Monday, August 06, 2007

Sunday Top Ten: Me Against the Music

[Totally unrelated UPDATE/sidenote: I just discovered that the International Hyperhidrosis Society has put up a PDF of my Marie Claire article on their website! So if you live underwater, in the U.K, or have a foot/leg injury preventing you from walking to the store, you can download it here.]

This post originally began with a very compelling musing on the state of my hair & nails. I've been trying to fix these problems via various cost-efficient methods, e.g., a hair-style Cesar remarked resembled that of a sweaty/pained future-mother in her 12th hour of labor, a hat, cutting my nails super-short to minimize polished-to-unpolished ratio, staying in.

Three days ago, my roommates told me they liked my "new dark hair," and when I went into the lit agency, Stephen/Rambo told me: "You know, Marie, I liked you better as a blonde." I found both of these statements alarming, as I've made no conscious effort to return to dark hair. It just HAPPENS, you guys, it's called GROWING. [Roommate Ryan did offer "Roots are in!" which was kind/false.] I tried to get a manicure in this 'hood, but mostly they wanted to make my nails totally heterosexual and then adorn them in bright colors and tiny gemstones.

So because I'm a proactive little puppy, I went out and fixed all my problems today and feel much better. Also Haviland was at DRAMATICS NYC SALON with me, and said my haircut looked like when we "first met," and then we both went: "awwww." It was A Moment, and I just wanted to share that with all of you, because I love you. Not like I love Haviland, or love FASHION, my stylist today [this's the place where they all have weird names, like lame porn stars], but Love you, just the same. I love everyone because my hair smells like hula girls.


(I tried to recreate the pose in order to best display the difference. But you can't really see how my nails are chipped in Photo 1.)

So speaking of Moments and Love ... [see that? That's called "bringing it back around."] [No it isn't. It's called "talking about myself, then pretending it's a segue into a Sunday Top Ten, coincidentally also about Myself. But also about Music. Kids like music, right? Rock and roll, etc.?]

A long time ago, Crystal posted this Musical Memoir blog where she traced her life through songs/music. Then, as is her way, she deleted it. I told her I'd steal that idea one day. So did Stef. Stef did it. Now, it's like ten years later, and I'm doing it.


SUNDAY TOP TEN:
ALBUMS MOST ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN SENTIMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH CERTAIN PERIODS OF TIME
or
"MUSICAL MEMOIRS"


(sidenote: I ain't too proud to [have] love[d] the Clueless soundtrack, obvs.)




10: 14/Grief and Depression: The Year of Soundtracks: Clueless, Empire Records, The Brady Bunch Movie
(runners up: The Cardigans/First Band on the Moon, frente!/marvin the album)

After tragedy, I turned to movies about shopping, makeovers, teen-movie-style-love [the kind where the Good Guy wins, confessions-of-love are smooth sailing, and grand gestures lead to French Kissing], flashy cars, short plaid skirts, and cleverly choreographed dance routines. Perfect rock/pop bouncy sunshine. Empire Records, Clueless, The Brady Bunch Movie. Everything about those films glowed like Gatorade. We made music videos, snapping our feet in plaid pajama pants, hair in pigtails, all metallic smiles. In the morning I had a routine; I'd listen to "Free" while I showered, then "Sugarhigh" while I dressed and flattened my hair via winter cap (which I wore over wet head til the song ended to officially de-Jew my dykey haircut). Maybe it was a reaction to grunge, too: whining didn't work, maybe RuPaul and "It's a Sunshine Day" will?


9: 15/Into Boys With Long Hair *Surprise*/Lemonheads: Come on Feel the Lemonheads
(runners up: Heavenly/The Decline and Fall of Heavenly, Cake/Fashion Nugget)

I spent a lot of time listening to other people's love songs. "Marie! Listen to this, this's my song for Jason! This's my song for Andrew! This's my song for Brad!" (they were always named Jason, Brad, Andrew), and so I listened. I thought, I'd like this to be my song for someone someday. Like Evan Dando. Or Andrew.



