographer telling him that I liked his photos of another favorite band. I once filled out an "honourary Canadian" certificate. I got railroaded into giving a presentation about my senior thesis to my e-commerce class (and the powerpoint presentation might live on forever). Perhaps most embarrassingly, I received a tepid review in a college play. But sorry, Matt--the horrendously unflattering fuzzy boot photo in front of the bowling alley has long since vanished (as has, somewhat fittingly, the bowling alley itself).

As far as this blog goes, I thought about removing the link to my website/from my website. But I'm pretty self-sanitizing when I write here (liek omg my personal life stays personal, kthxbye) and I really feel like what you'll learn from this blog is that I love music, I collect nuggets of pop culture knowledge, I can wind myself pretty tightly when I'm stressed but hopefully I still manage to be fun and mildly entertaining while under duress. I know better than to say things that should be kept to myself, which might make this a less-interesting blog than those that maintain some semblance of anonymity and can therefore post more freely.

I won't apologize for that, though. I write for me more than anybody else, and secondly, I write for people who know me but whom I don't see often and who therefore might care about what I'm up to. I appreciate anybody else who's out there reading, certainly, but I'm not actively trying to cultivate a broad audience. The power of the internet is crazy and unpredictable and I've been on board for ten years now (expect a retrospective in November, the 10-year anniversary--I'm big on landmark anniversaries, as you may have noticed. I love birthdays, too--mine and everyone else's), so I like to think I have the hang of it. I pity these kids who need an orientation class to tell them not to post underage photos of drinking or doing drugs (I've never done drugs, Mr. or Ms. Employer, and I'm not a big drinker. I don't smoke, either, and I avoid red meat and a lot of fried foods, so I won't run up your company insurance plan premiums, I promise).

But the violinist in Salt Lake City? Sorry, that's not me. I'm not dead, either, all obituary evidence to the contrary.

just last night I was reminded of

I went to Panera again for lunch today (I know, I'm weak--but I thought I'd be outta the court building by lunchtime so I didn't pack a sammich, and I do enjoy the free wi-fi) and was in the mood for some soup, since the heat spell has broken and the Dirksen building was freeeezing. I definitely told the woman behind the counter that I wanted french onion soup in a bread bowl, and I definitely got chicken and wild rice soup in a bread bowl. And just like the Rolling Stones say, I didn't get what I thought I wanted (or even what I said I wanted), but it turned out that the chicken rice soup was awesome, and exactly the hearty, warm lunch I needed to get me through the afternoon.

In law-school-related news, I received 20 introductory OCI interviews, which includes interviews with nine of my top 10 ranked firms, so I'm pretty pleased. Most of the interviews are with New York firms, though, so I guess I should have ranked my Chicago firms higher. All those dozens of slots--gone before my name popped up! I forgot that I'm attending school with a bunch of classmates who wouldn't mind staying in this city. Oh, well--the easier to possibly-attend-Falconridge-next-summer with, my dear.

wise up blow town baby

omfg.

I don't read that many music blogs. 8, or 9, maybe? But I think I need to pare my list down further. Why, you ask?

BECAUSE I'M SO FREAKING SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THE PITCHFORK FESTIVAL.

Take your photos, "reviews," and other commentary and save it for someone who gives a rat's ass. My ethernet connection and I thank you.

(sorry. I have a lot going on right now. I'd probably be in a more magnanimous mood if I weren't under so much stress. narrrghpfffbtth.)

on a vacation far away

Man oh man. It is really freaking hot outside (my weather widget says a high of 100º today and tomorrow, but it tends to overstate things slightly). Today it's no big deal because I don't have to go into court, but tomorrow I'm going to have to choose my biz cas carefully. Yikes.

I had a minor freakout this morning when I logged into the OCI bidding system and saw that I had no scheduled interviews. I thought, "omg! My summer job survey didn't go through! I somehow failed to rank my bids, even though I'm fairly sure that's not possible! I'm screwed I'm screwed I'm screwed" and immediately called the Career Center... only to discover that in one of their multitudinous emails they changed the date we receive our bids from Monday at 9 am to Wednesday, time TBA.

Oh. Well, then.

