Confessions
11.28.06
Song of the Day: Madonna - Like It or Not
I just watched the Madonna concert that I Tivoed last week, and damn do I wish I'd gotten to see it in person. The choreography was fan-frakking-tastic, and made me remember why, back when I was a dancer, I wanted to be a backup dancer for pop stars when I grew up. If the opportunity popped up tomorrow, I'd gladly drop out of law school in an instant and never look back.
Not only did the concert remind me of how much fun it used to be to be involved in a great piece of choreography, but it also reminded me of why I have a mad love for Madge. As far as I'm concerned, she can wear a revealing leotard for the next 20 years as long as she keeps being fabulous.
Weekend lessons
11.25.06
Song of the Day: U2 & Green Day - The Saints Are Coming
Things I've learned this weekend:
1) The bootie-check is a flirtation device you can use to discover if a guy's pen0r works by slightly sitting on his lap. Or maybe it's to discover if you, specifically, turn him on. I'm still a little fuzzy on the whats and wheres and whys of this, which is okay, because I'd never be able to do it myself without falling over laughing.
2) Hot guys are a dime a dozen, but funny hot guys are rare enough to awaken me from the apathy I've felt towards men lately. When confronted with a funny hot guy, it's all I can do to not blurt out, "You're funny, will you marry me so I can flutter my eyelids at you while you say funny things?" This obviously means that I can't marry Lex Luthor, since he never smiles, much less jokes around, on Smallville, but his alter-ego Michael Rosenbaum would be a more-than-acceptable substitute, from the looks of the special features on the DVDs.
3) Scratching a guy's back for 15 minutes can net you a killer backrub. This may only apply when the guy in question is hot and funny.
Happy birthday, ho
11.21.06
Song of the Day: Girls Aloud - Life Got Cold
I would like to wish a happy birthday to J, my precious little wrist ho. Without you, life would be very bleak and depressing, and I would have to cry myself to sleep every night. You are old, but I don't think you need Botox just yet. I dream of the days in January when we will be having champagne brunch every day and buying expensive bags for very cheap. I think everyone should send her money to celebrate this happy day so that we can shop extra long in San Fran.
Gingerbread latte time
11.17.06
Today I had the gingeriest Gingerbread latte I've ever had. Either Starbucks is really stepping up their game, or else I've grown extra tastebuds in the last year.
I'll have to sample it many more times this winter to determine which it is. Maybe I can even get the federal government to sponsor this research.
I have obviously flunked NaBloPoMo, which is only sad because I won't win chocolate or that tea sampler now. This just means I need to go out tomorrow and get myself chocolate and new tea to make up for it.
The Grammar Nazi shudders in fear
11.15.06
Song of the Day: Abigail Zsiga - Better With You
How is one supposed to take a professor's critiques of a rough draft seriously when she writes, "What has this got to do with your thesis?"
Seriously? Hiro on Heroes has more elegant English than that.
Work-out mix
11.14.06
Song of the Day: U2 - Walk On
Am I the only person who has a work-out mix on her mp3 player who doesn't actually work out?
10:58 PM [link] [2 Comments]
Fruit Loops
11.13.06
Song of the Day: Christina Aguilera - Hurt (Jake Ridley mix)
I invite you to be a fly on the wall during a conversation my uncle and I had tonight:
Me: "So, after I graduate, I will most likely be going to either L.A. or D.C."
Uncle: "Would you live in D.C. or out in the suburbs?"
Me: "I have a friend at school who lived in Dupont Circle, and she really liked it there."
Uncle: *begins to grin* "You want to live in Dupont Circle? Do you know what they call it?"
Me: "No, what do they call it?"
Uncle: "The Fruit Loop."
Background info - when I was planning to go to school in LA, I would have lived with the uncle in West Hollywood. When I instead came to Chicago, I ended up living in Boystown.
Me: "Jesus, how do I keep doing that? You MUST have been right when you called me a gay man trapped in a woman's body. I gravitate towards gayness."
Uncle: "You do have a lot of gay man characteristics. You obviously take after me."
Frakkin' awesome
11.12.06
Song of the Day: All Saints - Chick Fit
A random sampling of things that were frakkin' awesome today:
10:22 PM [link]
I said never again but here we are
11.11.06
Song of the Day: 4 Strings - Fly Away
Having a hangover brings to mind the title of a Rachel Stevens song: "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)." I get drunk to the point of vomiting so infrequently that I never quite remember where my limit is, or the dangers of mixing different types of alcohol. The next morning, while impatiently waiting for my body to just hurry up and metabolize the alcohol, I always feel a mixture of admiration and disbelief towards all the people I knew in college who did it on a weekly basis. One bad hangover, and I'm scared off from binging for at least a year.
