so pick your risk and take it...

i know that i'm a terrible blogger. i really do.

this is actually the second or third time i've tried to write for you...so i haven't forgotten you completely...i have high hopes for this one actually emerging completed since i've got two songs to share (if i had even one drink in me, i'm pretty sure this would be the spot for a tangent about what happens to a blog deferred...alas: soberness.)





Katie Dill. The Body's Only Rental.

Oh God. i love little girls w/ukeleles more than anything...even cinnamon rolls...and i will continue to feel that way until the song ends.
it's karmic and lovely and wiser than it lets on.
two of the last four weddings i have attended have been luau themed. i think the IZ version of somewhere over the rainbow has played at three of the four. as a result, hawaiin music sounds like love to me at this point.
how could this song possibly come from newark?
more importantly, how are you going to use your gentle today?





Elliott Smith. Place Pigalle. Lyrics.

i straight up ripped off this idea for a post from one of the most successful indie music blogs on the net, and one of my favorites: I Guess I'm Floating. go there and read what he has to say about everything. i played the song and decided that you all needed it in your lives.

elliott likely needs no introduction. he shouldn't.

he is famous for tragedy and for beauty...unfortunately not in equal parts.

if john lennon had died ten years earlier, i would have insisted that he and smith shared a soul, and that we should watch for another genius coming our way in 13 or so years. alas, a tired comparison is all we get.

for those of you who are already smith fans, this song was intended for figure 8. in fact, the album was originally to be called "Place Pigalle" [for further trivia...it should be noted that the title track, "Figure 8", a school-house rock song, didn't make the album either, but was included on a single instead.] at least we can eternally be thankful that elliott never seemed to have gone a day w/o recording a wonderful b-side for us to find years later. it must be disheartening to some that smith might be the best act out there, posthumously. this must be how rappers feel about tupac.

if anyone is interested in more of his b-sides, let me know...i'd be happy to post links.



thanks for stopping by folks. i'll try to update more often, but no promises.

no clever titles

Maia Hirasawa. Crackers. Lyrics.

this is it. this is why you wade through spontaneous lines of drivel. this is why you join the ranks of random folks whose visits do nothing to cure me of my solipsism. why you suck it up and deal with the lack of uppercase letters. this is a good song. pop music isn't dead.....................at least not in scandinavia.


hopefully i'll see all you sonoma folks on friday!

lighten up...

new blog.

yep.

i'm feeling melancholy, so here you go.




Marla Hansen. Shuffle Your Feet.
Marla Hansen. Wedding Day.

why isn't every song just always played on a cello? if you're only going to get one, i recommend 'shuffle.' wedding day is pretty and all, but shuffle is the standout song here.

marla has some pretty impressive friends, many of whom appear on her EP, Wedding Day. it's not bad for publicity when you can give the following list of bands as a resume/cast: "My Brightest Diamond, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Inlets, Clare and the Reasons, Oneida, Duncan Sheik and even Jay-Z and Kanye West." as we all know, the national are my favorite rock band of this decade. in addition, i happen to know that she toured w/casey dienel, who is loved by me. well done lady.

with the right songs, i sure do love repeat. i like this song a lot.




it may seem kind of silly to some, but i get all the way caught up in coaching. pretty much, my mood the next four months will be determined by how each day of soccer goes. i will appear to be bipolar.today went just fine except i'm really not used to leading 20+ girls and i'm afraid it is going to be a tall order. i am very good at herding and capturing the attention of smaller groups, but the huge crowd is tough. with those manageable groups, i know how to use my energy to inspire and motivate with great success. i'm feeling inadequate after today, which is pretty uncommon for me.

say lah vee...tomorrow will probably be better.

free music. free music. free music. that's it.

yeah...so...i don't really feel much like blogging tonight, but i thought i would finally re-upload EVERYTHING since people have been asking for a way to get all the old music w/dead links. so here it is. enjoy.
there is truly a shit-ton of amazing music here. as amish pointed out, much of it isn't easy to come across, so think good thoughts about me while you are enjoying it.
these are alphabetical, not chronological.


Why are you staring into outerspace 1.
Why are you staring into outerspace 2.
Why are you staring into outerspace 3.
Why are you staring into outerspace 4.
Why are you staring into outerspace 5.
Why are you staring into outerspace 6.
Why are you staring into outerspace 7.
Why are you staring into outerspace 8.
Why are you staring into outerspace Wake Up.
Why are you staring into outerspace Traveling Mix 1.
Why are you staring into outerspace Traveling Mix 2.


for a mini update:
1) soccer = good....both playing and coaching.
2) that's it.