So, I don't get my OCI results today. I don't get the results of my class bids, either, though I'm a little less concerned about that (apparantly the bidding software needs more tweaking and practice runs before they run it for real--no comment about what higher-priority projects the programmers might have been squandering their summer on thus far). What I do get is a day of busting my ass to get my presentation for my summer class in order--hard to believe the final class is Wednesday. I'm also planning on hitting up Superman Returns this evening at long last w/ the Boy, who is safely home and re-established in his apartment (the subletter left the place in nice condition! it's a miracle!). He was a good sport and came with me to see Pirates of the Caribbean II on Saturday, though I don't think I'll trick him into seeing PotC III whenever it arrives, as he kind of hated it. I thought it was fun, but a) toooo long (how many Kraken fight scenes do we really need?) and b) way too "middle movie of a trilogy," in that NOTHING was resolved at the end in favor of a cliffhanger for the third part. You had two and a half hours, but you couldn't wrap up a plot line or two? Sheesh. Still, I do love me some Depp (Orlando's bloom is starting to fade somewhat (and I swear I didn't intend that statement to be punny, but punny it is)), and Keira Knightley's character kicks major ass. I'm glad to see a female lead who doesn't just eek and scream and let the boys rescue her, but rather wields sword(s) and kills baddies all by her lonesome. Awesome.

Anyway, back to work. I'm trying hard not to get all adrenaline-y about anything else happening this week--maybe lunch would help. I've never been able to understand people who forget to eat when they're under stress, but I've suddenly turned into that person. Blarg.

building-towered foresight

It's been at least, oh, a couple of weeks since I gushed about my boys, and since I've decided to list them as an interest on my resume (hey, it might make a difference), now's as good a time as any to spread the love on this video:



Those lucky recipients of my Love mix cd have already heard the audio track, but it's great to see them actually perform it. I'd like to see the whole Unplugged session, actually... too bad I was too young to know better back when it aired on MTV (1991?).

I'm excited about the IRS re-release, if only for the second disc of raritites/DVD that's coming out along with it (as far as the first disc is concerned, I'm a fan and I've already got 'em). Both these and the new Carbon Leaf album (Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat) will be available on Sept. 12, and you can rest assured my calendar is marked.

The big question is, Michael, Mike, and Peter: will you tour behind this re-release? I kind of doubt it, but I'd love to be pleasantly surprised...

we're breaking you down

Quickie post because I'm back to ranking firms for OCI, and it's a pain in my ass. On the plus side, I'm doing so wirelessly--go me! My apartment has tumbled unceremoniously into the 21st century! However, my PowerBook is refusing to allow me to log onto my secure network via WEP, but my wireless cards for my 2 PCs aren't advanced enough to handle WPA, so I'm in a bit of a bind in terms of getting all my beasts of technological burden online. I'll fuss with it some more once this maddening week is over (ranking OCI firms *and* bidding for classes all at once? the administration wants us to kill ourselves, I think)--the solution is, of course, to get my beloved tawny gypsy mac to cooperate with the WEP key, but I tried and tried and tried last night, and nothing doing. Anyone with any suggestions can feel free to chime in, or just smile and nod if all this is too tech-y (heaven knows I didn't know the first thing about any of this 24 hours ago).

Anyway, I know at least one of my readers is freshly-bar-exam'd, so Gossipgirl, congratulations on surviving! I hope you're getting good and hammered right now. I ran into a (formerly-) 3L friend of mine on her lunch break from the Bar today and her only words of wisdom were for me to drop out of school now, because "It sucks. Seriously. It SUCKS." Good advice, I'm sure, but it's too late now for me, I'm afraid.

Oh, and for those of you keeping track, the six weeks in London conclude this Friday and the Boy is coming home. hooray! We're seeing Guster/Ray Lamontagne/Rogue Wave to celebrate (pleasepleaseplease let his plane arrive on time), but it's only the beginning of a very concert-rich two months, including TMBG, the Cardigans, the aforementioned Mr. Stevens, Keane/Razorlight, hopefully Girlyman, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting. With the Decemberists and the Long Winters both coming to town later on (November?), this fall promises to be as rich a concert season as last fall was.

edited to add: apparantly the Cardigans tour is cancelled for BUDGET reasons. Good thing Ticketmaster gets to keep my service charges so I have the pleasure of paying for the privilege not to see the concert. *sigh*

all things go

Does anyone else get the occasional addiction to songs?

It's been awhile since this has happened to me, but I woke up this morning (after two snoozes) to the most miraculous song on the clock radio. Instead of shutting it off I let it play, and as it unfolded, I realized it had to be Sufjan, and I also realized that I'd only listened to Illinois a little bit, very casually, last fall, even though all signs pointed to my loving this album. So I fired up iTunes, hit play on "Chicago"... and I haven't been able to stop. All day. I've listened to the whole album since, really listened (which is good, since I'm seeing him in September), and while it's not entirely so miraculous as this song, I finally get it.

