and then you explode

2009-03-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

gonowto
mynewblog
ontumblr
(allthecoolkidsrdoingit)

HELLO KATY, I MAY BE MOVING, &WHOA MARCH IS CRAZY

2009-02-24T00:48:00.000-08:00

Today Kristine tells me: "It makes more sense that you love Katy Perry." It is true.

Also, NOT JUST BECAUSE KATY PERRY HAS A TUMBLR (and also not just because Kristine has a sick-ass pimped-out tumblr that makes me jealous of her design skills, and also not just because a lot of annoying-but-awesome semi-famous bloggers blog on tumblr, and also not just because Kristine asked me to), I'm thinking about moving to tumblr.

Shit dude, these upcoming weeks gon be hella mad crazy yo. We are partying to launch our newest issue of the magazine on March 2, and then (HOLLA) begin my birthday narcissism with a movie night March 5 to see the midnight screening of Watchmen, my bday rager March 6, my bday dinner party March 7, followed by a weekend wine-tasting in Napa around the 20th and then a week in SoCal till the 28. I'm also trying to get into a Noise Pop show (An Horse + Matt Costa) tomorrow, so hope that works out because I would like to see Slim's and also genuinely enjoy both acts.

Oh and hay, speaking of March 28th. My girl Jill totally rocked an a cappella competition this weekend and will be going on to compete in some sort of super serious a cappella semi-final death-match in LA on the 28th. Pretty legit, right?

And speaking of my girl, that makes me think of the song "My Girl," which makes me think about something that happened today. When I was in the computer lab, the guy next to me (in a very quiet room) started blasting Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" on his headphones. And when it ended, he played it again. I thought this was VERY strange. Not that Stevie Wonder's not dope, but for real, I only loop and blast shit like that if it's like, new Animal Collective, which I get really excited about and then two weeks later never listen to again. Oh, or Katy Perry. I loop and blast Katy Perry pretty much all the time. But that's different.

THEY HAD THIS RHYTHM-AND-BLUES SYNDROME

2009-02-18T15:51:00.000-08:00

"I don't have any education at all.. other than the kind you get just walking around."

There's an awesome video of Bill Withers to be found now at the New Yorker, via this article by Sasha Frere-Jones. Apparently Channel Thirteen, as part of a new series called "Broadcasting While Black," is hosting some episodes of a late 60s/ early 70s show called Soul, at their website here. All the clips are pretty awesome but I dig the Bill Withers interview and acoustic set in particular.. mostly, I guess, because I dig Bill Withers. Thought ya'll might enjoy too.

ROSEPETAL VERMILLION BREEZES

2009-02-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

Oh hay, happy valentine's day! As a special present to show you how much I love you, I gave in and got a twitter account. So now we can be together all the time. Hint: click that link to get to my twitter page. If you have twitter, you should follow me! I think it is like the equivalent of being friends. If you do not have twitter, well, then at least now you can read mine.

SOMETIMES I GO WHOLE DAYS HALF ASLEEP

2009-02-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

I am in love with Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, the dreampop twins who sing for School of Seven Bells. New swanky video below: watch only loudly, preferably under the influence of something hallucinatory.

And a couple of Seven Bells MP3s for anyone interested:

Half Asleep
Conjurr

Happy Wednesday!

A SUNDAY LIST OF NEWS, AS PROS AND CONS

2009-02-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

- PRO: I just heard No Doubt is getting back together. Am I late on this? How am I the only one who didn't know? I'm hella stoked.

- CON: Miley Cyrus and the Jonas brothers are now invited to perform at the Grammy's? WTF?

- PRO: OMG KATY PERRY IS TOO HOT. I take back all the hate.

- CON: I just sat through an entire Kenny Chesney song performed live.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 15

2009-02-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

LADY GAGA.

Of course I, along with the rest of the world, fell in love with Lady G last year when "Just Dance" came out and I looped it on my getting-ready-in-the-morning playlist. But as I overplayed that hit, I started listening to some other songs from The Fame and found them almost all equally awesome and dance party-able. And then Aylin linked me to this marvelous vid of a live acoustic version of "Poker Face," and it is kind of my most favorite thing ever.

I know I am little late in posting this, as Lady Gaga has now been around and loved for quite a while, but hey, I am a busy lady. And anyway, I think this girl will be around for a bit spitting more pop gems. After all, she is even younger than me (!) and is sort of insanely talented.

RICK SANCHEZ FTW

2009-02-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

The highlight of my Friday:

I'm watching the CNN Newsroom and Rick Sanchez, attempting to read the Twitter board, ponders whether a poster has made a typo? He reads "FTW" and thinks it must mean BTW. Another poster corrects him and on-air in his ever-professional newscaster voice he says, excitedly, "Apparently, FTW means For The Win! It is not a typo! Huh!"

And he still cannot get over the revelation.

WILLIAM IS RUINING MY LIFE

2009-02-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

I don't know how we've gotten 178 people to even think about listening to our podcast. Jiggs is pretty weird, and I, well, frankly, I'm a bit overworded and annoying. But people seem to like listening to us... at least enough to actually listen to us? It makes me a little uncomfortable.

A text-message conversation today:

Jiggs: podcast plus dont be a beezy sign painting tonight?

Ashley: Podcast yes, we'll see abt painting, I have hella reading to finish tonight

Jiggs: ugh. william is ruining my life. shakespeare that is. ps im eating the most bland enchilada of my life. dont eat mexican food in a restaurant only run by asians.

NOT TOO CLASSY

2009-01-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

A mere ten days after we elect America's first black president, the Republican National Committee votes in Michael Steele as its chairman- becoming the first ever African American elected to lead the GOP.

Hmmmm. Now, I'm definitely not unhappy with Steele's appointment. I'm actually quite pleased to see a more moderate conservative leading the party. But hasn't this happened before? Weren't we in the middle of trying to elect a Democratic woman for president, when the Republicans decided they wanted a woman of their own? All I'm sayin is that everyone respects originality. Pandering is not too classy, and maybe it's time the Reps realize they're running dry on their own ideas.

Also, I heard Obama is trying to spread the bipartisan love by inviting Republicans to a Super Bowl party at his place this weekend. If the president is not too busy to have a party, maybe I really could afford to spare some time. There is, after all, a new Wipeout on at half-time. Anyone want to come over and drink some girly beer with me?

HE OWE ME A HUNDRED FAVORS

2009-01-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

Just in case you haven't had enough Lykke Li lately, I've decided to collect all the LL videos Aylin has been serially posting on my facebook wall and put them up here for everyone's viewing pleasure. I've organized in ascending order of how much I LOVE them. Enjoyyy

No matter how drunk or pitchy she always manages to make me want to be her best friend.

THINGS I WOULD LIKELY TWITTER IF I HAD TWITTER

2009-01-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

In reverse order of how it would appear in the real interface.

andthenyouexplode

I have made banana pancakes six out of seven mornings this week. 9:36 AM Jan 25th

UGGHHHH so much time spent on the 7. 1:11 PM Jan 25th

I need a nap. 3:36 PM Jan 25th

Podcast podcast podcast podcast podcast. 7:34 PM Jan 26th

Oh, here it is. http://jiggsandashley.podbean.com/. 8:00 PM Jan 26th

This is boring. about 22 hours ago

Only my mother would care to know how I spend every second of my day. And she doesn't know how to use the internet. about 20 hours ago

I feel unpopular. about 7 hours ago

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 14

2009-01-27T20:25:00.000-08:00

CAROLINE POLACHEK.

