All Or Nothing

If All Vampires Are Seducers, And I Am A Vampire, Then Resistance Would Be Futile

However, I am NOT a vampire.  So that takes care of one aspect of the dilemma.  The other aspect is whether or not you believe that all vampires really ARE seducers, and I think all you have to do is look at the wild success of vampire books and movies to see that I'm right about the seduction aspect. 

I'm not sure how they did it, but somehow vampires have made pale skin, gaunt cheekbones, blood-dripping fangs, and immortality sexy.  Congratulations, O' Undead Ones.  That's quite a feat.

Now that we've got all that straightened out, the next order of business is to say I'm sorry for going completely AWOL for the past couple of weeks.  I mean, I'd love to tell you it's because I was swept away (maybe by a vampire?) to a secret island, where I was served hand and foot and engaged in all sorts of glamorous activities.  Or maybe even that I just decided to take some time off from all my responsibilities, read some good books, take some naps...

But no. 

The truth is (and this sums it up quickly for those of you who think brevity is a virtue), bad economy = Elise The Retail Business Owner working her tail off, trying everything she can think of to get things back on track. 

Not very interesting, eh?  I told you.

It's just disconcerting, is all, to have the proverbial rug pulled out from under you like this.  I don't mean you, the reader - I doubt that my posting frequency (or lack thereof) has the ability to leave anyone feeling unsettled.  I mean that as a business owner, especially in the retail sector of things, this "economic crisis" is hitting pretty close to home.

I'm sure many of you have seen the front page stories in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal today -  but if you haven't, they are telling the same tale I've been telling all summer.  Retail sales are down.  Down more than they have been in a long while.  No one is happy about it.  No one knows exactly what the problem is (other than the ridiculous sub-prime lending/credit crunch situation we all know about).  Everyone thinks things will get better.  In fact, things are getting better!  Yay!

And on we go.

Except really, what I just said up there is the truth of the matter but I fear that the media, with its insatiable thirst for blood, will only focus on the "doom" and will totally ignore the "light at the end of the tunnel" aspect of things.  And that, my dear friends, only makes everything WORSE.  The more the average American THINKS things are bad, the more tight-fisted they'll be with their money, and that means they aren't spending it with me or anyone else.  So stores go out of business and put more employees out of work, who in turn have to be even stingier with their cash, because they really don't know when they'll get more.  And the cycle continues.  However!  Much of the current cycle, especially in high-end areas like the one in which my store does business, is based on somewhat REACTIONARY principles, otherwise known as FREAKING OUT FOR NO GOOD REASON.

So. Stop freaking out, America!  Yes, we got ourselves into a bit of a situation with the sub-prime lending and the massive credit crisis and yes, some of us overextended ourselves and are now paying the price.  And yes, some of us DIDN'T overextend ourselves, we did everything by the book and we STILL feel like we're paying the price.  Well, we are.  But it's going to be okay.  Things will equalize, and whether that means when we come out on the other end of the tunnel things look like our current version of "normal" or if they are a totally new "normal", we can adjust.   Okay?  Okay.

Now!  Guess who I met.

That's right, I got to eat dinner (well, I was the only one eating) and get drinks (was NOT the only one drinking) with none other than Julie!  And even though she texted me, wondering if there were ANY crosswalks or pedestrian-friendly areas near where she was staying (no, there were not) and even though she had to WALK to where we met up (aah! still feel bad about that, Julie!), we had a great time nonetheless.  And I feel pretty confident in saying that Julie got a real solid taste of Texas boys trying to hit on her.

We ended up telling everyone we were on our first date, which, technically, was true.  And, if you'll reference the picture above, I CLEARLY made it up to the hotel room and if that doesn't give you any indication of how things went, well.... Maybe you haven't had very good first dates.

I also did this:

 By myself.  Which shows how much I really love this band, because I wasn't quite sure how I felt about going to a concert by myself.  I mean, is that awesome, or total loserville?  It's a tough call.  Luckily, I got to meet up with these two (getting married in two weeks!) before the show:

We laughed, we drank wine, we discussed politics....and then we tried our hand at governing an errant bee situation.  We roundtabled about what might be the best angle to take with the bees - were they friend or foe?  It was hard to tell.  They were definitely after our bread, so Adam decided that perhaps some peace treaties should be attempted, and he put a piece of Peace (I know, I know) Bread down at one end of the table for the bees to have.  See, they can have their stuff, we have our stuff, and we all live in harmony.  It's a great concept.  Unfortunately (and similarly to how these things go in real life), the bee was discontent with his small slice of bread, kept angling for the whole loaf, and eventually - he had to die. 