Plus, I have to admit, after almost a year of living here, I'm starting to feel a little proprietary toward Chicago. Susan Werner played a song this past weekend about staying on "your side of town," rattling off such landmarks as Grand Avenue, the river, the pier, the lake, the brownstones, and even though she didn't say "Chicago," I knew what she was singing about. She apparantly lives here now, which surprises me a little because I feel like I should've seen her in concert by now. Anyway, I've become attached to Chicago, so the fact that this song (in whatever opaque way) pays homage to the city that I now call home is icing on an already outstanding six minutes of music. I may be a little late in embracing you wholeheartedly, Sufjan, but I'm here now. I always liked the idea of you, really, but now I have more than ephemera to go on.

And, Chicagoans, if your own clock radio isn't set to WXRT, it should be. I've woken up to Driver 8, Busting Up a Starbucks, Penny Lane (if it's a Sunday and they're doing Breakfast with the Beatles), etc, and I swear it makes my whole day better when the first aural assault of the morning is something I'm inclined to enjoy.

life may never be as sweet again

This is going to be a mish-mash post, because I've been gone ages and ages, a long long time in Intarweb Hours (in actuality, four days) and have much to catch up. First and foremost: Vote for Foxy! She's one of the finalists in the Stuff on My Cat first anniversary contest, and while she's probably not going to win, I'd feel better knowing she has more than, well, zero percent of the vote. Plus, my beautiful pretty kitty has been featured on a nationally reknown cat website! If only her party hat were a little larger... and if only another cat a few photos down hadn't had the same idea, only with Malibu. And you KNOW how I feel about Malibu. Ick. Anyway, the voting closes Tuesday night, so vote now!

Let's move on to bullets for the rest of it:

• Oh, dear. This breaks my heart. You were so, so cute in Empire Records, and I was one of five of us who watched Freakylinks. I swear, I'm generally pretty generous about body image--so what if a star puts on a few pounds? But see, you were really cute. And now... you're Paul Giamatti. Please, please, please, fix it.
• Did anyone catch Fountains of Wayne last weekend? I just watched my tape, and while I'm miffed they got short shrift (those credits started with 5 minutes left in the hour, and their "half" didn't begin till the 32-minute mark), the editing was pretty sharp. It's amazing how big they make those studio audiences look, when in actuality, they... aren't. My cable reception's not great, so maybe those of you blessed with digital cable can pick faces out of the shadows a little better, but it's really hard to see me--and I actually know where to look. Short of watching the show with you and pointing me out, you're not likely to notice. My national television debut will have to wait, I suppose.
• My face is really freaking sunburned. I can feel the basal cell carcinoma forming now, not to mention the additional wrinkles for which I've now laid the groundwork. I know better, I do, but after being cold and wet for much of the prior 36 hours, the Sunday afternoon sun just felt SO good... warm and dry... yeah. My nose is actually lightly blistered. I'm an idiot, and I know better. However...
• ...does having a sunburn make you more approachable? Because the guy at the airport gate in Albany tried to flirt with me, BOTH sets of old security men at the Dirksen building struck up conversations today, and some dude sitting next to me at Panera started talking to me about how healthy my salad looked. NOTHING has changed about me or my routine, so I can only assume that my sunburn makes me look less pale/withdrawn and more friendly or open (or, at the very least, "outdoorsy"). All I know is that in a couple days, when my nose (and scalp, oh god... I swear it's not dandruff, but it's gonna look like hell) starts peeling, I'm not gonna be so cute. Enjoy it now, fellas.

So, that about covers it, I suppose. Oh, yeah, and my little trip? Wonderful. Expect to hear more about Winterpills soon, a new musical find whose CD is currently en route to Ohio because it remained in my mother's purse after I left (*grumble*). I love the new location, for the most part, and it was great seeing my extended FRFF-family again. And, as predicted, the torrential rains, mud, and chilly late-night drizzle have already faded into memory, and all I can remember are the friends, the sunshine, and the songs drifting over the hillside and up into the atmosphere.

And oh, the stars. I'd forgotten how brightly they shine when you're not trapped within skyscrapers and asphalt. It's good to know they're still there, a reminder that there are things much, much greater than me out there. Puts all the little stuff into a bit of much-needed perspective.

keep it to yourself

I just saw a guy walking down the street listening to a CD player. Whoa, dude. Must be anachronism day, eh?

