So, this may be premature, but I may not be able to quit on Friday. I had been under the impression that I was quitting on Friday. That may not be the case anymore. I got a semi-cryptic email from my boss to confirm my last day, and he says we need to talk about it. Boo. I'm not staying a lick past next Wednesday, unless they make me master of the universe.
In any case, back to The Lucksmiths show this weekend. I had two positively sublime moments. I detailed the crying moment in a previous post. I had completely forgotten about the other sublime moment, a moment that defines the life I am about to start leading, which came during Midweek Midmorning:
You were never one for sleeping late
But all the working can wait
We ought to spend today together
You might be less than overjoyed
Unimpressed and unemployed
But I refuse to waste this weather
And by the way - Why couldn't I have quit a week earlier? I could have been up in Seattle last night watching The Lucksmiths for the second time in two days (and gee whiz, what's up with the weather????)!!! They were so goddamn cute, I could barely contain myself. Marco Pogo would have been proud of me at that show. I left it sweaty and insanely happy.
Do you get the new common thread in my (new) life? Happiness. Isn't it amazing?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Lucksmiths - Live
I saw them on Sunday night. I didn't know if they'd be any good live - three piece bands are sometimes hit and miss, depending on how much "extra" they put in when they record in the studio. Suffice to say, they dispelled all of my fears with the first song, although I can't remember what that was.
I tell you - the West Coast indie crowd needs to ACTUALLY MOVE when they go see shows. I feel like a freak when I actually GET EXCITED about a song.
Ah, also, chalk up cry #2 to this show. It wasn't a *big* cry, but there were two little tears crawling down my face during a song that I didn't recognize, but sounded so wonderful (and I felt so wonderful, being there).
The boys in this band are also HILARIOUSLY funny. ettett, would like them. They all had Mikey qualities about them. I would see them again in a heartbeat. Maybe my next surf-trip should be to Australia!!!!!!
Unemployment is already taking a very, very serious toll on me. I am happy. Imagine that.
I tell you - the West Coast indie crowd needs to ACTUALLY MOVE when they go see shows. I feel like a freak when I actually GET EXCITED about a song.
Ah, also, chalk up cry #2 to this show. It wasn't a *big* cry, but there were two little tears crawling down my face during a song that I didn't recognize, but sounded so wonderful (and I felt so wonderful, being there).
The boys in this band are also HILARIOUSLY funny. ettett, would like them. They all had Mikey qualities about them. I would see them again in a heartbeat. Maybe my next surf-trip should be to Australia!!!!!!
Unemployment is already taking a very, very serious toll on me. I am happy. Imagine that.
Sometimes I feel like it's 1972 ...
And you all look so happy holding hands
Kissing the sidewalk making plans
Short-timer syndrome has kicked in. I think I have about 2 hours left of work in me for the rest of the week. I'm formally turning down the consulting offer today since the VP of Eng never got back to me on what, exactly, he wanted me to do for the insane price that I was thinking of charging him.
I'm free as of Friday, and I'm totally looking forward to a few months of rest and relaxation. So, it looks like our friends at the social networking place are not going to get back to me, and really un-complicates my life, although the prospect of wealth is always nice to contemplate.
Mexico, here I come. Planning a surf trip to Baja in November - I need to secure an extra surfboard or two - I have three that I can take down, but two of them need fairly substantial repair. I may just end up buying an epoxy board or two, even though I hate them...
YAHOO!!!!!!!!
Kissing the sidewalk making plans
Short-timer syndrome has kicked in. I think I have about 2 hours left of work in me for the rest of the week. I'm formally turning down the consulting offer today since the VP of Eng never got back to me on what, exactly, he wanted me to do for the insane price that I was thinking of charging him.
I'm free as of Friday, and I'm totally looking forward to a few months of rest and relaxation. So, it looks like our friends at the social networking place are not going to get back to me, and really un-complicates my life, although the prospect of wealth is always nice to contemplate.
Mexico, here I come. Planning a surf trip to Baja in November - I need to secure an extra surfboard or two - I have three that I can take down, but two of them need fairly substantial repair. I may just end up buying an epoxy board or two, even though I hate them...
YAHOO!!!!!!!!
Monday, September 17, 2007
They can take our lives, but they can never take our ...
