10 Things

1) Today is the first day of Fall. Yay! Still it was a pretty warm day; those are nice. It will be cold and wintery soon enough.

2) I went and saw Drive today. Midnight in Paris has been the most delightful film I've seen this year, but I would have to say that so far Drive is the best film I've seen. The movie is entirely in control of itself. It's amazing visually, which is good because Ryan Gosling's character archetype doesn't even have a name (i.e., it's not a talky character piece). It's neo-noir, the visuals are surreal, the violence is brutal, the casting is superb, and the soundtrack is unexpected and interesting and effective. Go. See. It.

3) Ryan Gosling. He's so hot. and perfect. *sigh* I still haven't managed to see Crazy, Stupid, Love (must change that soon, before it leaves theaters), and I'm looking forward to Ides of March.

4) Did you see the Emmys? I love television, and I love awards shows. The best moment happened when the best comedy actress nominees staged a beauty pageant. And Melissa McCarthy won for Bridesmaids Mike & Molly.

Also, Kate Winslet now has an EGO. Time to get that Tony, Kate! Also, Downton Abbey pretty much swept the miniseries category; Poor HBO. If you haven't seen Downton Abbey, you have an incredible seven hours of TV ahead of you! I can't wait for season two to come to PBS in January.

5) Amy Poehler. Sadly, I missed last night's premiere of Parks and Recreation as I was having drinks with Kristen. But that just means I have an episode to look forward to very soon. Yay for the Internet.

6) New Girl. It's the new show starring Zooey Deschanel. The pilot was so great, I've watched it three times! Even though it has a few problems, I'm sure those will get ironed out soon. Check it out!

7) Seattle. Yesterday, I was trying to find a bar in SLC, I thought of all the many bars I knew and loved in Seattle. And earlier this week, a couple of Mormon friends asked me what they should do when they go to Seattle in a few weeks--I couldn't think of anything except bars. But later, I did think of lots of non-alcoholic things to do and sent them a very long itinerary. It made me just a little homesick(is that the right term?) and a bit newstalgic. I hated grad school, but it turns out I kind of liked Seattle.

8) Stupid Jobs. I still have not found a job yet. Boo. However, there are some entry-level jobs opening up at the San Francisco public library. Yay! I'm not getting my hopes up, but how awesome would SF be? And I don't even want to go to California. By the way, did you know that San Francisco is a consolidated city-county?

9) Facebook. Every time Facebook changes, people bitch and moan, and then other people bitch and moan about the first bitchers/moaners. I just tried to put my big girl panties on and adapt to the changes, because sooner or later we all do. Resistance is futile. But now I'm really not sure how to use Facebook anymore. and the Ticker thing pisses me off to an unreasonable degree. Lame.

10) Ten...ten...ten..? I don't know. Oh, Tori Amos's latest studio album came out. I have not bought it. yet. It's a song cycle riffing off a lot of classical pieces (she is a classically trained pianist), I've listened to some of it; none of it has caught my attention. Too arty. Tori can do what she wants, but I wish she would get back to her roots and make an album similar to those circa 1992-2002. Or stop making albums and just tour a lot. Also, the Netflix/ Qwickster thing is pissing me off. Oh, and I had Arby's today for the first time in .... well, a really long time. Delicious.

O Canada and Other Stories

So when we last left off, I was in the middle of finishing my final paper and thus completing grad school. Well, I finished the shit out of it, turned it in early, and got a 3.8 on it. Not too shabby. To celebrate, I ate an entire pizza, drank an entire bottle of wine, and watched Moulin Rouge! to celebrate its 10e anniversaire.

Earlier that weekend, I picked up my former roommate Heidi and her fiance from the airport, which meant I had to clean the apartment for the first time since spring break when she moved out. (That is only mostly true.) Anyway, they had come out for the iBall, which is the big library dance party, like prom! only with (legal) alcohol. I got very drunk (I was also packing my flask) and danced my little heart out and caught up with everyone. It was a blast. On Saturday we all went to lunch with Caroline and since the day was so nice and sunny we dined al fresco. By the time I got back from dropping them off at the airport, I noticed my arms were bright red. Really, Seattle?!?

On Monday, I picked Kristen up from the airport. We caught up and talked so much that we had nothing else to discuss for the rest of the trip. But first we went to a moderately-price family-friendly (American) Mexican restaurant where we both got margs even though we hate tequila and the word margs. Then we went to the grocery store and bought way too much food especially since we ate out so much, and in the end I had to throw most of it away when I cleaned out my fridge.

On Tuesday, we were going to go on an impromptu road trip to Canada, but then I realized I had my poetry study group that night, so we delayed the spontaneous trip. Instead, we hoofed our way across Seattle largely due to a logistical error on my part. I'd rather not talk about it. After walking forever, we got lunch at Specialty's Cafe which is the most amazing sandwich chain on the west coast (and Chicago). And you have to get an item from the bakery case. I got the most amazing cinnamon roll I've ever had, and I don't even like cinnamon rolls. Later we went to poetry and read a Frost poem that was plagued with awkward syntax and then a Mary Oliver poem and realized she is a total hardass. Later that night we made mac n cheese, and then we got incredibly tired and emotional. very emotional.

So on Wednesday, we did go to Cananda and that was an adventure. Kristen had brought her passport, so we thought let's go to Vancouver, especially since I had lived in Seattle for nearly two years and had never made it to The Great White North. We had our GPS on, even though I was planning on just taking I-5 all the way to the border. However, the GPS in its infinite wisdom decided we should enter by a different way, we mere humans obeyed of course, and I'm not really sure where it took us, but we eventually made it to the border. The Canadian border patrolman drilled us (and not in the good way) and when we told him that we were from Seattle and going to Vancouver, he asked us why we had taken this very indirect route. And once we had been let in, the GPS promptly shut off. Obviously, this is because Canada doesn't have satellites. or maps.

We did find an east/west highway, Highway 1, so we took that going west and eventually we did make it to Vancouver. So then we chose an exit at random and popped off the freeway and tried to make our way to all the tall buildings. We finally made it, and found some supposedly "public" parking at a business building. Once we exited the parking garage, we realized we were completely lost. But we did find a food court, so we decided to eat lunch. We were then directed to the Waterfront Station, where we were probably supposed to take some sort of bus to Granville Island, but we were futzing around with the sky train fare, when an incredibly nice man helped us pay the fare and direct us to the station we needed to get off at. Then we had to take a little motor boat to Granville. It was a very long, arduous process. Then we arrived.

So Granville Island is basically a huge market. It's the Pike's Place of Vancouver. I also realized I am not a market man. We had already eaten and had limited Canadian cash, so we didn't hit any of the food stalls. That left us with handicrafts, mostly jewelry, and I don't know about my fellow gay men, but I don't really care that much about jewelry. Kristen, however, loved the jewelry and the touristy shops. She eventually bought a large bottle of maple syrup for her mom, only to realize it was too large to take on the plane. After a Very Long Time at the market, we decided to head back on our boat and then sky train. A bus would have been much faster and probably cheaper. This is why it's helpful to do a little research even before an impromptu road trip, especially to a foreign country.

By the time we got back to the city, I was ready to go--and we didn't even get to see the library! So once we figured out where we had parked, we had a few scary moments. First we realized we didn't have enough Canadian money for the parking fare, so we had to go find an ATM really far away. Then we realized the business building was closed. So we entered the garage through the car way, and then we realized that, yes, the parking garage was locked. There was a number for the company that owned the garage, so we called it, but they were closed. PANIC! Then we saw a number for the security guard. So we called him, dragging him away from the Canucks game, and he was able to let us in. Thank god!

