At this moment...
05.31.07:
Listening to:
Our Earthly Pleasures - Maximo Park
05.30.07:
Today is the 30th, right? Memorial Day has thrown me off. Feels like it's Tuesday.
Song:
Impossible Germany - Wilco
05.28.07:
I'm not sure why, but yesterday I made a Pillsbury strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. Seems sort of random of me to make a strawberry cake. I don't usually fall prey to making things from boxes, but I wasn't in the mood to make something from scratch. I thought about making a pound cake, and then I contemplated making a cheesecake. Overall the strawberry cake tastes very synthetic, but that's not going to stop me from eating it.
Listening to:
Hey Trouble - The Concretes (Victoria may be gone, but that hasn't stopped The Concretes from releasing a great pop album. I was disappointed with their last release, so Hey Trouble is a really nice surprise. At times it reminds me of Belle and Sebastian's The Life Pursuit).
At the Ballroom - The Moonbabies (Highly recommended!!!)
05.19.07:
KK and I went to see Douglas Coupland's screenwriting debut Everything's Gone Green. Coupland has always been one of my favorite contemporay writers. I thought the movie was really good, especially since so many movies these days deal with hope on a sentimental level. Coupland has always impressed me because he understands the need for hope.
After the movie we walked to Bistro Zinc and had a fantastic dinner. For starters I had the apple and parsnip soup, for my entree I had steak frites, and for dessert I had an apple tart and a glass of calvados. All-in-all it was a fun day. Here are a few photos...
05.15.07:
Somehow I managed to wake at 5AM for a run. I really do prefer running first thing in the morning. Now it's 9PM and I'm already sleepy. I plan to wake early tomorrow and go for another AM run before heading off to work.
Two days into my new job and I feel pretty good about making the change.
05.12.07:
I might write something later...
Listening to:
Hush Hush - Nathalie Nordnes (For years and years, well, at least four years, I've been trying to get my hands on this album. She's from Bergen, Norway, home to The Kings of Convenience and Sondre Lerche. Nathalie dueted with Sondre Lerche on his debut album. This album was released in 2003 but I was never able to track it down as it was released in Norway and Norway alone. The other day I was checking out the newest releases via iTunes and saw that this was added to the iTunes store. Quite good stuff. Sort of similar to Sondre Lerche's first album, maybe a bit more lounge-esque.)
05.11.07:
Listening to:
Imagine Our Love - Lavender Diamond (Imagine Our Love, the debut album from Lavender Diamond, might just be about as twee as they make them these days, but I'll be damned if this isn't a wonderful treasure.)
The Reminder - Feist (Feist's last album was hit or miss. Mushaboom was a stellar single, but the album wasn't very cohesive. Thankfully that's not the case withe The Reminder. Great album and highly recommended!)
05.09.07:
The other night, I think it was Sunday, I had the craziest dream. In the dream I'm in backyard with a group of people. We're all sitting around this giant stove that looks like a mirror, and there's an English fellow making omelets and deep fried rutabagas in the shape of lobsters. That's all I recall, but I'm a bit confused as to what it all means.
Weird how quickly two weeks have passed by since I offered up my resignation at work. On Monday I start a new job, and I have to say I'm excited. Change is good.
Last night I went to the opening of The Oedipus Complex at The Goodman Theater. It was okay. The inclusion of Freud was pretty unnecessary, almost felt tacked on and out of place. Still, I'm happy to have seen the play. I need to stop seeing tragedies. Last time I was at The Goodman Theater I saw King Lear. I prefer Shakespeare to Sophocles.
Tomorrow night Zerostars play an acoustic set at Uncommon Ground in Chicago. It's free. We play at 8:45 PM, so stop by and say hello.
Listening to:
S/T - Keren Ann (Another stunning and absolutely poetic album.)
05.01.07:
Earlier I was watching American Idol (I find it simultaneously vapid and mildly entertaining). One of the contestants (it's a game show) sang some faux love song and I had this need to cleanse my ears by listening to This is Not a Love Song by Public Image Ltd.. More people need to listen to PIL.
Song(s):
This is Not a Love Song - PIL
Walking Machine - Revlon 9
Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi) - Saint Etienne ("Took a trip down Anita Way / Had to go on the first of May..." Thank You, the b-side to Heart Failed is absolutely killer, and The Sound of Water, from which Heart Failed is taken, is so underrated.)