At this moment...
02.28.06:
February is over. This month flew by. Tomorrow begins March and my birthday nears. Thirty-two seems like a curious age. Kind of makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me. I mean, when my parents were in their thirties they already had two kids, me being the youngest.
When I was out running I thought about an old ghost. Felt good to run tonight. Just a light three miles. I keep thinking that I need to get my mileage up, and at least start doing some long weekend runs. God I must sound really boring.
Listening to:
La Ninja: Amor and Other Dreams of Manzanita - Mia Doi Todd (I didn't get her last album from which the majority of these tracks are remixed from. I think I like her better when she has beats and other things going on behind her. She has such a distinct voice and I can see why some people might not like her. If I had to describe her voice I'd say it's like a really big merlot. Jesus does that sound ever pretentious... I quite like her cover of Norwegian Wood.)
Ten Silver Drops - Secret Machines
S/T - Mayonnaise (Holy crap! I found myself humming a song by the Longpigs, so I did a search on google for Crispin Hunt, ex-lead singer for the Longpigs. I've always wondered what he's been up to, and it turns out he, along with Howie B. and some other guy released an album under the moniker of Mayonnaise. Terrible name, but damn, this is quite good. Reminds me a bit of Eno but squelchier.)
Song:
Coastline (Ulrich Schnauss Vocal Mix) - Rachel Goswell
02.27.06:
Finally, after being sick for over a week, I got myself out for a three mile run. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a piece of watermelon Bubblicious.
Song:
Anything Can Happen - Jennifer Jackson
02.26.06:
Some additional photos from our show on Feb.24th:
Listening to:
Rock, You Can Fly - Lise Westzynthius (Danish signer/songwriter.
Sing Sing and I - Sing Sing (I almost bought an import of this today, but just found it on iTunes. So far, this is really great stuff. I'm just a sucker for Brit pop.)
02.25.06:
I really should be sleeping... From our show last night (thank you KK):
Listening to:
Dís - Johann Johannson
02.23.06:
I've been working over the last few days on tightening up my CSS skills, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the code to this site. Specbebop.com is a mish mash of layers, and tables, and all other assorted crap that is quite messy. At work I operate in a world of CSS, but I concluded that my skills could be better, so I've been working on a project for work that I'm quite excited about. Hell, I was even working on it tonight from home, so I must be enjoying doing work. Or maybe it's just that I need to get myself prepared for whatever the future may hold for me.
It's probably pretty evident from reading past entries that I'm a bit down. A "bit down" is probably an understatement. Maybe our show tomorrow night will pick up my spirits. Having a cold and not being able to run doesn't help things either. I guess it's a variety of factors, none of which need to be written about here, so if I come across as distant, or as if my mind is somewhere else, please don't take it personally.
Album:
They Think They Are the Robocop Kraus - The Robocop Kraus (Any band that titles a song Life Amazes Us Despite Our Miserable Future is brilliant. That's the type of title that would make Morrissey smile.)
How I Long to Feel the Summer in My Heart - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci (I thought maybe this album would help a bit. It kind of does, but it would be nice to have someone to listen to music with tonight.)
02.22.06:
I'm working on two lovely new pop songs one of which is tentatively titled Pardon Me While I Get Depressed (Or Something Like That). It's a happy little song with lots of major chords. Maybe some day I'll debut it on this site. The other song in the works is called Trying to Crack the Morse Code Before You Break My Heart.
From Sputnik Sweetheart:
"I turned faceup on the slab of stone, gazed at the sky, and thought about all the man-made satellites spinning around the earth. The horizon was still etched in a faint glow, and stars began to blink on in the deep, wine-colored sky. I gazed among them for the light of a satellite, but it was still to bright out to spot one with the naked eye. The sprinkling of stars looked nailed to the spot, unmoving. I closed my eyes and listened carefully for the descendants of Sputnik, even now circling the earth, gravity their only tie to the planet. Lonely metal souls in the unimpeded darkness of space, they meet, pass each other, and part to never meet again. No words passing between them. No promises to keep."
Listening to:
Destroyer's Rubies - Destroyer
The Complete Guide To Insufficiency - David Thomas Broughton
The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place - Explosions in the Sky
02.20.06:m
Sometimes I think fate conspires against me. I usually don't take a fatalistic approach to life, but sometimes I wonder what has more influence, fate or karma, both of which are probably nonsense, right? There's a part of me that thinks there's an order to the universe, there's another part of me that thinks everything to be chaos, and that happenstance rules everything. Or, does everything happen for some reason unknown to us? Are there grander things at work, things that we cannot control, hence I'm back to fate.