I saw this video and fell instantaneously in love with the Chairlift frontwoman who is just toooo cute and coy and has such a sweet happysad voice, and really, really perfect eyeliner.

Just to my good luck she is on touurrr and will be in the city April, woo!

SOMETHING WITH WORDS AND MELODIES

2009-01-25T21:34:00.000-08:00

I saw this blog today and quite seriously almost exploded. And then I downloaded and listened to the ten minute-fourteen second track, and then I actually did explode.

Sufjan Stevens never stops being beautiful. Listening to the first few notes of this song, I was skeptical that it was really him. Electronics? Where's the orchestra? But the orchestra came in bit by bit. I'm surprised and pleased to hear something new from an old love, and am now really really looking forward to his new album.

On another note! I am starting a podcast!

I have no idea what it will be about. Likely it will feature much of Jiggs' and my rambling about whatever we feel like rambling about, plus some hot mixes we'll dance party to at the end. I hope you'll all dance along. So far, we're hosting it here, and in the process of figuring out how to make it available on iTunes. Don't judge us on that webpage just yet, we only set it up a few hours ago. The plan is Thursday night updates, so stay tuned.

AGAINST THE TEST OF TIME

2009-01-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

I'll admit, I was hesitant in my expectations for this year, but as it's progressed so far it seems to be unfolding well. So, thumbs up to 2009. (Does anyone actually give thumbs-up anymore? Or just geeks like me?)

A list of positives:

- On his first day as president, Obama gets quick on shutting down Guantanamo and pulling troops out of Iraq. I'm impressed.

- My girl is so IN. She may not be my president, but I'll take what I can get.

- My neighbors who screamed at each other all the time moved out this semester, and whoever moved into their place is an incredible violinist who practices in the middle of the day when I'm home studying or napping. I think he or she is quite possibly the best neighbor ever.

- There are some hella good movies out

- and my birthday and spring break are only a few weeks away!

And lastly you NEED to download this song. I'm obsessed and have been listening to it every morning at full volume on my new kick ass speakers, probably much to the dismay of my roommates and neighbors.

More blogs full of good things soon!

LIKE A KALEIDOSCOPIC BREATHING EXERCISE

2009-01-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

I guess I do this about once every year. My real life has gotten far too complicated and so I think I'm going to take some time to not exist on the internet anymore.

I will be back, someday!

RIEN SANS LE DJ

2008-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Ghislain Poirier is so my new imaginary DJ-boyfriend.

PLAYLISTING

2008-12-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

I just read an interesting article in the New Yorker called The Soundtrack of Your Life, about Muzak and its modern reinvention as the personalized playlister of public spaces. It's pretty strange to think about the fact that when you walk into pretty much any retail store, you're being manipulated into certain moods via an inescapable musical atmosphere. And even besides that, it's interesting to think about the people who do this for their jobs. I imagine it takes a lot of not only knowledge but also talent and artistry to be able to diagnose, in this way, what effect music can have on the sentiments and behavior of any given person.

Earlier this fall, Carrie Brownstein blogged about the strange invention that hit us all this year as we updated our iTunes applications. The Genius Sidebar seemed to be a sort of supposed replacement for the careful crafting of playlists, substituting the latter with an automated assessment of artist, genre, and.. well, probably not much else, to make strings of music that were supposed to sound good together. I tried it out and it made a decent playlist, with a few minor snafus (like placing Iron & Wine's version of "Such Great Heights" between Crystal Castles and Fischerspooner), but still, it really wasn't the same as one of my own playlists, which had taken hours of listening and re-listening and careful consideration. I think there's a lot of value to the careful compilation of music, especially when it's done for others.

My roommate was amused when I recently revealed to her that I still make mixed CDs to give to friends who I think are in need of newly stylized music samples, or to send to my mother so that she'll have something to listen to while baking. But I really do believe that playlist-making is a sort of artform; granted, one that I'm not great at, but enjoy practicing nonetheless. It'd be pretty cool to know someone working at Muzak now, though, and see how they've refined their playlisting skills so far as to make it into a profession.

LOVEHATE

2008-12-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

Can it be true??

My most-loved and best-hated electropop princesses are... uniting?

The tides are turning for KP. More on this later.

IT IS DECEMBER 1!

2008-12-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

It's really cool to have a dress with your face on it.

I like the gliiitterrr!

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 13

2008-11-12T22:33:00.000-08:00

JIHAE.

I don't know why I put off a Jihae blog for so long. I got her remix EP, After Thought, a while back (maybe even over the summer?) and when I finally got around to listening to it, wished there were more than five songs on the disk. I love love the weird dreamy quality of her voice and her music, which is more pop than anything else, but pop with a strange take, sung with some mix of sex and disinterest.

You can go to her website, which by the way is really strange and beautiful, and stream all the songs off her remix album. You can also stream her new one, Elvis is Still Alive, released yesterday, right here. And if you like it you can buy it straight from her for three dollars, which is hella better than iTunes. I'm hoping to catch a show once J starts touring but haven't yet heard word on that, so we'll see, I'll post any updates as they arrive in my inbox.

NOVIEMBRE

2008-11-12T18:02:00.001-08:00

I feel like time starts moving faster in November, like the year got its second wind and is sprinting to the end. I spend a lot of my life trying to pack as much meaning as possible into every minute, remembering that 2008 will soon be over and so will 2010 and I'm actually going to graduate and do the things with my life that I'm now only dreaming about. This life I'm living now was a dream from my last one. I wonder if I'll look back in ten, twenty, or fifty years and still not recognize myself.

PLEASE VOTE TODAY/ THE ONLY TIME KATY PERRY'S EVER MADE ME SMILE

2008-11-04T12:20:00.000-08:00

This morning while walking down Telegraph to class, a car passed me blasting "I kissed a girl." They had "NO on 8" signs plastered in all their windows. As much as I think Katy Perry's a hater and a homophobe, the song for the first time made me smile because it was being used to motivate and empower and energize.

I'm so glad to be here at home in Berkeley during this historic season, to be surrounded by positive progressive energy. the only downside might be that while living here I sometimes forget what's happening in the rest of the state. I was reminded by a friend in Irvine this morning that there actually are still people rallying "yes on 8" in orange county. But more than just making me sad, remembering what we're up against makes me even more excited to head out to the polls and cast my vote for equality.

Whatever way you're voting, please please vote today!! your voice does matter, you do make a difference!

VAGUELY POLITICAL

2008-11-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

I've always heard that as people age, they become more absolute about their beliefs. This is probably true. People who've grown up with conservative values tend to turn into cranky conservative old people. People who've grown up part of rights revolutions tend to polarize themselves into camps and stay in a certain set sphere of ideology for the rest of their lives. In a way I sort of wish I was following this human trend, but I think in fact I somehow worked it in reverse.

