No. 208: Think

Sometimes I think my parents project onto me. 

Like that's a novel feature of the parent-child relationship. Whatever. I love them anyway. 

I got a bunch of different invites for Thanksgiving day. At first I thought how nice that was of everyone. But now I'm just infinitely stressed out. My parents are going to Ohio. I knew I didn't want to leave the states I call home, so that made that easy, except now I have to rush home to see them before they go. Tomorrow I was invited to dinner with Jo & Nick, which I think I'm accepting. I was then invited to a party Dad is throwing in Dundalk, that I feel like I have to at least stop into b/c I had to run out on hanging with Dad to write my essay last night. Then Jenny invited me to Granny's for their thing. That means GREAT pie, horses and puppies and I haven't seen Jenny in ages. It also means driving all the way out to the farm. Aaand Matt wants me to go over there and hang out and Kendall and I haven't seen each other in a week or so. 

My only desire after the past ridiculously busy week is to  eat as much as humanly possible and watch football. I just have to decide where. I only have so much gas and time and way too many invitations. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I just want to relax. It's stressing me out. 

My goal over the break was to finish Jessica Blau's novel, read the chapter of Frankenstien I'm supposed to, finish Holy Land (by Waldie, it is AWESOME!), and write at least 5 pages of my short story. I see a maximum of two of these actually getting done. We'll see I guess. 

Going to eat a hard boiled egg, drink some tea, get in the shower and go home. 

Cheers on your turkey day.

H. 

No. 112: Songs, Films and FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL!

Tonight, tonight, Pats. V. Giants. I have no idea who to cheer for. Long time associations say Pats, but my late loves have been the Giants. Plus I think a lot of people feel they have to root for the Giants despite never having watched them play a game because they think the Pats are smug elitists. Possibly. But, and I'm going to sound incredibly Teen Girl Squad here: OMG, Tom Brady.

In any case-- I think the roommates (with whom things have not exactly been smooth and loving lately) are probably going to go out with their homies, so I'll have the casa. Dad is having a huge drunkie party at the House on Dundalk Pond, but I don't feel like cabbing out there. So I'm thinking I'll make nachos in the toaster oven and get rowdy in front of our TV. Anyone reading this and in my state is welcome to join.

This morning/noon, I'm going to watch Singles. I usually do this on gray afternoons when I feel crappy, and whadya know... just such an instance occurs. Blech. What a weekend. The most fun you can have without actually having any. I actually miss NoVa. At least there's close late night bowling. And IHOP. Being away next weekend will help with things, I think. I need to another getaway from myself. Plus things with Mike are just... anyway.

So enough self pity and blahblahblah. Here's Seven More Songs to Live To:

1. "Ghost Story" by Sting-- I've loved Sting. My mom used to listen to Brand New Day and 10 Summoner's Tales all the time when I was a kid, before I knew any songs by the Police besides "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle". But anyway-- this song is a little hokey in places, but there are great lines and beautiful sections of music.
   
2. "Don't Let It Bring You Down" by Annie Lennox: I LOVE her voice. Bought a Eurythmics album on vinyl before I left NoVa and can't wait to listen to it when I get my receiver. In any case, the music for this is kind of epic, in a way. Need to YouTube the video. I feel like there should be a temple or something.
   
3. "Peach, Plum, Pear" by Joanna Newsom-- Joe put a different song of hers on his Cities & Signs mix, but personally, I like this song best out of all of hers. The last lines catch something in my brain, just the way she sings them in that incredibly strange voice of hers. "Am I so dear? Do I run rare? And you've changed sooooommmee, peach plum pear."
4. "C'mere" by Interpol-- I love this song. I think it has something to do with the line "the trouble is that you're in love with someone else/ It should be me/ It. Should. Be. Me." Whatever.. the music kicks. I struggled between "Pace is the Trick" and "Evil" too. But in the end, I've listened to this song about 85 times this week, so it made the list.
5. "Following Through" by The Dismemberment Plan-- For the longest time I only had "Emergency & I" and like... three songs from "Ice of Boston". But the other day I hungered for more D-Plan and bought about half an album. This song, for some reason, though I don't remember buying it, showed up in my library. It's gorgeous and sad and with strange accuracy fits my recent dealings. In any case-- I'm so sad they broke up and won't be putting out any more albums. But maybe Travis Morisson is single...?
6. "Wild Horses" by The Sundays-- This, in case you were wondering, was the song Buffy and Angel danced to on the Season Three BtVS episode, "Prom". I always wondered, but could never hear it loud enough when I watched it back then, and wasn't big into the Stones yet, and also: the internet hadn't quite advanced to in depth episode detail recaps. Anyway-- Rolling Stones cover that is haunting and lovely. Have it a listen.
7. "The Con" by Tegan & Sara-- I developed a deep and abiding love for these ladies. So Jealous is a great album, and their follow up is excellent as well. This song is a friend of a friend's myspace song or else I wouldn't have paid much attention to it. Anyway-- the music is fun, rockier, and the lyrics are simplistic, but nice.
   

Guess that's it for now. While you're at it, though, give "Face of the Earth" a listen and see if you can't get your hands on Matt Diamond's remix, which is EXCELLENT.

H.

PS. Avoid the movie Shoot 'Em Up like the plague, unless you are severely intoxicated or just looking for loud noises and Clive Owen being superhot.

No. 110: start to melt

I'm sitting here, about an hour after waking up, listening to Frank Sinatra sing my favorite of his songs, "Summer Wind", still in kind of a daze about a conversation I had last night. I won't go into details, but a certain Mikey Rocks, at the very least, isn't angry with me any more. It's just... nice. What's weird about it is that I prayed about it, and there was a very immediate answer. Totally caught me off guard.

Just wanted to blurb that. I need to get some Spanish reading done and then go to expos (*insert sarcastic "woop"*) but afterwards, WKC and I are going to the aforementioned Charm City Cupcakes, and what is better than cupcakes? They're certainly an upgrade from, say, a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Still trying to figure out what to do on Superbowl Sunday. Bert's? Father's? Who knows.

H.

PS. Had an insane music download fiesta this morning after deciding just to download all the albums on my Amazon wishlist. It may be that Johns Hopkins University undergrads are responsible for the plummeting CD sales. Ah well. Vinyl went out too, for most people. Anyway-- point: I will probably start doing album reviews on top of the 7 Songs. Maybe. If there's time.