Maybe I need to read some Hemingway. Writers always have the right things to say. I guess that's why I'm not a very good writer. Makes me think of Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart.
Listening to:
Tripper - Efterklang
02.19.06:
Spent yesterday reading, watching movies, listening to music and doing a little baking. I finished the 33 and 1/3 series book on Neutral Milk Hotels' In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Good read, not as solid of a book as the one on Bowie's Low. I watched three films, 24 Hour Party People, The Man Without a Past, and The 'Burbs. I love The 'Burbs, possibly one of my all time favorite movies.
Just heard Zerostars on XRT. Damn, it's so cool to hear the band on the radio.
Woke early to do my laundry. See, it's these totally mundane things that make up my life. Sure, I could write about more "meaningful" things, like politics, but politics aren't as meaningful to me as my laundry. I find laundromats depressing. This morning, as is always the case, it was a race to get washing machines before everybody else. Somehow I managed to get the ones that I prefer. But I'm not sure why I prefer them. It's not like the wash my stuff any better.
Just returned from seeing my grandmother, brother, sister-in-law, and my nephew's at my grandmother's house. She had lunch for us and it was nice to sit around the table and spend time with everybody. Growing up we would go to my grandparents' house every Sunday for dinner. I miss those days.
Listening to:
One Two Three Four - Linda Draper (After months and months of Jason raving about this album I finally downloaded it. Quite good.)
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
Reckoning - R.E.M
Tales From Turnpike House - Saint Etienne
Colours Green - Sibylle Baiern
02.16.06:
I've been thinking a lot about different jobs and the people who do those jobs. Like, take me for instance, I never said when I grow up I want to work in an office. Does anybody say they want to work in an office when they are young. When I was little my father would bring my brother and I to work with him on Saturdays and we'd either play hide 'n' seek, raid people's candy jars, or play with computer punch cards in the computer office that felt so futuristic at the time with its giant computers whirring. But I never envisioned myself working in an office. No, I thought I'd grow up to be a train engineer. I often dream of trains. Yet I wonder if I'd be happier if I was a train engineer. That's not to say I'm unhappy, but what would my life be like had I learned how to drive a train. Is it time for a career change.
However, I don't think I'm cut out to be a train engineer. But am I cut out to work the rest of my days in an office? Would I be better suited as a school bus driver or a professor?
Last night KK and I went to see Saint Etienne at the Metro. It was a good show. I guess I have some great memories of seeing them at the Double Door for the Good Humor tour. Still, they are one of my favorite bands, and I'll go see them whenever they play Chicago.
It's been raining since around 9 PM last night, and it's now 7 PM. I want Winter to end.
Listening to:
Foxbase Alpha - Saint Etienne
02.14.06:
It's Valentine's Day. Such a funny little holiday. And yes, I write that withMy Funny Valentine in mind. However, it is an odd day in that it's a sanctioned holiday for love. Call me a sap, but I don't think I need a holiday to tell someone that I love them, or that I'm thinking of them, or how much they mean to me. I guess I believe that there should be moments in every day when you tell someone what they mean to you. So I'm making banana bread. Funny how I think of Salinger's A Perfect Day For Bananafish.
Listening to:
Explorations - Bill Evans Trio
Let's Get Lost, The Best of Chet Baker Sings - Chet Baker (I thought this would be a good pick for Valentine's Day. I could have picked something like The Arab Strap, Red House Painters, American Music Club... You probably get the idea.)
02.12.06:
Some day I hope to leave the type of political legacy where I can have a bowling alley named in my honor (too bad I'm not involved in any politics). Did Abe Lincoln know that someday he'd have a bowling alley named after him? Did bowling exist when Lincoln was alive? What would he think of a sport where you try and knock ten wooden pins down by rolling a heavy ball down an alley?
Last night a group of us went bowling at the Lincoln Square Recreation bowling alley. I was by far the worst bowler out of the group. For the first game I bowled a 58 and for the second game I bowled a 72. Yeah, I'm good. There was this really great cover band at the bowling alley playing all the hits. My favorite was when they started playing some cheesy Green Day song (the one that is pretty much a ballad and I'm sure it was the theme song to many a prom celebration), and I said, "I want this band to play this song at my funeral, do you think they'd do it, or be available?" Of course I really don't want that song or that band (I'd prefer mouse on Mars to be played). There was this weird guy wearing 70's styled headphones in the bar portion of the bowling alley. I was to chicken to get real close to him, so I used the digital zoom on may camera and took a few photos. They have a very surveillance camera feel to them.
