Here is a list of songs I found myself listening to quite a bit while in England and Scotland this past summer.
Best Coast – Storms (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Florence + the Machine – Shake It Out
Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
The XX – Intro
Bassnectar – Butterfly
Florence + the Machine – Spectrum
Chelsea Wolfe – Tracks (Tall Bodies)
John Renbourn – The Moon Shines Bright
The XX – Shelter
Skrillex & Damian “Jr Gong” Marley – Make It Bun Dem
(i’ve italicized the ones i especially liked)
alice i have been – melanie benjamin
the complete maus – art spiegelman
if i am missing or dead – janine latus
never cry wolf – farley mowat
the lover’s dictionary – david levithan
landscape with dog – ersi sotiropoulos
the realm of possibility – david levithan
the girl who kicked the hornet’s nest – stieg larsson
luna – julie anne peters
fun home – alison bechdel
water for elephants – sara gruen
lost tales of ga’hoole – kathryn lasky
the dovekeepers – alice hoffman
the hunger games – suzanne collins
stacked – susan seligson
dress your family in corduroy and denim – david sedaris
atonement – ian mcewan
the red necklace – sally gardner
one of those hideous books where the mother dies – sonya sones
catching fire – suzanne collins
mockingjay – suzanne collins
full frontal feminism – jessica valenti
the boy who was raised as a dog – bruce d. perry
frankenstein – mary shelley
the night circus – erin morgenstern
a separate peace – john knowles
the housekeeper and the professor – yoko ogawa
selecting & appraising archives & manuscripts – frank boles
cutting for stone – abraham verghese
when she woke – hillary jordan
the long goodbye – meghan o’rourke
the joy luck club – amy tan
the thousand autumns of jacob de zoet – david mitchell
the ultimates volume 1: super human – mark millar
gone girl – gillian flynn
storm of swords – george r. r. martin
dog years – mark doty
the ultimates volume 2: homeland security – mark millar
wuthering heights – emily bronte
iodine – haven kimmel
chains – laurie halse anderson
gorillas in the mist – dian fossey
marcelo in the real world – francisco x. stork
lord of the flies – william golding
a feast for crows – george r. r. martin
a dance with dragons – george r. r. martin
the third angel – alice hoffman
songspinners – sarah ash
never let me go – kazuo ishiguro
other women – evelyn lau
the sense of an ending – julian barnes
pink smog – francesca lia block
the newlyweds – nell freudenberger
the red garden – alice hoffman
the moon and sixpence – somerset w. maugham
I feel like my last few posts have been depressing, and I’m really not a debbie downer, I promise. I laugh constantly and try not to take myself too seriously. so, here are some (relatively short) videos that I find humorous and would like to share with the world. or the 5 people who look at this post.
1. Pretty sure I was crying the first time I saw this:
2. And also when I saw this:
3. Two 5-second films about Cinco de Mayo:
“Don’t Thinko de Mayo / Don’t Sinko into de Struction
4. Short summary of New Moon:
5. Arguably one of the best songs ever written. You’ll either love it or hate it:
6. This is real. My friend bought the CD and it is just phenomenal:
7. Three of my favorite men:
“A Vodka Movie by Zach Galifianakis, Tim Heidecker, and Eric Wareheim”
8. I saw the referenced episode of Star Trek after seeing this movie and it was wonderful:
The Cable Guy Medieval Times Scene
9. This is never not funny:
Monty Python & the Holy Grail Running Scene
10. One of the many excellent G.I. Joe voiceovers:
11. Steve Brule from Tim & Eric:
“Living: with Dr. Steve Brule”
12. And of course I have to include more Tim & Eric:
13. Lumpy Space Princess is probably the best character on Adventure Time:
There’s a whole lot more where that came from. I’m sort of the queen of the internet.
There’s a lot going on right now. I’m supposed to be writing a paper, due Saturday morning, but I cannot concentrate. My brain will not stop. I have a lot of stress to work off, so I’ve drawn something, by hand, which is rare. Can’t remember the last time I did this. It’s nothing fantastic, but I really wanted to draw something that describes my state of mind. I’d like to redraw it, because I feel that the emotion needs to be amplified (by about ten times.)
this is a self-portrait – i’d like to add some more definition to the hair.
this one…. i don’t really have a good explanation. but “it’s not so simple (but it really is)” is from a poem i wrote. i’d like to make the outline more detailed, etc. click on image for full-size.
1.
doing my best to stretch you
out
and over
months
over miles
over mountains.
2.
i’ve been looking for the phrase
the vowels and consonants, the songs of letters
constructed to be effective without fail
to change your mind.
Here is a compilation of some of the best (worst) messages I’ve received on OkCupid, along with commentary (in italics.)
Subject: BRIAN
Message: LOVE YOUR PROFILE VERY INTERSTED IN YOU
This may be my favorite message of all time. He’s yelling. He’s yelling his name at me in the subject line. And he’s yelling an incorrectly spelled word.