I know, it's harsh.  But you may as well know the truth.

Let's see, what else....I've gotta tell you, I've spent the vast majority of the past month or so in near-constant state of feeling flustered.  And that makes it hard to do anything, much less think coherently for long enough to bang out a post.  But I'm nothing if not resourceful, and I'm dealing with it, so you can expect posting to resume as originally scheduled.  Meaning that after the Project Runway season finale tonight (which I WILL recap on Friday), I will go back to my once or twice-weekly posting schedule, and (more importantly) I promise that I cannot wait to read and comment on everything that I've missed while I've been on this strange hiatus.  I can't promise that I won't hit the "mark all read" button in my feeder, because right now it's hovering near the 2000 mark, but after that, I'm back on track.

And after my first real life date with a previously Internet-only friend went SO well, I can't wait to meet more of you guys.  I know I'm all the way down here in Texas (and don't ask Julie how the rest of her visit went) but if you're EVER sent down here for any reason, I promise to make the whole experience just a little more fun.  And I'll even pick you up, so you don't have to search in vain for crosswalks.  I also won't force feed you tequila, ESPECIALLY if you claim to be allergic.

Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl

 

So!  Umm... Err... I still don't have words to describe the show.  The best I can come up with is this one: surreal.  What with the concert venue (amazing, outdoor, amphitheater seating, hills surrounding you), the light show (fiery icicles, orange pulsing waves, purple scrolling lyrics), the dual screens on either side of the stage (featuring an electronically distorted view of each of the band members), and the music (since I have openly loved Radiohead so passionately this one doesn't really need a parenthetical explanation) - I do mean it when I say I felt like I was dreaming.  A very sensory overloading kind of dream.

We picnicked beforehand, sitting in the grass outside the Hollywood Bowl with hundreds of other eager concert-goers, drinking wine and eating sandwiches.  When we ran out of wine, we wandered around and got refills from similarly group-minded fans.  The atmosphere was very chilled out, yet brimming with a sort of understated electricity.  The temperature was an even 70 degrees.  The sun was setting over the hills behind the bowl; I could see the Hollywood sign perched up behind the venue, looking iconic.  Our seats were perfect, right in the middle of the stadium and absolutely no one around us was annoying or distracting in the slightest.  I had a list of the top four songs I wanted to hear, and they played three of them.  I had a list of the top ten songs I wanted to hear, and they played eight of them.  I had visions of what I thought this show would be like; expectations of how incredible I imagined it would be...and not only did my expectations fall short, they didn't even come close to encompassing the whole scene.

Because, in the end, that's what you really remember about something, isn't it?  It's not the exact order of songs, or the specific temperature outside, or the seat number and row you've got.  I mean, you take those things into account, sure.  But you don't recount the memory to someone, years later, based around individual items like that.  The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  And the whole at this concert was so dreamlike and overwhelmingly perfect that it's extremely difficult to describe.  I can only say that I feel incredibly lucky to have been there; that the memory of this concert is certainly etched into my mind for the rest of my life, and that I am very, very happy.

Set list, Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl, Sunday 8/24/08

1. 15 Step
2. There There
3. Morning Bell
4. All I Need
5. Pyramid Song
6. Nude
7. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
8. The Gloaming
9. The National Anthem
10. Wolf at the Door
11. Faust Arp
12. Exit Music (for a Film)
13. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
14. Idioteque
15. Climbing Up the Walls
16. Bodysnatchers
17. How to Disappear Completely

Encore:

18. Videotape
19. Paranoid Android
20. Dollars & Cents
21. Street Spirit
22. Reckoner

Encore 2:

23. House of Cards
24. Lucky
25. Everything In Its Right Place

And, if you're wanting a little more, here's a link to a more detailed review of the show.

** Update: another link to a great review, this time with some excellent pictures.

Breaking News:

I'M GOING TO SEE RADIOHEAD TONIGHT!!!!  AAAHHH!!