However, we still had no idea how to get out of the city or even the name of the freeway that would take us home, because we had entered the "wrong" way and our GPS didn't know where the hell it was. If only we knew how to hack into our GPS. Also, did I mention there was a Canucks game? so traffic was pretty crazy. Eventually we found a bridge a drove out of the city--a really, really far way with no freeway in sight. So then we drove back toward the city this time finding a sign for BC 99 North. Now, we wanted to go south, but we had found the highway we wanted, even if it was going the opposite direction. So we drove all the way back into the city, got off 99 North, made several left-hand turns in congested traffic, and . . . we drove a really, really far way out of the city--but this time with signage! We eventually did make it onto BC 99 South and back into the country--I could have kissed the tarmac (if there was one and I was the Pope, but there wasn't and I'm not)--and drove all the way back to Seattle.

On Thursday, we went to the Elliott Bay Book Company. I was planning on buying Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? but that apparently doesn't come out until November. Lame. Then my parents arrived, and I had to get ready for my convocation. I made myself pretty, and we took a taxi to the campus. I sent my family off to the Ave for food while I caught up with people at the reception. At the ceremony, our speaker was the CEO of Costco. He didn't say anything relevant to librarians, but his speech was blissfully short. I did learn that Korean cuisine doesn't really contain bread, tomato products, or cheese, but that the Costco in Seoul sells more cheese pizza than Costcos anywhere else in . . . Asia (or was it the world?). Then I was hooded, fluffed, and graduated. Dirty.

On Friday, Kristen, my family, and I went to the Space Needle and the EMP|Science Fiction Museum. Then I had to go to a wedding, leaving Kristen with my family which I think was traumatic for me, Kristen, and my family. I suited up and went out to dinner with Maggie at our favorite Wallingford Pizza House which proved to be unnecessary because they had so much good food at the wedding. We arrived seconds before the ceremony started. The wedding was short and so beautiful. So we socialized and then we ate and then there was dancing, but I had to cut that short to rescue Kristen. and my family.

On Saturday, we all went to the Seattle Aquarium where they have the cutest otters, and then on a harbor cruise/tour which was actually lovely. I took Kristen back to SeaTac, and my family came to my apartment to start packing. So much packing. And on Sunday, the packing. and the cleaning. On Monday, my family was supposed to arrive around 10 am with the U-Haul, only that turned out to be more like 6 pm. It's a long story. We loaded everything in, made one last stop at Dick's and drove all the way to . . . Yakima! We woke up early the next morning and drove all day during which my sister left her purse in La Grande, OR and we finally made it home in Utah around 9:30 pm. And that my friends is the story of my last week (plus change) in Seattle.

School and Sushi

So this is the end of the first week of my last quarter of school. (Well at least of library school--maybe one day I'll want to get another Master's.) It's scary because I need to start looking for jobs NOW, and I don't want to. However, apart from that, I think I'm going to really enjoy my last quarter.

I'm taking Library Technical Systems online this quarter. I should have taken it last quarter in person instead of Government Publications, but live and learn right (and then get Luvs). The word "technical" scares me, but I think it's going to be a very good, practical course and perhaps help ease my technophobia. I don't want to be a systems librarian (the people who run the technological back-end of libraries), but any and all technical skills can only help me in the job search. So far the work load is not too bad, and the online discussions have been interesting.

I'm taking The History of Recorded Information which is a humanities-style class on information coupled with special collections. It may be one of my favorite classes ever. I've never been that interested in special collections, but now I'm thinking that maybe I should have taken more classes in that specialty--it's much more interesting than I thought. It's one of the few classes in the Information School where it's okay to say that we actually like books and have concerns over the exponential growth of technology--concerns I've had since starting this program. There's going to be a lot of reading for this course and a very long research paper due at the end, but I've very excited.

My last class is Nancy Pearl's reader's advisory class. In the fall I took her Genres for Adult Readers. We haven't actually had class yet as we meet every other Saturday. I'm also excited for this class. We have to read three books--the whole class is reading The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, then we each get to choose a narrative nonfiction from an approved list (I'm considering The Liar's Club, The Tender Bar, or The Devil in the White City), and finally a book suggested by an reader's advisory peer--we'll see what I get. I think my favorite part of her classes is that every week I get to send the Nancy Pearl a journal entry on reading and books, and she actually reads it and responds with comments! Awesome.

Being at work every day by nine o'clock is kicking my ass. I do not care for this going to bed and walking up early thing. It is absolutely no fun. And I'm realizing that life is going to be very long and tiring as a responsible adult.

Yesterday, my friends and I decided to make sushi and watch The Lost World. Jason, Meagan, and I drove down I-5 on a Saturday (which is something I never recommend) to go to the Asian market downtown in the International District. Then we picked up Susan, consumed Dick's, and headed back to Megan's to make sushi which is a very involved process. We consumed a lot of Bourbon and made California rolls, Philadelphia rolls, and spicy tuna rolls. They were all very good, and we did not die (well, at least I didn't). We also had mochi, miso soup, and Riesling (which of these is not like the others?). Then we watched The Lost World--we had watched Jurassic Park a few weeks earlier--which I had never seen before. Since I didn't see these movies growing up, I was not all that attached. It was fun, but it made me miss my dinner/movie nights with Whitney, Dain, Elise, and Alex. Those were good times.

Spring Break '11

Well, it's Sunday evening of spring break, and the twilight is just ending. It's nice how there's still some light in the day after 7:30. I guess the Vernal Equinox and Daylight Saving will do that. Anyway, it's the end of spring break, and while I didn't go anywhere fun like last year (Portland!), it was nice to kick back and relax for a bit.

On Monday morning, Heidi drove her parents back to the airport (they were visiting over the weekend) and picked up her boyfriend--he was to help her drive back to Minnesota. Anyway, that afternoon we headed downtown--I love going downtown!--and then over to the city center to visit the Space Needle, unquestionably our country's finest needle. I have seen the Space Needle up close a few times, but I've never gone up. It was pretty fun, but I feel no need to do it again. This is us:
That night we had a farewell dinner with another classmate. Then Alex was supposed to come over for some whiskey drinking, but his wife had other plans for him instead. So the three of us sat around watching Will & Grace.

I woke up early Tuesday morning to say goodbye to Heidi. Tear. We hugged goodbye, and she left, and I decided to watch Saved! and be lazy. Then I finished Ruth Reichl's memoir Comfort Me with Apples which I love. If you enjoy food writing and/or memoirs, I highly recommend it. All memoirs are ME-moirs, but hers is less egotistical than some. It's also not a memoir about a horrific childhood which are in excessive abundance (some are good, others not). It will also make you hungry! Later that night I watched the recent Star Trek movie, and the futon which we had just repaired, broke again. *sigh* Now all my naps will be at an angle.

On Wednesday, I decided to go see 127 Hours which was playing at the (three) dollar theater nearby. I hadn't caught the film during its first run since I had little desire to see a movie about a man trapped in a canyon who has to cut his own arm off, even though I heard all these good reviews. But I thought I can spare $3 bucks, and what else am I going to do? The film was good--I didn't think it was spectacular spectacular--and it was more entertaining that I thought it would be. The part where he cut off his arm was actually gorier than I expected, but I think the film is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit. Mostly, the red rock of Southern Utah made my heart ache a little bit.

On Thursday I finished reading Stuck Rubber Baby, a graphic novel by Howard Cruse. It's a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story dealing with race and homosexuality in the Deep South in the 1960s. It was very interesting. That night, I went back to the dollar theater to see The Social Network again. It's such a good movie! and it made me upset all over that Tom Hooper won Best Director. What the what? Anyway, I liked it even better the second time I saw it--everything works so well: script, acting, score, directing, editing. Amazing.

(I don't remember what happened on Friday. Probably nothing.)

On Saturday, I finally decided to clean the kitchen, something which Heidi usually did. I love to cook, but I hate doing dishes which puts me in quite a predicament. Once it was clean, I decided to make stuff--like zucchini bread and a wilted spinach salad--quickly dirtying many more dishes. It's so Sisyphean.