8: 16/Fag Hag/RENT Sountrack
(runners up: Ani DiFranco/Living in Clip, Jeff Buckley/Grace)

Seriously, this list has been nothing but completely embarrassing thus far. I should throw in something to make me sound smart, like ... what do the kids listen to? I feel like band names these days are so long. Like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! or whatever. That's lame. Pick something short and sweet, like "Heart" or "Sex Pistols" or "Nas."

I performed this album on long drives, to-from Interlochen. We sang it there, too, all the time, especially 'Take me or Leave Me,' because it was fresh enough for obsession, we all wanted to be in NYC, and I was surrounded by homosexuals and theater majors. My gay best friend Ryan liked to give me lap dances to "Tomorrow for Me," which was one of many special sexual things about our relationship. We went to Detroit to see the touring company, but they were bad, but I've seen it twice in NYC, and it made me cry/dance/think I was part of something special here in New York City! Now, it's like, vintage.


7: 17/Happy/Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
(runners up: Belle & Sebastian/If You're Feeling Sinister, Ella Fitzgerald/The Complete Songbooks)

This is one of the best albums of all time, and us cool white kids crooned along to it like we were about to give birth to our own baby Zions and agreed that it's silly when girls sell their soul because it's in, and, seriously, how could this be love and make me feel so bad? Everything was good then, I had it all, and I didn't need music that spoke to the deep pain of my soul. I just wanted to dance. That remake of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" puts the "Soul" back in "R&B/Hip-Hop/Soul."



6: 19/Havin' All Kinds of Trouble Trouble Trouble/Moby: Play
(recent conversation:)
Me: You know, I used to masturbate to this album.
Her: No wonder it took you thirty minutes to have an orgasm.

In '00-'01, I bounced from doctor to doctor. I guess Moby seemed as good as anything, but mostly what I listened to that year was what my brilliant musician friend Jake told me to listen to: Ida, Low, Nick Cave, Sea & Cake, His Name is Alive, The Magnetic Fields, Flashpapr, Saturday Looks Good to Me. I'd take long walks because I wasn't allowed to exercise 'til the doctors could figure out what was wrong with me. Walking hurt too, but it hurt less than not moving at all.

I liked that I listened to music no one else listened to, I liked Ida, they sounded like butterflies. I'd go to shows but if we had to stand and I stood for too long, my knees would start aching and I'd get sad again, antsy, wish I could focus or knew where my pain came from or what to do with it.

But none of that indie music was really appropriate for aforementioned activity.
Wasn't there a Moby song in like, every movie and commercial that came out that year?



5: 20/Wanting to Please/Love or Piss Off My Boyfriend, Depending

Unwritten Law:Unwritten Law or Indigo Girls:Become You
(runners up: Blink 182/Enema of the State, Melissa Ferrick/Freedom)
At concerts, Chris'd wrap his arms around me: Hey little girl, look what you do, hey little girl, I love you. Unwritten Law was earnest, but older than the other bands we liked, and the lead singer'd get drunk and take off his shirt and make it harder like he meant it, like the music was driving him crazy loud too, and "Kailin" was so especially sweet amidst all the screaming. I liked the idea that I was "doing" something, because I wasn't doing much of anything, really, besides taking the dog out to pee though it often peed on our carpet and kept fucking the stuffed animals Chris'd won me at various carnival games [really, our lives were exciting].

One summer Chris and I lived with like, ten lesbians who all played lesbionic sports like rugby or fencing--one of 'em was a good friend of mine from middle school, that's how I'd ended up there in the first place. She invited me to the Indigo Girls concert, and since I've been to *cough* like one hundred of them, I obvs was like "THERE." I couldn't beleive they'd put out a new album and I hadn't even noticed, and this is the gayest thing I've ever said in my life, but I think that night really changed things for me. I started listening to the album all the time to annoy him. Boys hate The Indigo Girls. That night on the grass, I watched all these SuperQueer girls dance around and I remembered there was a part of myself that Chris would never understand: not the gay part, but just that he didn't want to Understand anything about me that he couldn't relate to, nothing at all.