More about that, as soon as I go and recover from the awesomeness.  Getting to this particular show has been a whole summer in the making, and Radiohead is a band I have been waiting almost 6 years to see. 

Yesssssss!

Either That Montage Just Takes Forever Or I'm An Internet Idiot

So I feel like I have a good friend who I haven't talked to in a while, and all these things have happened since the last time we talked, and every time something new and/or crazy happens I think "oh my goodness, I NEED to tell Friend this!" but then I think that I cant tell Friend right now, because I don't have time for a conversation of that length.  I'll call tomorrow.

And then tomorrow comes, and more crazy events transpire, and somewhere around two weeks later I resurface from the insanity and think "AHHH, I still haven't talked to Friend!"  Now the conversation is going to take hours.

Well, you are that friend, Internet.  I have so many things to tell you that I honestly don't even know where to begin.  First of all let me say that this summer has, bar none, been the weirdest time of my entire life.  Secondly, I have absolutely no idea how to fit this into one post so I was thinking maybe I would do bullet points (the lazy person's listmaker) and you can weigh in on subjects you want to hear more about/seem the most interesting.  How 'bout it?  Because otherwise I can guarantee you that this will degenerate into a ridiculously long, rambling, disjointed mess of a post, and I honestly can't even say that I would read that.  

So let's all play along and here are the bullet points of things that have gone on since May that I need to tell you about and haven't (ETA: Now a numbered list with pictures!  Everyone has been doing that Flickr montage and while I wanted to do it too [and still may] at least you now get a numbered list with visual interest!):

1. Lost my appetite completely and with no warning; lost about 14 pounds in two months*
2. Spent a week and a half on vacation in Los Angeles - the first half by myself completely, and the second half surrounded by a whole host of interesting characters doing interesting things at interesting places
3. Quit eating fast food completely
4. Got the Death Flu but it only lasted two days, one of which was handily the date of the biggest event of the summer for my boutique, so that was fun
5. Went back to Los Angeles for work and ended up doing about two weeks worth of social stuff in three days time
6. Quit eating sugar almost completely
7. Met a girl while in LA who is from a tiny East Texas town about 35 miles from where I live - we knew many of the same people and remarked on how strangely small the world can be
8. Cody's dad started having major neck/spine issues, which quickly deteriorated to the point where he was partially paralyzed on the right side, leading everyone to completely freak out and him to get scheduled for emergency spinal surgery, which he had yesterday (7/1/08)
9. Cody's grandpa (his dad's dad) went into the SAME hospital on the SAME night as Cody's dad, because Grandpa BROKE HIS NECK - the neurologist got confused and saw the wrong patient because there were two Mr. Carters in the same hospital on the same night in for largely the same reason - felt like I was living in the Twilight Zone
10. Have become somewhat the main go-to person for Cody's grandpa because obviously Cody's mom and dad have been SOMEWHAT DISTRACTED, what with the partial paralysis and emergency spinal surgery and all
11. Quit eating most processed foods completely
12. Saw Alison Sweeney (Sami from Days of Our Lives, for the non-soap opera crowd) walking to her car and made fun of her because she was all dressed up and from a distance she looked like a teenager going to prom. At 4 in the afternoon on a Friday.  Then I saw who it actually was and thought "oh good, she isn't a skinny little stick!" She looks normal
13. Went to a Death Cab for Cutie concert randomly; it was weird
14. Went on several hikes
15. Missed my friends at home while I was gone; wished that I could intermingle my worlds - move my house and friends out to a big city or move the city here
16. Became hopelessly and totally re-addicted to chips and salsa.  Weight loss of past two months is being reversed almost solely by the power of corn and tomatoes
17. Went out to a whole host of places in and around Los Angeles; some uber trendy, some kind of underground, some in between
18. Have learned an awful lot about neck braces, how they work, and how they DON'T work
19. Have consumed my weight x3 in green tea
20. Celebrated Cody's birthday with a really fun night of live music outside IN MY HOMETOWN, can you believe it?  Because I can't
21. Hosted three (THREE) baby showers
22. Have done yoga almost every day
23. Went to a "recycled" clothing store in Studio City with my sister-in-law and came away with three pairs of high-end shoes, two shirts, a pair of linen trousers, and a pair of straight-leg designer jeans and spent less than $150.  Wow
24. Figured out that my dog ate half a square of Baker's Chocolate, had a mild freak out and then realized it would be yet another item to add to my Vet Bills Spreadsheet - watch out, OPH! (And RA - are you proud of me for having a spreadsheet?)
25. Watched helplessly as my house (both outside and now in) has become inundated with tiny ants - have been plotting and will wage Ant War Strike I this evening
26. Have been doing about 18 loads of laundry and (#27) cleaning house to get ready for our annual 4th of July lake extravaganza where any and everyone we know comes to town to hang out, float in the lake, (#28) drink adult beverages, play volleyball, mess around on boats and jetskis, and have an all around awesome (#29) Texas lake celebration. Come!
27. (Actually #30 - THANKS FOR NOTHING, AUTOFORMAT) Got to see my best friend and her brand new baby girl on the day she gave birth.  So sweet