This morning, I decided to make cream scones (with sugared ginger!) which by themselves are a justification for life. So good. And then I had to do more dishes. Then I went to visit Lillian in West Seattle, and we had tea and talked books. I have decided I need to read Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, Empire Falls by Richard Russo, and Margaret Atwood. Everybody reads The Handmaid's Tale, but I'm really into the Bluebeard story (and variants), so I might read The Robber Bride instead. However, first I'm reading some steampunk books for my Nancy Pearl book club. There's Soulless by Gail Carriger which is a Victorian romance vampire/werewolf parasol book, and it's all a bit silly, but very popular. There's also The Time Machine by H.G. Wells which is very short. and weird. I also checked out The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry, but I'm not sure I'll have time to read it.

Anyway, I should start getting ready for bed soonish. This quarter I'm going to be working 9 to 12. So early--nine o'clock is when I got up last quarter, if I was feeling motivated. But it'll be good to get an early start on my day. or something.

This and That

Hello readers!

It's been awhile. School has been punishing, but it's the penultimate week of the quarter, and the finish line is in sight. I cannot wait for spring break, even though that's when Heidi (my roommate) is leaving me. She decided to graduate a quarter early. Lame sauce. Speaking of spring, I hope it comes here soon. Last year, Seattle had the warmest January on record and it was spring all winter. This year winter has been (relatively) brutal--as it has been across the country, and I really shouldn't bitch since I haven't had to deal with massive blizzards. But I think we're all tired of the winter and are looking forward to warmer, sunnier days.

Oscar thoughts: I thought the intro video was really funny and well done. And then it all went downhill from there. James Franco was baked and had no idea where he was--he didn't even have facial expressions! I thought Anne Hathaway was adorable--she's a huge drama nerd but so charming. If you didn't fall in love with her in The Princess Diaries, I can see that she might be off-putting. And she did have to try a bit hard, but only because her co-host gave her nothing. There were no real surprise winners and no interesting speeches. (Do you know who always gives amazing acceptance speeches--Meryl Streep.) What to make of Melissa Leo though. That ad campaign was a mistake, and that speech was all over the place. She's kind of been turning me off lately. I think she took the whole thing a bit too seriously. It was a good performance though. Jacki Weaver also had an amazing performance, and I'm thoroughly delighted by her. I love Natalie, but I really wanted The Bening to win.

I was happy that The Social Network nabbed a few prizes including score, editing, and screenplay. I can't believe Tom Hooper won director--all of the shots in The King's Speech were good, but none of them were interesting. All the other directors were more deserving not only for camerawork but in all the ways they brought the story to life. All of the songs this year were terrible. You don't get Florence Welch to do 30 seconds of I don't even know what that was. Let her run around on stilettos and belt something fun. They should have nominated Cher--it would have made everything more interesting. Finally the most interesting part of the Oscars which sadly didn't make it to TV--Josh Brolin and Javiar Bardem soft-shoe and exchange a playful kiss:

image source

New Subject--Congress: So, I don't want to get into it too much because it makes me so angry, but is Congress declaring a war on the poor and women? A vicious, full-out attack to cut services (thank god we extended the Bush tax cuts) and regress a good 50+ years. Thoughts, comments? Stay classy, congress.

I hope to start blogging more this month as this awful quarter finally ends, and a hopefully better quarter begins.

Pretty Good Year

Or, How to Celebrate a Birthday

Wake up early, but considering you have no job, anytime before noon is early. Make coffee ala Rae--French roast, French-pressed, with lots of half and half. Decide to make French toast, only to discover--once you have already made the egg/milk mixture--that all your bread is moldy. Deciding that moldy French toast is better than no French toast at all, cut off the moldy crusts and make little French toast squares. Decide whether or not you will actually tell people that you did this. Reflect that you are now twenty-four-years-old and this is where you are in your life.

Decide to dress somewhat fancy in your favorite jeans, a white Oxford shirt, and a skinny pink tie. You will feel fantastic all day. Take the bus to Capitol Hill, and treat yourself to a weekday matinee showing of The Kids Are All Right at The Egyptian. Try and decide whether you would prefer to be in a lesbian marriage with Annette Bening or Julianne Moore. Realize that this is a moot point especially considering how hot Mark Ruffalo looks.

Take the bus down to the waterfront. Listen to your favorite Tori Amos songs while reading The Stranger (the Seattle weekly paper, not that absurd and nihilistic novel by Camus, L'Etranger). Listen to Ellen singing "Happy Birthday" on your voicemail which you will save forever. Meet Lillian outside Elliott's Oyster House on Pier 56, generally recognized as one of Seattle's best for seafood. Try a raw oyster on the half-shell--note that servers will eye you strangely if you order a single oyster. Reflect that Gilbert Le Coze once remarked that beef "is not an exciting food. But a wild thing swimming in the water--now that's passionnant!" Like a good white wine, an oyster can be racy and minerally. Promptly order a half-dozen more. Enjoy with a new old-fashioned cocktail (thanks Lillian!). As an oyster neophyte, the server who eyed you so strangely will bring you two more different oysters, on the house, so you can taste the oyster terroir (or whatever the marine equivalent of terroir is). The best part is since it's happy hour, you ate seven oysters (plus two more for free) for a mere $3.50.

Head to the Seattle Public Library with Lillian to kill time and pick up holds. While there you might as well pick up some books for Nancy Pearl's genre class in the fall including The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (traditional mystery) and Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (traditional Western). Lillian will also lend you her copy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (thrillers and crime). At the library you will also notice a free copy of V for Vendetta which apparently is even more free than other books at the library. You don't even have to check it out and you can return it (on the honor system) whenever you are pleased to finish reading it. Head to a Seattle's Best Coffee, which happen to be surprisingly rare in Seattle (though they really do have the best coffee), to wait for Maggie to finish work and join you.

Once Maggie has arrived, take the bus to West Seattle, a somewhat isolated neighborhood as it juts out awkwardly to the west from Seattle's preferred North-South diamond grid. Decide that it reminds you favorably of Ballard. Eat at Luna Park Cafe, all that remains of the amusement park that was once the Coney Island of the West. Enjoy a classic clubhouse sandwich with a chocolate Oreo milkshake (thanks Maggie!). Stuffed with oysters and french fries, make your way to Bakery Nouveau only to discover it has closed early due to maintenance or some other such nonsense.

Repair to Lillian's apartment and unapologetically stare at her bookcases. Even though you are fuller than full and cannot possibly eat the cupcake Maggie has so generously bought from Cupcake Royale, you can enjoy a small portion of the richest dark chocolate sorbet Lillian has procured over a pleasant conversation about literature and history and school and travel. Maggie and Lillian will then present you with gifts because they are generous to a fault. Lillian, who does book arts, has made you your very own hand-sewn notebook with deckled edges and embossed with your initials. Maggie gives you a gift certificate to Teahouse Kuan Yin--our favorite teahouse. Return home with a bag full of books and food, and discover what kind of mess has been made to your Facebook page.

Thank you to everyone who wished me well via Facebook, text message, card, or phone call. You made my day special. And to borrow from the end of Angels in America (which is grand and sincere and cheesy and totally appropriate): "Bye now. You are fabulous creatures, each and every one. And I bless you: More Life."

And So This is Summer

Well, it's July 5th, the unofficially official start of summer in Seattle. It's 56 degrees outside and cloudy. Awesome. (P.S. America, July 5th is not a frickin' holiday.) Ready or not, it's time for my summer playlist, which is largely founded on last year's but with some changes. I've limited myself to 20 songs which can easily be burned onto a CD so I can play it in my car if I ever manage to get my car registered.

"All I Really Want" Alanis Morissette
I think my mom would really identify with this song if she was the type of person who would ever listen to Alanis. However, the reason it's on my playlist is because it makes for excellent car jamming.