FREEDOM! Tentatively, the 28th is my last day. It may be the 1st (which is done, but it's a Monday).
I have *a* prospect, but I haven't heard back from them since my phone screen on Friday.
I am contemplating changing my last day to the 3rd, just to get the insurance coverage, but I don't think they'll let that one fly, which sort of sucks since I won't be able to get to see my docs before the 28th. I suppose I'll just have to get my visits in between now and then, and screw the work I'm supposed to get done before then.
Wahoo!!!
EDIT:
They indeed won't let me change my date for insurance reasons, so I'm just going to go to the doctor. Thus far, I have three appointments in the next week and a half, so they'll just have to eat shit and die. Also, it doesn't seem like they're going to let me number-port my cell, so they can eat shit and die on that one, too.
I have *a* prospect, but I haven't heard back from them since my phone screen on Friday.
I am contemplating changing my last day to the 3rd, just to get the insurance coverage, but I don't think they'll let that one fly, which sort of sucks since I won't be able to get to see my docs before the 28th. I suppose I'll just have to get my visits in between now and then, and screw the work I'm supposed to get done before then.
Wahoo!!!
EDIT:
They indeed won't let me change my date for insurance reasons, so I'm just going to go to the doctor. Thus far, I have three appointments in the next week and a half, so they'll just have to eat shit and die. Also, it doesn't seem like they're going to let me number-port my cell, so they can eat shit and die on that one, too.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I QUIT!
Well, not yet. And there still is a small, small chance that they could buy my labor for an even more absurd price than they're already paying now. *shrug* Everyone has a price. I'm just a little more honest about mine. I'd say a 30-40% increase in salary, plus a stock package equal to my cumulative packages currently vesting would probably do it, but probably only for another 6 months or so (which would make my stock package worthless, because they're all built with 1-year cliffs).
In any case, I was planning on quitting last Thursday, but I returned from my jaunt in the desert (which I will write about in more detail sometime this week) to find that my boss is OOTO until the 17th. I can wait three more business days, but it sure has been hard.
I leave you with a little bit of Duvall:
The goal you sold yourself out to
Is wasting you
For nothing in return
You speak as though you're rich
You look as though you're tired
What happens when your contract has expired
Will you still cling
To the hollow sound of the empty songs you sing?
When I read between the lines
It don't take long to find a heart that's breaking
And the joy you left behind
Is greater than the one that you've been faking
But I know that there's still time
To turn around the choices you've been making
You just can't close your eyes to what you find
When you read between the lines
In any case, I was planning on quitting last Thursday, but I returned from my jaunt in the desert (which I will write about in more detail sometime this week) to find that my boss is OOTO until the 17th. I can wait three more business days, but it sure has been hard.
I leave you with a little bit of Duvall:
The goal you sold yourself out to
Is wasting you
For nothing in return
You speak as though you're rich
You look as though you're tired
What happens when your contract has expired
Will you still cling
To the hollow sound of the empty songs you sing?
When I read between the lines
It don't take long to find a heart that's breaking
And the joy you left behind
Is greater than the one that you've been faking
But I know that there's still time
To turn around the choices you've been making
You just can't close your eyes to what you find
When you read between the lines
Friday, August 17, 2007
The Wayward Bus
I don't like the Magnetic Fields a lot. But I LOVE their first album - The Wayward Bus. There's a girl singer on it. I'm not a big fan of this kind of girl singer, but for some reason, I really like this album.
I contend that 100,000 Fireflies is probably one of the most beautiful songs ever written. (I swear, I say that a lot about songs, but really, it is)...
I went out to the forest and caught 100,000 fireflies
As they ricochet round my room
They remind me of your starry eyes
Someone else's might not have made me so sad
But this is the worst night I ever had
'Cause I'm afraid of the dark without you close to me
I'm afraid of the dark without you close to me
Always was...
You won't be happy with me
But give me one more chance
You won't be happy anyway
You have to admit that it's a beautiful song. I try not to listen to it that often, as it fell prey to my stupid obsessive listening, was in heavy rotation for about 2 months, and then dropped of. But every time I hear it, I'm blown away. It's one of the simplest songs I've ever heard. Electric piano, very simple electric drumbeat, and girl singing.
