At this moment...
05.31.05:
Routines. I have this fear that my life will become, or has already become, predictable. Example. After work I run. Drink half a bottle of wine. Eat some dinner. Do the dishes. Throw on a record (tonight it's Out Hud -- I love this new album.) Drink a cup of chamomile tea. Fall asleep.
Running wears me out. In a few weeks, when it's a bit warmer in the morning, I'll wake and run instead of waiting until I get home. Until then I crash pretty early, too early to even try and read. I'd rather be tired at work.
Listening to:
Let Us Never Speak of it Again - Out Hud
05.29.05:
Yesterday I ran 12 miles which pretty much put me out of commission for the remainder of the day. I've been having difficulty getting myself past 10 miles, so it was good to break that mental block as it was more mental than physical. The only thing that I'm disappointed with is that I didn't hit the 300 mile mark. May wasn't a good month for running. Hopefully I'll be able to make up for it in June.
Now it's Sunday, I'm up early, and I'll probably go for a 20 mile bike ride before it rains.
Listening to:
Until Death Comes - Frida Hyvonen
2 - Heikki
Circling the Sun - The Orange Peels
S/T - Snow & Voices
Drinking:
2003 Red Knot Cabernet Sauvignon (Quite tasty Cab from Australia. Great graphic design for the label.)
05.27.05:
05.26.05:
I don't do drugs. However, if did I'd consume every possible kind while listening to the latest album from Stephen Malkmus. Why everybody worships Beck is beyond me. Malkmus is the true genius. Pig Lib, his last album, and one of my Top 10 of 2003 is an amazingly brilliant album, and just take a listen to the entire Pavement catalog. 20 years from now kids will be pillaging the Malkmus catalog like all those kids that are latching on to the current dance punk craze. Face the Truth is amazing and I'd kill for some pills to pop. Malkmus, you mad scientist of music mastermind.
05.25.05:
The anticipation is killing me...
Today I ordered Finisterre on vinyl. And I think the new single is smashing.
Listening to:
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (With all that's going on in Iraq this album is needed now more than ever.)
05.24.05:
Second night of drinking wine after a run. I like this new pattern, especially since it doesn't take a whole lot of alcohol to make me feel good. My guess is that work is a bit stressful. Work is a four letter word, or that's what Morrissey would like us to believe.
How about that American Idol? My vote goes to the country girl. The rocker, commonly referred to as Bo, is a bore. Rock & Roll is supposed to be dangerous, or at least it used to be dangerous. Someone needs to make music sexy and dangerous. Not that the country girl can make music dangerous. It's just... I can't believe I'm writing about American Idol.
Corporate America is for losers.
Listening to:
Howl Howl Gaf Gaf - Shout Out Louds (Best Swedish album since The Cardigan's Life. Seriously, this is some unabashed and urgent as hell pop. Will make the top 10 of 2005.)
Song:
Side Streets - Saint Etienne (First single from their forthcoming album. Good stuff. I really love this band and I don't think they can ever do any wrong.)
05.23.05:
Listening to:
Ask Me Tomorrow - Mojave 3
Drinking:
Thomas Halby 2002 Merlot
05.22.05:
Song:
Honey Don't Think - Grant Lee Buffalo (I was at Iowa when Mighty Joe Moon came out. Now... This song, it kills me in the same way that Don't Wait That Long by James destroys me.)
Watching:
Elixers & Remedies (The stripped down piano version of Happiness by Grant lee Phillips is amazing. And seeing the final medley featuring Robyn Hithcock and Grant Lee Phillips doing Sound and Vision is fantastic. Great DVD. And thanks to Jason for telling me to order this last week. Oh, and while I'm at it, congrats to Jason and Jennifer on their marriage.)
05.18.05:
Songs:
The Ballad of El Goodo & I'm In Love With A Girl - Big Star
05.17.05:
There's nothing better than running to Ellen Allien. I always feel like I'm in Run Lola Run when I slip on the headphones and pick Ellen Allien for the soundtrack to my run. Her latest album Thrills is sexy as hell.
Speaking of sexy:
I've decided that I'll provide this pamphlet, published in 1962, to my children when they enquire about sex. Sure, it's horribly dated, but funny as hell.