"Soak Up the Sun" Sheryl Crow
I will happily soak up any sun that Seattle proffers. And when it's cold and dreary outside, I will pretend I'm in SoCal instead.

"Rio" Hey Marseilles
Their album, To Travels and Trunks, was just (re)released, and I love their European, orchestral vibe. Besides, their travelogues are perfect for summer.
"Set your sights straight now, don't forget pain / Drink till the morning becomes yesterday / Think of the shorelines you have yet to see." And there are always Brazilian boys to discover!

"Read My Mind" The Killers
This song, for me, conjures up images of Main Street America and summers in small towns.

"Bouncing Off Clouds" Tori Amos
One of Tori's simpler songs, it's still one my favorites, and the 4/4 drum beat makes it unusually good for summer. Reflecting on love lost and found, the crisis of a relationship, and the way we used to bounce off clouds.

"Vindicated" Dashboard Confessional
Yes, I fell in love with this song way back in high school after watching Spider-Man 2, but I still love it. a lot. The energy's great for summer too.

"Los Angeles" Sugarcult
The sun is burning down the City of Angels in this highly angsty tune.
"I want a girl that won't talk back / And a job that gives me slack / And a car that won't break down." Is that too much to ask for?

"Holiday from Real" Jack's Mannnequin
My summer, sans job, currently feels a lot like a holiday from real.
"Being poor was never better / A safety buzz, some cheap red wine / Oh, the trouble we can get in / So let's screw this one up right." Fuck yeah.

"To the Dogs or Whoever" Josh Ritter
This song, rolling along at a breakneck pace, showcases Ritter's penchant for allusive and catchy songwriting.
"Lemonade on your breath, sun in your hair / Did I mention how I love you in your underwear?"

"Home" Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Currently nominated for TBTL's song of the summer, this song just makes me feel happy. This duet reminds of something I can't quite place my finger on and yet offers a breathe of fresh air.
"Laugh until we think we'll die / Barefoot on a summer night / Nothing could be sweeter than with you." Because home is wherever I'm with you.

"Daylight Robbery" Imogen Heap
"Heading towards the city light / Winking diamonds at me / Arms stretched out now." It's time to take advantage of the summer and the city and to sway in the sonic joy.

"White Houses" Vanessa Carlton
I don't know what else I can say about this song that I haven't already. It's an anthem to being young, alive, and in love during the summer.

"Mr. Brightside" The Killers
What can I say? It's still my favorite Killers' song, and I think it's excellent for the summer.

"1901" Phoenix
TBTL chose this song as the song of the summer last year even though it didn't catch on until December. The problem with TBTL's summer song selection is that they can never decided whether or not they want to predict the song that will actually dominate the airwaves that summer or choose their own indie anthem. Still, "1901" is a great song, and I played it constantly last summer.

"Hold the Morning" Hey Marseilles
"Take the time for townships and classics to be read / Finding all the soft skin that will fit in a feather bed." I will sit back, relax, and hold my head to the sun.

"California" Rufus Wainwright
This is Wainwright's tongue-in-cheek ode to the Golden State. His take on the sun, sand, and surf? "You're such a wonder that I think I'll stay in bed."

"Dark Blue" Jack's Mannequin
This was probably my favorite song on my playlist last year. Perfect for all those times you feel alone even when surrounded by people or whenever the night is the perfect shade of dark blue.

"Stolen" Dashboard Confessional
The perfect anthem for Labor Day weekend and an ode to the transience of summer.
"Catch the last weekend of the last week / Before the gold and glimmer have been replaced / Another sun-soaked season fades away." I play it all summer to remind to me to make the most of it.

"Summer in the City" Regina Spektor
You seriously didn't think I wouldn't have this song on my list, did you? It evokes the loneliness and melancholia of summer, wandering from protests to late-night establishments. And of course, "summer in the city means cleavage, cleavage, cleavage."

"Long Shadows" Josh Ritter
One of my favorites by Ritter, this song is perfect for when those long summer evenings (and parties) end, and we travel home in the dark.
"I'm not afraid of the dark when the sun goes down / And the dreams grow teeth and the beasts come out."

Honorable Mentions:
(all of which feature prerequisite rapping!)
"Starry Eyed Surprise" Paul Oakenfold. 2004 was a crappy summer for me, but watching the Diet Coke commercial on TV, I thought somewhere out there people are breaking out in an impromptu skating party in some empty parking lot, and I want to go to there.
"Airplanes" B.o.B. Another TBTL summer song nominee this year (and #5 on the charts). "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? / I could really use a wish right now." Me too.
"Billionaire" Travie McCoy. Yes it raps, but it's also light, summery, and funny. And though it's behind "California Gurls" and "Airplanes" on the charts, this could easily be the song of the summer: 2010!

So what are you listening to?

Mary, Full of Grace and Other Stories

"I'm not very religious. So there's the risk that my praying could be taken as insincere or even an affront, which if it's a vengeful God could have made matters worse." --The West Wing

On Sunday, halfway through the Josh Ritter concert, I realized that my car, in addition to a burnt-out headlight, was expired. So as I got into my car, I said a little "Mary, full of grace" which is all I know of the Hail Mary prayer. I did end up taking a bit of a detour through downtown which I was trying to avoid, but I made it home safe and sound without getting pulled over. I thought that was very successful.

I'm still working on my car. I finally replaced the headlight today, an ordeal that nearly resulted in multiple breakdowns. Firstly, the old light would not come out of the spring clip, so I finally decided to unscrew this screw and then the whole clip popped out. Not awesome. However, the light came out very easily at this point. Then I tried to screw the clip back in, but I have very large, shaky hands which are not ideal for working in small, hard to reach places. I also lost the head of a screwdriver into the bowels of my car, so I'm just hoping that it's adding structural integrity wherever it's currently lodged.

At this point, it was time to take a break, and buy the replacement bulb. Today I decided to try again, and I did get the clip screwed in! However, at some point during the tug-of-war, I guess I broke the itty-bitty thing the clip hooks into. Still I was able to jam the light in, albeit crookedly, and replace the dust cover. The light works. I said another Mary, full of grace in the hopes that it will continue to work, and that I didn't break anything else.

I still need to register my car in the state of Washington so it will be legal and everything which means I need to find the title of ownership. My parents don't have it, and it wasn't in the usual places where I would probably keep such an important document (I really should have one, centralized location, but I don't). This means I will need to comb through my room which I have not done since I moved in way back in September. The prospects look bleak. And the replacement title from the Utah DMV, like all important legal documents, makes me feel a little bit nauseous (which, by the way, is an acceptable usage of that word).

The job hunt is bleak, as always. I don't really know where to begin, though I somehow managed to send out my resume to five places today, so I guess that's something. I'm not really sure how I've landed any of the jobs I've previously had--I've probably blocked out those memories, so I'm always at a loss as how to proceed. I was contacted by the one job I did want, but they were interviewing while I was in SLC, so that didn't happen. Le sigh.

Well, enough moaning, let's move on to happier thoughts, shall we?

I have now been to more concerts in Seattle (in less than a year) than I have in my entire life. Concerts are fun, but they can also be tedious and expensive, and unless I know and love the artist, I have little interest in going. Hey Marseilles gave a free lunchtime concert downtown as part of a summer series. Lillian and I went, and it was awesome: free, no waiting, and I love Hey Marseilles. Lillian and I grabbed lunch at Pike's Place and hiked up and down Post Alley.

On Sunday, as I've mentioned, I went to see Josh Ritter at the ShowBox and it was great. I have to say that Josh Ritter is a bit more awkward looking than he appears in photos, still he was infectious jumping up and down the stage grinning like a Cheshire cat. The enthusiasm of the musicians and the audience was excellent. I think Ritter's true gift is for songwriting, but he still gives a great live performance. Zacharia Hickman, on the electric bass, looked very retro-cool in a bespoke plaid suit with a pocket square, in addition to horn-rimmed glasses and a perfectly groomed handlebar mustache. One day, I want to be half as cool.