Want to know details about any of the above?  Let me know in the comments!  I'll be happy to spin a long, rambling tale about any of those events.  Had your fill?  That's fine too - just enjoy the pictures because that montage took FOREVER.  What is with people "not subscribing" to the Flickr mosaic maker?  DON'T THEY KNOW HOW LONG I SEARCHED FOR THAT PICTURE?

*I wish I could take credit for some incredible measure of self-control I used to quit the sugar, fast food, etc.  Unfortunately for me, I have no such self-control and the only reason I was able to get out of those bad eating habits was because I had already lost my appetite and therefore felt no desire to eat ANYTHING, including my beloved fast food.  Once you get out of the habit it's not so hard, and so thanks to extreme amounts of stress, I have become a healthier eater.  I should write a dieting book.  It could be alternately titled "How To Develop An Eating Disorder".

Car Lots, Books, And Music (The Trifecta)

So, the other day while I was in LA, I lost my car downtown and got stranded on a rooftop parking lot for the entire night.  Well, almost.

I have parked in this particular lot many times before, and have never had any problems with it.  It's close to where I work, easy to see from street level (helps with my abysmal sense of direction), and stays open late.  On this particular Monday, the parking attendant took my five bucks when I pulled up, gave me a parking stub, and told me they would be open until 6pm.  Standard procedure.  I grabbed my stuff and said adios, heading out into the wilds of the Los Angeles Fashion District.

A little before 5:30pm, after I had finished working and also managed to convince myself into buying a big, white watch (my friend said, after I finally made the purchase, that he had never seen anyone get buyer's remorse WHILST buying the item), I started heading back to my car.  I easily located my particular rooftop parking structure and took the (unbelievably slow) elevator (that always smells EXACTLY like pee) up to the fourth floor and got out to find the parking attendant.  No dice.

I figured he might be down taking a smoke break or something (although I'm not sure why you would have to get off the roof to do such a thing), and that he'd probably be back fairly quickly.  Plus, anyone who's ever driven much in LA knows that leaving downtown to go anywhere around 6pm is going to be a long, slow process.  So I wasn't in a huge hurry.  However, as I waited, I kept seeing other patrons of this car lot walk out of the elevator with car keys in hand, open their cars, and drive off.  How were they getting the keys?  Where was the magic key guy, handing out keys?  I certainly never saw him.  Was he in the Pee Elevator?  I finally flagged down one of the happily be-keyed drivers to ask him what was up. 

Here's a rundown of that conversation:

Me:  "Excuse me, sir?  Umm, sir?  Sorry...I just...umm, I can't find the parking attendant, and I saw you had your keys...where did you get them?  Is the guy downstairs?"

Him:  "....."

Me:  "I mean, you know.  Your KEYS?  Did someone down there give you your keys?  THE KEYS, WHERE DID YOU GET THEM?"

Him (shrugging):  "ehhhh....I not know?"

Me:  "of COURSE you don't speak English, okay, whatever, whatever."

I am, at this point, getting more than a little concerned about my car.  I decide that probably the best plan of action is walking frantically around the top of the building, looking everywhere for signs of parking attendant life, and appearing (I'm sure) insane.  Finally someone who looks like he MIGHT work for somebody around there walks up, and I nearly jump on him.