Anyway. What I'm really here to post about is a reminder of this:

Fountains of Wayne on PBS's SoundStage this Thursday, July 20!
If you're in the Chicago area, it's on at 9pm. If you're not, check the SoundStage website for your local listings, as it's nationally syndicated. And don't forget to look for an ecstatic redhead in the hoi polloi who, on Oct. 11, 2005, made a pilgrimage north to WTTW HQ to be a part of the LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE OMG and who has had to wait until now to see the final product of that evening.

And no, the All-American Rejects were not there that night. Yes, Fountains of Wayne taped enough songs to fill their very own hour-long broadcast. Yes, I'm disappointed that they don't get the whole hour to themselves. But hopefully we'll get something other than three different renditions of "Stacy's Mom" (which is how many times they ran through it in an attempt to get a clean take).

Oh, and FYI: I'm going to be out of town this weekend, so it might be quiet 'round these parts. I recommend getting outside and enjoying the weather, as this monstrous heat is supposed to break by Saturday (hooray!).

i'm just chasing time again

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh CI.

I finally got down to proverbial brass tacks today and started figuring out what firms I might want to bid on and where in the list I might want to rank them, and after a couple of hours it gave me the same damn headache that the editing portion of the journal competition did so many weeks ago. It's SO HARD to figure out--and honestly, when it comes down to it, I'm just going to get a random assortment anyway, so I shouldn't be stressing so much. But there are a couple firms I'm starting to discover that I'm really interested in, so I guess I rank those high and hope the rest of it sorts itself out?

I've actually ranked *a* firm, though. Hooray! One out of fifty bids used! I'm almost there!

Anyway, the other source of joy in my life, bidding for fall semester classes, goes live in, well, a matter of hours now that it's after midnight. Here, too, I'm unsure, because it seems like most of the classes I'm interested in don't fill up... but I'm not positive. And if I lowball all my bids, what exactly am I saving my points for in the spring? Gah. I don't think I'm doing the ITA (er, "Introduction to Trial Advocacy," for my non-law-school pals) package this fall, and that's probably where a lot of 2L points are headed... but I'm not sure if I either want to a) wait and do the package fall of '07, or b) abandon the package (and the extra stress, frustration, and 3.5 additional credits it provides) in favor of a DIY-ITA "package" cobbled together from its disparate parts.

The plus side: the Trial Ad class in the spring is taught by a judge! The neg side: if I'm seriously thinking about pursuing litigation, shouldn't I be sucking it up and taking the class that immerses you in it, hands-on (and that's rumored to be "such a good experience," though I've yet to come across anyone who actually liked it)?

eh. Forget it. It's late, I'm tired, and none of this really matters right now. Just musing out loud, or out-typed, or whatever. Hope your respective Sundays were filled with more delightful matters than these.

our aspirations are wrapped up in books

This will be short, as it's late and I need to get some rest for class tomorrow...

...but I just got my copy of Blindness in the mail today from Amazon Marketplace, and I need to get crackin' on reading it for our merry little summer book club. However, as I'm thumbing to the front to put a bookmark on the first page, I notice writing on the inside cover:

"12/24/2003

Tiffany--
This is the best book I've ever read.
I hope you enjoy it too.
Merry Christmas,
Karol"

And suddenly I feel like a trespasser in a book I haven't even started yet. Who are these two--how are they connected? Relatives? Friends? And does Karol know that the best book she's ever read, a personalized gift to Tiffany, is now on ^k^'s desk on a humid July night, when Christmas is so far away as to be almost a meaningless term?

More personally, did I know on December 24, 2003, on the eve of my flight to Las Vegas for a week, that a transaction was occuring somewhere else on the globe that would ultimately wind up putting this book in my hands?

I know Billy Collins said it better, and there are certainly no egg salad stains, but the binding on this book isn't even cracked. Did Tiffany bother to read it at all? Maybe Tiffany and Karol had a tremendous falling out on Boxing Day, or maybe--gasp!--Tiffany HERSELF went blind shortly after the commencement of 2004 and now has to get all of her literature through audiobook, or possibly Braille.

Poor Tiffany. Poor Karol.

But hey--thanks for the glowing review of the book. I'm looking forward to it.

we're still fighting it

In the "...are you serious? I just told you that, a moment ago" department:

Reuters has decided to release an article on "grups". Which is great, I guess, for the three people who didn't know about this phenomenon before and could possibly care, but COME ON. Stereogum had their indie yuppie contest back in April 2005, and even Newsweek--late to the party--ran an article about grups/indie yups last January. (I know this because I just threw said article away... today. Have I mentioned that I subscribe to too many magazines?)