Does that make me a wimp? Probably, but I'm fine with being a wimp in this case.
08:48 PM [link]
I love my wrist ho
11.10.06
Song of the day: Happy Birthday To J, in 11 days
Once upon a time, I had a boyfriend who jokingly referred to my friend J as "Harold," because since we originally met on the internet ten years ago, she could not possibly be a) female, and b) my friend. He refused to call her by her real name, even though J and I had met the summer before in Los Angeles. He also refused to wipe his own urine up from my bathroom floor. So of course I had to dump him.
I love J much more, and so should you. You should probably even send her birthday money.
This post was in no way guest-written by J because I am out having drinks with my law school friends but still should stay in the running for NaBloPoMo. I don't even know why you'd think such a thing.
11:37 PM [link]
Confessions of a shopaholic
11.09.06
Song of the Day: Kristy Thirsk - In the Dream
I have superpowers. I can walk into Old Navy with the intention of buying one sweater and walk out with two sweaters and five long sleeved graphic tees.
This superpower is definitely not as useful as flying or x-ray vision.
11:15 PM [link]
Baby killer
11.08.06
Song of the Day: Bodies Without Organs - Say I Love You
Every time this girl takes a picture of herself, a baby dies.
Need proof?
As you can see, after the babies die, she stuffs their heads into her shirt.
I apologize for burning your eyes out; this is what happens when I run out of things to talk about during NaBloPoMo.
11:09 PM [link]
New albums and unreleased tracks
11.07.06
Song of the Day: Heather Nova - Heart and Shoulder
A while ago, talk began bubbling on the internet that Gwen Stefani's second solo album (titled The Sweet Escape) would be comprised of tracks that were recorded for Love. Angel. Music. Baby. but did not actually make it onto the album. The general consensus was that this idea was crap; Gwen is lazy, Gwen is riding on her own coattails, Gwen is taking advantage of her fans. I was quite puzzled by this attitude. After all, unreleased tracks are often coveted by fans and are shared with triumph on mp3 blogs. If an artist decides to make them commercially available, this can only be a plus, right?
After listening to the first single off this upcoming second album, I'm starting to lean slightly towards the "not such a great idea" side. "Wind It Up" does indeed sound like it belongs smack in the middle of L.A.M.B., which isn't a bad thing in itself. However, I found myself thinking that I'd rather hear Gwen Version 2.0.
Artists who are blessed enough to have more than one album tend to evolve with each new release. Part of the fun of following artists through the years is seeing how they change, while still holding onto the essence of themselves. It's a tricky balance they're asked to strike, in still sounding the way that made people like them in the first place, while at the same time sounding different enough to suggest some sort of forward movement.
I'll reserve final judgment for when I pick up The Sweet Escape in December, but for now, I'm hoping that if it is simply L.A.M.B. castoffs, more of them sound like "The Real Thing" instead of "Hollaback Girl."
02:35 PM [link]
The uncle meter
11.06.06
Song of the Day: Tina Cousins - Forever
I wear my hair much darker than my natural color; it grows in light blond, and I cover it up with a dark red. I've been doing this for the last 5 years, and don't see myself surrendering to my DNA anytime soon. Around the fourth week after getting the color refreshed, my roots start becoming really noticeable. Dark roots are the norm, since women seem to think blond hair is preferable to darker colors. Extremely light roots, like the ones I'm sporting right now, get me some odd looks. When I pull it back in a ponytail, I look like I have a receding hairline since my natural hair color is pretty similar to my skin tone. When I wear it loose, I look like I have a stripe where hair doesn't grow down the middle of my head.
But it does do me some good; I call my roots my "uncle meter," because the more of my roots that I can see, the closer I am to my uncle visiting -- he flies in every 5 weeks to cut his Chicago clients' hair. Given my current freakish appearance, he's due this coming weekend!
09:51 PM [link]
Ready to puke citations
11.05.06
Song of the Day: Ace of Base vs. Mariah Carey - All That She Wants Is to Belong Together
For those who are keeping track, I am at 18.5 pages, and plan to stop at 20 and ask the prof to give some guidance on what to focus on for the remaining 5 pages. Given that I'm ready to start puking citations, I'd be totally willing to stop now, but 20 out of 25 seems to match "Try to get as close as you can" much more than 18.5 does.
If I ever had to write another research paper, I'd totally start on it earlier. The fact of the matter remains, however, that in 6 months, I WILL BE DONE WITH SCHOOL FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER. Not that I'm excited or anything.