The drinking adventures of Meagan and Greg have been temporarily postponed seeing as how I currently have no money. Still, we've already had a decent start. During finals week we started out with a bang celebrating Susan's birthday, Heidi's farewell, and the start of our drinking. Chloe gave each of us dark chocolate candies made with sea salt--delicious! We started out at Zayda Buddy's Minnesotan pizza house (Minnesota pizza is loaded with meat and cut into squares) where I learned that I really don't like wheat ales, but fried cheese curds are delicious. We then went to King's Hardware we we drank cheap beer (Hamm's; it's gross) and I had not-nearly-salty-enough chips and salsa. Here is the group of intrepid librarians.

(Or rather this is where the picture would be if Blogger wasn't stupid.)

We finished the night at Tahiku where we all had specially infused cocktails that are supposedly aphrodisiacs: limit one per customer! I had the Manhattan but I didn't feel particularly drunk or aroused so whatever. Cadi and I drove to Dick's on our way home. Cheap, greasy food is essential after long bouts of drinking.

Last Friday, a group of us went to The Zig Zag Cafe, a swanky cocktail lounge at Pike's Place. I had the Alaska (gin) and Champs Elysees (brandy) cocktails, and then, finally, The Last Word, which is why we went in the first place. The Last Word is a Prohibition-era cocktail made with equal parts of gin, lime juice, green Chartreuse, and Maraschino liqueur. It is awesome. If I had money, I would consider investing in Chartreuse and Maraschino just to make this drink. We first heard about the drink at a pub trivia night. The question was to name the four equal ingredients of The Last Word, a favorite cocktail of Hemingway's (supposedly). I think we choose gin, rum, lime, and whiskey (hey, it's Hemingway!) which would surely be disgusting. We ended the night at McDonald's for our cheap, greasy food fix.

As I've mentioned, my summer reading list is falling by the wayside. I did finish Lowcountry Summer which, well... So I've been disappointed a lot lately by contemporary fiction in general--maybe the novel really is over--but this tripe is one the worst books I have ever read in my life. The story is neither funny nor poignant. The characters are one-dimensional, and the protagonist is shallow and annoying. The prose is limp and uninspired. I only finished it out of some perverse masochism. I'm thinking I should pick up Amusing Ourselves to Death since my TV habits have gotten out of hand and maybe The Magicians which is a contemporary novel, but Rae and Mary have recommended it, so I feel safe. I'm still wading through The Iliad.

I was going to post my summer playlist, but I'm still working on it and this post is long enough already. Besides, it still doesn't feel like summer here yet. I know last year Seattle had a heat wave where it broke 100, but usually the summers here don't get past the 80s, so it might never feel like summer. I can't believe it's already July.

Ad Proximum Convivium

So life right now is just a series of assignments and all the much more fun things I do to distract myself from said assignments.

A few weeks ago I went to the ALISS Open Meeting. After the meeting we went to The Zoo, which is in fact a dive bar and not a zoological garden. This has been very confusing in the past. We had many much beer and some of us, which did not include me, played shuffleboard. After the Zoo, some of us continued on to the party at Jeannie's apt which was jungle themed. I had a couple of strong drinks as well as a couple of shots so that I could participate in Wizard Slapping, which was renamed Safari Slapping. I got very tired and emotional and sick, which I haven't been in years. It's true what they say: beer before liquor. Plus, an empty stomach didn't help.

The next week, I think, I went downtown to see Amanda Palmer in concert. It was pouring, and I got super drenched. I had to take a couple of hours in a coffee shop to get warm and dry. By the time we were lined up outside the ShowBox, the weather was lovely again. After getting a gin and tonic and a seat, it was time to wait. Then Sxip Shirey came onstage and he literally played bells and whistles. yeah... Then Evelyn Evelyn came on. Evelyn Evelyn is a conjoined sister musical act where the twins are played by Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley in one giant dress. Webley describes the twins as similar to the Andrews sisters if they had grown up in a circus and listened to new wave music. If that doesn't paint a picture for you, then I don't know what will. After the twins were done, Jason Webley played a few songs. Then Amanda Fucking Palmer came out in all her glory during which her boob almost popped out. She laughed and fixed herself. She's promoting her new solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer? I bought the album and have been enjoying it very much. She took one request from a girl who was celebrating her 19th birthday. The girl requested "Oasis" which is an ebullient song about rape and abortion (it is, of course, satirical). And during the bridge, we all sang happy birthday. Amanda also sang "Do You Swear" which you can hear and download for free here. At the end of the night, we all sang a drinking song after spinning around 12 times to simulate drunkenness for those who had not already reached inebriation with the assistance of alcohol. And the super-hot roadie stripped off his shirt. So I was happy.
Here is the picture taken of us. And because the concert was eleventy hours long (or at least five), the buses were no longer running when it ended, and I had to take a cab home. It was a pretty epic day.

Then on Saturday, Lillian and I went to see the local-favorite Seattle band, Hey Marseilles, and they were AMAZING! They were playing to a sold-out (and crowded) audience at a rather small venue, The Tractor, where I had a PBR tallboy because it was just that kind of place. A couple of other local bands played before, and they were pretty good too. Hey Marseilles is a seven-man band that plays amazing travelogues and has the European sound down replete with accordion, mandolin, viola, cello, and horn in addition to the guitars, keyboard, and drums, of course. I downloaded their album To Travels & Trunks back in the fall, which apparently was just their EP and is no longer up on iTunes. They are (re)releasing their album later this month, and let's hope that gets on iTunes eventually. You can download their biggest hit "Rio" on their MySpace page and listen to some of their other songs too.

So I had hardly seen Maggie all quarter, and now I'm getting a major dose which is good. On the day I saw Amanda Palmer, I got my first real taste of Indian fare with her as my guide. Later that week, there was another happy hour, where I didn't drink anything, and then we went to Thai Tom on the Ave which has amazing Thai food. Yesterday, we went and saw Robin Hood and then got pizza at Pagliacci's. Robin Hood got a lot of bad reviews, but I enjoyed it if only because I haven't seen a movie at the theaters in months! Plus, Maggie bought the tickets. You definitely get a better sense of the history than the Disney version (which is my own beloved Robin Hood) of which Maggie, the medievalist/early modernist history major, approved. The liberties taken enhance the fairytale/legend aspect of the story. It is a major war movie from Ridley Scott and an origin story of how Robin Longstride/Loxley became Robin Hood. Watching Eleanor of Aquitaine and Prince John interact made me want to watch The Lion in Winter (the original film with Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn) which is amazing--check it out. After the movie and pizza, we got ice cream and discussed how Russell Crowe is aging in reverse.

Earlier that weekend, specifically at 5:00 on Friday, after submitting yet another assignment and finishing the WEEK OF DOOM, I watched Into the Woods and tried to get drunk, but three cocktails and nothing. That was sad. On Saturday, Meagan and I went shopping at the GAP because my entire wardrobe pretty much comes from the GAP (just as in college my entire wardrobe came from American Eagle). I am moving up in the world. Now I usually cannot shop a sale for the life of me, but I got some great deals. I got three polo shirts for $15 each (that day only!) which are normally $30. I got two pairs of jeans both in the clearance rack and two belts which were on sale. I also bought flip-flops and a madras shirt. In addition I got 25% off everything, except the flip-flops, as a GAP card member--sometimes debt does pay. I also bought a linen shirt and a blazer online which were both 25% off, and I got free shipping. Booyah! And I look fantastic.

