I listen to a ton of music at work. I recently (today) decided that I should start dedicating every day of the week, not just Friday, to artists and/or genres of music. This is my first stab at a lineup.
Monday - Relax through that hangover Monday (Death Cab For Cutie, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, etc)
Tuesday - Clash Tuesday (sprinkle liberally with other punk and hardcore as well)
Wednesday - Iron Maiden Wednesday
Thursday - Girl Talk Thursday (apply hip hop as needed)
Friday - Funk & Soul Friday (Otis Redding, James Brown, George Clinton, Prince, etc)
Whatchy'all think? Suggestions?
"Murder for freedom, a stab in the back.
Women and children and cowards attack."
- "Run To The Hills" by Iron Maiden (from
The Number of the Beast)
I don't have lots of wishes. Fewer than most people, I think, because I don't wish for many material things and I'm pretty happy about most things when it comes right down to it. And I don't live in the third world, and my family is pretty good and I love my friends. I care about people, and people care about me.
But sometimes, what I wish for more in the world than anything else, is a little fucking self-confidence.
"Better hop on in -
The pass will close if the clouds start rolling in.
Can't take the thought of being stuck again."
- "Afghamistam" by Botch (from
An Anthology Of Dead Ends)
Okay, let's play a game - spot how many good decisions and great decisions there are in this story.
I hung out with some friends at a party the other night, had a beer or seventeen, and left around 3:30. I was biking home and talking on the phone. (Bee tea dub, the back brake is broken on my bike.) Somewhere around 9th and Catharine (a pretty quiet place at 3:30), I hit a pot hole - hard. I thought "maybe I can save this" as I flew over the handlebars in slow motion. Next thing I know I'm writhing on the ground with my bike upside down next to me. Out of nowhere, a guy approaches me and says, with a vague accent, "Are you alright?" I respond with groaning and, eventually, "Where did that come from??" To which my new friend* responded, "I'm from Italy." I start giggling and say, "No, not you, the pot hole." I pull my yard sale together, get back on my bike, and my new friend walks away. I yell after him "Grazie!" and he responds with a jaunty "Ciao!" I then ride away, trying to figure out if that really just happened.
I took the brunt of the fall on my elbow, which is still quite swollen. I can't really extend it all the way. I also ended up with a cut on my side. All things considered, I'm pretty goddamn lucky. I probably should have landed on my face, and that would have been terrible because I really can't afford to be any uglier than I already am.
So what's the count? This story is rife with amazing decisions - I'll make my count and post my guess, too.
* I call him a friend because he saw me at my most asinine and pathetic, and really, that's what friend do.
"Hey Catrine, I know it's true when I'm sitting in my room.
But sometimes knowing is not enough, when time is what we've lost."
- "Hey Catrine" by Lifetime (from
Jersey's Best Dancers)
Some quick things -
This is why it sucks ass to live in the northeast: the dreaded wintry mix. Not snow, not rain, not sleet, but some horrific, awful, freezing cold amalgam of all three (and sleet itself is mixture!!). For anyone who has never lived here, this happens about once a week here, and it never gets any easier to deal with. One of the most frustrating parts is that there's really no correct attire for it, other than a full rubber bodysuit (which I have, but I use for things other than walking around in the dreaded wintry mix).
---
I'm not trying to get into some big discussion here - just pointing out the continued stupidity of everyone's favorite fake Texan - but in
this article, President Bush says "America is better than this, so we will continue to work for a culture of life." I think that maybe Bush forgot about
this story in which he affirmed his support of killing people "swiftly and surely." As governor of Texas, he executed 152 people. Culture of life indeed!
"Now you say you're leavin home
cause you want to be alone.
Ain't it funny how you feel
When you're findin out it's real?"
- "Sugar Mountain" by Neil Young (from
Decade)
For the second year in a row, my friend Tom and I have a message for a certain sector of the country's population.
Go fuck yourselves, San Diego.
Also, go Pats.
Also also, Boston is officially no longer a scrappy sports town - everyone hates Boston teams. But you know what? We put up with so many awful seasons and terrible heartbreaks that we deserve this moment of glory.
"And he knows what he's got to do
So he knows he's gonna have fun with you
You lucky lady!
An he knows when the evening comes
When his job is done he'll be over in his car for you."
- "Janie Jones" by The Clash (from
The Clask)
I swear I'll start posting something else soon, but I just can't help myself when Yahoo! is helping me so much. I logged into my e-mail and saw these first two stories, and couldn't help but LOLZ for about 10 minutes then pee myself a little.
Not to be outdone by Citigroup's announcement of massive FAIL the other day, yesterday banking and investment giant Merrill Lynch
came out with a report of its own massive FAIL. They reported losses of $7.8 BILLION (or the equivalent of the the GDP of the Republic of the Congo) in the last quarter of 2007. All told, they reported net losses of $22.1 BILLION for the year (or, the entirety of Costa Rica's GDP).
Dammit, I never should have given Citigroup the FAIL of the year award, cuz by total losses
Fail Merrill Lynch TOTALLY pwned - Citi only lost $18 billion for the year.
Okay, Lynch - you get the massive, catastrophic, outlandish FAIL of the year award.
