...I had you worried there for a minute, didn't I? The Bachelor, Billboard music, Target: next I'm going to exhault the virtues of Olive Garden and Rob Thomas.
No!
Here's a nifty (and Indie) film series I discovered with Jason:
Burn to Shine is a film-making crew that goes city to city looking for houses scheduled to be demolished. A local musician rallies his/her troops, and the bands have one hour to set up, record a song live on DVD, and get out. At the end of the day, the house goes up in smoke.
I bought the Portland one and it's really good. I'd like to go back for the DC edition (ahem ahem, X-mas pressie...) if they still have it at Sound Exchange.
Other non-conformist recommendations:
An Inconvenient Truth
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Stephin Merritt, have you LOST YOUR MIND???
Buy my friend Jillian's stuff.
TFA on NBC and in Fortune Magazine!!! (Cue Evita, "And the Money Kept Rolling In...")
Monday, December 04, 2006
Pop Pop Pop Music
Uhhh... in the absence of "The Bachelor" I'm watching the Billboard Music Awards, and I'm having some difficulty figuring out the dress code.
+ the music is really horrible.
But, anyway.
What would you like to hear about?
My trip to the dentist?
Dr. Carol Alvarado (the dentist; not the city councilwoman) is very nice, and said many flattering things about my teeth, and spent at least 30 minutes examining them in detail, which is more than can be said for **the last dentist I visited.
She unfortunately falls into the multi-visit dental trend of "let's pump you full of X-rays today and clean you tomorrow," but given that she gave me an actual examination, I don't mind so much.
I have some seriously enviable teefs, yo. Thank you awkward adolescence, Dr. Cina, Mom and Dad.
Ok, you are sick of teeth.
Let's talk about Target!!!!
Dear Target,
I think you're swell.
I love your rotating line of international fashion in affordable, accessible styles.
I love your good-smelling, sexy-bottled cleaning products.
I think "wine in a cube" is really funny.
& you have the best Morningstar selection in town.
Do you remember 1997 when I worked at Wal-Mart and you lived next door, sort of an awkward little brother? I don't miss those days at all. I think, frankly, age has been good to both of us. You made friends with Isaac Mizrahi, I got a college education, and neither one of us wound up in a long-term relationship with Rob from Electronics. Yay!
I know you get lots of love, and here's some more.
Your friend (forever),
Mary
**Just look at that superfluous cleavage! Good citizens of Houston, don't let this man near your teeth.
+ the music is really horrible.
But, anyway.
What would you like to hear about?
My trip to the dentist?
Dr. Carol Alvarado (the dentist; not the city councilwoman) is very nice, and said many flattering things about my teeth, and spent at least 30 minutes examining them in detail, which is more than can be said for **the last dentist I visited.
She unfortunately falls into the multi-visit dental trend of "let's pump you full of X-rays today and clean you tomorrow," but given that she gave me an actual examination, I don't mind so much.
I have some seriously enviable teefs, yo. Thank you awkward adolescence, Dr. Cina, Mom and Dad.
Ok, you are sick of teeth.
Let's talk about Target!!!!
Dear Target,
I think you're swell.
I love your rotating line of international fashion in affordable, accessible styles.
I love your good-smelling, sexy-bottled cleaning products.
I think "wine in a cube" is really funny.
& you have the best Morningstar selection in town.
Do you remember 1997 when I worked at Wal-Mart and you lived next door, sort of an awkward little brother? I don't miss those days at all. I think, frankly, age has been good to both of us. You made friends with Isaac Mizrahi, I got a college education, and neither one of us wound up in a long-term relationship with Rob from Electronics. Yay!
I know you get lots of love, and here's some more.
Your friend (forever),
Mary
**Just look at that superfluous cleavage! Good citizens of Houston, don't let this man near your teeth.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Songs about Weather
in particular, the ones looking to nature's elements as the cause of misery and woe.
I came up with:
1. Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell
"But now [clouds] only block the sun
They rain and snow on evryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way"
2. Season of the Shark, Yo La Tengo
"Some things go wrong
Sink so low you even blame the sun
You blame it as the cause
Of the shadows on the wall"
3. Blame it On the Rain, Milli Vanilli
(I feel no real urge to link to or justify this one.)
What else?
It's not that I mind the five hour drive back to Houston so much (except that I inevitably wish I were going the other direction), I just wish it would not rain. For once. Ahem, CLOUDS.
I came up with:
1. Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell
"But now [clouds] only block the sun
They rain and snow on evryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way"
2. Season of the Shark, Yo La Tengo
"Some things go wrong
Sink so low you even blame the sun
You blame it as the cause
Of the shadows on the wall"
3. Blame it On the Rain, Milli Vanilli
(I feel no real urge to link to or justify this one.)
What else?
It's not that I mind the five hour drive back to Houston so much (except that I inevitably wish I were going the other direction), I just wish it would not rain. For once. Ahem, CLOUDS.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Christmas Challenge!
Ok, gang, this is going to sound slightly absurd, but hear me out:
In my junior year of high school, my chorus teacher had the chamber singer group sing an acapella (no piano) song called "Wassail" for the Christmas concert. I realize there are several wassail variations out there, and after some study I have deducted that it was--I think--a version known as the "Gloucestershire Wassail."
