iTunes

Open iTunes/iPod or Windows Media Player to answer the following:

Go to your library.

Answer, no matter how embarrasing it is. Seriously. I even put that
I have Britney Spears on here and you know I'm a music snob... I used
my WHOLE library, not just what's on my iPod or what I listen to. So
there's stuff from Junior High on here. Isn't iTunes awesome?

How many songs? 18564

Sort by artist

First artist: !!!
Last artist: Pinchas Zuckerman

Sort by song title

First Song: "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears
Last Song: "Zum Gali Gali" by Yiddish Swingtette

Sort by time:

Shortest Song: "The Sky Is A Harpsichord Canvas" by The Olivia Tremor
Control (00:04)
Longest Song: "Sound of Confusion" by Brian Jonestown Massacre (33:02)

First Album: !!! by !!!
Last Album: "Zoot Suit Riot" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies

First song that comes up on Shuffle:
"Life Sentence" by Dead Kennedys

How many songs come up when you search for "sex"?
52

How many songs come up when you search for "death"?
109

How many songs come up when you search for "love"?
799

How many songs come up when you search for "you"?
1475

How many songs come up when you search for "why"?
47

Put the next 20 songs that come up on shuffle:

Note: I only used my iPod playlist because otherwise I would have all sorts of books/spoken word. I only shuffle with that playlist anyhow.

Put the next 20 songs that come up on shuffle:

1. The Ronettes "Why Don't They Let Us Fall In Love?"
2. Son Volt "Drown"
3. Scissor Sisters "Take Your Mama"
4. Elliot Smith "Good to Go"
5. Velvet Underground "Rock & Roll"
6. Cat Power "In This Hole"
7. Whiskeytown "Tennessee Square"
8. Iggy and the Stooges "Shake Appeal"
9. Deke Dickerson "Track 04 from Randy's Mix"
10. Bob Dylan "Mississippi"
11. Ani DiFranco "Cloud Blood"
12. The Promise Ring "The Deep South"
13. Serge Gainsbourg "Bonnie and Clyde"
14. Bjork "Army of Me"
15. Elton John "This Song Has No Title"
16. Talking Heads "Slippery People"
17. Billy Lee Riley "Red Hot"
18. Loretta Lynn "Miss Being Mrs."
19. The Softies "Fragile, Don't Crush"
20. Aretha Franklin "Drown In My Own Tears"

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Particulars

Well, I'd thought I would post a little update on what's been goin' on lately.

Today I'm getting a TON of work done. I'm digitizing like a fiend and I've had a lot of really nice illustrations to work with. Plus my coworker isn't here, so I have peace and quiet. If you know me, you know that I love talking. However, when it's worktime/papertime/readingtime, I get down to business like a squirell looking for his nuts. So, as much as I am great in a team or social setting or like a coworker, I really like working on my own sometimes.

As for the new job hunt, it's still going. I have my eye on some writing positions and a digital imaging specialist one too. Right now, I'm applying here and there to jobs I really want, since I'm not desperate. I've been extended at the Smithsonian with chance for another extension after that. So, I have full-time museum work until about June as of now. I'm going to start assisting (for free) on a new exhibit at the Woodrow Wilson House, where I wrote an exhibit last year. I will hopefully be going to the various archives around and digging into personal letters and other primary documents. I know, can you believe it? I'll work for free? Gotta love the museum field. We're all suckers. I think we fancy ourselves activists in a way. Our motto? Preserving and educating one obscure object at a time.

I've also been reading a ton lately. I admit that I actually read a Pride and Prejudice sequel, called Mr.Darcy Takes a Wife. Man, is it saucy. Whew. Apparently Austen purists HATE it, but I didn't care that much. The plot was okay, the characters pretty much in keeping with the original, the archaic language overused, and some of the sex scenes bizarre. But, if it means more Mr. Darcy, I have to admit I'm not that picky. I watched What A Girl Wants for Christ's sake, just for Colin Firth. Last night I finished Lamb: the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I would definitely recommend this one. It's like Last Temptation of Christ, but the with word "fuck" (a lot), teenage angst, boyhood pranks, and Kung Fu. Hilarious, touching, and fairly well researched. I'm a big fan of reimagined historical figures. It shows that there are more dimensions to our "heroes" than a lot of the crap we're fed in public schools, even if it is fictional. Breaks that wall down, you know?

I've been reading some non-fiction too. Even though I'm not in school, I got the syllabi for some cultural studies classes at GWU and I have some of those articles set aside. I've been trying to reread Deleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus, since I never really got my head around it the first time... And, since becoming obsessed with Lost I've been poking around Locke and Rousseau.