Listening to:
Thrills - Ellen Allien
Celebration Castle - The Ponys
Multiples - Keith Fullerton Whitman
S/T - 13 & God
05.16.05:
Trapped at work, without a car, and the thought of going to get lunch from the cafeteria doesn't thrill me, but I'm ravenous, so I guess I need to find something to stop the hunger pangs.
At work we've been writing a new dress code policy. Me, being the creative one, was taxed with coming up with examples of appropriate and inappropriate clothing to wear to work. Here's a preview:
Fun stuff.
Listening to:
Native Place - The Railway Children (Two, maybe three weeks back, I was feeling really nostalgic for The Railway Children. I used to drive around in my 1976 2002 BMW listening to this album. I found this tape, along with the Dead Kennedys tape in the basement of my parents' basement. I should do a bit more digging and see what other lost gems I can come up with. Every Beat of the Heart is a fantastic opening track.)
05.15.05:
"Goonies never say die."
Listening to:
Plastic Surgery Disasters - Dead Kennedys (Rummaging through some oldboxes in my parents' basement I came across this album.)
05.13.05:
05.11.05:
The only thing that seems to make sense today is the idea of chicken noodle soup. Not that I'm ill, just sleepy .
Anthems for the day:
I Summon You - Spoon (From their latest album Gimmie Fiction. Might make single of the year.)
Love and Death - The Stills (Love and Death seems to sum up my existence as of late.)
05.09.05:
I don't think I'll ever tire of moped man. Seriously, the best $1 that I ever spent.
I wish it would storm. After work I hoped that I'd get caught in a Spring storm while out running, but it didn't happen. And now, I look out the window to see that it's raining, but no lightening or thunder. My eyes are drowsy.
No, I didn't get the job. That's fine and all, but it would have been nice for them to tell me why I wasn't selected. At least I have a job.
Listening to (Albums):
Springer - Efterklang
What We Must - Jaga
The Trial of the Century - French Kicks
Songs:
Glide - Nathan Michel
Words Cannot Describe - Mirah
I Am the Cancer - Sloan
Feel Good Inc (Single Edit) - Gorillaz
Motion Pictures (For Carrie) - Neil Young
05.08.05:
My weekend in photos...
05.03.05:
As I turned the corner at around mile 1, the sun hit my face for the first time today and I felt alive. Three miles later (four total) I felt like I could have run forever, but I stopped. Strange how some of the best runs arrive when they aren't even expected.
Listening to:
OK Cowboy - Vitalic (So this is how the last Daft Punk album was supposed to sound. Stellar four-on-the-floor French electro disco. Great music for a run.)
Coalesced - For Against (If Lush had been from Nebraska they'd have sounded like For Against.)
Pretty In Black - The Raveonettes (They threw away all the constraints and self imposed rules for their third album. The only misstep is their cover of My Boyfriend's Back. It's not bad, but they should have included Everyday by Buddy Holly and the Crickets.)
05.02.05:
I had a thought earlier that I should just sell all of my possessions, and buy a plane ticket to someplace that I've never been, preferably some foreign country.
Tonight I went for a 15 mile bike ride after work. At around mile 14 a herd of deer, about six or so, scurried across the bike path, and I smiled for the first time today. I got to thinking that most people only see deer from their car window, and that eventually depressed me. But everything of late seems to depress me, so nothing new I guess.
Listening to:
Veneer - Jose Gonzalez (I've been trying to track down this album for some time, probably close to a year, and last night I found it on bleep.com. If you went by his name alone you'd think he's play Spanish pop, but he's Swedish. There's a definite Nick Drake influence to these tracks, even a bit of flamenco guitar playing as well. Excellent stuff.)
05.01.05:
I was heading home from the grocery store and I started thinking about when I was 21, but not being nostalgic about 21. I was trying to remember if, when I was 21, I ever thought about being 31. I've never been one for planning, or mapping out my life. I set goals, but only when I feel like I need them. I'm having difficulty picturing my life at 41, and I'm sure that when I was 21 I probably had some level of difficulty seeing myself as 31. When I was 21 I was still at the University of Iowa, but in the process of transferring to the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Now, at 31, well, I'd rather not say...
Listening to:
Miami - The Go Find