Can't you just see her? In my mind, she's beautiful, she has pale skin and red hair - and not prone to emotional outbursts. I can see her unhappiness - she wears it like a shroud, and she's just as confused as you or I. She wants a little bit of rest, and would like, for once, for her life to be simple.
I contend that 100,000 Fireflies is probably one of the most beautiful songs ever written. (I swear, I say that a lot about songs, but really, it is)...
I went out to the forest and caught 100,000 fireflies
As they ricochet round my room
They remind me of your starry eyes
Someone else's might not have made me so sad
But this is the worst night I ever had
'Cause I'm afraid of the dark without you close to me
I'm afraid of the dark without you close to me
Always was...
You won't be happy with me
But give me one more chance
You won't be happy anyway
You have to admit that it's a beautiful song. I try not to listen to it that often, as it fell prey to my stupid obsessive listening, was in heavy rotation for about 2 months, and then dropped of. But every time I hear it, I'm blown away. It's one of the simplest songs I've ever heard. Electric piano, very simple electric drumbeat, and girl singing.
Can't you just see her? In my mind, she's beautiful, she has pale skin and red hair - and not prone to emotional outbursts. I can see her unhappiness - she wears it like a shroud, and she's just as confused as you or I. She wants a little bit of rest, and would like, for once, for her life to be simple.
Problem with Poverty
I came back from the Philippines recently and got totally depressed. I mean, really, unconsolably depressed. The first day back found me on my back, about 1/3 of a bottle of scotch, on my living room floor, sobbing. Why? The poverty.
Believe me, my friends, when I tell you that the poverty in India is just as bad. And I'm sure that the poverty in provincial areas *everywhere* in the world is just as bad. I'm sure some of the places deep in the Appalachian mountains are just as bad.
But there's this thing about the Philippines, in particular, that makes me so sad. America has exported some crazy, fucked up version of consumerist mania to the Republic of the Philippines.
The Philippines' largest export is labor.
People.
The Philippines exports people.
These people contribute remittances along the order of roughly $13bn per year. Granted, this is IMF data, and the actual source of the remittances is not crystal clear, but look - it's the third largest inbound recipient of remittances in the entire world, second only to India ($23.6bn) and China ($23bn).
Chances are, if you've been on vacation anywhere in the world, there's been a Filipina near by, cleaning your room, or pressing your clothes, somewhere in the depths of the plush or not-so-plush hotel you've been staying in. If you've been to the UAE (or any other country in the Gulf area), chances are more likely than not that the building you slept in was built on the labor of a Filipino laborer - and that the people who own that building have their children cared for by a Filipina nanny (who is often abused, in the Gulf).
These OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), as they are called, generally send the bulk of their paychecks home through various different channels. The Filipino banks are really good at following the pool of labor - and they do offer some pretty good ways to get money back to the home country. But I digress. The point is that the OFWs send their money home. They send it back to a husband or wife, or to their children, or their grandpas and grandmas back in the provinces.
Now, I'm about to make a very broad generalization, but ...
Where does this money get spent? To be sure, some of it gets spent for subsistence goods. Some for school supplies, school uniforms, etc. But believe me when I tell you that a LOT of this money gets spent at the mall.
THE MALL.
Most of you will never have seen the kind of malls that I have seen in the Philippines. Inside, they aren't a whole lot different than a suburban shopping mall somewhere in suburban America. But multiply the size by about 100x, and you get a general understanding of how big this mall is. I've been to the Mall of America. It's big. I admit. The Mall of Asia is about twice its size. Located in Manila, about a 5 minute jeepney ride from shantytowns made of recycled corrugated aluminum sheeting.
The Mall of Asia is huge. Mobbed with people. Mobbed with some people shopping. Some people looking. Lots of people eating. There is a verb for this action. "Malling." I've actually heard it being used in sentences. As in, "What are you doing this weekend?" "Malling..."
Why? That is the question that I find the hardest to answer. Branding is huge in the Philippines. Everything has about 18 brands plastered on it. The more "American" the brand, the higher the value. (Of course, you can go to the knockoff mall - but EVERYTHING is branded there.)