'Cause look, I effin love the Indigo Girls. I was raised listening to The Indigo Girls, they were one of my first concerts. My Mom took me. Also, coincidentally, my Mom is gay.



4: 22/Knee Deep in One of Those Up-and-Down Love-Things
Fiona Apple:When the Pawn and Outkast:Speakerboxx/The Love Below

"Spearboxx/The Love Below" came out on my birthday in 2003. It reminds me of dancing with college kids at U-Mich, of thumping hip-hop reverberating in the overpriced cars cruising South University, of music videos funner than cartoons. For a while, everyone loved "Hey Ya!" Everyone. It seemed like the most popular song on earth. We'd yell to the line cooks @ work: How cold is it? ICE COLD!

OK So: you know when you're in one of those bad psuedo-relationships and it's gotten really bad, really unfair as in you've just uncovered Serious Lies, and you know: The worst possible thing I could do for myself right now would be to go over to his place, and then he's like "Come over," and you're like: "Okay, see you in ten minutes!"

So: one of those times, one of the worst, I zoomed, blaring Fiona Apple to remind myself that hunger hurts and I want him so bad, oh it kills, 'cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up, I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold, hunger hurts but starving works when it costs too much to love....

Scot: I want to play a song for you. This is my song for you. [He said that all the time, but he was really intent this time.]

The Song:
You're all I ever wanted
but I'm terrified of you
My castle may be haunted/but I'm terrified of you

I've cast my spell on millions
but I'm terrified of you
Baby I do this from the ceiling but I'm terrified of you
I wait my whole life to find the right one
then you come along and that freaks me out.
-Outkast,
Dracula's Wedding

Awesome. Fear.

But Scot taught me how to listen to music. You know, just lie there and listen, like it's a real activity? We'd drink store-brand cola from his Aunt's garage, he clearly lived at home because he was sort of a teenager, and we'd lie there under his tapestry, and listen. I'd feel super young and alive and sexy all over, like my whole life was ahead of me, endless and set to music. Derrick May, Beastie Boys, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Basement Jaaxx, Aphex Twin, Tom Waits, Coldplay, George Harrison, Roy Ayers. He took me out to Detroit--his brother was a DJ--and showed me the turntables and did some "mixes" or whatever it is DJs do, and then I kinda like, fell in love with him again, it was Bad News.

I always date musically oriented people [except aforementioned Chris], I think. I have. A. Problem. I see someone make music and I think they are Magic.

He invaded my earspace, he took over so I couldn't live or breathe without thinking of him (except when I was listening to Fiona). He made me CDs and left them everywhere. In my car, literally dozens. In one of my better moments, I drove by his house and threw them on his lawn.

We started dating right when itunes came out, and he was the first of many ex-whathaveyous to have created their own playlists on my computer, and I keep them all, because,well, I keep everything.

Our relationship from start to finish was wrapped up in music, moreso than any before or since or probably ever. He wrote me songs.

Fiona speaks for herself. I was angry, so was she, we sang together in my Lexus and drove to the gym, the bank, the Macaroni Grill, the strip malls, his place, and back again. Easy as that. Waaa Waa GRRR.



3: 22/Alone & Fierce and Happy About It/Damien Rice: O
(runners up: Fiest/Let it Die, K's Choice/Paradise in Me)

I think I've talked about this before. But if you've seen it, you know; when you walk out of Closer, you know for sure there's no more love in the world and all relationships fail. And then, again, when The L Word, Season One, came to it's sad sad end: and so it is. I listened to that and Not an Addict over and over in cabs, drunk or coked up and coming down, electrified and miserable/thrilled. I'd stopped living for anyone but myself, and that meant being Alone but fierce and vicious and optimistic/destructive about it. Plus, I'd just gotten an ipod.


2: 23-24/iTunes?