Me:  "THEKEYS,OMG,WHEREISTHEGUYWITHTHEKEYS, (breath) ICAN'TFINDHIMANDWHEREISHE?"

Him:  "....keys?"

Me:  "YES.  The keys to my car?  It's right there?  And I have to leave?  And I have no keys?  And the parking lot guy, he isn't up here?"  For some reason when I get upset, I end everything with an upward inflection.  It's totally involuntary, and I hate it because I KNOW it does nothing but immediately label me as Crazed Emotional Woman.  Frustrating.

Him:  "Ahhh....yeeees....I think he is left.  I think he is left, ehhh...around 5 or 5:30?"

Me:  "No.  No, that can't be true, because he TOLD me 6pm; it's always 6pm, and it's NOT 6PM."

Him (shrugging):  "Huh.  I don't know.  Maybe you check on third floor?"

Me:  "Why?  What is on the third floor?  What am I looking for?  Wait!"

Him (walking away):  "Good luck!"

These two conversations very neatly sum up my view on Los Angeles, which is something I get asked about a lot since I'm out there at least half of my life these days.  Do I like it?  Do I hate it?  Is it all superficial and golden bronzed and beautiful on the surface?  Underneath is it crime-ridden and totally scary?  Sure, I guess it's all of those things, in some measure.  But what it really is is apathetic.  That's the one and only word I've ever come up with that succinctly and accurately describes Los Angeles, in its entirety.  Apathetic.  No one cares about you, and they don't even have the heart to make that a mean thing.  They just really don't care.  If you're doing great, well, that's great for you.  Whatever.  If you're doing badly, say you're stuck on a rooftop, alone, in downtown LA, with no appreciable escape plan, well, too bad.  Best of luck.  Whatever.  Now of course both of my brothers and several of my good friends live in and around LA, and so OBVIOUSLY the apathy thing is a generalization of the greater population, and not a personal indictment on each and every Los Angelean.  So don't get all up in arms about how you live there and you are the OPPOSITE of apathetic and how dare I.  I'm sure you're a lovely person, and I do wish you would have been on the roof with me this past Monday.  But you weren't!  On with the story.

So after the exceptionally helpful advice from the even more helpful man, I ran down to the third floor, and started looking around.  Of course there was nothing but closed office doors and...well, that was all. Lots of closed and locked office doors.  I ran back up to the fourth floor, thinking how frustrating it would be to miss the freaking parking attendant while I was running a wild goose chase across the third floor (again, SUCH helpful advice!) and to my disappointment, no one was there. 

At this point, I seriously started considering my options.  Would I call someone?  It would take any person I knew out there at least an hour or two to get to me, and what would I do in the meantime?  I could call a taxi, but at rush hour, that would possibly cost me more than chartering a helicopter to do a rooftop pickup.  Either way, leaving my car up there meant that I would have to A) return downtown the next morning during normal business hours to pick my car up, B) force the unhappy friend/family member to give me a ride back downtown the next morning OR pay the taxi/helicopter the rest of my life savings to do so and C) absolutely miss both my car rental drop-off time (thus ensuring another full day's cost) AND my flight.  So.  I was unhappy.  And really, I kind of started Freaking Out.  And when I say Freaking Out, I mean my version of such, which involves a lot less crying and lot more...furiousness?   I mean, how DARE the parking attendant just leave?  What in the world?  Who DOES that?  What am I supposed to do?  And it STILL wasn't after 6pm!