Growing up I was spoonfed conservative values with a sort of extremist air, always thinking that politics happened in a way of knowing what's "right" and "wrong." I learned that the "liberals" were the "bad people" who wanted to demoralize everyone and ruin the world. Then (to make a long story short), I became one of the liberals and spent a lot of the time and energy of my teenage years enthused over progressive politics and plotting to save the world from people like my mother and the kids I went to high school with. But as time has gone on, I've found that rather than becoming increasingly enthused I've only become more and more apathetic about the cause of American salvation. I guess it's mostly a product of those years spent reverse-proselytizing, which instead of yielding any real result, only made me more aware that the people on the other side just won't listen.

Another part of the apathy is I guess (for lack of better words) a sort of relativism that's more than anything a resistance of evangelism. In a lot of ways, I don't consider myself a true member of the liberal margin. I'm more moderate that most, and at the same time I'd say I'm actually far far more "liberal" than them too. That's a pretty vague and contradictory thing to say, but the main point is just this- that I have a lot of very extreme views but am not extreme about "believing" them. I think they're true for me and I will cast my vote in their favor, but I think the views on the other extreme are more often than not eually as valid. I'm a strong proponent of ideological competition, and in fact I think it's the only thing I really like about democracy: that not only do we in this country have the right to believe what we want, but that the world actually works better when everyone's thoughts and beliefs and ideas for policy are enmeshed in and working against each other.

But to my other point... I've given up almost entirely by now in trying to spread ideas of tolerance and progression. Having to contest just my family over and over again on issues that I'm passionate about- animal rights, women's rights, gay rights, the environment- and finding nothing but anger on the other side, is pretty wholly demoralizing. I've completely conceded to not trying to persuade them in favor of my views, and now really only offer the smallest of explanations when harassed for a defense of my beliefs. I really wish I wasn't like this. I wish I still had the energy to write blogs against prop 8, rather than a long rambling bit on apathy... but I feel like I'm just too tired of arguing and it's not really worth it anyway. People who have enough hate in their hearts to pass law like that are not the sort who are open to hear the other side.

And so I guess that's all to offer just a bit of explanation for the lack of anything lengthy and political around here. A couple people have asked me why I haven't been blogging on election issues, and this is a long-winded way of answering. I'd rather be vaguely political and hope to incite people just to be interested, just to VOTE, rather than waste my time trying to convince anyone of anything that may not be true or real for them. If you want to know what I believe about the issues, here are the few things I really AM still enthused over: I'm voting YES on 2 and 5, and NO on 4 and 8, and I really hope my friends and family would do the same. But being apathetic as I am, I don't care really what you vote for so long as you VOTE. That's all that really matters. Do the research, listen to the arguments on both ends, and stand up for what's right for you. I know this all sounds cheesy and lame but somebody needed to say it, and I haven't been saying much of anything at all lately...

BLAGH BLAGH BLAGH

2008-10-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

I wish this was about me.

LATE OCTOBER LAG, NEON PIRATES, ETC.

2008-10-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

I've been having a weird few weeks, not feeling quite myself and definitely not caught up on emails or blogging (or so I've been reminded incessantly by my roommates). In lieu of writing anything for real I'm simply going to repost a weird video I found while doing research for NPR this summer and that makes me really happy. Enjoy.

COMEBACK V.2.0

2008-10-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

I was going to embed the new video but I'm apparently not allowed. But it is a MUST SEE. I've been studying obsessively this week to catch up on lost time from being sick last month, and this totally made my day. B's second comeback may be even better than the first!

RESEARCH

2008-10-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

Wind. What do we know about it? Where is it from? Where is it going? Some love it, it's gentle with them--carries coolness on hot days, fuels the cold night's fire. Others hate it, it ruins their hair, its howl causes terror. It's everywhere and in everything, with everyone and with no one...I want to be everywhere and with everyone, but at the same time love solitude. I don't understand myself, let alone anyone else; it's difficult to think of yourself as wind, it's a struggle with the irreparable and reveling in carelessness. It's a thousand "why's?" It's a million wishes and aspirations. A lover called me "Wind." From that moment I knew my name. When you understand your true name, it gets easier--

-Sasha Belyaeva

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 12

2008-10-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

KENLEY.

I'm deviating a bit from my norm with a non- music-related women-i-want-to-be post, but I couldn't not include Kenley in the list. She's by far my most favorite contender on this season of Project Runway, even though she is pretty whiny and often just mean to everyone else on the show. That said, she is just too cute to not like. Her hair accessories have long been for me objects of admiration and even obsession. Fortunately I just discovered that they are available to order from her website (!!). I love love LOVE her and can't wait to see her line on the PR finale this week.

FIRST RAIN

2008-10-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

I went to see Sigur Ros Friday night at the Greek, and in the third song of their encore, just when I thought the show could not get any more incredible, it started to pour. It was the first rain of fall, and it started with a drumbeat in the opening chords of one of the most powerful songs performed in one of the most powerful shows I've ever seen. I've been sick for four weeks and I stood in the pouring rain at risk of my health to hear a half-blind man sing Icelandic falsetto and shred an electric guitar with a cello bow. I had a revelation while standing there, blinking away my dripping eye makeup in a rapture...

But I ~~can't~~ won't really explain. Having to track the set list on my Blackberry, having to write up and send out a show review the next day, has left me really seriously frustrated with trying to convey the experience in words. All I'll say in conclusion is that the show exceeded my expectations, and left me sincerely reminded of what life was like before I got stuck in bed with a fever for a month. I need need to get back to more music and back to my life.

I'M SICK BUT I'M PRETTY

2008-10-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

You know the state of your life is pretty deteriorated when you finally decide that you're going to force yourself to eat whether or not you have an appetite, and the only thing you can find in your house to make for breakfast is a couple of microwavable veggie corndogs and a cup of coffee flavored with powdered non-dairy creamer that your mother sent you in the mail.

Let me explain.

My relationship with my mother consists almost entirely in her mailing me strange things on a regular basis. We talk, but not too often. We don't fight much, but that's mostly because we don't talk much. She spends a lot of time worrying about me and researching different prescription drugs she thinks I might use to become a happier person. She also likes to feel like she's taking care of me by scouring her house, which is full of stockpiles of random items bought in mass quantities by her obsessive-compulsive husband, and packing up boxes full of assorted items I might someday need. She mails me these boxes about once a month. Last month she sent a rather large one with a box of candles, some cleaning supplies, a tube of whitening toothpaste, a George Foreman grill, and a body pillow. Yesterday I received a shoebox packed with brownie mix, some dried fruit, coffee creamer, a Chipotle giftcard, and NyQuil.

The strangest thing about my mom's care packages is that the random things she sends me always turn out to be really, really useful. She has no idea that I've been sick for three weeks and that the NyQuil she sent me gave me my first full-night's sleep in days. There's also no way she could have known that I ran out of coffee creamer yesterday and spent most of my evening bemoaning the fact that I was too weak to walk to the grocery store and would have to drink my coffee black in the morning. I chalk it up to her maternal instincts, which were never really great with the whole teaching me how to live my life stuff, but must be spot-on with knowing what sorts of objects I am in need of.

Everyone once in a while I mail my mom mix CDs that I make for her with carefully-chosen assortments of music that I think she'll like. I even write out by hand the track listings on paper inserts. She usually calls me to tell me that she didn't like the CD, but that it makes her very happy to get mail from me.