Imogen Heap, Regina Spektor, Kelly Clarkson, Dolly Parton, Scissor Sisters, Poe, Tears for Fears, Rilo Kiley, Bright Eyes, Patti Smith, Christina Alguilera, The Decemberists, Shivaree, Jeff Buckley, Madonna, Radiohead, Esthero, Rufus Wainwright, Jill Sobule, The Shins, The Roots, The Streets, Phoenix, Frou Frou, The Postal Service, Peaches, Ani DiFranco, Sia, Martin Sexton, Portishead, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, etc etc etc.

Suddenly life became all about iPods, mixes, playlists, downloading songs one at a time, sending songs via iChat, and really not listening to albums with other people like we used to. But we've got no more cars. I'm trying to think of what album best typifies those two years when my life became what it is now. What I could say that'd encompass all of it? The mix-CDs we've made? Haviland singing "Jolene" (Dolly Parton)? Dancing w/whomever to "S.O.S" (Rhianna), "Irreplacable" obvs (Beyonce), "Since U Been Gone" (K.Clarkson), Erin's mixes with Johnny Cash and Jenny Lewis and Ryan Adams, "The L Word" soundtracked songs, the "party party party" playlist Lo & I listened to in the mornings ...

... the only entire albums I can associate with anything that's happened outside of my own earbuds since '03 is Kanye West's "School Spirit," and, um, also, Hav & I really dug the Paris Hilton album. That album was underrated, and you guys can be haters, I don't care, I hate you too.



1: 25/Right Now
Tegan & Sara/The Con, Stars/Set Yourself on Fire


From the August 2007 issue of NYLON magazine:

"I've always called myself a past-addict.
I am always writing about the past and reliving my older relationships but there is also something
really dangerous and kind of terrifying about exploring how you're feeling right now."
-Tegan of Tegan & Sara


33 comments:

DH said...

You can send songs via iChat? I don't even know what iChat is, but it sounds awesome. And I have an iComputer so I guess I'm eligible for such a thing. I'd also like that Life Fm thing that everyone except for me seems to be able to figure out.

I'm with you on Empire Records. Coyote Shivers saved me, he lead me to believe I was cool for memorizing Sugarhigh. I think I've mentioned this many times before. Great post, btw.

stef said...

ok first of all, like, dude, seriously, why aren't we last.fm friends? i added you like six thousand years ago. silenziosa. it says i live in lithuania but i don't; i just like lithuania.

second of all i found out about this tonight and i'm pretty sure you need it in your world if you don't already. i'm never buying a dvd again.

third of all, when the pawn!!!! i love the paper bag guy. i spend all my time following paper bag guys around. it's terrible.

anyway i like your version. i like how it's laid out. i'm a list maker and i am trying not to rip on the top 10 thing. it's your thing and you do it well. i keep finding stuff i missed and wanting to add it.

the itunes thing was a little jarring though. i am trying to listen to full albums again. making a conscious effort.

this is way scattered.

goneundercover said...

the lyrics on that outkast album are totally underrated!

fiona apple videos of that era blew my mind. like why dont all girls roll around on the carpet in their underwear, hot, starving, and beautiful?

riese said...

Champ: Oh yeah you can! I once transferred my entire music library to myself via iChat. iChat is on your little mac-a-doo, it's that blue speech bubble called 'iChat.' We used to use AIM for file transfer, which's the same thing but not Mac-specific, and that made my MacBook sad so I had to stop.

It's lastFm. Though whatever Life Fm is, I'd like to have some. It sounds like it'd play a lot of Rod Stewart. I think your problem is typing in "lifefm" instead of "lastfm"? [insert wink emoticion here] [and reference to PDF incident] [these are what the people call "superior IT skills"] [ha]

Thanks for the idea, champ, btw. This is all thanks to you, even if you called it Life Fm. That's the kind of mistake I would make. I mean, last fm doesn't even make sense, if you think about it. This is what happens when the world runs out of URLS.

Did I already tell you about my first computer-edited music video to Sugarhigh, in which I dressed my younger brother in my coolest Urban Outfitters gear and made him lip sync? Probs.

Yay Coyote Shivers!

*

silenziosa: Don't we all love Lithuania? Yeah we do. That's the land of Lithium!