I stalked around angrily until I had the bright idea to walk down the parking ramp and see if I ran into anyone on my way.  Around level two, I saw an empty parking attendant cage, but upon closer inspection saw that a man, wearing an employee shirt, was sitting in a parked van nearby.  I walked (with purpose!) up to the van and demanded to know where my keys were.  Sure, I realized that he had no idea who I was or what I was talking about, but I am pleased to report that I apparently had SO much purpose in my voice, that the poor man jumped out of his van, walked over to the lockbox, opened it, and handed me a set of keys.  The only problem was, they weren't keys to my car.  In fact, they were keys to a much, MUCH nicer car, a car parked on level two, which I guess is corporate parking or something.  Anyway, after a second of moral relativism (hmm, what could I do with this car?) I informed Parking Lot Man that those were NOT my keys, and that I needed MY keys, immediately.  He didn't seem to understand me (again, with the no English), and kept pushing the other keys at me, as if to say "here, crazy!  Keys!  Take the keys!  Leave me be!"  But I wasn't having any of it.  I dragged Parking Lot Man all the way up to level four, pointed at my car, and said "KEYS.  I NEED KEYS TO THAT CAR".  And after a series of phone calls, all in rapid Spanish, another parking attendant came back to the lot and gave me my keys.  Not to worry though, he hadn't "left" as in "left downtown".  He had only "left the premises, to go to the other lot".  OH GOOD, BECAUSE THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE TO ME, THE ONE WITH NO KEYS.  Leaving is leaving.  And had he not been summoned by Scared Parking Lot Man, he wouldn't have come back until the next morning.  Again, with the apathy.  Too bad for me!  He had to go to the other lot.

Ugh.

So, let's segue.  I need book suggestions, stat.  I am out of good books and I am in a definite reading mood and yet I have nothing that I know of that I must read.  Note:  I don't think I am up for something REALLY deep and soul-searching.  I mean, kind of deep is okay.  Like I could handle some death and depression, but nothing where I feel like I must immediately go to Darfur and what about my carbon footprint and how dare I be such a horrible human.  I'm not really ready for that at the moment. 

And, if you don't have a great book suggestion (or even if you do), then how about a song suggestion?  I have been totally loving all the mixes that have been passed around the ol' Interwebs these days, and stemming from a fun email conversation I had yesterday with Tiff, thought it would be awesome if everyone could just give me one song that they feel I must listen to immediately, right now.  Your mantra song of the moment, if you will.  I'd absolutely love to listen to the suggestions.  And bonus points if you want to tell me WHY it's your mantra right now. 

So, there you go.  You guys get a long, rambling story about how I almost lost my car in downtown LA, and in return I get awesome book and music suggestions.  Sounds about right, doesn't it?

The Mix Tape To End All Mix Tapes

Well, a mix tape.

I'd love to just throw the songs up here and say enjoy, oh and also please comment on how awesome the songs are and how even more awesome I am for selecting them, but instead I have to give a short explanation for WHY these songs qualify in the category of Memories Frozen in Time.  I even asked Tiff, who spearheaded this particular Internet mix tape thing, if I really had to give the memory-laden explanation.  What if the song in question reminds me of puking?  Or of the first time I got my period?  I mean, do my readers really want to know about that?  What about my brothers?  But Tiff would not relent; she said I absolutely had to explain why the songs mean something to me, and also that she didn't want to hear any more lip about it.  Luckily, in her infinite grace, Tiff told me that I could use revisionist history if need be (also, if you're easily bored you can just scroll down to the bottom where all the songs are listed). 

So without further ado, allow me to present my mix tape:

Memories Frozen in Time

1. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
All I have to hear is the first kazoo whistle in this song and I am immediately transported back to Texas Tech Fashion Design, junior year, Spring semester, Flat Pattern II.  I spent so many hours sprawled out on my (tiny) living room floor in my (tiny) apartment with half-constructed pattern paper, muslin, and various cutting/measuring tools strewn around me, listening to Highway 61 Revisited (the album) over and over.  And over.  And over!

2.  Coldplay - Amsterdam
I dated this one guy for a long time.  He never really liked me as much as I liked him, or vice-versa, always at opposite times.  I used to drive to visit him, and lots of times the route I chose took me through these gorgeous caprock canyons, right in the heart of West Texas.  I would listen to this song as loud as I could crank it, because it was just so beautiful.

3.  Dixie Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away
My first couple of years in college, I had these two best friends who eventually broke my heart into one million pieces (don't worry, there's a song about that, too!).  Anyway, before all that happened, one of them and I would drive to Waco to watch baseball games, or just to anywhere we felt like, for any reason we could think up.  We listened to this song a lot, and I still can't listen to it without remembering riding shotgun in her black Isuzu Rodeo.

4.  Fiona Apple - Get Gone
Ooh, this is a woman power song.  Well, maybe it isn't actually, but it was for me.  This was my senior year of college, still at Texas Tech, broken up with boy from song #2, and kind of in that bitter/angry/triumphant stage.  Does it go without saying that I would sing along as loudly as possible?  I think so.