Thank you kids for reading.

top 10 in 60 seconds challenge

so, gauntlets are being thrown down everywhere. my challenge came via ipickmynose, a san fransisco music blog, but the challenge came to him via jon wilde at the guardian.
the challenge: name your top ten songs of all time.
the catch: you have 60 seconds to do it.

many of these songs have been on this blog before, but since i took the time to upload the songs, i thought i'd throw it up here. i'm also just going to cut and paste, instead of rewriting it.

here are all ten in one file: top ten in 60 seconds (about 50 meg.) get it quick, i don't know how long it will be up.

top ten in 60 seconds (though i think it probably took two minutes.)

beatles. for no one.
i had a copied version of revolver and i wore the tape out. i don't mean that it got a little distorted…it stopped playing completely.

pinback. penelope.
desert island top five album.

badly drawn boy. the shining.
i know that i'm a sucker for the french horn, but that doesn't change the absolute brilliance of this song.

herman dune. you could be a model goodbye (live bbc session).
the funny thing is how mediocre the album version is.

aesop rock. daylight.
this is the converter song…used to shut up those who claim that the hip-hop landscape is devoid of artistic talent. every element is damn near perfect.

the national. city middle.
still my favorite album of 2005. still on heavy rotation (i still prefer it to boxer.) i've probably given more copies of aligator away than any other album.

built to spill. car.
so good.

decemberists. red right ankle.
easily one of my favorite love songs. so unique and fantastically written.

metric. calculation theory.
this remains the ONLY metric song that i care much for…but i REALLY like it.

foo fighters. everlong (acoustic).
this song is the king of je ne sais quoi. i just can't pin down what it is about it that speaks to nearly every person of my generation. whatever it is, it works on me.

OK, now it's your turn. 60 seconds. 10 songs......go!


i leave for scotland and amsterdam in six days.

do something summer. (today! 8-10-07)

on the tv the other day, i actually heard someone say that they hated summer. wow, right?





Maritime.   The Guns of Navarone.

This is shameless. Throw whatever labels you want at it (personally, i hear a symbiotic meeting of sub-pop and first generation drive-thru records, sort of "photo album" era deathcab over for a playdate with the benjamins) this is a fun song. i thought i knew exactly where it was going, always, and instead it just made me smile.
this a song for everyone who remembers when emo had nothing to do with bleeding wrists and, most importantly, with being depressed.
it's a head bobber. a happy little ditty. have a bar b q, throw a frisbee, roll down the windows and smile...it's still summer!


and if this song made you smile, please pass it on. think of someone that you know needs a pick-me-up, and give them a call, or send them a note. there is so much unhappiness out there, so much that it can be daunting. go fix some of it, would you?




i saw this yesterday and wanted to share it. i'm never guilty for what i have, but i'm often guilty of forgetting just how little others have.

These two asleep . . . (8-7-07)

27,000 Miles by Albert Goldbarth 

These two asleep . . . so indrawn and compact,

like lavish origami animals returned

to slips of paper once again; and then

the paper once again become a string

of pith, a secret that the plant hums to itself . . . . 

You see? — so often we envy the grandiose, the way

those small toy things of Leonardo's want to be

the great, air-conquering and miles-eating

living wings

they're modeled on.  And the bird flight is

amazing: simultaneously strength, 

escape, caprice: the Artic tern completes

its trip of nearly 27,000 miles every year;

a swan will frighten bears away

by angry aerial display of flapping wingspan.

But it isn't all flight; they also

fold; and at night on the water or in the eaves

they package their bodies

into their bodies, smaller, and deeply

smaller yet: migrating a similar distance

 in the opposite direction.

there is no theme here...i just read that poem and wanted to share it. i saw the first five lines quoted by themselves and i like it that way, perhaps more than in its entirety.

the internet does precious little to stave off loneliness these days. i'm pretty sure that this is my fault. i'd probably also be better off turning to real, live, people for this service.

my grandma is full of great memories about my family's history. the ones that interest me most are the cute little things that we all did when we were kids and have long since forgotten. she told me an awesome one yesterday about my mom's cousin herkey. when he was quite young, he gave his mother a box of chocolates for no apparent reason. when she opened the box, all of the chocolates had been eaten and little herkey proudly proclaimed, "i surprised you with none chocolates!" i love it sooo much!
i have a terrible, really really bad memory...it is a little depressing to think how many of these things will die with grammie when she goes. i hope someone in my generation is able to call up these sorts of tidbits when i am old. who will be the scribe, mental or not, of our generation?


i got a new phone and it kicks all the ass. i had my amazing 6230 for two years and it was still a better phone than any i had seen in stores. finally, one came along that topped it. i am totally in phone heaven.

i know that you're here for the music, so here is a list i cribbed directly from Vertigo's (of Peanut's Playground) top 25 albums of all time (though doing the tables took enough time that you should all be thankful.) i left the 12 that i most wanted to share, and what is left is a pretty good haul for anyone willing to do the downloading.
they should work, though many of them require more than one step.

Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)	Joanna Newsom – Ys (2006)	Radiohead - Ok Computer (1997)
Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)	Death Cab For Cutie –Transatlanticism (2003)	Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea(1998)
The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)	The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (2003)	Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds(1966)	The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)	Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)

thanks for stopping by. if you are bored, send me a text message...i love getting them now that i have unlimited texts and an awesome phone.