I think the problem on lastfm was that your user icon is a skunk and your name is not your name and your location is "lithuania." How'd I know you weren't some random mammal in Lithuania who might make me listen to Rod Stewart?

TV Link = hot!

I rememebr Natalie played that song for me like, Marie, you must listen to this and sang along like "I thought he was a man but he was just a little boy," or something, and I was like OMG Natalie, WORD, and had to go out and buy the album and was like Fiona, seriously, are you dating my boyfriend? And then realised, so many of us, I suppose, were dating versions of my boyfriend. Thus the neverending clawing void, etc.


OMG lastfm finally added you. their website has some issues.

You should do a sequel! I liked yours a lot!

You can do all the Top Tens you want. I think lists are open forum lovely in all forms. I actually might change the Top Ten to a Top Six or something, because I think Top Tens are too long, though I like the way they sound "Top Ten" tip of the tongue, etc.

I'm basically writing an email in this comment, it's going on forever.

*

Steph: Totes Agreed, re: Outkast.

In my experience, many girls DO roll around on the carpet in their underwear, hot, starving, and beautiful? Right? I feel like I have photos to back this up. Possibly.

*

Anonymous said...

This is a great and quite topical post, MLB!

I feel like Tegan and Sara have imploded into my life in the past 48 hours.

And Jolene? oh, Jolene. I want to record it with Kelly Clarkson...how hot would that be?

You are my rockstar, Riese. You are my playlist.

Diana said...

Ah, wow, this post is a treasure chest of music tips. I think I have like, 3 solid hours of downloading ahead of me.

Clueless and its soundtrack. Word. Any girl that was teenish circa the mid nineties that denies loving it is probs LYING.

Rollin' Wit My Homies= timeless classic

carlytron said...

DJ Carlytron says:

Music makes the people come together.
Music is my hot, hot sex.
When I hear music it makes me dance.

I came up with all of those myself. True story!

In all seriousness, speaking as your personal DJ, I loved this post, naturally. I might steal it. But then again, I might not. As I am too busy/lazy/etc. to write anything ever.

And when I'm not too busy I am clearly lying supine listening to Tegan and Sara, Stars, Rilo Kiley ... I could go on. (New acronym for songs that you have to listen to flat on your back: SS, for supine song!)

Anonymous said...

it's comforting to know that other people obsess over music too. last.fm informed me that last week, i listened to 328 tegan and sara songs. which made me feel slightly unhealthy.

MoonKiller said...

I love the Rent soundtrack. I generally love Rent. They're doing a London production of it soon and my drama teacher promised to take us to see it. = ].

Longest band name I know is probably 'We Know We're Shit But We Had Nothing To Do In The Summer of 06' which is my sisters friends band.

'O' is probably my favourite album after Jeff Buckley's 'Grace'. Whenever I can't sleep I just lie on my bed in the dark listening to that album over and over. And Closer is also one of my favourite movies.

There's no 'e' on the end of Imogen as in Heap. Music errors annoy me muchly. The worst is when people say Jimmy EatS World. Man it grinds my gears.

I keep meaning to download Tegan and Sara's new album but I keep forgetting. I've had Nineteen in my head all day. And I love that Stars album too. Gosh you like good music. (y)

I recently read Rob Sheffields Love Is A Mix Tape which is about the mix tapes he made throughout his life and how they remind him of signif times in his life. It might just be my new favourite book.

frank said...

this must be what it feels like for you when i write about sports.

and this thing had beaucoup typos. but i'll just give you my favorite.

"...glowed like Gatorade."

radioactive Gatorade?

riese said...

Pekor:

I think there's something wrong with me, as everything makes me almost cry. E.g., "You are my playlist." I'm also listening to this song "Heart" by Stars that's super depressing, pretty much over and over again.

The T&S implosion is a fated act of ultimate Destiny, Karma and Joy.

So Hot.

*

Di-Di-Yanu

Yeah you do! I love it when people provide me with endless hours of downloading pleasure and so I am thus always pleased to perform that task for others. I would start with this song "Heart" by Stars?