5.  Guns N' Roses - Patience
This one has two strong memories for me, and both are good.  The first is from junior high summer camp, where one of the boys who worked in the kitchen played this song for me on the very last night of camp, on his guitar, while we sat under the stars at White Sands, New Mexico.  I think I was 13 years old.  It was very romantical.  The second memory is much more recent, from a night spent karaokeing when I lived in Las Colinas, and our friend Derrick sang this song and BROUGHT THE FREAKING HOUSE DOWN.  Seriously, he was so good it was kind of incredible.  Also, right after that Cody left and got rear-ended by an illegal immigrant outside of a Tejano strip club.  While he was driving my mom's new car.  Yay!

6.  John Mayer - Split Screen Sadness
A breakup.  A long distance breakup, that took too long to happen.  Obviously.

7.  Josh Kelley - Special Company
This barely qualifies as a memory, since it reminds me specifically and strongly of The Rock Boat, which we just went on this past January.  Josh Kelley was one of the artists on board, and although I wasn't surprised at how good he was, having already been a fan, I was surprised at how cool he turned out to be.  And no, Katherine Heigl wasn't on board.  Because I know you'll ask.

8.  Lee Ann Womack - I Know Why The River Runs
Okay, this is the girlfriends-broke-my-heart song.   I won't go into all the details in this short format, but suffice it to say I spent the better part of a semester in my room, alone (because they had moved out - surprise!), listening to this song on repeat.  I know it's about a guy, but in my experience, girls can hurt you SO much worse.  You kind of half-way expect it from a guy, but I never expected it from my girlfriends.  What can I say, I was naive.

9.  Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
Muse is my second favorite band ever and this song reminds me of rocking out.  Yep, that's pretty much it.  Just rocking out, hardcore.  Because that's how I do it.  I dare you to not rock out to this song.  It can't be done.

10.  Radiohead - My Iron Lung
Speaking of favorite bands, Radiohead is my number one favorite for sure.  This song reminds me of lots of things: a 2001 New Year's Eve party in Frankfurt, Germany, my friend Heather Dalton (hi Heather, if you ever read this!) from Texas Tech (specifically a memory of going to watch that Adam Sandler movie 'Punch-Drunk Love'), and meeting my friend Kyle Lent, a rockstar fellow I bonded with almost solely through our mutual adoration for Radiohead and Sigur Ros.  Hi, Kyle!  Wow, was that random enough?  And probably boring?  Yeah.  At least it didn't have anything to do with unrequited love or ex-boyfriends.

11.  Red Hot  Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)
Have you ever listened to a song and thought "oh my gosh, my whole life is about to change, and somehow I feel this song is directly related"?  Well, I have, and I thought that about this song specifically, in or around June 2006.  I kept waiting for this major life changing event to occur, because I was just certain that this song would be the harbinger.  Alas, nothing huge happened, and although I could cheat now, nearly two years later, and list all the things that have changed between '06 and '08, it wasn't anything earth-shattering.  Doesn't stop me from remembering Summer '06 every time I hear that opening guitar riff, though.

12.  Wyclef Jean - We Trying To Stay Alive
This reminds me of my old friend Paige Smith, pure and simple.  We used to bring her jambox (ahh, high school) and blast this song full volume as we danced around her hot tub in our swimsuits.  She would rap one verse and I would get the next and we would always argue over who got to sing "Johnny's chillin'/ Dirty guy's dealin'/What more can I say, we livin'"

13.  Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
Definitely, definitely my last year at Texas Tech, free of all boyfriend-related encumbrances, driving to the airport to visit my brothers and friends in California.  I felt like the world was my oyster and Bjork captured my thoughts exactly with her "I don't know my future/After this weekend/And I don't want to"

14.  Van Morrison - I'll Be Your Lover Too
This song doesn't really remind me of anything except the movie I originally heard it in, 'Moonlight Mile' - a great flick and one I would definitely recommend if you haven't seen it already.  Anyway, all that I could think when I first heard the song is what a freaking great makeout song it would be, and I have been secretly plotting to use it for my own devices soon.  Feel free to follow suit and do let me know how your makeout session turns out.  If the feel of the song is any indication, it's gonna be AWESOME.