On my way home last night I witnessed an horrific accident. A Ford F-150 or truck similar to a Ford F-150 plowed into the rear end of another car at a rather high speed. Debris flew everywhere. I couldn't believe what I saw, very surreal.
Yesterday I started reading, and this morning I finished Hugo Wilcken's short book on David Bowie's Low. Low is my favorite Bowie album, and I found the book a fascinating read, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in Bowie's art and music. I always knew Bowie had a thing for cocaine in the 70's but wow, it really messed him up. Thankfully it didn't kill him.
Zerostars will be on XRT (93.1 FM) tomorrow, 2.13.06, at 7:45 PM and then again next Sunday, 2.19.06, at 12:45 PM, so be sure to tune in if you live in Chicago.
For some reason I've had a crappy headache all day, and i'm not sure why. I didn't drink a lot last night, but... Today I baked a flour less chocolate cake. I'm really wanting to give it a try, but it's for work on Tuesday. I looks delicious.
Listening to:
Low, Station to Station, and Earthling - David Bowie (Earthling gets a bad wrap. Sure, it embraces a trend (drum & bass), and Bowie is usually seen as someone ahead of trends, however, the songs are quite good, and still very Bowie. After reading the book on Low I have a new respect for Station to Station.)
Another Green World - Brian Eno
And a wonderful mix CD that arrived in my mailbox on Friday.
02.10.06:
I had the crappiest day at work. No details will be given. But, when I arrived home and peered into my mailbox I knew things were doing to be better. Thank you.
Song:
Heaviest Heart - Magnet
02.07.06:
More weird dreams, well, just one weird dream that I can recall. Something is obviously trying to bubble up to the surface, but it's not quite clear.
Song(s):
For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea & We Are The Sleepyheads - Belle and Sebastian (It's nice to have Belle and Sebastian back. I ran to their latest album and let me tell you it's a welcome return.)
South Central Rain - R.E.M via Hem
Hope is the Thing With Feathers - Solveig Slettahjell (Just a gorgeous lullaby.)
02.06.06:
I just had this incredibly irrational fear that my life is going to be a summation of all the bad graphics I've thrown together for work. I was working on one and it looked like it belonged in a piece of Nazi propaganda, and that's not a good thing.
Song:
Summertime - The Sundays (This morning, before work, I grabbed Static & Silence by The Sundays and threw it onto the stereo. Summertime is one of those joy filled songs that always makes me smile. Sure, it may be cold outside, but this song makes me feel alive. I even like those fake keyboard horn hits during the chorus. I always liked The Sundays, and I wish they'd never called it a day.)
02.05.06:
Chili paste is my new arch nemesis. Where, oh where, can I buy chili paste? Whole Foods had Thai chili paste, and Japanese miso chili paste, but no basic chili paste. And at the Jewel they tried to pawn off chili seasoning as chili paste. So my mission for the day is to track down chili paste, and it better be worth all the trouble once I find it.
Update: I never found chili paste, not even at the Mexican grocery store, so I guess I'll have to try that Thai chili paste. But it's too late to be making chili.
Song(s):
Elevator Love Song - Stars
Guitars and Video Games - Sunny Day Real Estate
Carry Me Ohio - Sun Kill Moon
02.04.06:
Evidently moped man has a reason to be frightened.
Last night I saw The Family Stone. What an uncomfortable movie. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it either. But I loved the margaritas and food before the film.
I might go run, but it's snowing.
Album:
Bryter Layter - Nick Drake
02.02.06:
Groundhog Day. I woke early to cath the 7:15 AM train down to Chicago. I attended a seminar on re-insurance and hurricanes. It wasn't as boring as I anticipated. The seminar could have done without the Q&A, but I found the information on hurricanes quite enjoyable.
I really miss my train riding days.
Before heading home I took a few photos of my friend (I think my afternoon would have been a more enjoyable had I had someone else to hang out with or spend time with wandering around).
Now I'm home, and I just finished baking a loaf of banana chocolate chip bread. It'd be nice to share it... It really smells good. I love baking. I'm going to go for a quick run.
Album(s):
Pause & Rounds - Four Tet