Is there a good model of micro-finance or micro-lending? Not really. You can go to a pawnshop, to get a short-term loan. 1-3 days loan, charged roughly 8-10%. More than that, and the rate goes higher, and higher, and higher. Not exactly conducive to "revitalizing" the economy. More like loan sharking, but without the "I'll break yo' two fingahs if you don' have mah money by nex' week".
Where does all this money go? Why is is spent like this? Why does a country with a huge poverty problem promote shopping?!?!
*sigh*
More on this topic later.
Believe me, my friends, when I tell you that the poverty in India is just as bad. And I'm sure that the poverty in provincial areas *everywhere* in the world is just as bad. I'm sure some of the places deep in the Appalachian mountains are just as bad.
But there's this thing about the Philippines, in particular, that makes me so sad. America has exported some crazy, fucked up version of consumerist mania to the Republic of the Philippines.
The Philippines' largest export is labor.
People.
The Philippines exports people.
These people contribute remittances along the order of roughly $13bn per year. Granted, this is IMF data, and the actual source of the remittances is not crystal clear, but look - it's the third largest inbound recipient of remittances in the entire world, second only to India ($23.6bn) and China ($23bn).
Chances are, if you've been on vacation anywhere in the world, there's been a Filipina near by, cleaning your room, or pressing your clothes, somewhere in the depths of the plush or not-so-plush hotel you've been staying in. If you've been to the UAE (or any other country in the Gulf area), chances are more likely than not that the building you slept in was built on the labor of a Filipino laborer - and that the people who own that building have their children cared for by a Filipina nanny (who is often abused, in the Gulf).
These OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), as they are called, generally send the bulk of their paychecks home through various different channels. The Filipino banks are really good at following the pool of labor - and they do offer some pretty good ways to get money back to the home country. But I digress. The point is that the OFWs send their money home. They send it back to a husband or wife, or to their children, or their grandpas and grandmas back in the provinces.
Now, I'm about to make a very broad generalization, but ...
Where does this money get spent? To be sure, some of it gets spent for subsistence goods. Some for school supplies, school uniforms, etc. But believe me when I tell you that a LOT of this money gets spent at the mall.
THE MALL.
Most of you will never have seen the kind of malls that I have seen in the Philippines. Inside, they aren't a whole lot different than a suburban shopping mall somewhere in suburban America. But multiply the size by about 100x, and you get a general understanding of how big this mall is. I've been to the Mall of America. It's big. I admit. The Mall of Asia is about twice its size. Located in Manila, about a 5 minute jeepney ride from shantytowns made of recycled corrugated aluminum sheeting.
The Mall of Asia is huge. Mobbed with people. Mobbed with some people shopping. Some people looking. Lots of people eating. There is a verb for this action. "Malling." I've actually heard it being used in sentences. As in, "What are you doing this weekend?" "Malling..."
Why? That is the question that I find the hardest to answer. Branding is huge in the Philippines. Everything has about 18 brands plastered on it. The more "American" the brand, the higher the value. (Of course, you can go to the knockoff mall - but EVERYTHING is branded there.)
Is there a good model of micro-finance or micro-lending? Not really. You can go to a pawnshop, to get a short-term loan. 1-3 days loan, charged roughly 8-10%. More than that, and the rate goes higher, and higher, and higher. Not exactly conducive to "revitalizing" the economy. More like loan sharking, but without the "I'll break yo' two fingahs if you don' have mah money by nex' week".
Where does all this money go? Why is is spent like this? Why does a country with a huge poverty problem promote shopping?!?!
*sigh*
More on this topic later.
Monday, August 13, 2007
A Flurry of Shows
More shows in the next 60 days than I've been to in the last two years...
8/24 - Wilco. Yes. I know I'm late to the bandwagon on this one, and I should have seen them play at the Barrymore, in Madison, more than 10 years ago. Frankly, the Being There album has yet to be dethroned as my favorite Wilco album, but to be fair, none of the others have had more than 2 listens through. I actually have two extra tickets to this sold-out show, and will have to get rid of them this week or next.
9/5 - Okkervil River. A friend of mine is in this band. I'm not particularly fond of the singer's voice, but I go to see a friend.
9/23 - The Lucksmiths. I am SO SO SO excited to see this show. They have not yet announced a venue, and the first round of tickets that I had were refunded due to cancellation. However, the Lucksmiths *say* that they're playing a show in SF on that day, I believe them. They just aren't playing at the Bottom of the Hill.