And obvs, re: Clueless. I'm here to take the "guilt" out of "guilty pleasure" and put the "pleasure" back in "guilty pleasure." That makes sense, right?

*

Carly, Dictator for Life of the Best Playlists of the Cosmos:

I still think that "music makes the people come together" has implications beyond what's apparent, especially in reference to particular themed playlists.

Speaking as your personal Music Student, I look forward to the day in the future when you um, potentially steal this.

SS=brill.


*

Lovely Rita

lastfm believes that, pre-august 3rd, I'd listened to 423 Tegan & Sara songs and 110 Kelly Clarkson. Howevs, in the last week, 197 T&S and 52 Stars. I can't believe I've listened to 110 Kelly Clarkson songs. I wonder how many of those are 'Because of You'.

*

moon point

Your sister's friend's band sounds really good. That's clever, I mean, you could always abbreviate it.

I will change Imogen, thank you for the info. You need to download the T&S album asap. Also, according to my itunes I've listened to "Grace" more than anything else, ever, which says a lot about how often I'm depressed. I also listen to 'Ave Maria' on repeat when I'm depressed.

That sounds like a good book. I love and miss mix tapes.

Also, as much as I'd like to be smart, it was DJ Carlytron who recommended both T&S and Stars. But I had the good sense to like both of them? Which might count for something. Or not.

Love IS a mix tape.

riese said...

Radioactive Lozo:

No, I meant that about the Gatorade.

If this's what it's like for me when you write about sports, does that mean you didn't read it? That's fine. I did really well the other day, reading three whole lines about the Yankees. Mostly I was confused because I didn't think it was time for the World Series.

What are the typos? I like to know these things. Remember, every time you assume I already know, I probably don't. I'm a slow learner. Look at how long it took me to figure out the difference between "its" and "it's," and I still fuck that up.

frank said...

i thought you meant flowed. sorry. where are you buying this radioactive gatorade?

and i read it. totally. totes.

riese said...

And I just read your entire post about blow jobs! Look at how we're expanding our horizons today.

[JK, I already knew about blow jobs. But not JK about the post. Read it. Totally. Totes.]

That would be funny, flowing like Gatorade. Where does Gatorade flow? I'd like to be there.

Isn't all Gatorade radioactive? It has really serious flavors.

Anonymous said...

Ha! This was fun! Like the "afternoon aural" from queerty, all with the memories and the making me think about things I wouldn't have otherwise.

(I have trouble being very far from the present; I love having people around me who contemplate the past because then I get to go places that had totally fallen off my headspace.)

The morning aural from queerty a few days ago was kim carnes, and they're all: if you don't know kim carnes you should, and if you do we hope it brings back memories, preferably dirty ones. And I'm all "Oh I love Kim Carnes! And she totally DOES remind me of the first girl I slept with! omg excellent!"

And then I got to think about that for a while. Which was awesome. I won't tell you what I got from this list, but it was rad too. (Mind out of the gutter! Nice things! Really.)

Anonymous said...

Post script: totally about the radioactive gatorade. Totally. I agree.

frank said...

Lady Satan:

gatorade flows down from Mount Gatorympus. how do you not know that? sad to hear it's become radioactive. damn polluters.

and don't act all non-knowledgable about the Bee-Jay in front of your L-Word peeps. i'm sure you acquired some skills in your "other" life.

DH said...

I remembered that Life FM is an Aussie Christian radio station. How random. But Last FM is the unused icon sitting on my desktop.

"IT skills" are subjective. To get my job, I had to convince HR that I could Wield my Mac like a Warrior and possess conceptual panache. I can't/don't, I didn't even own a Mac. I have no idea what PDF incident you're refering to tiger, but I imagine it was stupid.

Diana said...

Wikipedia was surprisingly unhelpful in decoding that nickname. I googled my way to the conclusion that it's Hebrew and maybe a song?

Stars/Heart: Check. Deliciously melancholic. Savory like dark chocolate, both bitter and sweet. (I just got up to get a piece of dark chocolate only to discover that we only have effing milk chocolate in the apt and am now disappointed.)
Yea I like this band very much. Their songs are tragically scant on iTunes though, damn.
Working on Tegan and Sara next...