Anyway, we got it. There are 30-40 somethings who used to be "Gen X" and are progressively middle-aging, but still love the music, fashion and lifestyle they enjoyed in the '90s. Great. Any future articles should be presented as sociological studies, NOT freaking "news." Sheesh.

And as long as I'm on a tear (*growls*), the "new" Spin magazine sucks.

Yeah, I'm a little behind the ball on this one (see above post about subscribing to too many magazines). I'd heard about the editorial overhaul, and I could see by the FLASHY GEE WHIZ bombast on the cover that things weren't quite the same. But hoo, boy, is it awful inside. A sex column? Do we need a sex column in a music magazine? And gone are the couple of in-depth music reviews in the back in favor of a "capsule" review style. Here, for instance, is Jon Dolan's capsule for the Twilight Singers' Powder Burns:

"Greg Dulli has 'a dick for a brain,' or so he once sang in his '90s band Afghan Whigs. And on the fourth offering from his Los Angeles crew the Twilight Singers, cocaine-cranked punk-rock R&B gives scary emotional power to similarly rakish soul-baring. When his drama-king croon hits its mark, only the cruel of heart could resist letting him have his day."

...wha?

No, seriously. If anyone can explain what that last sentence means, you deserve a cookie. A cocaine-cranked punk-rock R&B cookie, even. (But not you, Brad Renfro. I refuse to enable your addiction.) Hell, it's obvious the "dick for a brain" line is there purely for shock value, because, again, wha? Just shut up, Spin. I'm SO sorry my subscription doesn't run out till next April, but you can bet I won't be renewing. I already subscribe to one Blender (and that lost a lot of its luster once it stopped running its Monthly Crossword Contest, to be perfectly frank). I did just renew my subscription to Rolling Stone, but I have considerably more faith in that magazine. For one, it has miles more street cred, and its National Affairs articles are usually incredibly well-done. The 1,000th Issue Collector's Volume was pretty awesome, too. I think I'll let the other two music mags go, when their time comes. And Jane, you're not off the hook, either. I'm so sick of new editors breezing in and destroying a perfectly good magazine with their concept of "vision." Bah.

I suppose I should be reading more books, anyway. Or my little Time magazine, or whatever it's called.

hit me with those laser beams

Against my better judgment, I watched the World Series of Pop Culture again this evening.

I don't know if they commited the same promo gaffe as yesterday; I muted the tv and checked my email during the final commercial break. Fool me once, shame on, shame on you... you fool me, you can't get fooled again!!!11

*coff*

ANYhow, "Zoolander" was an answer tonight, which, yay (in response to a Star Couples question about which 2001 film has both Ben Stiller and his real-life wife Christine Taylor). I tend to pick a team to root for, just to keep things interesting, and Cheetarah has been my only pick thus far who's actually advanced, so go team! In the second matchup I was gunning for Sexual Chocolate because they were comprised of attorneys (gots to keep it in the profession, natch). But in the final round, the last-dude-standing on their team gave this horrendous sarcastic eye roll after he missed a Child Actor question about which star, in 2000, was arrested at age 18 for attempting to steal a boat--but had forgotten to untie it from the dock. The answer was Brad Renfro, and while I don't necessarily remember this particular anecdote, I know he's gotten into a bad way in the years since Tom and Huck (and I'll never forget the girl several rows behind us in the theater who whistled every time he came onscreen).

Anyway, my point--and I have one--is, DUDE. Come on. Don't act like Brad Renfro is so "out there" that nobody could've answered it. You're on a TRIVIA SHOW, for heaven's sake. You are SUPPOSED to know dumb stuff like this. If you don't, YOU look bad, not the question, not the announcer, not even poor, incarcerated, coke-addled Brad Renfro--YOU. So get off your high horse already. (Which, I suppose, you have, since you LOST. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.)

Perhaps if this show gets me so annoyed I should refrain from watching future episodes...

In unrelated news, Cinnamon Honey Bunches of Oats might be my new favorite cereal (displacing previous fave Special K with Yogurt & Berries). Try a box from your friendly neighborhood grocer next time you stop in. It's better than Brad Renfro on coke! Or Sexual Chocolate!

he sings the songs that remind him of the better times

Ok, so I'm watching the first episode of the World Series of Pop Culture. And it's relatively amusing, though I'm not sure it's thrilling enough to keep my attention for many (or any?) future episodes. But you know what's dumb, VH1?