10/20 - Big Star. I am torn on this one. ClearChannel bought The Fillmore, and are charging, get this: $35.00/ticket, plus a $8.70 "convenience" fee for the convenience of them not having to staff a ticket booth that I could just as easily go and pick tickets up at. Is the convenience of me ordering tickets from my desk at work worth $17.00 (the cost of BOTH of my initial Lucksmiths tickets) worth seeing Alex Chilton? Probably, but let me get over the fucking gall of the "new" Fillmore (and btw, your new website sucks).
8/24 - Wilco. Yes. I know I'm late to the bandwagon on this one, and I should have seen them play at the Barrymore, in Madison, more than 10 years ago. Frankly, the Being There album has yet to be dethroned as my favorite Wilco album, but to be fair, none of the others have had more than 2 listens through. I actually have two extra tickets to this sold-out show, and will have to get rid of them this week or next.
9/5 - Okkervil River. A friend of mine is in this band. I'm not particularly fond of the singer's voice, but I go to see a friend.
9/23 - The Lucksmiths. I am SO SO SO excited to see this show. They have not yet announced a venue, and the first round of tickets that I had were refunded due to cancellation. However, the Lucksmiths *say* that they're playing a show in SF on that day, I believe them. They just aren't playing at the Bottom of the Hill.
10/20 - Big Star. I am torn on this one. ClearChannel bought The Fillmore, and are charging, get this: $35.00/ticket, plus a $8.70 "convenience" fee for the convenience of them not having to staff a ticket booth that I could just as easily go and pick tickets up at. Is the convenience of me ordering tickets from my desk at work worth $17.00 (the cost of BOTH of my initial Lucksmiths tickets) worth seeing Alex Chilton? Probably, but let me get over the fucking gall of the "new" Fillmore (and btw, your new website sucks).
Friday, July 27, 2007
Guiliani - "Democrats, the party of losers"
"Democrats, Party of Losers," says Guiliani.
Thanks to Salon.
Yes, I refuse to acknowledge that the war in Iraq is doing *anything* to keep us safer. For that matter, I completely acknowledge that the war in Iraq is making us *less* safe, as most experts acknowledge, as well.
Thanks to Salon.
Yes, I refuse to acknowledge that the war in Iraq is doing *anything* to keep us safer. For that matter, I completely acknowledge that the war in Iraq is making us *less* safe, as most experts acknowledge, as well.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Brian Wilson Is A God
I spent three hours yesterday upstairs in my living room, on the floor, in a meditative cross-legged sitting position, with my head in my hands, eyes mostly closed, listening to:
Don't Let Me Down
Here Comes the Sun
Hello, Goodbye
Let It Be
And...
Pet Sounds (twice, once in mono, and once in stereo)
I realized then that I take it back, what I've said about Ringo Starr. He wasn't just in the right place at the right time, but he is a great drummer, period. Let It Be has the best guitar solo that I've ever heard, and I know I've said it before, but this time, it was an ethereal experience that I can't quite sum up in words. I think there is something so great about all of those instruments together, building into a fantastic finale of crashing awesomeness (and Barrelled, the bass slides are spectacular, aren't they, at the end?).
Don't Let Me Down, I think, really hit me rather hard (although a little less so than Let It Be, for obvious reasons). I know I've said it a million times - a great pop song should never be much longer than 3 minutes, but I really wish this one had gone on forever.
Moving on to Pet Sounds...
I felt such deep pathos for Brian Wilson, and I realize that I've been wrong in my focus on *certain* songs on Pet Sounds, rather than listening to the album in its entirety, which is an opera unto itself, a novel of Brian Wilson, and an autobiography of his brain, or even better, his soul. I realized that most humans communicate through talking, and that Brian's interface with the world was fundamentally broken. I could picture him struggling, all of that time, trying to communicate with the rest of us mere mortals, in a way that was alternately, superbly innocent, yet undeniably complex and mature.