I still need to get a suit for Jess's wedding--I cannot wait to come to Utah!--and I'm not sure what I'm going to wear to the iBall on Friday. But school's not over yet, kiddies. I have the second part of my 521 final which I will be doing tomorrow morning. Then on Friday my teaching philosophy/statement is due. If it has three or more typos/grammatical errors it will receive a failing grade--harsh! It's been awhile since I was a grammar god in training, but I'll be fine. hopefully. Next week I have to write the final part of my prospectus for an info literacy program and a final group paper on the future of reference. And then I will be done! With my first year. I'm already terrified of graduation.

And if you're wondering just what it is that iSchool students do (I'm still not sure actually) perhaps you've already seen this viral video starring faculty and fellow students.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Or Clayton, as the base may be. So last Thursday, the weather in Seattle was glorious--sunny and warm--and I was stuck inside writing a paper of doom. It was a rough draft on privacy and surveillance and how these issues affect libraries and librarians. Anyway, after consuming copious amounts of caffeine and writing ten pages, I said, it's good enough, and I sent it to be peer-reviewed by classmates. The nice thing about getting most of that out of the way is that it won't be so bad to revise/finish in a couple of weeks. And then it was time to consume copious amounts of alcohol and pack my bags for St. Louis!

I woke up bright and early on Friday so I could register for classes at six am. I think I'll like next quarter better--only one core class and two electives. If I don't like the electives, I'm just screwed at library school. Then I finished packing and called a taxi to pick me up. It was a lovely ride through Seattle and all that sun. $60 later I was at the airport where ESPN (or something) was blaring commentary about Tiger Woods's apology, and who cares? It's not actual news. Every time one of these "stories" break I want to buy this book. Eventually I boarded the plane to fly to Sacramento which is probably the most rural and agricultural of all major airports to which I've been. Then I flew to Phoenix, and then finally to STL. The full day of flying did not help my complete mental and physical exhaustion. I swore off caffeine and alcohol--this lasted less than a day. Then I took a taxi to Clayton, a wealthy suburb of St. Louis and the county seat of St. Louis County. The city of St. Louis is its own independent thing. And I was deposited at the Sheraton Hotel which is much nicer than the places to which I am accustomed to staying. It was actually a little unnerving, but wonderful. And then Rae dropped off Slarue and we caught up, swapped gossip, chatted about boys, and then I fell into a deep, restful sleep.

The next morning I was totally refreshed and the whole gang went to see Rae's daughter, Katie, play in her basketball game. Afterward, we made the mandatory stop at Target, because no trip to a new city is complete without a visit to this homogeneous big-box retailer. We grabbed a quick bite at Stratton's Cafe where I finally met the fabled Keith, whom I like a lot. The French dip was delicious--pickles, what a revelation!--but Hell's Kitchen will always be #1 in my book. Then Nick, Rae's brother, chauffeured Slarue and I to the Moolah Theatre for my authentic St. Louis experience. He got lost on the way, but I don't blame him--without mountains (and large bodies of water) I had no sense of direction. We drove past Washington University, lovely red-brick institution that rejected Nick and Slarue. If they had an LIS program, I'm sure they would have rejected me too. And I saw the Gateway Arch from afar, so I was happy.

We eventually made it to the Moolah which has ruined movie theaters for me everywhere else. The movie screen is huge, and instead of standard auditorium/stadium seating, there are leather couches and love-seats. There's also a bar and lounge in the lobby, which we didn't get to enjoy since we were running late, but it looked fantastic! Anyway, we saw Shutter Island and this review pretty much explains how I felt. It was dark and atmospheric, the camerawork, directing, and acting we're great--it's Scorsese after all--and the material is unabashedly pulpy. The ending was cliche, so it sucks teleologically. I can't decide if it would be better or worse with a repeat viewing. So while the film-making is great, the story is less hot. I'm guessing this is why a Scorsese film was released in February.

After the movie, all the ladies were getting mani-pedis, and I somewhat reluctantly decided to get a pedicure too. After I got my pedicure, Rae told me I should get a manicure too. And so the small, Asian woman, with an indecipherable accent, clipped away twenty-three years worth of neglected cuticles. That was gross. and awesome. And my buffed nails are so shiny! Anyway, the mani-pedi was nice, but I'm not entirely sold on it, and I spent most of the time very confused about what was happening.

Grburbank & Slarue Get Mani-Pedis

Then it was time for the main event: Rae's 40th French Soiree! Slarue and I rushed around frantically getting dressed and ready, and then we hopped over to Keith's fabulous condo. I was immediately served a glass of wine, which kept getting refilled, so I was quite tired and emotional by the end of the night. There was fabulous French food, and I'll eat anything covered in a pastry. Keith asked every party to bring 40 of something as the present. We brought 40 Oreos (there are 45 in a package in case you were wondering) because those are Rae's addiction, and we were each going to burn 20 songs onto a CD, but our playlists were too long, so we only got 19 songs onto each. Happy 38th! And then there was even dancing which Keith was recording, and even though I only danced a couple of times, there is incriminating evidence of me shaking my money maker to "Baby Got Back." Oh dear.

Grburbank & Slarue Party (Ignore the wine glasses.)
Me and Two (Other) Sassy Gay Men
Grburbank & Slarue Celebrate Dearest Rae

On Sunday Slarue flew home, and I kept waiting for something good to come on HBO. Nothing did. I finally went to the hotel bar for dinner and thought I'd try a Mai Tai which was the featured drink. The bartender had no idea how to make one. So then I asked for a Cosmo, after which he disappeared into the kitchen before reappearing to make my drink. It was his first day, but still, what was the hiring criteria? I then ordered the macaroni and cheese which turned out to be a chicken and penne in alfredo mess. That wasn't his fault (except for the chicken part), but don't people know how to make decent mac n cheese? For reals.

Then I "woke up" at 4:30 Monday morning to get to the airport. I use the term "woke up" in the loosest sense because I never really fell asleep. We flew to Denver and then to Seattle. It was still morning in Seattle, and it was still sunny. I shared a shuttle van with a 20-year-old girl who was interviewing for the PhD program at the UW Med Center in microbiology or something sciency. Damn girl. Once I was dropped off, I unpacked my bags, and turned my back on the glorious weather and took a very long nap. Once I woke up, Netflix sent me Brokeback Mountain so I watched that. And then Ady put in (500) Days of Summer and then Finding Nemo. So that's what I did on Monday. Anyway, my exhaustion coupled with recycled air has led to a sore throat and other cold-like symptoms which I am warding off with Cold-Eeze, Ricola, and Day/NyQuil.

On Tuesday night I made my first trip to Trader Joe's which was okay. I'm not in love with it after one visit, but it's definitely the least money I've ever spent on groceries out here. And I picked up some 3-buck Chuck, which is okay as far as bargain wines go.

This week my 530 professor is gone somewhere (Rome, maybe?) and so we're going on optional field-trips to the SPL Main Branch and SAM. There's been mass confusion, and so Lillian and I thought we were going to SAM yesterday, but it was really SPL. And Lillian had already given me a tour of SPL which isn't even as cool as SLCPL. (Later I heard it was a boring lecture and not a tour anyway.) So instead of joining the rest of the group at the library, we decided to visit Pike's Place Market, which was my first actual visit to the Market. Now previously, I had driven through the market on my very first day in Seattle, and we had once tried to find something to eat around there on a Sunday night when all the stalls were closed. Well, here I finally was, and I was largely underwhelmed. But we found a fancy French bakery where I got a brioche and a cafe au lait. So now we have to decide if we still want to go to SAM on Friday.

This is week eight of ten of the quarter, and I have a major group project due next week in Research Methods which we haven't even started. I'm so over grad school. Well I better get to work.

Oh, by the way, I'm trying to work on a new Spring playlist. Send your suggestions!

