Chicago: The Dark Side of the Moon

Maddie's doing laundry and playing Katamari, I'm just killing time before bed.

good-night jordan & maddie!

Amanda, how was Bob?

Oh well. OH WELL.

Amanda, how was Bob? Tell me every little thing.

I would like to announce that I have FOUND MY MOJO. Yesterday I felt like a walking human bruise, but today the cold air did something to me. I'm fine. Happy, even. And motivated. Motivated? Yup.

I don't know of anything happening over Thanksgiving weekend except what's going on in my house: doing a ton of homework and cooking and relaxing.

I'm glad you're in a good mood, Amanda. I still am. Recording last night was a lot of fun and we get to do some more on Sunday. BOO YA! I came up with a beautiful xylophone part that didn't make the cut, but I didn't get upset about it. I went with the flow.

I was really hoping it would at least flurry this morning. Maybe it still could?

Have you ever felt the urge to eat a stick? A dry leaf with some honey on it? If so, try Kashi Good Friends cereal. If you eat it dry, it tastes just like that.

I wonder what's going on this year that's making us all kind of chipper even in the face of short days and cold weather.

Bingo, What will you be serving at your housewarming party? Are the grilling days gone?

I would be happy to switch to Eno titles, but I think maybe we should choose interstellar space names, like brown dwarf and cygnus loop. Or not. I like space names.

i also dl that Lovemakers cd you had talked about before, i like it.

Did I talk about the Lovemakers here, Chris, or do you read my blog? I'm glad you like it. I still need to get my hands on one. I might buy it at their next Chicago show in early December. Had you heard any of their songs before? Because I could have sworn I recognized one of them.

Plants and Animals

We're Plants and Animals 'cause we make music that's honest like a dog drinking water or a tree falling on a car and we do it with nothing but two guitars and a drum kit so we're not trying to fool anyone.

prick up your ears and pay attention to these meandering ruminations which form the perfect soundtrack to removing seeds and stems from your goodie bag...beautifully nondescript, yet evocatively romantic and relaxing ... Acoustically-based, yet softly propelled by a repetitive, gentle cymbal clash, it's perfect for a stroll in the park in a warm, summer rain or lying on your back in a tall field of wet grass, watching huge, grey, cumulous clouds carry your thoughts over the horizon. (Fake Jazz)

with haunting strings, driving acoustic guitar, heavy drums and a buoyant mood, maybe similar to walking around one’s yard barefoot.... Plants and Animals charm and inspire through their summery moods. (Exclaim!)

Think of one of the better days of your life, one of those it's-the-little-things times. Find a roof or a hill that overlooks your favorite view at sunset or sunrise, and spend some time reliving this event in your mind. That experience might compare to listening to Plants and Animals. (Splendid Magazine)

I am ignoring the BIG ILX CRISIS, because in the time that I've been posting here it seems like there's one every six months or so and the best thing to do is to just let it pass in the night.

WINTER.

NOTE TO SELF: GLOVES, PLZ. Handlebars are METAL.

My mind is blown.

http://www.bikewinter.org/main.php

(the cats peed on my old ones)

Cold weather is when my body temp as powered by exertion can cool fast enough to be comfortable.

No goggles today, but I may fetch my ski goggles when I go home for Thanks. Although, shop gogs are cheaper and just as effective.

FUN!@

haha "the daily show." I bet conservatives perk right up and pay attention when they hear that.

Also, I am ridiculously sleepy, and cannot sleep.

Also, it is extraordinarily cold outside, considering it's November. This is a January night.

http://giganticmag.com/images/ilx/jammies.jpg

[Cue Canadians telling me that I'm a pussy.]

http://giganticmag.com/images/ilx/05.11.25.jpg

Jeff burned me 5 DVDs of music but apparently they aren't going to work on my laptop. Why do I always forget that my laptop can't read data files off of DVD-Rs?

I'm also eating a little piece of leftover butternut squash lasagna and it's very good cold. I also want a big after thanksgiving breakfast but who knows when Jeff will wake up.

Also this: Luckily, my dad's entire side of the family is made up of liberals, and every other sentence began, "Well, did you see that piece in the Times where..." or "Did you hear on NPR that..." or "Did anyone see that bit on The Daily Show..."

Sounds like bliss. Whereas my stepfather's side of the family still, right now, despite everything, think GWBush was completely and totally right. About everything.

once in a while i'll mention something from npr that's entertaining or interesting but not political, and there's always a whole commentary from them about how that station is full of whiny bullshit. whatever.

for my parents' visit today, i have something for dad to help me out with, so he can take out his swiss army knife and play with assembling stuff, so he can be entertained and my mom and i can talk about...um. hair or clothes or something safe.

Right! My mom talks about how she was so angry when NPR started questioning the war in Iraq and only talking about the "bad side," she wrote them a letter to let them know that she would not longer be supporting public radio. When I suggested that they were only talking about the "bad side" because there was no "good side," I nearly got disowned.

Most arguments go like this:

Me: Assertion.
Stepfather: Disbelief.
Me: Support for assertion.
SF: Demand for source.
Me: Provide source that, having played this game, I know is reputable.
SF: Denouncement of source as "liberal media" and therefore untrustworthy.

and you know,that ann coulter book may seem extreme, but look at all the footnotes! it's so well and thoroughly researched!

my sister and brother in law have gotten to where they're daring enough to bring up politics with my mom and dad. it's kind of entertaining to watch them argue, but waaaaay too tiring.

Oh my god! Gross!

....I think I totally embarassed myself in front of the fam last night. Thank god they're all out of the house right now. Yeeks.

Awww. I loved that chocolate smell.

Why did I go to bed at 6 AM last night?

Books I checked out, in case you're wondering:
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (not expecting to make through all of this but thought it looked interesting)
A biography of Rasputin (ditto)
Some book about Arctic exploration, endorsed by Jon Krakauer, which is enough for me
Civilwarland by George Saunders
The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julien Rubinstein
and Barvard's Folly by Paul Collins, which is the one I'm reading now and enjoying a lot - short pieces on people who were famous at their time but are unknown now, usually because they were revealed to be frauds or liars or just incompetent

House of Leaves IS interesting, but I didn't make it through either. Partly because I'm not a "skimmer" and forcing myself to read the all the made-up academic footnotes drove me crazy.

I am never going again, because it is cold. If I were going to go to a show or something tonight I would go see Man Man at Subterranean because I heard their cd in Reckless and it sounded pretty cool. But hi, Phil!

...I read the titular essay in the very first issue of McSweeney's (or maybe the third). Outstanding, especially because at the time I thought it was a work of fiction.

I recorded a song, because I was bored. It's inspired by "Regulate" by Warren G and other west coast rap. You can freestyle over it if you want:

http://s27.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2V355X03OG6ZV01X96U523VRVI

I've never yousent anything before, I hope I did it right.

I did another one, because I am bored and lonely. This one is shorter (about 2 minutes), has vocals, is essentially a rip-off of more upbeat Smog, and is called "Bird-Eyed Dog."

http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0WHN0EBQH5WWC3B0Y8B0OHX6XM

J'ai vu "Bon Soir et Bonne Chance" etc., etc.

my mind is
a big hunk of irrevocable nothing which touch and taste and smell
and hearing and sight keep hitting and chipping with sharp fatal
tools
in an agony of sensual chisels i perform squirms of chrome and ex
-ecute strides of cobalt
nevertheless i
feel that i cleverly am being altered that i slightly am becoming
something a little different, in fact
myself
Hereupon helpless i utter lilac shrieks and scarlet bellowings.