I worry a lot that someday my mother will figure out how to use the internet and find out all the semi-awful things I say about her. But in reality the probability of that happening is highly unlikely.

LIKE OUR B-SIDE

2008-09-23T00:44:00.000-07:00

So this one time, I wandered out of my room early in the morning after a party, and found two strangers quietly pushing around magnetic poetry on my refrigerator. I took these photographs the next day.

THE MENTAL/ILOVEELECTRO SIDE

2008-09-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

One of the many ways I kept myself entertained while sick at home this week, bored, without enough acuity to do anything actually productive. Cred to Aylin who told me about this in the first place.

CALL IT OFF

2008-09-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

I had to get blood drawn today. There are very few things in life I dislike more than getting blood drawn. I almost cried, and the nurse brought me a 7Up. I don't know why they didn't have candy.

WITH A BUZZ IN OUR EARS

2008-09-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

SIGURROS @THEGREEK

Oct 3: Not sure if they've sold out already, but if you can get a ticket now I'd do it asap. I've never seen Sigur Ros live but I've heard from many a source that they're pretty freaking incredible.

"SHE CAN SUCK IT"

2008-09-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

My most favorite celebrity couple talks out today against Sarah Palin, and I have never loved them more. Lo blogged before about this, but I think it's pretty cool that the two lovely ladies are taking a stand in this together.

And for real, I know I get made fun of for my (often inexplicable) love for celebrities who've gone a bit off the deep end... and rightfully so. I know that girls like Brit are a bit hard to respect, but I don't value them for their worth in labor. I know they've got the livin easy, and my real respect for them is more like a respect for them-as-commodities, which they market themselves as. It's not a degrading thing. I know they're people TOO, but that comes second to them as objects I can buy or download. First and foremost they're shiny pretty things, and I like to look at them. My love for them as people stems from that, and is just irrational but nonetheless sincere.

But back to the point. Lo & Sam, regardless of any previous mishaps in bad glampop albums or cocaine addiction, are two women who can easily be placed in to the ridic celeb pile, but who in all honesty I DO have real respect for. I know this isn't original and that the conversation about them is a pretty divisive one, but I'm gonna throw my two cents in on their side. They've been pretty straightforward for a while about the fact of their relationship, not hiding behind lies or pretense. Everyone knows they're in love and together, and that's a hard thing to do. But at the same time, they've not shoved their relationship into the public or the media, fantasizing it into some sort of image they gain something from. And they have spoken out pretty consistently for gay rights and women's rights, something even women in politics often fail to raise their voices for. So I have even more respect for them understanding the platform they're speaking from. It's not their job to be politically savvy or to care for the rights of women in this country. But they do, and it's sincere and it's legit.

WHAT WILL YOU GET IT UP FOR?

2008-09-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

Get more bang for your dollar.

Voter registration for the November 4 general election must be completed by October 20, 2008. Click the pink "Register to Vote" box in my sidebar to get a form mailed to you if you haven't registered yet.

NOTHIN BUT A CHROMOSOME

2008-09-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

I've been awfully quiet around here on the subject of newly-designated GOP veep candidate Sarah Palin, which seems strange I'm sure from a news junkie who also happens to be a feminist, and deeply interested in the women involved in this presidential election. To make a complicated thought short: I'm working out a way to think and talk about Sarah Palin that isn't offensive or mean-spirited. The thing is, homegirl is decisively such an archetype of everything I stand against, that she makes talking about her and maintaining decency pretty hard.

A friend today linked me to an op-ed from the LA Times that expresses very well all the worries of the Palin problem from the perspective of a feminist, beginning aptly with this acute observation:

"Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton."

And that's about all she shares with me as well. No doubt I'm glad we as a country have developed far enough to have a woman considered for one of the highest offices of our government - but I am by no means happy with the individual who, for whatever reason, was chosen to fill that role. I mentioned in a previous post Phyllis Chesler's writings on those women who fight against what women as a majority fight and hope for. It's pretty easy to see how Palin is just that individual.

"This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere."

And how are we to respond to the Alaskan's fight against us? Like I said, I try very hard not to ridicule Sarah Palin (too much), publicly OR privately. This is, for one, because I not only believe in but will always stand up for every individual's right to live her or his life the way that they choose, and because a fundamental premise of democracy, at least as we're living it here, is that a plurality of views and proposed policy are to work in constant competition with each other, forming never a perfectly unified body of government, but a one that's in a perpetual state of evolution. And I've also tried to be fair to Palin for another very specific reason, and that is one of Chesler's feminist values: having radical compassion.

"This is hard, not easy, to do. I think both men and women owe women a large measure of radical compassion. Women often withhold this resource from each other, or dole it out as if it were a scarce commodity. And then only to women who do not threaten us. This tells me two things: that women are likely to be pushovers for the slightest bit of maternal warmth that comes our way, and that women need only a small amount of encouragement and compassion in order to keep going. With more than a little, who knows how far we might go?"

And so yes, I do think there are things to be gained from Palin's appointment to candidacy. It scares the shit out of me to think someone with both her inexperience in government and her wildly absolutist values is in a position to maybe, possibly, someday (knock on wood) be our president. But here's to hoping it just doesn't happen, that our country is not naive enough to vote her in. And here's to hoping we'll come out of all this having learned and grown, and without pro-war anti-feminists in the white house.

INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE

2008-09-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Michael Moore, creator of three of the highest-grossing documentaries EVER, is giving out his new film like candy. For reals, it's FREE.

The doc's called "Slacker Uprising." It's a bit of a history of Moore's attempts to rally young people to vote, beginning in the 2004 presidential season. This will be the first ever full-length feature film (that could have potentially grossed millions at the box office) to be released gratis online. While the internet broke old selling models for the music industry years back, and artists on that end have been forced to acquiesce to unlimited distribution and smaller profits, the film industry hasn't yet been quite so damaged. So why give in and give it away?

"I thought it'd be a nice way to celebrate my 20th year of doing this. And also help get out the vote for November. I've been thinking about what I want to do to help with the election this year... This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans. The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November."

AMEN. Sign up at slackeruprising.com to download the film for free when it's released on September 23.

AND I QUOTE

2008-09-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

"Palin's voice has the same effect on me as Mary hart's did on Kramer in Seinfeld."

AW SHIIIIIIET IS RIGHT

2008-09-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

New Old Money mixtape in conjunction with Souled On Music, now that I've heard I don't know how I ever lived without. Like for reals, take one look at the track list and tell me you don't feel the same.

Grab the mp3 at Attorney Street.

And for those of you who still haven't listened to the Top Ranking mixtape (Santogold/Diplo circa July) you can get that shit right here.

APOLOGIEZ

2008-09-03T18:01:00.001-07:00

If your RSS feeds are goin crazy. I am editing tags and titles for the sake of consistency which is something I've realized lately is lacking in my blog and in my life.

KATY HATE-AH

2008-09-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've gotten some pretty mixed responses when announcing my distaste for the ever-homophobic annoyance that is Katy Perry. And listen folks, I am not a hater. KATY PERRY IS A HATER. When I call her s#&* out lots of kiddies (to their credit) throw in a bitch or two, but every once in a while I encounter some girl who I thought was cool who pitches back a "But I loooove her," thinkin she's all hip and pseudo-lesbian, and I just never even know what to say.