That's really about it. I've been trying to socialize as much as possible, since most of my friends start their new jobs starting the first of the year and we'll all go back to being exhausted. I'll be spending New Years here in D.C. for the first time ever. I've been in Arkansas for every other year. We're doing a Murder Mystery party that's a college reunion script. So, a keg, some pizza, jello shots and drinking games will add to the ambiance of our bad 90s clothes. Rock on.

Well, back to my Nectoliparis pelagicus, I guess.

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I hate shopping...

Well, Christmas is almost upon us and I have barely bought any presents. I have ideas, but a small budget for the festivities. Since this is the first XMAS since my Grandma died, we're all keeping it small. She was really the instigator of the Great American Potlatch, as my mom has dubbed Christmas at my Grandma's house. No more potlatches, I guess. Well, until my sister shoots out little ones. Don't look at me, man. My clock is ticking but I'm choosing to ignore it.

I guess things could be worse than having to go XMAS shopping. Like, I don't know, having to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to work. And the way that Bloomberg keeps treating the strikers like they are criminals? Sometimes I wonder why we still have unions, the way that they are so bureaucratic and all... but then you get a situation where you realize workers need a voice. I don't know all the particulars, but it seems like to me that NY should just pay them more... The strike is hurting the big businesses more than anyone, because people are staying home from work. And it's Big Business that pushes an anti-union, low-wage culture in the first place. They (Big Business, Bloomberg and their 'Publican friends) are just shooting themselves in the foot with this one. Of course, I'm a commie so I'd side with the workers, wouldn't I?

On another note, the Danielson Famile is a weird weird band. My iPod just shuffled me a song from Tell Another Joke At the Ole' Choppin Block and I actually had to pause what I was doing and adjust my senses. That doesn't mean I don't like it, though. My favorite things are ugly.

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Bring 'Em Home, Mr. President

Well, well, well... seems as if Bush has realized the power of actually appearing before the people. The man seems to have given more press conferences the last two weeks than he did his whole first term.

In a recent one, Bush finally took responsibility for going to war in Iraq. And admitted that the decision was partly based on false information. Wow. Cause I didn't know that already. Thanks for catching up Bush. Nice to know you're up to date on what the hell is happening in the world.

While some might think that this is perhaps the sign of a new, humble, accountable President, I say bollocks. This admission is because his ratings are dropping, over 2000 American soldiers have been killed, and people are pissed at him. When he finally took responsibility for Katrina, his critics backed off a bit. You don't think this is the same ploy?

Here's the kicker, though. Even if you do believe Bush is being sincere, that he really claims responsibility for sending our men and women into Iraq, well guess what? He sure as hell ain't taking responsibility for bringing them home. At the Pageant of Peace, the White House's annual Christmas festival, Bush led a prayer. Yeah, I know, separation of Church and State is really entrenched, isn't it? But that wasn't even what pissed me off. It was this:

We ask for God to watch over our men and women in uniform who are serving overseas. Their families miss them -- hold a seat open for them -- and pray for their safe return.

So, Bushy, you're responsible for sending Americans over there, but God is responsible for bringing them home? Wow. It's amazing how delusional you really are, Mr. President. How exceedingly trapped in your six years of lies and trickery you have become. Because, if I'm not mistaken, you and your Republican cronies have the power to bring our soldiers home.

All you have to do, Mr. President, is say four simple words...

The War is Over.

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Poirot

"But Poirot," asks Hastings when Poirot arrives to a costume ball dressed as himself, "The idea was to come as someone famous."

"Precisely."

I grew up watching Mystery on PBS every Sunday night. I couldn't wait for the Edward Gorey opening and I tingled at Vincent Price's creepy voice. But my favorite nights were always those that included the great Hercule Poirot. My mom and Nana are both massive mystery buffs, so I was introduced to the great master Agatha Christie at a very young age. Even before Mystery I had loved that enigmatic Poirot with his funny moustache, his ego, and his egg-shaped bald head.

And then? And then I totally forgot about him. I grew up and started watching MTV. David Suchet, the actor who played Poirot to perfection, was not on MTV but on the British Stage. By college, I had nearly forgotten all about Poirot's beautiful egg-shaped head, his ever-present cane, his constant disdain for those who called him French or mispronounced his name, and his unparalleled mystery-solving skills. Oh, oui, c'est une grande perte.

Recently, however, I have rediscovered the Poirot series that aired on PBS. My local library has a bazillion tapes and my husband and I have taken to watching about one a night.

I have thus decided that Poirot is the biggest, baddest Queen to ever live.

I mean, seriously, what else can you call a person who has a meticulous appearance, an amazing intellect, and a sufferable ego about it all? Who has hordes of admirers and a constant British companion? A Queen.

Actually, a Reine, to be totalement correct.

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Rest in Peace, Borf. Rest in Peace.