Annie said...

Awww, I was all about "Free" in the shower too. "Bright As Yellow" was more a falling-asleep one. Same boombox, different electrical outlets. Portable. Handy!

I think what the REN?T soundtrack was for everyone else that year, the 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged album was for me. I just could not stop.

Carlytron: I recently discovered that one of the versions of Real McCoy's "Runaway" I have on my iPod (note that this implies I have sev, which I do) samples "When I Hear Music" -- not the lyrics, just the tune. Do you have it? Heaven every time.

kate said...

i always feel oddly ill-equipped to comment on anything music related. obviously i’m good at listening to it, i just can’t make it.

i had a boyfriend like scot once – the kind that could link every other sense to sound. the kind of boy i imagine alannah myles was singing about in her world of black velvet when she said every word of every song ever sang was for you

also, i went in to have my nails done before my deb. i closed my eyes because the thought of having to watch anyone grind down my nails with a power drill made me feel sick and when i opened them they were encrusted with pink jewelled flowers. yeah, fake nails done by koreans -surely you realise that you missed the perfect opportunity to quote lauryn in your intro???

Bridget said...

Cheers 2 Roots!

half my head was my natural color (which i hadn't seen since the 5th grade) last year - so i can relate to all those back handed compliments.

glad to c hav took the shame out of rocking the roots (aka forcing you into a chair to get it colored/cut)

carlytron said...

Annie: I do NOT have that version, and now I am sad and must find it. I only have the normal version (and, naturally, several of their other songs).

Riese: It's Dictator-For-Life and Ruler Surpeme. Gah.

(I don't know if I'm going to steal this after all ... too much work. I think I'll just post playlists.)

riese said...

Laining

Oh, I Love Kim Carnes! And I wish she did remind me of the first girl I slept with. No, actually, she does a little bit. I have that song "Bette Davis Eyes" on my itunes. I don't know where my mind is, but if it has fallen into the gutter, I would not necessarily be surprised.

*

Monkey:

I know, it's global warming.

Also, you may recall an entire post about "knowledge I no longer have use for" in which I believe I listed "giving blow jobs" as one of those skills. Obviously I've got no problem fessing up as I believe I am really really good at it.

(note to readers: this is a reference to this blog entry, I'm not just randomly touting my superior blow job skills.)

(though they are.)

*
IT Warrior

The one where you said you'd read the screenplay when you got home because you didn't have Adobe PDF Macintosh something hooha on your computer and then I was like, it just opens, using Preview. I really believe this happened relating to a mac computer. Is that possible?

*
Dayenu

Oh I found them all over itunes! I want to listen to it right now. Because my mental state today is not already in peril at all.

*

Ado:

That's so amazing! If we'd been at summer camp together, we could have both listened to 'Free' in the shower! That might sound creepy but: 1. it's awesome, 2. it was the only way I could think of to properly contextualize a situation in which we'd both be in the shower without sounding creepy/not awesome.

Oh, Natalie Merchant. I loved her.

*

mary katherine gallagher:

You are so right! And you know what's amazing is I had that quote in the entry at first because I was putting in quotes from all the songs that I mentioned, and then I realised that was a Huge Waste of Space and I'm already Over the Space Limit.

I am like that too, I'm good at listening to it but I can't make it. I think that's why I'm so amazed and interested in people who can. To a fault, obvs.

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BS:

Holla! I always seem to have a friend who takes charge. That used to be Ingrid. She'd just go: 'marie, your hair looks awful.' But honestly all Hav did was meet me there. i took matters into my own hands, because that's My New Style. That's The New Me.

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Dictator for Life and Ruler Supreme:

See above.

Gah.

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kate said...

who is mary katherine gallagher? is this an american thing?

Anonymous said...

Um, I don't know if it will help you find your mind, but you have more flickrmail! I am totally over flickermail as a form of communication, but here you go, final dose.

Annie said...