Sasha Frere-Jones has some thoughts on the topic, and for real, I can't say it any better.

PROBLEMA Y SOLUCIÓN

2008-09-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

If you ever find yourself moved into a bedroom with a wall full of windows overlooking the patio of a neighbor who very apparently likes to have loud fights, loud sex, and loud parties, simply follow these steps:

Step 1. put off spanish homework
Step 2. eye mask
Step 3. ear plugs
Step 4. stereo headphones
Step 5. zero 7

Buy Simple Things on iTunes here.

Oh ya, and HAPPY SEPTEMBER! dayum, this year go'en by hella fast.

IT'S LIKE I SAID,

2008-08-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

THIS IS THE SHIT

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 11

2008-08-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

LYKKE LI.

I got my copy of her new, first full-length album Youth Novels last week and was very pleasantly surprised. I've been hearing a few of her songs, like Little Bit and Dance, Dance, Dance, around the web this summer, and was looking forward to hearing more, but wasn't sure what to expect. Girlfriend has the whole sounding-like-a-downtempo-Björk thing down, to her enormous credit, but I've been wary for a while of minimalist pop. And though I did think some of the tracks could have used a bit more drum, no one in their right mind could help but liking the album. Favorites were the songs with stronger back beats like Complaint Department and Window Blues. After a couple listens I even found myself able to admit liking the charming little spoken-word interludes. and I kinda can't get that trumpet out of my head.

I'm leaving LA this week, and half sadly/half gladly returning to the bay, so I'll miss Lykke Li at the Hotel Cafe, but I'm hoping to catch her in SF on November 1. Long ways away, so more on that later.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY TO BE FREE

2008-08-08T11:55:00.001-07:00

It's my last day on the job at NPR. Sigh. I will dearly miss working in public radio... Or will I? I'm pursuing some possibilities in San Fransisco per my return to the bay this month, but as I'm (ugh!) still stuck finishing my education, we'll see if that actually pans out.

But hey, on the upside, my "summer vacation" is just starting. I've got a couple weeks now to NOT wake up at 5am daily, and I'm swooning over the possibilities. There are books to be read, beaches to be laid upon, events to be attended, friends to be seen, reality TV to be caught-up on.

Sounds like SUMMERTIME to me.

NOT HAVIN IT

2008-08-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

The world is on a crusade today to defame my (as of yet non-existant) relationship with my future husband.

A note from Erin on my facebook:

So as it turns out your dream man is also funny. But I don't think that you can watch this and still believe he's straight. He completely outed himself and he's either had six cups of coffee or some blow. You decide.

http://perezhilton.com/2008-08-05-anderson-cooper-hates-the-lohans

And the same story on the front page of gay.com:

The Silver Fox bared his claws today on "Live with Regis & Kelly" and I am LOVING IT! He does a killa impression of rock & roll Stella from "Project Runway" and then launches into a diatribe against "Living Lohan" like it's personal...did Dina Lohan spill her cosmo on his John Lobb loafers or something?

I am NOT HAVIN IT. Homeboy just loves trash TV, so what? All that proves is that we are all the more meant for each other. I foresee a fairy-tale wedding and a long, happy life of travel, news, and I Love New York. Everyone who thinks this is not possible can just shut they mouths.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 10

2008-07-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

KATIE WHITE.

THIS LIST HAS NO OCCASSION

2008-07-23T11:49:00.001-07:00

It's not the beginning or end of the year, or of anything. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I'm right smack-dab in the middle of my summer. But I always figure there's no time like the present, and I have some things to talk about.

Music happenings:
Snoop Dogg ft. Everlast- "My Medicine"
Sometimes the best way to be interesting is to employ full disclosure. D-O-double-G's new track, with the awkwardly honest refrain, "Girl, my love's gonna last just as long as my high / And I'm high all day, every day," is pretty sweet, when you think about it!

Kings of Convenience ft. Feist- "Know How"
Aylin sent me an email yesterday morning titled "start your day right," the body of which contained only a link to this download. It did in fact start my day on a good note. Feist is wonderful independent of any other influence, but I must say the lady has a knack for cooperative projects (another of my favorite collab's from her came out last year- Feist and Gonzales' cover of Peaches' "Lovertits").

The Cure- "The Only One"
There are no words for how much I love, love, love, love this song.

News happenings:
Belligerent Batman:
The best part of all this is the talk I've heard about how Christian Bale's mother and sister, who he allegedly harrassed (verbally or physically, IDK, depends on the article), are being accused of fabricating the story in order to get attention. Or something else ridiculous to that affect. Yeah, because big powerful men don't ever fly off the handle and abuse the women in their lives. Any female who claims she's a victim must be lying to feed her ego, right?

Polygamist Sect Leader Indicted:
FINALLY.

Fun stuff from my show:
A little somethin' from N&N last week- listen to the audio and forward ahead to about 9 minutes for the "Sounding black" segment if you want to hear a familiar voice (yeah, I guess I do sound pretty white).

My life happenings:
The Intern Edition premier is next week! Aaand, guess who's going to DC? Part business, part pleasure. It should be a good time meeting in real life all the folks over there, with whom I've been working this summer strictly via virtual communication. I'm thinking about taking a day trip to New York too (why not?) while I'm over on the East Coast. Should be fun, I'll try to catch some music while I'm floating around the country and keep it posted here.

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS

2008-07-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

OMG !

I knew she wouldn't be gone for long.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 9

2008-07-21T16:32:00.001-07:00

FEIST.

It just occurred to me last night as I was leaving the Hollywood Bowl (after a couple of hours of drunken screams to the tune of "I LOVE HER!" and "I WANT TO BE HER!"), that somehow Feist hadn't yet made my short list of women I want to be. For shame!

From her vocal cords to her bangs to her sick red electric guitar to her friendship with Peaches...Leslie F is truly one of the tops in the ranking.

SEA LION WOMAN

2008-07-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

FEIST

July 20: I can't remember if I've already hyped this. But I'll be there to finally see the lovely Canadian chanteusse in the flesh. Expecting good things and good times.

RIP BPP

2008-07-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Sad news today about the Bryant Park Project, one of my favorite programs on NPR. I've sat through a few hours of meetings explaining why the show was cancelled, and still don't quite understand. I mean, I get it, but I don't get it. Somebody (or rather a lot of old somebodys) has made a really big mistake here.

"Change is hard because people tend to overestimate the value of what they have...and underestimate what they would gain, by giving that up."

If BPP is ever born again into another life, I will be the first to throw them back my support. Here's to hoping. And to all the kickass people at NPR-NY who deserve better.

HUMANIST PROPAGANDA

2008-07-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

After seeing this guy in the New York Times last week, and then stumbling upon an interview with him at our very own intern blog on npr.org, I was all but forced to fall in love with Matt Harding's very strange international internet movement.

Fellow NPR intern Jessica Wanke asked Matt what he hopes people will glean from his videos, to which he replied: "A wildly exaggerated view of the natural joyfulness and good will of our species. I make humanist propaganda. I try to trick people into thinking the world is wonderful so they will act accordingly."