Message: Hello my name is don and I’m what your looking for
I’m going to risk sounding racist, but Don is a large black man with braids. … Am I what he’s looking for? This is my profile picture:
Subject: boo!
Message: I couldn’t help noticing you… stearing at me… haha 🙂
…Was I staring at you? Or, I’m sorry, stearing. I’ll have to stop doing that.
The following exchange is in reference to a photo in which my chinchilla is sitting on my shoulder. I realize that plenty of people aren’t familiar with chinchillas, but his lengthy tail is visible. Do rabbits generally have long tails?
Him: Im going to fight that rabbit!!! Why is it looking so hard at me!?!?!?!?
Me: probably because it isn’t a rabbit at all!
Him: oh shit well….. you can fight me than for such a blasphemous statement.
Me: or you can just guess what it is?
Him: my boy google has my back!!! I know what it is if it proves not to be a rabbit, must be one of those crazy tree rabbits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Twenty – count ‘em – twenty exclamation points.
Message: You have a interesting profile, full of interesting facts…and you are super sexyu looking.
I feel like SUPER SEXYU is something someone would shout while punching a fist into the air in a stereotypical Japanese commercial.
Message: I would walk back to Chicago then let a blind epileptic man shave my entire body with a hunter’s knife just to share a deep dish pizza with you.
This speaks for itself.
Message: Hey there. I’m in aurora too. Kinda bored and feel like tattooing. If ur interested in hanging out and doing some art let me know. Cute profile btw. Danny (phone number).
Kinda bored and feel like tattooing. ..what?
Him: would you fuck for 100?
Me: 100… dollars? pop tarts?
Him: pop tarts. i can also bake pumpkin bread for you.
I couldn’t resist.
Message: cute pics girl….want to chat…i am looking for some new friends…
…says a man who only has photos of his crotch.
in women’s underwear.
Two messages from the same person sent within a week:
Message: Christ youre sexy
Message: Crap youre gorgeous
WHAT WILL HE SAY NEXT?!
Message: Do you like thunderstorms? i like to lay down and relax and think when it thunderstorms actually helps me fall asleep unless the power goes out 😦
THE END.
(For now.)
i’ve been reading “full frontal feminism” by jessica valenti, and stewing about all sorts of women’s rights issues. i may write one or two posts focusing on specific problems that really grind my gears (thanks, peter griffin.)
also, i promise i will put up the second part of my okcupid entry. because of course, that’s the best part.
ALSO, it’d be great if i could find a job. i’ve been informed that my level of education could be getting in the way (overqualified for the jobs to which i’m applying, which is just great.)
the end!
Online dating. I’ve been doing it on and off for years.
When I tell people this fact, they generally react in one of two ways. One: “Oh, really? That’s… cool.” Polite smile. Two: “You? But you’re normal and not unattractive.”
Yes, I have social skills. I am intelligent, passionate, and funny (or so I’d like to think.) I am doe-eyed and possess a decent pair of legs. But I’m not keen on meeting men in bars or clubs – and I rarely go to bars or clubs. My graduate program, Library & Information Science, is made up of roughly 95% women and gay men. Serving at Chili’s for two years didn’t yield any results in the love department. Granted, I was required to wear a large men’s black polo shirt (which, frankly, gave no indication of my gender) tucked into jeans and topped off with hideous “restaurant shoes.” I did discover a phone number scribbled on a receipt here and there, but I didn’t exactly have men fighting for my affections.
These factors as well as others of a similar nature have led me to online dating. Don’t get me wrong – I want to meet men in “real life” to date, and have done so. I’ve also never been and never will be the type of person that needs to always be in a relationship. But I’d like to eventually “settle down,” and if I’m not being exposed to a flow of eligible bachelors, I could use a little help.
Okcupid is my site of choice (mostly because it’s free.) Over the course of about 5 years, I’ve had three boyfriends from the site, and several dates besides. It takes a great deal of time and patience to sift through the seemingly endless number of potential matches. But overall, I’d say my experience has been positive. No one I’ve dated “from the internet” is any more screwed up than anyone I’ve dated “from real life.” That’s not to say there aren’t loads, heaps, scores! of strange men on Okcupid. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the women on Okcupid are, as a whole, less creepy and less socially inept than the men.
Which leads me to my next entry, where I shall give examples of some great messages, usernames, and profiles I’ve encountered. By great I mean humorous/wtf?.
STAY TUNED. (I know you’re on the edge of your seat, dear reader.)
Because I’ve recently lost several pounds, I’ve been thinking about the statement:
“I’ve always struggled with my weight.”
What does that mean, exactly? Does it mean that I’ve had a difficult time maintaining a desirable weight for most of my life? That I’ve lost and gained the same 20 pounds countless times? It could mean these things. But I think it’s much more than that, or even a false statement. Perhaps what I really mean to say, and what this really means, is:
“I’ve always struggled with being okay with myself regardless of my weight.”
The reason I believe this is the real issue is that if I had a positive, accepting attitude towards my body, I wouldn’t have felt the urgency to lose weight, to mold myself into a certain shape – a “struggle” would not have existed.
books and bewilderment 