What's dumb is raising the suspense, saying "Will Laurie make a comeback and bring her team to victory? Stay tuned!" and then first thing on the commercial break, announce the next episode by saying "Velvet Rope Revolution and PDX 503 advance to the quarterfinals! Who will win?"

...which, in effect, means no, Laurie does not, in fact, make a comeback, and leaves me highly disinclined to watch the rest of your commercials (or the finale of the show). Idiots. I would write your PR department a strongly worded letter, but I don't think I can bring myself to care that strongly. *rolls eyes*

edited to add: holy craaaaaap the new sbemail is funny...

with just a cat and a book by her side

I've been looking at kittie porn again.

*sigh*

...by which I mean I hit images.google.com with a search for "birman cat," then gaze fondly at the results and wish fervently that I could have a Foxy-twin of my very own. My apartment allows cats (though I'd probably have to pay more in rent), but I'd just feel bad leaving an animal alone all day. TWO cats are better than one, so the little furry friend isn't by herself all the time, but that just makes the issue twice as complicated. Plus I don't know for sure whether I'll be in Chicago next summer, and vacations are harder when you have a pet, not to mention the fact that I've got a glorified studio and as much as I love the good parts of pet ownership (warmth, cuddling, companionship), I'm not sure I'm really ready for the bad (cat hair, clawed furniture, chewed plants, did I mention cat hair?).

But look at those pictures! Who doesn't love a Birman? With their denim-blue eyes and their cute little Zoolander expressions--it's like they were born doing Blue Steel. I fully intend on populating my dwelling with cats someday (and a Birman or two will assuredly be amongst them), but my crazy cat lady-ship will have to wait a few more years, unfortunately.

the sun still shines in the summertime

Lo, I have tasted Chicago, and it was good.

Precisely which tastes have I enjoyed at the Taste of Chicago this week?

• Chocolate-covered strawberry and mini chocolate frozen banana (after all, there's always money in the banana stand)


• Toasted ravioli with marinara sauce


• Vegetarian pav bhaji (cauliflower, peas, eggplant, tomatoes) with "bread" (hamburger bun, no joke)


• Flan


• Big-ass juicy sweet watermelon wedge x 2 (no upset tummy or anything! I can eat watermelon again! w0000t!)


• Jerk chicken with rice and beans


• A bite of a sweet potato biscuit


• Mango rice pudding with dried cranberries


• Frozen SoCo lime slurpee


• Potato pierogies with applesauce


• Grilled chopped lime chicken salad


• Rainbow ice cream (cherry vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pistacio, orange sherbert)


• Eli's Cheesecake with strawberries

(What will I be doing all next week, and the week after, and the week after that? WORKING OUT, dear God.)

Anyway, I really, really wasn't at the Taste for the food, crazy as that sounds. I swear. Monday, it was for fireworks (and they were right overhead! and then we got to leave Grant Park with a million other people! that part kinda sucked!).

Tuesday, it was for Mike Doughty, who was really great--lotsa Haughty Melodic stuff. He's fantastic live, but I'd love to see him play for a longer set. These festival shows never keep the acts onstage long enough for my taste. (Oh, and he didn't play I Hear the Bells, the jerk.)

And today? I went for Fountains of Wayne and Liz Phair. And I got there at 1:45, and I got a "ticket" that gave me premier access to seating, and I was FRONT FREAKING ROW. Awesome awesome awesome. World Party was the first act--they were quite good, and I'm surprised I wasn't familiar with them. Mandolin/fiddle folk-pop, and the lead singer looked like a grayer, British version of friend Matt (is that really just saying that the guy looks like Tim Curry? hmm). FoW played a Welcome Interstate Managers-heavy set, which I guess is to be expected (Bought for a Song, Bright Future in Sales, Mexican Wine (yay, it's been in my head every time in the past week that I've thought about the concert), Stacy's Mom, Hackensack, Hey Julie). The self-titled debut had a strong showing, though (Radiation Vibe (yay yay yay), Leave the Biker, Sink to the Bottom). They played Maureen off of Out-of-State Plates, but only one freaking song off of my much-beloved Utopia Parkway, though it was the highly appropriate It Must Be Summer. (Guess if I want to hear Troubled Times, I need to stay home and fire up iTunes. *sigh*) Anyway, I've been wanting to see an honest-to-goodness real FoW show since the Soundstage taping last October, and now I can say that I have.

Oh, and you'll be reminded again, but Fountains of Wayne's PBS Soundstage performance will be on July 20. Check your local listings, as I believe it's nationally syndicated.