LET PEACE AND BEAUTY REIGN

2008-07-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

and bring us love again like you can....

More pics from the best summer evening ever are up in the book.

GIVE IT A LITTLE BIT A VITRIOL

2008-07-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

THELOVE FESTIVAL

August 9: Too much love for one summer? I think not. I also think the fact that this event is happening the day after my summer job ends and weeks before I have to be back at school, is the universe's way of telling me it wants me to fuck around quite a bit more and have myself some real solid fun for the end of the summer. Really, what else could it mean??

VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR

2008-07-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

I LOVE FANNY PAK. They must must must win Dance Crew this season.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 8

2008-07-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

ALICE GLASS.

It makes me happy that one of the more popular pictures of Alice floating around the aether is of her in pretty much the exact outfit I think I wore about a month ago out with Erin. (Can you vouch???)

MORE GENDERED PRESIDENTIALS

2008-07-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so there's already been a ton of talk happening about the first wives' club v.2008 -- not just in the blogs or in the MSM but quite literally everywhere. I don't dare to rehash all the drama in an op-ed here, but I will link you to this article from Black Voices that I found this morning, which has got some new poll stats, and what I think is a pretty good, concise summary of the issue.

One pull from an interview conducted via the AP survey cited in the article, in particular got my attention.

"Cindy seems like she's laid back and not trying to run her husband," said Linda Kaiser, 60, a Republican and church secretary from Clairton, Pa. "It's nice to have a brain, but they should let their husband be president."

"It's nice to have a brain, but.."???! Oh, no she didn't.

But really, yeah, she did. Hearing anyone say something like this is just so sad. But it's especially sad to hear it from a woman. I am proud of my country in a million ways for how far we have come, and I'm eternally grateful to the women a generation ahead of me who did a lot of the heavy lifting for the feminist cause. But then Linda Kaiser goes and drops this shit on us and we have to look around and wonder how she can throw her respect at the feet of a husband-stealing beer heiress on account of her marital submissiveness (let's not forget, to a husband who'll call her a C*** in public) -- and she'll criticize a black woman who's overcome extreme hardship to get educated and earn herself a place in the upper rings of society, all for using her brain a little too much.

I've been talking a bit recently with Phyllis Chesler, as we're having her on our show next week to talk about feminism and the generation divide. There's an excerpt on her site from her book Letters to a Young Feminist that's a particularly engaging text on exactly what I feel about the whole future-first-ladies debate -- complete with wonder at how much more can and must be done in the face of these women-fighting women. But I'll take a page from her, and do the only thing that I really think I can- have radical compassion, even toward those who threaten other women.

I guess that's not the only thing I can do. I suppose at some point I will find a way to overcome my extreme disappointment with the results of this year's primary elections and get up the nerve to put an Obama bumper sticker on my car. I do need to start showing some more vehement Obama support, even if it's more for Michelle than Barack. Don't get me wrong, B's got my vote in November. But it is so, so hard to let go of the hope we had with Hillary. The wives are one thing for a feminist to be thinking about now. Hill was a whole 'nother.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 7

2008-06-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

ONYEE.

Saw her with Sunny Day Sets Fire in all her bell-jingling, tambourine-shaking, drum-pounding, sweet-screaming glory last night at the American Teen premiere. Which, BTW, was an amazing film that yall should check out when it's in theaters next month. But to the point. Any girl in cutoff jean shorts who can play half the instruments on stage, and also have the most perfect bangs possible, definitely qualifies for a wannabe post.

READY FOR THE FLOOR

2008-06-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

The blog I'm helping edit for NPR's Summer 2008 Intern Edition is up and running, though it's still under construction. It'll be prettiest and at its best when the program site launches (in a week? a few weeks?), but here's a heads up. Click on Concert Hall for the music blog, which is my new editorial domain.

The audio program will be up at the end of July- I'll link you to it when it's here. But for now, go to the blog, get us hits and leave us comments! All the contributors are interns like myself- nice kids with a lot to say on lots of different things, who are trying to publish good original content in the midst of our already-crazy jobs at NPR. I'll be posting weekly with show reviews, track reviews, album reviews, and more stuff that you may or may not want to hear about. I also may or may not have a hand in the music that we use in the audio program, which will basically be a 30-45 minute radio show made up of all of our original reports and stories. It's pretty cool, I promise. So check it out and pass it round!

FINDING OUT TRUE LOVE IS BLIND

2008-06-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

SUNSETSTRIP MUSICFESTIVAL

June 26-28: Some cool bands, some not cool bands. I'm going to try to see Everclear on Thursday. Freakin' Louis XIV is playing at the Viper Room the same night as EDC (Sat 28) so I can't go. UGHGH! Mickey Avalon will be at the Key Club the same night, and Starfuckers at the Cat Club. A good night for music. Pick your vice and LA will bring it to you on a platter.

OH. EM. GEE.

2008-06-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

It is 107 degrees out right now, and yesterday I paid a little over $65.00 to fill up my gas tank (mind you, I have a CAMRY and I was at the cheapest Arco station within 20 miles of me- $4.52 a gallon, as opposed to the $4.81 I've been paying in LA). UGHHGHGHG OMGGGG. I am not going to survive the summer.

OK so maybe I will survive, but still, I bet none of you can beat my sufferings with higher temperatures or gas prices. NONE!

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PARTS 5-6

2008-06-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

LADYTRON.

And by Ladytron I mean the ladies of Ladytron, the lovely ethnic and eclectic electroclash elegants Mira Aroyo and Helen Marnie. I mean, it would be pretty sweet to be just one of them, but lumping them into one post has struck me with the idea of being both at once, which would be even more awesome and might result in some amazing harmonies.

OK, I am officially ridiculous. But these girls are not.

NETWORK TOWN

2008-06-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

LAFILMFESTIVAL

June 19-29: I'll be at least at one if not more of these digs. American Teen is at the Ford Amphitheater Wed June 25 at 8. And I just found out that the aforementioned Paul V from Indie will be there spinning before and after the screening, which makes me even happier that I've already got a ticket.

ARE WE IN LOVE?

2008-06-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

Listen to THIS and you JUST MIGHT explode. There's almost too much good stuff in there.

And BTW, this is not a solitary phenomenon. Paul V has a whole blog full of this shit.

DROP BEATS NOT BOMBS

2008-06-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

ELECTRICDAISY CARNIVAL

June 28, 2008: Tooooo much fun. Carnival rides, Moby, stuff to benefit charity, and lots of peace, love, and happiness. At the LA Coliseum. If you want a group to roll with, I've got one, hit me up!

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 4

2008-06-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

YELLE.

I know I can't stop talking about her. Mais je ne peux pas! It is a bit of a narcissistic obsession, I suppose, as she reminds me of a much cooler, much more French, rapping version of myself.

AS THE STORY GOES

2008-06-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

RILOKILEY

June 18: Rilo Kiley at the Greek in LA. Tickets are 33.50 I believe, which is a bummer, but I like Silver Lining so much I had a dream about it the other night, so I'll prob be there.

DISCLAIMER

2008-06-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

I used up all my happy Ashley during the week and only have crappy Ashley to give out this weekend. I apologize in advance for any rude remarks I might make, or for potentially hitting you in the face. I am tired.