And the compiled list, sans wordiness:

1. Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

2.  Coldplay - Amsterdam

3.  Dixie Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away

4.  Fiona Apple - Get Gone

5.  Guns N' Roses - Patience

6.  John Mayer - Split Screen Sadness

7.  Josh Kelley - Special Company

8.  Lee Ann Womack - I Know Why The River Runs

9.  Muse - Supermassive Black Hole

10.  Radiohead - My Iron Lung

11.  Red Hot  Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)

12.  Wyclef Jean - We Trying To Stay Alive

13.  Bjork - Big Time Sensuality

14.  Van Morrison - I'll Be Your Lover Too

Peace

It could be the unnamable but unmistakably familiar aroma you smell right as you open your front door after a long day away from home.  It could be the high note in a song you've never heard but somehow remember.  It could be the little rush of endorphins that assault your senses as you decide that you will buy the new Charles David patent leather, pointy toe, sling back pump with a raised satin heel cup and pleating detail, and what could possibly be too hard to face in those shoes?

Sometimes it's nothing but the thought, however fleeting, that someday, you will be able to sit at the corner table in a coffee shop with nothing to do but read and sip.  And you remember how you felt the last time you had that pleasure.  Sometimes it's the smooth feel of the remote control in your hand with three good shows Tivoed and a bowl of warm popcorn in your lap.

Maybe particularly poignant lyrics, the kind that make you want to smile and cry at the same time, are what brings it on.  Maybe it's nothing more than knowing that at the end of the day, no matter what else went wrong, your dog will still love you.

I think it has something to do with the thought of laying my troubles down, and having something left once they are gone.  Knowing that if everything hard, everything bad, was removed from my life, even if it was just for a few seconds, I would still be there, and for those fleeting moments, peace would be the only thing I knew.

The Baton

This was passed on to me by a friend and although I normally don't take part in chain anything, I thought this one was pretty interesting. If anything, it ought to provide a little more music for the masses. Besides, who can say no to Regan?

Total volume of music on my computer:
14.18 Gb (2940 songs)

The last CD I bought:
Actual CD: Velvet Revolver "Contraband"
Digital CD: Sufjan Stevens "A Sun Came" or Tom McRae "Like Blood"

Song playing right now:
"Lyla" Oasis

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
"Obsession", Delirious
"So Are You to Me", Eastmountainsouth
"Untitled 8", Sigur Ros
"Suite Judy Blue Eyes", Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
"Two Step" Dave Matthews Band

... and SOOOO many others. Way too hard to narrow that down to 5.

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:
Allison Sellers
Rebecca Not-Boyd-Anymore :)
Heather Dalton
Megan Henry
Sara Blincoe

Verdict:

I am too competitive. I always want to be The Best at everything I do, and then when I find out (gasp) that I'm not, I get all pouty and stomp my foot on the ground and squinch up my nose and eyebrows and cross my arms and frown and tell everyone that I don't care!! about whatever it is that someone else just succeeded so fabulously at. But I really do, I really care a WHOLE LOT. It's so silly; I should just enjoy what I enjoy, and enjoy it for that in and of itself. Maybe I'm going to work on that. Or maybe I'll just pick something to be good at that NO ONE ELSE HAS INVENTED YET. That'll teach everyone.

Ok, now to the Oh So Much More Important part of this post. Delurkers, delurk!! I need your help. I am sick and tired of all my music. I used to be so Awesome and Cutting Edge that I would offer music ideas to people, just knowing that there was little to no chance they would have ever heard of the band, that they would then listen to said band, love them, and attribute all the genius to ME. But now I am Uncool, and SO NOT Cutting Edge, and I need suggestions. Tell me bands you love, music you just discovered or have grown up listening to, music that makes you happy, music that makes you think, music that makes you just sit in awe, wondering how anything could be so beautiful. As I know you have at least one band you love with all your heart, how can you resist the invitation to share them?

Parkening, Christopher

Ok. Christopher Parkening. Coming to Lubbock. For a free concert. I'm not sure how this miracle has occurred, but you can bet that I am going to take full advantage of it.

Wednesday night, 7pm, First Baptist. Anyone with me?