Crushing on Dead White Guys

So this weekend was a double-whammy: Valentine's Day and President's Day. Seeing as how I'm single and already enjoy four-day weekends, this weekend didn't really have any draws for me, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

On Friday, I was working on a paper for my Research Methods class. The paper only had to be five-pages long which is nothing, but in it I had to describe and analyze a thirty-page research design, drawing on three additional sources, and offering two implications for information science. In five pages! and anyone who reads this blog knows that I can be verbose. As usual I put if off until the last minute, so when I wasn't in class on Friday, I was in the computer lab on a caffeine high furiously typing away. Until five o'clock that is, when I was diving into a caffeine crash and it was time to attend Live Free, Drink Hard: a cohort-wide event at the College Inn Pub. Anyway, beer has a revitalizing effect, as does a loud, noisy environ. I only meant to stay for an hour or two before finishing my paper, but people kept buying pitchers, I was bonding with my cohort, and the opening ceremony was on! So five and a half hours and many, many beers later, I left quite tired and emotional. I got home at 10:45, one hour before my paper was due, so I slapped on my implications, a conclusion, ran spell check, and that was that. Boom, bam baby! The paper's shite, but it's done, and I don't have to think about it for a while. Still, I had so much fun on Friday--it's true what they say, alcohol is a social lubricant.

On Saturday, I didn't do much of anything except watch almost all of the third season of Sex and the City. I also made goat cheese and sun dried tomato profiteroles--which didn't quite turn out like Giada's--but were still pretty good even if they should be called gougeres, since profiteroles are technically sweet. That night I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few basics that I had ran out of (and a bottle of wine), and even though I stuck to my list and tried to shop smart, it still put me out $100 bucks. And later that night I watched Annie Hall which was, okay... I don't know, I didn't really like it--is that okay to say as a movie buff? I liked Match Point and Vicky Christina Barcelona so it's not just a Woody Allen thing. Maybe it's a Woody Allen thing in New York in the '70s.

On Sunday I woke up semi-early by which I meant I didn't sleep in until noon, to go walking at Green Lake Park. I went with Janelle, and Meagan was supposed to join us, but she didn't wake up in time. Anyway we had a lovely walk and conversation and the tulips will be in bloom in about a week. That's insane! It's the middle of February. Janelle said her allergies are already on the fritz, but I haven't had any symptoms yet. When I first moved to Cedar City and when I moved back to Salt Lake, my allergies were really light, but the longer I stayed in one place the worse they got. So this year might be nice, but next year might not be. We'll have to wait and see. After walking we made our way over to Ballard and got breakfast, at about one in the afternoon, at Senor Moose Cafe, a hole-the-wall place that always has a crowd and real-good Mexican food, though I have to say I still love the Red Iguana more. After stuffing my face with huevos rancheros and strong coffee, we explored the Ballard Sunday Farmers Market which was nice but I didn't buy anything.

I came home thinking that Netflix had sent me the next disc of Queer As Folk but they had sent Maurice instead, which I guess is sort of like the Merchant Ivory predecessor. So I instead turned on the TV and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was on HBO so I watched that, and then 17 Again came on, so I watched that for a little bit just because Thomas Lennon is comedy gold: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a Norse god, a vampire, or a time-traveling cyborg?" Then I thought I wanted to watch Chicago but I just really wanted to watch "Cell Block Tango." So I was at a loss of what to watch with my chocolate espresso bar and my bottle of Francis Coppola Pinot Noir. Now I had thought that I had had Coppola's Pinot Noir before, maybe it was just a different vintage (or maybe it was his Syrah instead), and it was just fine, but the 2008 I got this time is freaking amazing! I've had Pinot before but I never really got the hype--thanks Paul Giamatti--but last night I finally understood. So. Good! Finally I decided to download a Battlestar Galactica episode, and even though I purchased the wrong one, it was still amazing. My gods, I love BSG!

And then I spent the rest of the night working on a little something for next Saturday. Speaking of which I fly out to St. Louis on Friday--holla!--where Slarue will join me to celebrate dearest Rae's 40th. It's going to be lovely. Before that happens I need to write the first draft of my Information in Social Contexts paper. There are only three weeks left in the quarter people! Every day I change my opinion on quarters vs. semesters. Today, I'm against them. My paper will be about one or more of the following topics: privacy, surveillance, information, and/or libraries. Do you think it could be any broader. So today, I need to read some articles, and then later I'm going downtown for happy hour. and sushi--which I've never had before. We'll see how it goes.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, especially if you are in love and/or got today off. Cheers!

I Can't Think of Anything Cute to Say. Oh, Kittens!

When I went to college the first time around I lost weight--a lot of it. This time around I seem to be gaining weight. This is not okay. As an undergraduate I tended to "cook" frozen and boxed foodstuffs. Now I'm mostly cooking things from scratch, though I can't say they're especially healthful recipes. One would think that actually cooking food would be cheaper and healthier. As far as I can tell it's not--on either count. Of course cooking a meal for four and then eating half of it (or all of it) doesn't really work in my favor. Maybe I need to shop at Trader Joe's--apparently they have a lot of packaged foods that are healthy-ish? I wouldn't know because I've lived on the West Coast for over four months, and I still haven't made it to Trader Joe's. That's a shame. Of course we haven't talked about alcohol which I didn't drink as an undergrad. mostly. Since living in Seattle I have tended to pick up a six-pack every time I went grocery shopping. Now therein probably lies the major problem. But it was nice to come home from class and open a beer to relax or have one on a Saturday afternoon while watching TV. It's also cheaper than wine which you have to drink pretty quickly once you open it anyway. And while I have hard liquor, I feel that it's best not to drink that on a daily basis. Just saying. So I have decided to cut beer out of my daily routine for the moment and save it for nights at the pub.

In other grocery news I discovered a very small British section at QFC. I bought a notorious Yorkie chocolate bar--It's not for girls! (So of course when we were in London all the girls had to buy one.) Anyway, I'm very excited about this discovery. Also, I am completely incapable of shopping on a budget, so send any budget tips you have my way.

When I was at SUU I had class every day, so I walked. a bit. This quarter I have class two days a week. Some days I don't even walk out of my front door--this is just a little bit sad. I should at least walk to campus which means hiking up a giant hill--Seattle is a city of hills; just like Rome--which would be good except I take the bus to campus because my classes are at 8:30 in the morning, plus--the hill. However, now that the days are warming up I should try walking around Ravenna Park and find the energy and time to make it to Green Lake Park somewhere during my four-day weekends to walk the 2.8 mile trail. So in my attempts to stop being a total lard ass, I am working on a playlist full or peppy, energetic music that's great for brisk walking (and, theoretically, working out). Here's what I have so far, in no particular order:

• "Nth Degree" by Morningwood. As Dain says, it's perfect butt-shaking music. You just can't help yourself. And it pushes you to go louder and harder: let's go!
• "Spark" by Tori Amos. I'm not sure why but I've always found this to be a great walking song, probably because of the music video.
  
• "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" by Ida Maria. The title pretty much says it all. A fun, bouncy song about getting naked.
  
• "21 Things I Want in a Lover" by Alanis Morissette. A strong beat to push you while letting you think about the traits you want in a lover.
  
• "Professional Widow" by Tori Amos. Sometimes you need a scathing song with raging harpsichords to get you going. But remember, we're trying to sweat out toxins, not create new ones.
  
• "Twin Cinema" by The New Pornographers. A fun, indie rock song.
• "Buenos Aires" from Evita. A musical number, you ask? Yes. "But you're flesh, you are meat / You shall have every breath in my body." All over a Latin beat.
  
• "Just A Girl" by No Doubt. Because everyone needs some No Doubt.
• "That Time" by Regina Spektor. Because it's peppy. So is "Dance Anthem of the 80's." Just watch the music video.
  
• "Out Tonight" from Rent. Remember, we're working out to go out. Tonight.
  
• "Big Wheel" by Tori Amos. A sassy number with honky-tonk vibes. "M-I-L-F / Don't you forget."

What songs do you listen to to get you going?