But if anything makes me feel better it's knowing that I get to watch this soon:

Like seriously OMG.

GOT NO NEED FO NO FANCY THINGS

2008-06-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

INDIEPRESENTS:SANTOGOLD

June 9: Santogold show -- FO' FREE!! Downtown LA, at the Hollywood and Highland Courtyard. CD signing at the Virgin Megastore after the show. Starts at 6pm sharp. Bet your ass I'll be there, I get off work Monday with an hour and only a few freeway exits between me and my girl.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 3

2008-06-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

FERGIE.

Girl can't help it.

I fell in love with Fergie all over again when it dawned on me what Fergalicious was all about (hint: exactly what part of fergie is "so delicious" anyway??). That's a fun one.

Also Fergie-related: Ferry Corsten remixes "my humps." I owe the credit for that one to Aaron who told me about it a few weeks back.

HONEST COMMENTS

2008-06-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

"The only good thing about the defeat of Hillary Clinton may be a resurgence of feminism, an understanding that we haven't yet killed misogyny and that we have work to do. ...

My best friend tells me that Hillary should have been gracious last night. Barack Obama was gracious. But isn't gratitude the prerogative of the winner? Will women ever be winners? And if so, when?

Sexism is hard to see because most of it is so petty we don't want to mention it. Nutcracker thighs? A novelty like that seems beneath contempt. But it isn't one small offense that does women in -- it's the steady accretion of many offenses. It's death by a thousand cuts. Even mentioning the problem seems ungracious. As women, we're supposed to specialize in graciousness. And there isn't a gracious way to talk about sexism. Perhaps there is no way to talk about sexism at all -- which is the way sexists want it."

Erica Jong at the Huffington Post

And while I’m sort of on the topic, might as well mention that Arianna Huffington will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight at 11:35. I’ll probably be in REM by then, but I wish I could watch. If you’re up you can take a listen and let me know what you think of her talk.

INDIE I LOVE YOU !

2008-06-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

It almost makes the commute worth it to be within signal of Santa Monica and reunited with my beloved INDIE 103.1, the music machine that played a large part in making me the obnoxious and pretentious music lover I am today. This summer looks like lots of MGMT, new Death Cab, Sunday morning Head Trips, nostalgia with Jonesy, and more more more Indie goodness.

THIS IS THE MOMENT

2008-06-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

June 08, whoa. I never really pictured myself in a routine that involved waking up for the 5am news and wearing heels 5 days a week. But stranger things have happened.

We're living in hot times, kids. Just to share a few of my favorite things I found at work today: Hill-hater Pfleger gets the clerical boot; Obama's finally got the nomination and in both her speech and his, Hill stands strong ("I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton..."); and my personal favorite, Bill Clinton bitches out VF's Todd Purdum, FTW!

SUMMER WTF

2008-06-01T16:10:00.001-07:00

YESSS I know I haven't been around much lately. But there are lots of new things about to explode around here, so sit tight.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 2

2008-05-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

SANTOGOLD.

Except I was a little sell-out sad when I saw the new Bud Light commercial using Creator. Almost as bad as Justice on those awful Cadillac ads. But I still love her.

WOMEN I WANT TO BE, PART 1

2008-04-26T03:38:00.000-07:00

UFFIE.

I'm obsessed.

MAY FIELD DAY

2008-04-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

RESOURCEGREEN'SART,EARTH,& EACHOTHER

May 3, 2008: Sustainability-themed art show put on by some amazing students at Berkeley, and showcasing work by more. And even better- the show will be held out in the sunshine on Memorial Glade. Be there!

DEATH BY BLOG

2008-04-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

After the few recent and sudden deaths of prominent bloggers, the New York Times today remarks on the rising dangers of the world of weblogging. You can find the story in the Technology section of their ...blog.

Not sure what to think about this. A sort of self-threatening ars poetica, perhaps?

DE TU MAMMA TAMBIEN

2008-04-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of the funnier things I've seen on the internet, because it is so true to life, and I've had so many similar experiences of my own.

POSTCARDS FROM YO MOMMA

I find the email entitled "Paranoia" especially good. I'm going to have to fix my makeup before class because I laughed so hard I cried. The all-caps formal tone is just too reminiscent of my dad's text messaging habits. I'll have to post more about that later.

YELLE JE T'AIME

2008-03-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

I'm not gonna lie, when my sister told me that she and my dad saw one of Yelle's artist-of-the-week clips on MTV and thought she reminded them of me, I took it as the biggest compliment of my life.

I think I'm going to cut my hair short again.

I LOVE HER.

POST-SPRING BREAK

2008-03-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

After our super posh get-together with the CLAM last week, I headed south to spend a few days of my spring break with family and friends in sunny southern California. As per usual the place ended up being more stress than anything else, but the trip did give me time to catch up on my magazines while neglecting completely my scholastic responsibilities. Now I'm back, and for a welcome Berkeley has given me a little bit of rain, a lot of gloom, and a ghost town. How uplifting.

On a brighter note- there are only six weeks remaining in the semester, which means I've only got a few more papers and exams between now and my wonderful summer of sunshine and stress (I'll be working full-time on a radio show in LA). I can't wait! Ooh, and also: tickets for the Outside Lands music festival go on sale this week, and I don't care if I can't afford it, I'm GOING!

THURSDAY NIGHT RIGHT

2008-03-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

CLAMFALL2007 RELEASEPARTY

all friends in the bay area are expected to be in attendance!

WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT AN OXFORD COMMA?

2008-03-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

My day is always brighter when I've got Vampire Weekend playing in my headphones.

someday I'll write a story about busrides. but not today.

2008-03-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

So I finally got my shit together and booked some travel home for spring break, which I'm happy to say is now fast approaching. Some sleep and sand and sun is bound to do me good. Happily, I recently discovered that rather than dealing with the shitshow that is air travel, I can conveniently hop on a bus and catch a six-hour ride down to LA- which I now plan to do this coming weekend. Woo! A couple years ago, living in mass-transit-challenged Orange County, I might have shunned this opportunity. But public transportation is now an integral, and I'd even say a valuable and enjoyable part of my life. I commute to work and don't have a car, so I'd say that lands me at spending about a good forty percent of my life on the bus. Which means I have the golden opportunity to spend a good forty percent of my life spacing out and listening to new music on my ipod. And really, who else do you know who can do that?

My friends recently decided I was "their" Samantha Ronson. I guess that is to say that they like stealing my music and think I'm cool in a cocaine-chic hipster/poser way that I only find slightly offensive, and that if they were Lindsay Lohan, I'd be their super hot lesbian DJ best friend. Which is sweet, in a but-I'm-not-addicted-to-coke kind of way.

I think I've eaten too many fireworks.

2008-03-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

I had a dream that the streets of Berkeley turned into waterways, and there was a parade of hundreds of women doing acrobatics on tiny boats streaming through Telegraph Avenue. My mom and sister came in a boat and I got in, and, as the boat also had wings, we flew up over the city to get out of the parade traffic, but got lost because it was night and we had no lights. After long minutes of panic soaring over the bay area at midnight in a rowboat, we made a crashlanding under the Golden Gate bridge, where so many others had done the same.

MOTIVATED & MEDICATED

2008-03-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

I AM WAY, WAY TOO EXCITED FOR MY BIRTHDAY.