The fact that you just called me "Ado" makes anything else you say automatically creepy/AWESOME. Only 1 other person calls me that and we were in "Oklahoma" together in 7th grade. LOVE IT.

Bourbon said...

My mind is racing because I had to read your last two posts + article in record time before my time runs out in this here net cafe. The most relevant comment I can come up with is an expression of how much I love the new Tegan and Sara (I tried to abbreviate to T&S but a typo resulted in me declaring my love for T&A - just thought I'd share coz it made me chuckle to myself in public).

Also, the Cardigans song "Love Me" always reminds me of the first time I crushed on someone and it still hurts.

Also, props on the last post as well it was really good (and by really I mean REALLY).

Anonymous said...

itunes made me a happier person, because now i don't listen to depressing music from my stereo before going to bed. it changed my listening habits.

two days before you posted this entry i finally found the american august issue of marie claire in a magazine store in a big(ger) city. it was superexpensive and i was/am superhappy.

and did you know that in german "riese" means "colossus/ giant"? mhmmm...

frank said...

you know, a girl once told me that when a girl touts her blowjob skills, it's like a pickup line.

BookCannibal9 said...

Riese: Did I ever tell you that I downloaded some Shiny Toy Guns because of some past post you did on music / mix-tapes? Well I did, and I'm grateful. I listen to them when I do the bench press, which is now up to 3-4x per week. They're great!

(Lozo's arm reminds me of the bench press)

stef said...

lozo - to interject, girls never tell boys about their blowjob skills unless they are a) coyly offering or b) totally torturing them on purpose.

i'm so totally glad other people here listen to real mccoy. i have always felt alone in my love of jock jams and other mid 90s dance phenomena. not that my phone rings 'pump up the jam' or anything.

riese said...

K.T:

Yes, it's a character on Saturday Night Live played by Molly Shannon. She's f'in awesome. I gave you that name just because I turned "Kate" into 'Katherine' ... and then felt it needed a little xtra somethin' somethin'.

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glitter Kid:

Yeah, the only thing I ever check is my gmail. I didn't even realise I had a myspace comment from Haviland from like, three days ago, until I checked my myspace today. Also I don't have notifications of anything sent to my anything because they annoy me, except for my blog comments. That being said ... totes checking!

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Ado/AWESOME:

I was like "I hope she gets that reference." You did: obviously/AWESOME.


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Raz & A:

That made me chuckle to myself in private, too. Net cafes rob you, like they did to me on the boat.

I did a music video to "love me" starring my best friend (who I sorta had a crush on, probs), and it also reminded both of us of the boy we had a crush on, who we both had a crush on. Oh, the memories.

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Our Kay:

Re: MC, You did! Yay/Yay!

I didn't know that, but did you know "Bernard" in German apparently means "brave as a bear"? I am a giant, that's for sure. I mean, I am tall. But I am also not necessarily looming or ominous at all. That's also funny because Ris is my actual nickname, like that's how people spelled it before I started writing it a lot and realizing people thought it was pronounced with a light "i" instead of a hard "I" and then I had to find a new spelling to fit the actual pronunciation. Actually, how is that funny? What does "Ris" mean in German? I could look it up, but "not looking everything up" is part of "Riese's New Plan for Time Management."

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David:

Huh. What does it mean if she had to verify three words just to get there?

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cam-bam:

No, you didn't! Remember when all we had to listen to at the office was Elliot Smith? That was depressing, speaking of depressing music.

I don't think I've done the bench press since 1995, in gym class, and I could barely lift the bar.

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post traumatic stef:

I bought all the Jock Jams and Ultimate Dance Parties and Hot Dance Mixes, and even subscribed to magazines that offered those as bonus gifts. Seriously. In fact, that was my "favorite kind of music" at the time. Holla! Yeah.

And, re: your comment re: lozo,


lozo:

(this is to you now, LOZO LOZO LOZO), I think we all know how I feel about "torturing you on purpose." And also, see "a," I was totally right. About normal people who wouldn't find "b" entertaining by mentioning "a." This no longer makes sense, and thus, I will stop.