(And recorded on nothing more than 3, 4 and 8-track?!?!?! HOLY CRAP!!@!@#)
I may be wrong in saying that Brian Wilson is a god, but he is certainly a prophet, and I haven't begun to process the post-excursion euphoria into real words, but I feel awash in something so beautiful and wonderful that I can barely contain myself (as I sit at the desk of the job that I despise, which even *that* can't bring me down today). In the liner notes of the re-release of Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson says that he felt like he had a halo over his head while he was recording the album. I believe him.
I had a picture of him, in an alternate universe, picking all of these wondrous sounds off a tree, ripe, and bursting with all this musical goodness. I could see him, contemplating taking that long trip down that ladder, back to earth, to give it to us, not in a condescending way, but in a compassionate gifting.
All I can say to that is (and I'm sure it's been said before, by people way more profound than me):
Thank you, Brian Wilson. God only knows what I'd do without you.
Don't Let Me Down
Here Comes the Sun
Hello, Goodbye
Let It Be
And...
Pet Sounds (twice, once in mono, and once in stereo)
I realized then that I take it back, what I've said about Ringo Starr. He wasn't just in the right place at the right time, but he is a great drummer, period. Let It Be has the best guitar solo that I've ever heard, and I know I've said it before, but this time, it was an ethereal experience that I can't quite sum up in words. I think there is something so great about all of those instruments together, building into a fantastic finale of crashing awesomeness (and Barrelled, the bass slides are spectacular, aren't they, at the end?).
Don't Let Me Down, I think, really hit me rather hard (although a little less so than Let It Be, for obvious reasons). I know I've said it a million times - a great pop song should never be much longer than 3 minutes, but I really wish this one had gone on forever.
Moving on to Pet Sounds...
I felt such deep pathos for Brian Wilson, and I realize that I've been wrong in my focus on *certain* songs on Pet Sounds, rather than listening to the album in its entirety, which is an opera unto itself, a novel of Brian Wilson, and an autobiography of his brain, or even better, his soul. I realized that most humans communicate through talking, and that Brian's interface with the world was fundamentally broken. I could picture him struggling, all of that time, trying to communicate with the rest of us mere mortals, in a way that was alternately, superbly innocent, yet undeniably complex and mature.
(And recorded on nothing more than 3, 4 and 8-track?!?!?! HOLY CRAP!!@!@#)
I may be wrong in saying that Brian Wilson is a god, but he is certainly a prophet, and I haven't begun to process the post-excursion euphoria into real words, but I feel awash in something so beautiful and wonderful that I can barely contain myself (as I sit at the desk of the job that I despise, which even *that* can't bring me down today). In the liner notes of the re-release of Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson says that he felt like he had a halo over his head while he was recording the album. I believe him.
I had a picture of him, in an alternate universe, picking all of these wondrous sounds off a tree, ripe, and bursting with all this musical goodness. I could see him, contemplating taking that long trip down that ladder, back to earth, to give it to us, not in a condescending way, but in a compassionate gifting.
All I can say to that is (and I'm sure it's been said before, by people way more profound than me):
Thank you, Brian Wilson. God only knows what I'd do without you.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
She Sees By Degrees
I don't know why. I took some old music out last night, had a glass (or two) of not-so-super-fine Macallan, popped in the CoolHand Band compilation that I had lying around, and lay down on the floor for a listen. Since I've got the not-so-new-hand-me-down sound system, listening to music is a whole new experience for me. All of the same songs struck the same heartstrings for me, and took me back to Ella's Deli on State Street, walking past the fountain in Library Mall, and returned me to my present day dilemma that is even more absurd that that one.
I LOVE Misspelling, if that's what it's still called.
Morning meets me on the street
I'll greet her half asleep
I LOVE Acetate, but the vinyl -> CD transfer really degraded the sound quality. I guess that shouldn't matter, because I don't have a record player to listen to the single, even if I owned it.
I LOVE Swansong as much as I did 10 years ago. I love that I know who it was written for. I think of Swanson when I listen to it. I can almost see his hair flopping in his face when I do.
I had forgotten more than half of the songs on this compilation, including the ones on the CD that had the original version of Burst on it (I don't even know the name of the CD anymore!!!). I remember that it was one the highest quality local recordings that you could get, at the time it was released.
Next up on the playlist? The Blow Pops, American Beauties. It's going to be a fine, fine day.
On the flipside of that - I'm looking for work, kinda. I'm thinking of taking the summer off, actually, but I doubt that I'll be able to do it. But it's still fun thinking about it.