I stuck around for Liz Phair, and she was a surprisingly charismatic performer. Also, I'm bummed I never got around to importing Whip-Smart or Whitechocolatespaceegg into iTunes, because she played several songs off of each that I recognized (NOT Polyester Bride, though, which makes me sad, AND I can't stay home and fire up iTunes to hear it. *pouts*). She closed with the one-two punch of Why Can't I and Fuck and Run, the latter of which made for some amusing ASL by the signer onstage. I'd see her again in an instant, though--totally rocking, very laid back, and lots of fun.

Also, perhaps the best part of both Mike Doughty and the FoW/Liz Phair combo is that I wound up at the shows with friends of mine who really weren't coming along because they were fans of the acts, but who walked away from the shows suitably impressed/entertained. Maybe I of all people shouldn't be surprised when people have justified faith in my choice of music, but it's still nice for some positive reinforcement now and again.

Anyway. Time to fish around on TV for some late-nite Law & Order or X-Files reruns. That's right, fellas--it must be summer, because the days are so freaking long, especially when you fall asleep on your sofa watching cable...

everybody said to say 'hi'

I'm cultivating a lot of not-so-useful skills. Not only am I a first-rate spotter of Yalies on cable (per Supermarj), but I've also got my spidey music sense trained on cable commercials, as well. Project Runway Season 3 promos are employing Mellowdrone's "Oh My," which would be great exposure for them, I think, if anyone knew who it was. Likewise, Bleu's "Get Up" is enjoying second life in Chili's new promotion for individualized burger toppings. I need to get that song into iTunes so I can recreate 2003's Singles/B-sides in playlist form.

What can I say? It's a gift... and a curse.

hee.

might sound crazy but it ain't no lie

Interesting Wired article about the evolution of the "hit" and mass culture--and how, very possibly, N*Sync's record for top-selling album with No Strings Attached back in 2000 might never be broken. I personally think it's funny how just after the "diamond" album award was created (ten million records sold), the shifting sands of the music industry made it an impossible feat to reach. (Suckers!)

they said it was a weather balloon

So, I'm watching an old episode of X-Files on TNT. I'm not sure I've even seen any since it went off the air... but off the top of my head, here are a couple observations:

1) David Duchovny? SO hot.

2) Huge ancient cell phones? SO funny.

3) Mulder and Scully? SO GOOD TOGETHER.

Honestly. She was going off about some scientific REM-stage sleep disorder and he immediately countered with an illustrated history text describing succubi, and it's exactly the rapport that made this show so great. They're both intense but in complementary ways, and I really think I like the old episodes better, when the tension was there between them but before all the silly sap about her having his baby (right? I can barely remember now) and them ending up together, blah blah. It really was a terrific TV series, and one of the few that my mom loved passionately that didn't get cancelled right away (see Twin Peaks, Eerie Indiana, American Gothic, etc etc--she really did have the kiss of death there for awhile. It must have left her, though, or Hope and Faith wouldn't still be on the air).

Anyway. I've been known to dabble in sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre entertainment, and this series really hit all three (though I could have done with a little less conspiracy-theorizing from time to time). Maybe I'll stay up and watch the next episode coming on...

a verse, and a verse, and refrain

Hi, reader. Happy Independence Day.

Some of you out there already know why the Fourth of July is so important to me, but for the rest of you, a bit of background might be in order. Fifteen years ago today I had a pretty terrible bike accident that resulted in three broken limbs, including a fractured growth plate above my left knee that stopped growing. Ten years ago this summer, I had a corrective lengthening device placed on my left leg to try to regain some of my lost growth. It wasn’t entirely successful, so I’m still a little uneven. I compensate for it fairly well, though every now and again someone will ask me why I’m limping when the truth of the matter is that I didn’t even notice that I was. I wrote a really great message on the 10-year anniversary of my accident, and re-reading it, I can’t help but feel that the me of five years ago was a little more put together than the me of today.

To be fair, in July 2001 the tragedies of September 11 were still two months away—the biggest crises in my life were my lengthy German assignments for summer school class and spotty dial-up internet access in my sublet. I had Future Plans and Post-College Aspirations, but I still had plenty of time in which to sort things out. Heck, I wasn’t even 20 years old yet. Now, at not-quite-25, I have OCI bids to evaluate and rank, my entire future career to sort out (to some short-term extent, at least), and a procrastinatory streak a mile wide to fight in getting all of this done. My 19-year-old self was SO convinced that she could do absolutely anything she set her mind to. My 24-year-old self is not so persuaded, as some things (standardized test scores, assigned professors, forced grading curves) cannot be changed no matter how stubbornly committed you are. I’m a little more cynical, a little more pragmatic, a little less naïve about how the world works nowadays, and that’s sort of a shame, but it’s also inevitable with the passage of time, I suppose.