That damn song haunts me to this day. I am looking for a nice recording of it. By "nice," I mean something you might hear in a church sung in classical, seven part harmony. And by "church," I mean MY church growing up, with a volunteer but very well-practiced and well-tuned choir.
I am not interested in some guy (or girl) with an acoustic guitar, or, god forbid, the Manheimer Steamroller (?) version. No individual voices, either; the beauty is in the group effort.
Here is what it is NOT:
-it is not "Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green..."
-it is not, Mom, the Kentucky version on Wassail! Wassail!, although that is a lovely song, too.
It most definitely contains the repeated line: "With the WAAAAAAsail BOOOOOOOOWL we'll drink to thee...." (because that was my favorite, belty, music-swelly part).
Bonus points to the person who finds it & posts it online where we can all download and sing along.
Merry early Xmas, and happy wassailing.
In my junior year of high school, my chorus teacher had the chamber singer group sing an acapella (no piano) song called "Wassail" for the Christmas concert. I realize there are several wassail variations out there, and after some study I have deducted that it was--I think--a version known as the "Gloucestershire Wassail."
That damn song haunts me to this day. I am looking for a nice recording of it. By "nice," I mean something you might hear in a church sung in classical, seven part harmony. And by "church," I mean MY church growing up, with a volunteer but very well-practiced and well-tuned choir.
I am not interested in some guy (or girl) with an acoustic guitar, or, god forbid, the Manheimer Steamroller (?) version. No individual voices, either; the beauty is in the group effort.
Here is what it is NOT:
-it is not "Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green..."
-it is not, Mom, the Kentucky version on Wassail! Wassail!, although that is a lovely song, too.
It most definitely contains the repeated line: "With the WAAAAAAsail BOOOOOOOOWL we'll drink to thee...." (because that was my favorite, belty, music-swelly part).
Bonus points to the person who finds it & posts it online where we can all download and sing along.
Merry early Xmas, and happy wassailing.
Dopplegangers
Twice today I did a doubletake in pictures:
The first came from a flickr contact--a familiar-looking blonde head bent over a familiar rug. It was not me in the photo, but close enough, and in such circumstances so as to make me check twice.
The second time came while I was looking through work photos in a folder labeled "program conference, Las Vegas" (I was not invited). I stared at the sideways photo for at least 10 seconds, thinking "is that me? that can't be me. wait, I think..."
...and it's my mislabeled mug after all, taken at the Hobbit shortly after my 26th birthday.
There's something here about self and context.
If you're into that sort of thing.
The first came from a flickr contact--a familiar-looking blonde head bent over a familiar rug. It was not me in the photo, but close enough, and in such circumstances so as to make me check twice.
The second time came while I was looking through work photos in a folder labeled "program conference, Las Vegas" (I was not invited). I stared at the sideways photo for at least 10 seconds, thinking "is that me? that can't be me. wait, I think..."
...and it's my mislabeled mug after all, taken at the Hobbit shortly after my 26th birthday.
There's something here about self and context.
If you're into that sort of thing.
It Works, Ok.
Somewhere between the testing of the fire alarm and the clangy construction of an office above your head and an unidentified buzzy white noise and the seasickening traffic of 59 in your periphery view, you think to yourself
you think
your life would be lovelier in a Mary Oliver poem.
you think
your life would be lovelier in a Mary Oliver poem.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Here's the thing about news coverage of education...
A question I get asked by a lot by board members/concerned individuals is "what are you doing to spread awareness of [acronym]?"
Let's ignore for a minute the fact that no one on my (Houston) team has any formal media/PR training, and focus on the myriad of accomplishment/bragging rights we have to offer. Surely, the public wants to hear about all the good stuff our members and alumni are doing in schools, right?
But see--I'm not convinced, because right now I'm watching a report on sex offenders in schools (in this case, an 8th grader), and it occurs to me that every news report I've seen in the past year on schools concerns sex, guns, knives, drugs, dropout cover-up scandal (getting closer!) and other "sexy" topics.
I don't know; maybe if I had children in school I'd be more concerned by these topics instead of seeing them as fluff. Yes, I am well-aware of my bias.
But as it stands, even if we had a crack media team cranking out great stories about good things happening in schools, I'm not sure anyone would be interested.
Let's ignore for a minute the fact that no one on my (Houston) team has any formal media/PR training, and focus on the myriad of accomplishment/bragging rights we have to offer. Surely, the public wants to hear about all the good stuff our members and alumni are doing in schools, right?
But see--I'm not convinced, because right now I'm watching a report on sex offenders in schools (in this case, an 8th grader), and it occurs to me that every news report I've seen in the past year on schools concerns sex, guns, knives, drugs, dropout cover-up scandal (getting closer!) and other "sexy" topics.
I don't know; maybe if I had children in school I'd be more concerned by these topics instead of seeing them as fluff. Yes, I am well-aware of my bias.