I LOVE Misspelling, if that's what it's still called.
Morning meets me on the street
I'll greet her half asleep
I LOVE Acetate, but the vinyl -> CD transfer really degraded the sound quality. I guess that shouldn't matter, because I don't have a record player to listen to the single, even if I owned it.
I LOVE Swansong as much as I did 10 years ago. I love that I know who it was written for. I think of Swanson when I listen to it. I can almost see his hair flopping in his face when I do.
I had forgotten more than half of the songs on this compilation, including the ones on the CD that had the original version of Burst on it (I don't even know the name of the CD anymore!!!). I remember that it was one the highest quality local recordings that you could get, at the time it was released.
Next up on the playlist? The Blow Pops, American Beauties. It's going to be a fine, fine day.
On the flipside of that - I'm looking for work, kinda. I'm thinking of taking the summer off, actually, but I doubt that I'll be able to do it. But it's still fun thinking about it.
Monday, March 26, 2007
The Lunch Dilemma
I'm a lunch-taker. I take a break between 12 and 1 to eat. I try to eat away from my desk, and in the company of others. Recently, my habitual eating habit has become the fodder for office gossip because I don't want to eat with my co-workers anymore. I find that I've started to eat out a lot more because I don't want to deal with questions about why I'm eating (or not eating) with the old lunch crew. Boo.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Ann Coulter, You Are On Crack?
Ann, are you on crack? "Faggot" is not a schoolyard taunt. You are on crack. And perhaps you belong in rehab. I'm not sure that rehab will help you find your brain.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Ann Coulter & Rehab?
If you don't already know, Ann Coulter called John Edwards a faggot last week at the big Republican CPAC convention. I'm actually completely flabbergasted by it. I've no clue how, in this day and age, anyone would think it's actually publicly acceptable to use a slur of any kind in a public forum.
Now, let's not be ostriches, and agree that there are a TON of people in America who hate gay people. But in a public forum? And not behind closed doors? Insane.
And Ann, your retort to the Edwards' campaign is just as insane!
"I"m so ashamed, I can't stop laughing"
Now, let's not be ostriches, and agree that there are a TON of people in America who hate gay people. But in a public forum? And not behind closed doors? Insane.
And Ann, your retort to the Edwards' campaign is just as insane!
"I"m so ashamed, I can't stop laughing"
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance
I love these people. Washington (state) court ruled that the state had a legitimate interest in protecting marriage from the gays. The Washington Defense of Marriage Act points out the hypocrisy of the ruling by proposing a series of laws that will enforce the idiocy.
1) All married people have to have kids within three years of getting married.
2) All unmarried people with kids will have to get married.
3) All people who want to get married but can't have kids can't get married.
4) Strip all marriage benefits (and make it a criminal offense to offer the benefits) to unrecognized married people.
5) Find a way to bureaucratize proving married people are married according to 1), 2) and 3)
If the right-wing really wants to put their money where their mouths are, let them. (Although, this is kind of scary if it passes, and is subsequently enforced.)
1) All married people have to have kids within three years of getting married.
2) All unmarried people with kids will have to get married.
3) All people who want to get married but can't have kids can't get married.
4) Strip all marriage benefits (and make it a criminal offense to offer the benefits) to unrecognized married people.
5) Find a way to bureaucratize proving married people are married according to 1), 2) and 3)
If the right-wing really wants to put their money where their mouths are, let them. (Although, this is kind of scary if it passes, and is subsequently enforced.)
Memer, Neener
RULES: Each player of this game starts off with 10 weird things/habits/little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 10 weird habits/things/little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you need to choose 10 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs.
1. I'm an obsessive finger biter. I'm considering medication.
2. I *hate* stepping in puddles of water in the bathroom. If my day starts like this, it is most likely ruined. I should probably meditate or something.
3. Hellogoodbye may be old to you, but it is extremely new to me, and I am currently obsessed with their song Oh It Is Love.
