10(ish) Things

Hey y'all! It's been a while.

I'm totally obsessed with the new P!nk single "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)." In my car I pretty much scan all the radio stations until I can find it. (However, I'm not loving her black dress at the end.)
I'm also kind of liking (surprisingly) Taylor Swift's latest, less country all pop, though at the end it gets a bit repetitive and annoying. Love the line "some indie record that's much cooler than mine." I read that in-depth story on her in Vogue or Vanity Fair a while back and she seems like a real cool person, I've just never loooooved her music.

My hella janky computer seems to have gasped its last breath. I'm trying to briefly resuscitate it to grab some files, but then I want to take a sledgehammer to it--but only if they'll still be able to recycle it properly.

The days are getting darker and cooler. It's nearly Labor Day and fall is on the horizon. It is my favorite season. Here's a bunch of autumnal things:

School started at the U this week, so everything's a total mess. It's difficult to find parking, the lines for coffee are way too long (I didn't get my daily jolt today!), and we're slammed at work with requests--which should only get busier as more universities open in the next few weeks. Then maybe a brief lull before midterms...

I was at Ross and found an adorable hoodie for $12! It just needs to get a few degrees cooler to wear it. (I, however, cannot find any of my scarves since I moved from Seattle. Tear.)

I have returned to drinking hot coffee. The U switched vendors over the summer and the new iced coffee was terrible--but it was summer dammit! and hot coffee is not thirst quenching while iced coffee is quite quaffable. I'm happy to report their hot coffee is much better.

I'm starting to think about my annual fall playlist. Suggestions welcome. I've also been listening to From the Choirgirl Hotel, my go-to fall album. The dark, clanging hallways of the record are perfect for the season. By the way, it's Tori's birthday today. Happy birthday, T!

It has been decided that I will be going as the Penguin this year for Halloween. One group of friends is going as Batman characters while the other is going as sea creatures. I'm wondering if I can get away with just one penguin suit... Anyway, I'm looking up Batman comics featuring the Penguin (to get into character) and cheap accessories: monocle, top hat, umbrella, cigarette holder. Renting a tailcoat is going to set me back a little, but oh well, right?

I'm taking a free online course through Coursera. The class is Fantasy & Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World. So far we've read the Brothers Grimm, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. (Side note: I never read the Alice books as a kid. My first exposure was the Care Bears version, which was the best movie ever when I was 6. Later I would see the iconic Disney version which was deeply upsetting.) Then it was Dracula and Frankenstein--only I didn't finish Frankenstein. After the insufferable Victorian Goodness of Dracula (shut up Van Helsing!), I couldn't stand the insufferable Romantic Feeling of Frank. Also, I think Stoker is a better writer than Shelley. Also, I was busy (and lazy). Next up is stories by Hawthorne and Poe. Poor Poe, he's such a dreadful writer, and now he has to be compared to Hawthorne. Hasn't he suffered enough already?

As you might imagine, this has prematurely ended my summer reading list. Here's a brief recap: I finished my friend Val's The Tale of Telsharu, an Asian martial arts fantasy. It reminded me a bit of Kay's Under Heaven. I made no new progress in A Clash of Kings or The Iliad. I'm still working on friend Elise's Albus Unus. Leaving the Saints was a fascinating looking into Mormonism, especially the controversy surrounding Mormon intellectualism in the late 80s/early 90s. The Night Circus was an engaging and whimsical, if not completely satisfying, fairy tale. In One Person is vintage Irving, a wonderful novel about identity, sex, and literature with a fantastic cast of characters. Highly suggested! I'm midway through Merle Miller's A Gay and Melancholy Sound which is quite good, very bleak and funny. And the rest of the list . . . yeah, not so much. (Side note: So The Hobbit was on my list, and can I just tell you how upset I am that one Peter Jackson decided it needs to be three films. WTF? The Hobbit is not a gd trilogy! It's a wonderful and fairly short book that deserves much better treatment. This trend of cutting up books into multiple films needs to end. I am boycotting the film, and by boycotting I mean I will probably still end up seeing it opening week with friends. But seriously!)

So, that's around 10ish things... Let's do this again real soon.