Santogold- Creator Remix (MP3)

(img/deviantart.com)

I'm Miss American Dream, since I was Seventeen

2008-03-03T22:52:00.000-08:00

.. don't matter if I stay on the scene ... you still want a piece of me ..

If John McCain wins the presidency of the United States, I am expatriating.

YOU THINK I AM JOKING BUT I AM NOT JOKING.

I've been talking around and so far I've got some hookups in Ecuador, Gautemala, and Ibiza. So basically I'll either end up teaching English to South American children and spending my weekends smoking in the rainforest, or teaching English to Spanish children and spending my weekends strungout at island raves. I'd say either's a fair alternative.

leap year celebrated

2008-02-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

I celebrated the extra day of 2008 today by (GASP!) doing my laundry! I have not had clean clothes in, I'd say, about a month. So this is quite exciting. Also, I tried one of them new Snickers CHARGED- the newfangled candy bars with caffiene and taurine and all that other hype shit they usually put in energy drinks. It was nasty as fuck, which I'm glad for, because it could easily have turned into my next bad habit.

Anyhow, because I'm in a Ferg-frenzy lately anyway, I'mma leave you with a fun Fergalicious remix for your listening pleasure. (MP3: courtesy of attorneyst)

Happy twenty-nine all!

just a few notes on celebrity

2008-02-22T23:10:00.000-08:00

I don't understand how anyone could not LOVE Fergie.

And also, for the record, Sarah Silverman IS NOT FUNNY, and needs to be stopped.

why I love..

2008-02-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

It may sound lame to say I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY, but it's true, and I can't help it.

My two favorite colors are red and purple, and it's a bit absurd the amount of stuff I have collected in those colors. My roommates make fun of me for it constantly. There are times when I wish the entire world glowed only in shades of those two hues. And so, when there's one day a year when EVERYONE wears some of my favorite colors, and there's pretty little red hearts and knick-knacks in every store, it just makes me smile. It's like the world just got a little bit more beautiful for a day.

Also, when else am I going to wake up to a pretty little present from my roommate sitting at the foot of my bed, and when else is it acceptable for me to eat seven chocolate chip cookies for breakfast?? That's right bitches, only on Valentine's Day.

If only there were a holiday where everyone wore purple and gave eachother oranges. Now THAT would be a day of love.

PRETTY SENSORIES FOR FEBRUARY

2008-02-04T23:20:00.000-08:00

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

ENJOY: Bloc Party feat. Peaches (MP3)

(img/fantasiafaerie.deviantart.com)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

SOME THINGS O8

2008-02-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessively superstitious about new beginnings. This year I had the most amazing New Year's eve and day, and I've become convinced that this year will be my best one yet. I work hard every month to secure myself a good start on the first day, and I think I've outdone myself this year- I ended January with a bang and woke up this morning with a good luck "rabbit rabbit" that I am sure will carry me through February with good fortune.

I do have some sad news though. With all of the activity of the past month, I somehow managed to let it slip my mind that I had moved since I last voted, and needed to re-register to vote. I missed the registration date for the primaries by one day (I know, ONE day!!) and so now I cannot vote in the California elections. I am seriously upset with myself, but I'm registered now and ready for the rest of the elections coming up this year-- and I'm using this tragic mistake as a learning experience: don't let this happen to you!! If you've changed your name or address since you last voted, you NEED to re-register to be eligible to vote. And if you've never been registered, make this year the one you do! Seriously friends, give a shit. Don't let other people pick your president, your nation's policy, or the laws that you and your friends will have to live by. Choose them for yourself. The 2008 presidential election might be the most dramatic and important one in American history-- the candidate chosen this year IS going to determine the future not only of our country, but of the working world in which America has so closely interwoven itself.

K, I'll get off my soapbox now. If you want to register to vote, you can click the pink box on the right side of this page. It will take you to rockthevote.com, where you can fill out, download, and print a registration form that you can sign and mail in. Easy peasy.

Happy voting!

It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it.

2008-01-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

It is January of 2008 and in the past twenty-four days, the entire world has changed.

The tattoo is nothing compared to everything else.

it is best as one grows older

2007-11-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

to strip oneself of possessions, to shed oneself downward like a tree, to be almost wholly earth.

It's November and this morning in class I said something and didn't recognize my voice.

(photo: melis ipek cagci)

no, no, this is not charity, put down your begging hands.

2007-10-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

My itch for gossip on the cult came back with a vengeance tonight. So many many of them are married now it's not a shock, but pregnancies throw me into a frenzy. I feel terrible for most of the girls I went to high school with, I really do. But more than that I mostly just have an insane desire to observe and criticize and pull apart their lives and wonder what ever happened to all of them that somehow didn't happen to me. It's sick.

Every day closer to my reluctant and long-awaited homecoming is steeping in more and more anxieties. I can't help but constantly wonder at what they all think about me. I mean, I can guess at what they say. I just wonder at how much they know. My hatred of the place is I think mostly just my fear of being observed at its height. (could you call that scopophobia? I wonder. I like my fears to have titles.)

Fortunately though, tonight I've unearthed some wonderful dirty secrets that I intend to exploit to their fullest for my advantage and enjoyment when I get back in town.

But ooo what is it about extorting the really terrible realities of other people's lives that gives such a rush of pleasure? I know this post will make me sound completely crazy. All I can say in my defense is, you would understand if you knew these people. really, you would.

cyberwill4000

2007-10-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

When I die, I don't want a funeral. I don't want to be planted next to a bunch of other bodies in some dull depressing place and I don't want to be burnt up into fire-chalk either. I want them to take me out on a boat and throw me over into the ocean, where I belong.

Is that legal? I guess it doesn't matter.

It's important that someone know these things. and who better than the internet, who never dies?

Oh, ya, and I leave all of my wealth and possessions to my sister.

answers (without questions)

2007-10-14T00:07:00.000-07:00

some of the following things have actually been asked of me-- some often, some once. some never. some I ask myself in my head a lot.
further questions can be asked via email, and will most likely be answered later.

1. 19, 20, or 21. it depends on who's asking. I don't remember really.

2. yes, I took it of myself. it's supposed to say something like, "I'm hot," and, "I exist only on the internet." my hair doesn't look like that anymore.

3. some people do push-ups or read the newspaper. I recite poems in languages I don't understand, over and over until I know I'll remember them for years. I do this mostly on the bus home from work, but sometimes also in the shower.

4. it's norwegian. although I'm not too sure whether or not I am norwegian. I tell people a lot of things about my ethnicity that are usually at least somewhat true, but in all honesty, I don't have a clue what I'm made out of.

5. yeah, it really is like the t.v. show. sort of.

6. I tell people I don't like wearing glasses but really I do.

7. I deleted it a few weeks ago. I had it for over two years, I think. I only did it because it made me feel unpopular. once it was gone, I felt like some enormous unidentified monster had eaten a little piece of my soul.

8. I used to be up for posting my poems and paintings, but I can't anymore. it's weird to just stick stuff like that out there on the internet and not hope to see a face in response.

9. yes, I will meet you. I don't think you're creepy.

10. I secretly want you to call me by my middle name, but I am too ashamed to ask.