In the "proof that Brooke really is blond under all that red dye" category, I spent months wishing that iTunes offered a way to sort songs by the date they were added. Tonight, I discover after having a Flash Of Brilliance, that there is, in fact, a way to do it. Okay, maybe a flash of delayed brilliance. I don't really mind when my brilliance flashes, as long as it does at some point.
11:17 PM [link]
Writing papers in America
11.04.06
Song of the Day: Melody Club - Destiny Calling
Looking out a dirty old window, down below the cars in the city go rushing by. I sit here alone and I wonder why.
Actually, I know why; I had to turn down an invitation to go drink margaritas because I only had 5 pages of my stupid research paper done. As of this moment, I now have 8. I probably would have been far more productive if I'd actually gone out. I'm not sure that Kim Wilde is helping me along, but she's making it far more exciting.
I long ago passed the point of not caring, to the extent that I'm citing Wikipedia and making up words whenever my addled brain can't figure out exactly what I'm trying to say. In my (weak) defense, it's just the rough draft, and I'll have plenty of time to repair my broken vocabulary in the coming weeks. I hope my professor can forgive me just a little bit.
11:29 PM [link]
At least stick your arm out the window
11.03.06
Song of the Day: Jewel - Fragile Heart
Weather in Chicago gets pretty erratic during this time of the year. The whole time I've lived here, "Fall" seems to mean "bouncing back and forth between 60 and 28 degrees for a long while before settling into depressingly cold temperatures that don't involve numbers above zero." This bipolar behavior lends to some pretty strange sights: people dressed in hats and gloves with scarves wound around their faces when it's a pleasant 55, and people jogging in sleeveless shirts and shorts when it's below freezing. I have to wonder if it ever occurs to anyone to turn on the Weather Channel, or download a Weatherbug, or at least stick their arm out the window. Because, flip flops when it's snowing? That's gotta be painful.
11:14 PM [link]
This is not for you
11.02.06
Song of the Day: Kim Wilde - Kids in America
Today, on my way home from school, I stopped at Gamestop to pick up my reserved copy of Final Fantasy XII. It's with much regret that I must put this on the shelf until after the weekend, since I have the MPRE on Saturday and a rough draft of my seminar paper due on Monday. This is not today's story, however.
Gamestop is about a mile away from my apartment. On warm days, this is not a very long walk. Today, however, the temperature dipped below freezing and made a mile just too far to walk without breaking it up into smaller bits. First I stopped at The Soup Box; it's been voted Chicago's best soup for the last three years, and good lord does it deserve such an award. Then there was a stop at a coffee and tea store, where I ventured into the world of loose tea leaves for the first time (when you go through five cups a night like I do, $8.99 for a pound of tea makes more sense than $4 for 20 teabags).
And then I stopped in a small bookstore that's almost too tiny to even exist. I've never figured out their deal; they don't call themselves a used bookstore, and all their books are in pristine condition, but they're sold at much lower prices than the list price, and the selection is always very random. Today, that randomness worked in my favor; I glanced at the first shelf and House of Leaves jumped into my hands and cried, "I'm only $9, please take me home!"
I know that some of you reading this understand just what a special book this is. For the rest of you, I'll have a review up on Vox in a few days. I've been wanting my own copy ever since borrowing it from the library back in 2004. It isn't the full color edition, with blue and red and braille letters, but the word "house" is still in blue, and to me, that's the most important part (aside from the $9 price tag).
Don't cry / There's always a way / Here in November in this house of leaves / We'll pray
05:44 PM [link]
Halloween memories
11.01.06
Song of the Day: Delerium - After All (feat. Jaël)
Although Halloween has passed and it's now November, I still wanted to kick off NaBloPoMo (the sane man's NaNoWriMo) with a story about my very first trick-or-treating experience. I was three. We were living in Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles. I was dressed as a clown; my costume was primary-colored pajamas with a clown face on the shirt, a matching cone-shaped hat, and face paint. My dad and I started in a neighborhood where friends of my parents lived, because he wanted to show me off to them (I was adorable, at the time).
I knock on my very first door. The owners open the door, look at me, and say:
"We don't celebrate Halloween." Door shuts in my face.
Over the years of retelling this story, my dad has described my reaction as "shocked" and "confused". He quickly moved me on to his friends' house, probably in hopes of preventing this from scarring me for life.
To this day, I don't understand why the people even bothered opening their door. Did they plan on doing so all night long and telling every kid who came by that they don't celebrate Halloween? They should have just turned up the TV volume and ignored the doorbell instead of yanking out a toddler's heart and stomping on it.
12:46 AM [link]