In other news, last week we had poetry group which is lovely. After banging my head working on effing JavaScript, I got to relax and discuss "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot. I like Eliot's poetry, but I much prefer The Waste Land. However, it was a more than a little depressing because of certain tragic similarities I have construed between Prufrock and myself. Anyway, I get to pick for next month, and I've pretty much all but decided on Sunstone (Piedra de sol) by Octavio Paz. I'm excited!

So I love English, and sometimes I wonder what I'm doing in library school. Megan suggested that my theory based program is trying to crush my spirit, and this quarter it's succeeding. Now that we're half-way through the quarter, I can tell you I don't want to be a cataloguer--I have no idea what we're even talking about anymore in my classification class. Research Methods is what it is. I rarely do the reading, and I hate research. Algorithmic Thinking and JavaScript--need I say more? My Info Policy class is actually interesting sometimes, though I think I would rather be in the other section. However, this is where I learned that Britain didn't read 1984 and is basically a police state with surveillance everywhere. Now I don't want to live in London anymore. Anyway, hopefully once I get into the electives I'll be more excited and actually learn how to be a librarian. Some have said it's like law school, you need the degree to get the job, and then you learn how to do whatever you're doing on the job. I really thought I wanted to be a librarian, I guess I should have just done more research to be certain. Oh, now I see the connection.

One last note. Yesterday I watched The Lion in Winter (the 1968 version) which is, just wow. It's not quite King Lear but then Shakespeare didn't write it (James Goldman did). But if you want a dysfunctional family and court intrigue look no further. It was so intense that last night I had dreams that Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn were manipulating my other dreams against each other. It was very surreal, but then that's the nature of dreams.

Cinema Italiano

So today is Thursday, which means it's my day off, except that I have hours of reading I have to do before tomorrow. My first assignment this quarter is also due tomorrow, so that's exciting. It shouldn't be to bad really, and I already took my first quiz: 11/12--not too shabby. The quarter is rolling on. Anyway, besides reading, I have to do laundry and dishes and go grocery shopping. And the third season of How I Met Your Mother arrives today from amazon, so just how productive I will be remains yet to be seen. I think we all have a pretty good idea though where the day is going.

So in another effort to put off chores and homework, I am writing here. Anyway, the Golden Globes are almost upon us--this Sunday people! Today it also dawned on me that my reception of NBC is terrible. Sad day. But 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation return tonight! Course I won't be watching till this weekend. So last year I was so on top of the movies, it was awesome. This year, I have to battle things like school, rain, money, and parking. Still I've seen eight of the ten films nominated for Best Picture. On Monday I saw Up in the Air which I will talk about later, and yesterday I saw Nine.

So my friend Kristen asked if I didn't think Nine was contrived and full of archetypes, and my answer was yes. But Nine is a musical=contrived about muses=archetypes. It's not the best movie I've ever seen in my life, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable film. Besides it's loosely based on Fellini's classic 8 1/2. In fact I now want to see Federico Fellini's films, seven of which are in my book 1001 Movies to See Before You Die, isn't that impressive? Nine was also the march of the Oscar winners from director Rob Marshall (Chicago), it stars Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood, My Left Foot) as an Italian director, Guido, getting ready to shoot his epic ninth film Italia--the only problem is he hasn't written the script yet because he's completely burned out. The women in his life include his wife Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), his mistress Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona), his mother Sophia Loren (La Ciociara), his leading lady Nicole Kidman (The Hours), his costume designer Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love), American journalist Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), and the prostitute Stacy Ferguson (no Oscar for you Fergie). Okay, so Rob Marshall and Kate Hudson didn't win Oscars either, but I thought they did until IMDb corrected me. Anyway, if I remember right everyone sang one number except Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard who each got two songs. Daniel Day-Lewis is a brilliant actor, though not one of my favorite people, but I thought his casting was inspired. My friend Elise's favorite scene was Nicole Kidman's number "Unusual Way" which was basically the key to the entire film, and while it was very good, Kidman's singing made me think of Moulin Rouge! and Baz Luhrmann sets and Ewan McGregor, and while those are all very fine things, it took me out of the movie a little bit. Actually the striking thing is that I preferred the songs from the Oscar-less women. That may have been because Fergie and Kate Hudson had the most fun and stylized musical numbers: "Be Italian" and "Cinema Italiano" respectively. Here in fact is a trailer for Nine set to "Cinema Italiano." Kate Hudson plays a journalist from Vogue who states that style is the new content. That idea is an attractive one to me much to my own chagrin since I think it's also the idea behind so much of today's societal ills: style not content. Still, it's a very fun number and you'll be singing "Guido, Guido, Guido!"

Be Italian!

Remember my list of my favorite films of 2009? Well I need to go back and put Up in the Air at the top of the list. It is the best film I've seen this this year (or really last year?). This may sound a little surprising coming from director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno) who also co-wrote the screenplay adapted from Walter Kim's novel, but with Up in the Air, Reitman's really found his stride. George Clooney plays Ryan, a man married to his transitory lifestyle of flying around the country where he's brought in by various companies to lay off their workers. A film mixing air travel with massive layoffs has never been so timely. Anyway, Clooney is not only an obvious choice but an inspired one since his character convinces us that he is more than satisfied with his no-strings attached lifestyle which only makes it that much more crushing when everything, inevitably, falls apart. Vera Farmigia goes toe to toe with our leading man as Alex, the charming and droll sexual interest for Ryan. Our third character is Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) who is both an idealist and a hard-nosed realist. She's a young upstart at Ryan's company who threatens his lifestyle and so is taken under his wing to show her the dirty end of their business. Along the way Ryan, and the rest of us, learn something about life, love, and how to deal in these modern times. I think it was sometime around when our three leads were discussing said subjects in the St. Louis Airport (right Rae?) that the film really took off for me and I knew I was watching something special. What's really amazing is how easy the movie could have been wrapped in cliches from stock characters including our three leads to Ryan and Natalie's boss (Jason Bateman), from Ryan's sister's frumpy, small-town wedding to Ryan's aha moment, everything is presently real and transcends cliche. Okay, so his aha moment is actually a bit cliche, still... It's also a film that raises some interesting questions but nothing is neatly resolved. With all of that said, I think Up in the Air is one of the best written, directed, and acted films this year along with being one of the smartest and funniest. Go see it!

So after I got out of Up in the Air, I returned to my car which had a parking ticket which I actually kind of expected. The ticket couldn't quite kill my mood because it was such a good movie, but sometimes I really hate Seattle which has nothing to do with the weather, though it's grey and rainy again today. See I parked in a zone I wasn't allowed to park in, but only because there is no parking in Seattle, the traffic is also an utter mess too. So driving in Seattle sucks which wouldn't be so bad if Seattle had a good public transit system. The buses are okay, but I don't live near any good routes. I mean I wouldn't want to drive in London either, but the Underground is brilliant. My citation is also at least twice what it would be in SLC, because Seattle is bloody expensive. I would hate see what California is like. First of all what kind of matinee movie ticket is called a bargain at $7.50? My grocery bill is also more than twice what it would be back in good ole Utah. Sure they pay more and there's no state income tax, which would be nice if I had a job, but I'm just throwing my student loans at sales tax. Though it's okay if I don't drive because I have no social life in Seattle. Sure I'm friends with some people in my program but with grad school and part-time jobs nobody has time to hang out, and the Seattle freeze is very, very real. See how much rage a simple parking ticket released? So lately I've decided I need to live in the Midwest. Me a gay (soon to be) librarian with a humanities background and with a taste for indie films, HBO, good wine, and craft breweries. I really shouldn't condescend to the Midwest but that's my indie films and HBO talking. Rae, Amber, and Megan, what do we think of the Midwest?

Well, I better get on with everything I need to do today, now that it's three o'clock in the afternoon. Awesome. Oh and the other two films I need to see? It's Complicated and Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire. With any luck, I'll see those this weekend before the Globes.