There’s big stars falling down, down, and twinkling as they fall. (7-22-07)

posted out of guilt for the long hiatus.

bullet points:
* i was laid off from juvie
* i have filed for unemployment
* i go to the gym nearly every day
* i am leaving for backpacking in five days
* i am leaving for europe in just over three weeks
* i stopped blogging because i stopped receiving feedback
* but, i kept getting more and more guilty because i kept getting hits.
* my shins/knees couldn't take all my running and i've been bitterly sidelined

how 'bout a song?




Jolie Holland.   Do You?   Lyrics.

slow, slow, slow, but oh so pretty.
this picture doesn't go w/the song, but i thought it was too cute to pass up.
if you saw the last lines coming, you are a strange little person.  



why do i always get antsy during the summer even though it is my favorite? i would that i were elsewhere. i suppose i will be soon enough, huh?

"It's just that a lot of songs that are popular right now, they don't have any meaning." (6-21-07)

i'm sleepy, but i wanted to share this link before it dies.




Elliott Smith.   XO.

Sweet Adaline
Tomorrow Tomorrow
Waltz #2 (XO)
Baby Britain
Pitseleh
Independence Day
Bled White
Waltz #1
Amity
Oh Well, Okay
Bottle up and Explode!
A Question Mark
Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands
I Didn't Understand

At the very least get Waltz #2 (XO), Pitseleh, and I Didn't Understand. for your own sake, do it.


this is my favorite album from one of my favorite artists. why do i need to say more?
how 'bout a tiny bit more: a gifted melodist, an unreal lyricist, and musician proficient in many instruments, elliott smith was one of the saddest people on the western seaboard. the tid-bit that many people know about him is that he committed suicide by stabbing himself in the heart. another popular bit of knowledge is that he owes some of his commercial fame to multiple soundtracks, including "good will hunting" for which he was nominated for an academy award.





in my eyes, he is the next best thing to john lennon. in fact, he often covered beatles songs. i believe i included one such cover, that of 'beacause', in an earlier post.





luckily, he was prolific during his too short life, and left us piles of beautiful, gut-wrenching rock. seriously, if you are easily depressed, steer clear of smith. he does sad and lonely like nobody's business.




as for me, i'm playing soccer, exercising (i can actually run w/o stopping for quite some time!!) and hating the unemployment i was so looking forward to. video games and single friends make days off fly by...without either, they crawl.
i took the cbest, meaning i am one step closer to teaching. i am far from worried, but i don't get to see my results until the ninth of next month, which is a crazy-long time.
i have been listening to almost 100% rap and hip-hop. i'll try to post some of that for you. when i'm this bored, you should really get more posts out of me.
if you write me more, i  promise to post more. it is just hard to get stoked about myspace when i only really get messages from a couple people anymore. yes, i'm aware that messages are a reciprocal thing.

rock me like a hurricane? (6-5-07)

quickest blog ever.

i need to be at work in a short time. 
i couldn't sleep at all. i've been trying for hours. fuck adhd.
i took a 5htp and drank a lovely drink w/tons of vodka.
who visited my blog seven times today when i haven't been posting in for ever? whoever you are...you rock.


raw like sashimi.

how's this for cheesy and yet awesome? one of my favorite full album blogs has just posted links to about a hundred full albums. there are many gems hidden amongst the ridiculous pop drivel that this man likes so much. i can't really even promise that the links will work anymore, since it's been a few days since he posted them...but if they do, this is a wealth of albums. first and foremost, there is a ton of fiona apple, whom i adore completely. there is some comedy. some post-grunge (sorry, i heard brand new described as that once and i enjoyed it.) there is amy winehouse for those who like their soul singers to use meth and have no teeth (but...dude...she IS white.)  some LIT, some bloc party, some damien rice (who every-freaking-one but me likes.) some coldplay (get parachutes if you don't have it) and some emiliana torrini (fisherman's woman is worth it.) metric and monty python.
please. just please. don't download gwen stefani's, love music angel baby. there are precious few albums that i can not, CAN NOT even listen to at all...not even for one song...not even for money...not even to save the life of a kitten...and this is one. in fact, it might be the only one. it might be the worst album ever made. ever. i am including the eighties and lindsey lohan (also available for download here.)


for those who like me...i will include a tiny update.
it is as follows:

i have joined a soccer team full of people who are waaaay better than me. however, this is a dream of mine that i have managed to make come true...so, if i can hang with these guys, in this league, then i win. my knee is killing me though...please...if you believe in god, put in a word for my knee, my left knee.

i will have used up all one thousand hours i am alloted, per year, at work. i just found out today that i can file for unemployment. neat. i have been paying taxes for years. now it finally pays off.

i need to be asleep two hours ago.

wow...is there anything worse than watching minutes vanish when you know that each one means one degree worse you will feel the next day?

g'night.