Borf has plead guilty to vandalism and will help in the removal of his so-called "unwanted art." But here's the thing: what if it isn't unwanted?

Personally, I always enjoyed seeing the "vandalism" Borf strewed upon city bridges, buildings, and streets. I liked knowing that someone out there, even a teenage kid from the 'burbs, took the time to create, to express, to DO. Borf wasn't leaving racist or sexist hate speech. He wasn't leaving unrefined blobs of paint. Rather, he made finely detailed stencils. His graffiti felt more like art than vandalism to me.

Okay sure, sometimes all he (or his copycats) left was loosely scribbled white paint spelling out his name on a trash bin... But all the same, I liked knowing that somewhere out there, in the great expanse of D.C., Borf was holding a spraycan of white paint and creating new public art in this sometimes sterile city.

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Games + Music = Geek Fun

So, a friend on MySpace sent out this bulletin:




It's a picture with 75 bands in it, all identified by visual and word hints. I'm now sitting at my computer on a Saturday morning trying to get them all.

This is what I have so far:

1. Eels
2. Rolling Stones
3. Queen
4. Prince
5. Sex Pistols
6. Beach Boys
7. Hole
8. Black Flag
9. Led Zeppelin
10. Seal
11. Lemonheads
12. Talking Heads
13. Radiohead
14. Smashing Pumpkins
15. Scissor Sisters
16. Crowded House
17. Postal Service
18. The Pixies
19. Styx
20. Iron Maiden
21. Eagles
22. Iron Maiden
23. The Cars
24. B-52s
25. Spoon
26. Alice in Chains
27. Blur
28. White Zombie
29. Garbage
30. U2
31. Guns 'n' Roses
32. Matchbox 20
33. Blind Melon
34. Red Hot Chili Peppers
35. Ratt
36. Cowboy Junkies
37. The Black Crowes
38. 50 Cent
39. Madonna
40. The Roots
41. Whitesnake
42. Dead Kennedys
43. The Police
44. Deep Purple?
45. Plant?
46. Great White
47. White Stripes?
48. Phish
49. Yellowman
50. Candy
51. Pineapples
52. The Potatoes
53. Mannequin


Some of these items seem to have put in the picture just because they have object names, like "Potatoes" and "Pineapple." But who am I to talk? I only got 53 and some of those I had help on.

So post comments if you see anymore, people.

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My Husband Hates My Clothes... And I Like It.

The other day, I left the house wearing a bright pink blouse that had ruffles all up the button line, on up to the ruffle collar. Over it I had on a white cardigan with pink, green, and purple dogwoods printed on it. In short, I was a mish mash of collar, color, and bad taste and I loved it. I felt pretty. I felt cute. I felt like Elizabeth.

And you know what? My husband just laughed at me. Giggled and pointed, in fact. Then gave me a kiss on the head and we headed out the door. And you know what? I like it. I like that he thinks I dress funny. I like that he hates that I wear make-up and tells me. I adore that he rolls his eyes at most of the things I bring home from the thrift shop and that he's aghast that anyone would shop at H&M. While smiling at me, of course.

Some of you out there with romantic partners may think my husband sounds mean. That he's rude and insensitive. That he's belittling me or at the very best patronizing me. Well, you can go ahead and think that, because I think it's hilarious if you do. Obviously you don't know him or me very well. If statements like that hurt your feelings, I'm sorry. They sure as hell don't hurt mine. I didn't marry my husband so that he would validate my closet or me, to get right to point. I fell in love with him BECAUSE he hates my clothes and thinks I'm weird. I wanted somebody who was different than me, who had different ideas, different opinions, different styles and could appreciate mine. There are a bazillion hipster clones out there in this world and more power to you if you want to date someone who looks just like you, who likes the same music, who repeats the same ideological crap that you do. Me? I'd rather have someone who challenges me, who is independent thinking, who thinks I'm wacko and I wear funny clothes and that I'm the damned cutest thing ever seen. I want to go to an art museum with my husband and us like some of the same pieces, of course. But if we hated and liked all of the same objects, that would make for a pretty boring life of constant self-validation, don't you think? I want to have things in common with my partner, but I don't want a cookie-cutter of me.

So, here's the thing... My husband can giggle and point all he wants, but I'm still wearing my damned pink shirt with the ruffle collar. As long as at the end of the day he still treats me with respect, still considers me his equal, still values my opinion above all others, still wants me to be the person that I want to be not that he wants me to be, still thinks I'm pretty, still thinks I'm the funniest person he's ever met, I could care less if he likes my shirt.

PS I know that there are men and women that do criticize their romantic partners as a way to belittle, abuse and control them. I am not in any way saying that this does not happen. Just not to me.

PSS Also, I promise I'm not heterosexist. My partner just happens to be a male. I can't help that. Blame it on his parents.

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