I do wish, though, for a little more freedom: freedom from self-doubt, from bad habits, from unpleasant people, from injustice. (Maybe I should’ve picked a different profession.)

I wish I had something more uplifting to say, folks. I’m really sorry about that. Maybe I’ll have regained some of my limitless optimism in five years’ time. Maybe I’ll be less worried about how the leg-length discrepancy will affect my aging process. Maybe I’ll be satisfied with how I spent my 20s and eager to turn 30. Maybe I’ll have found success in my job, or at the very least, I’ll have had more concrete work experience behind me to inform my future career plans.

Right now, though, I just feel… transitional. And that’s keeping me grounded. Someday soon, maybe I can take to the skies, like those beautiful fireworks over the lake last night.

Soon. Someday. Not yet. Not quite.

throwing stones in a wishing well

The blogs are all a-twitter today with Fourth of July playlists, so I'm staking my claim to mine now, subject to change, as I'm listening to it for the first time right now and if anything seems too out of place, I'm jettisoning it:

1. Aimee Mann - 4th of July
2. John Vanderslice - June July
3. Neko Case - Star Witness
4. Eddie from Ohio - Independence, Indiana
5. The Decemberists - July, July!
6. Andy Stochansky - Miss USA
7. 2 Skinnee J's - BBQ
8. The Tragically Hip - Fireworks
9. Counting Crows - American Girls
10. Oh No! Oh My! - BBQ
11. Paul and Storm - Ten-Fingered Johnny
12. Dan Bern - New American Language
13. John Vanderslice - Plymouth Rock
14. Moby - Fireworks
15. Elvis Costello - Indoor Fireworks
16. Moxy Fruvous - Independence Day
17. Eddie from Ohio - Fifth of July
18. Elliott Smith - Independence Day

But before I switched to my ID4 playlist (is it absurd that I still use that abbreviation for this holiday a decade after the damn film was released?), I was listening to Tarkio, even though I really really need to be listening to any of a dozen other new acquisitions. Seriously, how do the music bloggers keep up? I'm literally drowning in music right now... it would be easier if I could listen to music and read, but I can't. Anyway, I was talking about Tarkio (hellooo short attention span... oh, look, a bunny!): maybe Colin Meloy has performed some kind of magic spell on me to the point where I honestly believe he can do no wrong, but I'm totally smitten with this two-cd set of his early work with his college band. The Boy commented that it "definitely isn't the Decemberists," and that's true. It reminds me a lot of early R.E.M., honestly, with a similar kind of stripped-down rock sound. But that's just it--it does rock. Significantly, in parts. And that's distinctly different from the Decemberists (whom I love with every fiber of my being, who are my current favorite band because they're as wonderful live as they are on CD, and who are trying to prove me wrong about the "rocking" thing right now with "July, July!" coming up on my playlist, but NO--I'm talking about TARKIO, damnit), who have less of a raw sound even at their most upbeat. Other parts of the Tarkio catalog would be equally at home on stage at a folk festival, replete with banjo and violin. And though Colin's lyrics aren't quite as developed as they are in his later work, there's still a lot to love, particularly for those of us who value complex turns of phrase and imagery. Anyway, my point is mostly that I hope Colin continues to make music for a long time because I find everything he's done to date utterly captivating, and unlike some of my other very very favorite artists who are either (all-but) defunct, aging themselves into pseudo-irrelevance, or just not inspiring in me the kind of passion they once did, I get the sense that this could be the beginning of a thoroughly beautiful musical relationship between him and yours truly.

At any rate, here's a funny story from The Boy, who is currently trying to find cool places to study for his exam tomorrow. And by "cool" I mean not hip, but literally chilled, as the Brits are air conditioning-phobic and his dorm room's a sauna: he went to Starbucks for an iced beverage to cool off and was prepared to pay the equivalent of $9 for a frappuccino but was told, "We are not serving cold drinks because it is too hot for ice." Too hot for ice! I am baffled, but I'm also feeling morally superior, as I sip my own grande nonfat iced mocha with just a touch of whip. Mmm. We Americans might not be culturally perfect, but at least we understand the value of a cool beverage on a hot day.

Happy almost-Fourth. Oh, and check back tomorrow--it's a big day.