"He said, son, I've made a life out of readin peoples faces,
And knowin what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
So if you don't mind my sayin, I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."
-- "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers (from
The Gambler)
So Citigroup, Inc, the country's biggest bank, recorded the
largest quarterly deficit in its 196-year history during the last quarter of 2007. All told, they lost 10 BILLION DOLLARS IN THREE MONTHS. To put that in perspective, the World Bank lists Laos' GDP (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year (I thought I would include that because I didn't really know what GDP actually meant)) at about $10.2 billion. For this, Citibank, you earn the biggest FAIL of the year.
"And it breaks my heart, like dancing up all night.
Ride so high we both start thinking 'bout another world tonight"
- "Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants" by Dillinger Escape Plan (from
Miss Machine)
Okay, so now that things are beginning to calm down after my whirlwind December and New Years, I think I'm ready to start writing in my journal again (poor neglected journal!) and to make regular updates again. I'm not deluding myself into thinking that people are riveted to this corner of the series of tubes or anything, I just like making updates. SO BACK OFF.
I'm pretty pumped to be going to Boston this weekend, though. It's the last little bit of traveling I'll be doing for a bit, so hopefully it goes off without a hitch. There's no way it could fail. Going to see the whole gang for a little bit and see KDHL off (booooo), and we're going to see Bane with Silent Drive, Outbreak, and With Honor at the Palladium in Worcester. Ahh, central Mass hardcore, we meet again!
Dirt made an interesting post about our parents' generation. While
Crystal accused him of bitter blogging, it gave me the gumption, the chutzpah, to make a post about something in a similar vein. Also, I was inspired by what I saw on the street as I went out to buy edamame just now. (I know, I'm a hippie.)
To me, there's nothing sadder than watching a parent who doesn't want to be a parent. You know the type - they're the ones screaming at their kids, making the kids walk behind them, not paying attention to them, staring off into space as they push the stroller down the street. I saw a woman pushing her baby on Walnut St., and could see this look in her eyes. There was a fire, a passion that was dying inside her, and I could see it flare up as she crossed the street and die down a little as she looked down into the stroller. She was pretty young, mid 20s I would guess, and had a big honkin ring on her finger. But the look in her eyes made me want to shake her out of her reverie, put the drum sticks (that she no doubt put down when she got married) back in her hand, and tell her that her life isn't over. And I wanted to believe that, too.
I don't think I would be a good parent. I'm not patient enough, and I'm too bitter about so many things, and I don't think I would ever be able to forgive a little brat for changing my life forever. I just don't understand this inexorable desire to procreate - I just don't. I also don't get this obsession with marriage, either. If I love someone, I'll be with them for as long as I can stand him or her, or until he or she can't stand me anymore. And I'm not about to let the fucking state tell me what I can and can't do it about it. That's some bullshit right there.
Maybe I'll change my mind on all this someday - I'm open to that possibility. Maybe when I get older I'll decide there's nothing more precious that having a little poop machine cry through the night. Maybe I decide that having a ring on my finger makes me a real man. But right now, I'm calling bullshit.
"And it's so much more that just fucking clothes -
It's in the way that you cannot sit still,
Chewing on words but spitting out actions;
Fire the fire that burns so deep inside."
- "Every Effort Made" by Bane (from
Holding This Moment)
So today is KHDL's last full day in Philly - wah wah. But we have a big day in store - brunch at the Sidecar, the
Mutter Museum, the
Art Museum, Trader Joe's, making dinner, napping, potentially going out. Whew!
It's been a really fun week, and I'm so glad she's been here. We've done a bunch of really cool stuff, and I think I might be changing her mind about Philly a little. She's a hater, you see, but I think part of it was just that she had never come here with someone who REALLY knew his or her way around. It's funny how a city can do that to you. Denver definitely gave me that impression - that if I hadn't known people there who knew where to go or what to do, I wouldn't have been as impressed with the city as I was. I guess it's always good to have a guide. An urban sherpa, maybe.
"Take all the things that I've said that he stole
Put 'em in a sack
Swing 'em over my shoulder
Turn on my heels
Step out of this sight
Try to live in a lovelier light"
- "Not About Love" by Fiona Apple (from
Extraordinary Machine)
I really would. But I don't think it's going to happen for quite some time. Yesterday was
Mummers, which was a shit show as per usual. Most of the people who were at my house and in town from Boston are gone, which is both sad and great. We had a tremendous New Years - epic, even. So epic, in fact, that my house now looks like downtown Beirut, complete with bodies (Nate, John) everywhere and projectiles (carrots) flying through the air at any time. It was great fun, but I'm ready to go back to having 2 people live in my apartment, not 12.
KDHL is here for a couple more days, which is pretty great. We have a few more things to do in the city, but I'm looking for suggestions of other things we should do. Mostly I just wanna go out to dinner and lay in bed for a while, but stupid work is stupid, and I have to be in the "office" if I want to keep my "job". Typical.
I feel awfully gross. I'm going to go see what I can do about it.
"I put on my overcoat and walked into winter, my teeth chattered rhythms.
And they were grouped in twos or threes like a Morse code message was sent from me to me."
- "I Was A Kaleidoscope" by Death Cab For Cutie (from
We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes)