But as it stands, even if we had a crack media team cranking out great stories about good things happening in schools, I'm not sure anyone would be interested.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
To come to completion; end
e-mail
from: Mary
to: Jason
I knew that "culmative" was not spelled correctly, but couldn't figure out why the spell-checker couldn't help me.
turns out i've been thinking/saying:
"KUL-MA-TIVE"
instead of
"KYOUM-U-LA-TIVE"
How embarrassing.
--------
12:21 PM Jason: those two are close in meaning, no?
me: whatchu mean
12:23 PM Jason: nevermind.
apex v. combined.
12:24 PM me: so how do you spell kulmative
?
12:25 PM Jason: cumalativity.
12:26 PM cumulative.
me: culminate
is the apex
cumulative
is combined
and
culmative
means NOTHING!!
from: Mary
to: Jason
I knew that "culmative" was not spelled correctly, but couldn't figure out why the spell-checker couldn't help me.
turns out i've been thinking/saying:
"KUL-MA-TIVE"
instead of
"KYOUM-U-LA-TIVE"
How embarrassing.
--------
12:21 PM Jason: those two are close in meaning, no?
me: whatchu mean
12:23 PM Jason: nevermind.
apex v. combined.
12:24 PM me: so how do you spell kulmative
?
12:25 PM Jason: cumalativity.
12:26 PM cumulative.
me: culminate
is the apex
cumulative
is combined
and
culmative
means NOTHING!!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Get ready...
February, 2007 is official Fruitcake Brigade Novel Writing Month.
You have until February 1, 2007 to think and plan, but NOT TO WRITE.
All entries must be 100 pages in length. Emphasis is on quantity, not quality. Project based loosely/heavily on UNT's project this month:
"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly."
To learn more about NaNoWriMo at Willis Library, go to http://www.library.unt.edu/genref/outreach.htm
To learn more about National Novel Writing Month, go to www.nanowrimo.org"
We're a little busy this November, so hang in there until February. Who's with me?
You have until February 1, 2007 to think and plan, but NOT TO WRITE.
All entries must be 100 pages in length. Emphasis is on quantity, not quality. Project based loosely/heavily on UNT's project this month:
"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly."
To learn more about NaNoWriMo at Willis Library, go to http://www.library.unt.edu/genref/outreach.htm
To learn more about National Novel Writing Month, go to www.nanowrimo.org"
We're a little busy this November, so hang in there until February. Who's with me?
Thursday, October 26, 2006
BUNNICULA!
I don't buy/cook eggplant often/ever, so I was delighted to find out what happens when it goes bad:
Either there are vampire rabbits in my fridge [and here is where we all turn and eye the cat suspiciously], or the Howes are very busy writing witty children's books that will later be subjected to hilarious required reviews by 4th grade teachers... and they, like me, are not very good at following up on odd vegetable purchases.
My mom read me Bunnicula when I was a kid. She did ALL the voices.
Either there are vampire rabbits in my fridge [and here is where we all turn and eye the cat suspiciously], or the Howes are very busy writing witty children's books that will later be subjected to hilarious required reviews by 4th grade teachers... and they, like me, are not very good at following up on odd vegetable purchases.
My mom read me Bunnicula when I was a kid. She did ALL the voices.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Travellin' Blues
This week, I am doing very grown-up business-tripy things.
In:
This is the first time I have done the flying, car-renting, hotel-staying, navigating strange new city (no offense, St. Louie) thing ALL BY MY LONESOME.
At least I have a partner-in-crime for the interview-conducting.
I still haven't written my "about [acronym]" story.
And I can't figure out the Washington U. campus. I dunno where to park once I get there. Good thing its a rental car--maybe I'll just park wherever.
And, and, I'm feeling really nervous and Sunday-night-jittery like I used to feel before the beginning of a school week.
And, I wish you were here.
In:
This is the first time I have done the flying, car-renting, hotel-staying, navigating strange new city (no offense, St. Louie) thing ALL BY MY LONESOME.
At least I have a partner-in-crime for the interview-conducting.
I still haven't written my "about [acronym]" story.
And I can't figure out the Washington U. campus. I dunno where to park once I get there. Good thing its a rental car--maybe I'll just park wherever.
And, and, I'm feeling really nervous and Sunday-night-jittery like I used to feel before the beginning of a school week.
And, I wish you were here.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
P(red)ictable
Are any of you out there surprised that I really, really want this:
?
No?
In fact, I'll take one of everything in this collection, thank you.
?
No?
In fact, I'll take one of everything in this collection, thank you.
Friday, October 20, 2006
"Snuggle Porn"
Say hellooooo to panda-cam!
me: OH
mum's back
! squishy pandas
Jason: oh, hold on...
whoa...
ahhhhhh!!!
me: OMG
Jason: no
shit.
ahhhhh!!!!
i
want
to
nuzzle
you.
me: AWWW
srsly
Jason: like watching snuggle porn.
at work!
me: OH
mum's back
! squishy pandas
Jason: oh, hold on...
whoa...
ahhhhhh!!!
me: OMG
Jason: no
shit.
ahhhhh!!!!
i
want
to
nuzzle
you.
me: AWWW
srsly
Jason: like watching snuggle porn.
at work!
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