4. Speaking of songs (and this is probably not a weird and little known fact, but an extremely well-known one) - I am the kind of person that will giggle ALL day about a song. In fact, I love to giggle. Especially when I construct elaborate scenes in the movie in my brain that stars (of course) me, and my latest crush, with some kind of song like Oh It Is Love playing in the background. Sometimes, the co-star is the S.O., but usually only when we're old and is usually set on a lanai in Nu'uanu Valley, surrounded by lush, green grass, and the scent of petrichor (this is my word for the week) in the air, holding hands in our rocking chairs.
5. I sometimes feel intense pressure to like a band that I *know* I should like, given the genre of music that I like to listen to, but just can't get into. Most recent bands of this type are Arcade Fire. Among other, older bands, Guided by Voices. Don't get me wrong, I think GBV is a great band, and I'm glad that I got to see them live, but their catalog is just so great, that I'd have to be obsessed and give up all other bands for a good year or two to catch up with all the rest of the GBV fans out there.
6. I love 80's glam-rock. I loved Mr. Big's To Be With You in high school. I loved Bon Jovi in middle school. And c'mon, I know you loved Firehouse and Whitesnake. Admit it. Okay, never mind.
7. I love creme brulee.
8. I have a love of crushes. I love the act of falling in love, with anything. With a new soda, restaurant, TV shows, imaginary people.
9. When I die, the person who goes through my things will find a lot of teeny scraps of paper with starts of cute pop songs that never got finished. Maybe when I die, someone will write a song with all these little scraps of paper.
10. I am a huge fan of bands with a boy and a girl singing. As much as I hate to say it, I can't stand indie bands with *only* girl singers. The sound of their voices grates on my nerves. I need the tenor/bass of a boy voice in the mix to even it out, but when it does, it's so great!
(Bonus - 11. I love the smell of pakalana, pikake and maile - and I hope to have all three on my at my wedding.)
1. I'm an obsessive finger biter. I'm considering medication.
2. I *hate* stepping in puddles of water in the bathroom. If my day starts like this, it is most likely ruined. I should probably meditate or something.
3. Hellogoodbye may be old to you, but it is extremely new to me, and I am currently obsessed with their song Oh It Is Love.
4. Speaking of songs (and this is probably not a weird and little known fact, but an extremely well-known one) - I am the kind of person that will giggle ALL day about a song. In fact, I love to giggle. Especially when I construct elaborate scenes in the movie in my brain that stars (of course) me, and my latest crush, with some kind of song like Oh It Is Love playing in the background. Sometimes, the co-star is the S.O., but usually only when we're old and is usually set on a lanai in Nu'uanu Valley, surrounded by lush, green grass, and the scent of petrichor (this is my word for the week) in the air, holding hands in our rocking chairs.
5. I sometimes feel intense pressure to like a band that I *know* I should like, given the genre of music that I like to listen to, but just can't get into. Most recent bands of this type are Arcade Fire. Among other, older bands, Guided by Voices. Don't get me wrong, I think GBV is a great band, and I'm glad that I got to see them live, but their catalog is just so great, that I'd have to be obsessed and give up all other bands for a good year or two to catch up with all the rest of the GBV fans out there.
6. I love 80's glam-rock. I loved Mr. Big's To Be With You in high school. I loved Bon Jovi in middle school. And c'mon, I know you loved Firehouse and Whitesnake. Admit it. Okay, never mind.
7. I love creme brulee.
8. I have a love of crushes. I love the act of falling in love, with anything. With a new soda, restaurant, TV shows, imaginary people.
9. When I die, the person who goes through my things will find a lot of teeny scraps of paper with starts of cute pop songs that never got finished. Maybe when I die, someone will write a song with all these little scraps of paper.
10. I am a huge fan of bands with a boy and a girl singing. As much as I hate to say it, I can't stand indie bands with *only* girl singers. The sound of their voices grates on my nerves. I need the tenor/bass of a boy voice in the mix to even it out, but when it does, it's so great!
(Bonus - 11. I love the smell of pakalana, pikake and maile - and I hope to have all three on my at my wedding.)
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Good Luck, Ehren Watada
Ehren Watada's court-martial started today. He is the first (and only) commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq because he says that the war in Iraq is illegal. He requested a transfer to Afghanistan, but was denied, and he subsequently requested resignation, which was also denied, and he was charged with failure to deploy, and conduct unbecoming an officer (for going public).
Plus, he's from Hawaii.
Plus, he's from Hawaii.
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