I have started writing haikus when I have the time and when I have my moleskine and pens in front of me. Anytime a five or seven word phrase or sentence enters my mind, I write it down. Sometimes it comes to something, other times it does not.
None of these haikus are anything in comparison to one my friend Matt wrote a few years ago (above are literally my best work):
Bitches get stitches When their pimps slap them around Be still girl, don't cry
What caught my eye about this song was truly the graphic. The typography made me pause and want to listen to the song. I was hoping it would be poppy and raw and animal collective-like. Instead it ended up being this really soft jazzy song that reminded me of audrey hepburn and france and a velvet chaise. It actually ended up being a really great song to work to because it's such easy background noise, but it still moves along nicely.
The video for this song is so nicely shot, even though it's incredibly simple. Port of Morrow will be the Shins' fourth album—their last one was released five years ago. I remember picking it up at the Borders downtown while I worked at the architecture firm and had a music addiction. It's only fitting I would include this video in my attempt to reconnect with music.
The album drops tomorrow. Your welcome in advance.
I love a good graphically produced video, and this song starts off nice an radiohead like, but builds up to a kicky beat in the middle that drives it all the way to the end. I feel like this song would be good for the end of a warm up during a jog.
There is a free download available on Gaz Coombes' facebook page.
Last week, I called Bank of America to close my account. It was one of the final steps in merging my finances with my new husband's, but it's also something I've been eager to do for a while. Two years ago when I was working on tips, my income was uncertain, and some months I'd have a windfall and some months, I'd basically be broke. Because of those days, I had to downgrade to their e-checking account. This means that I had to carry a balance over some threshold, I had to pay to transfer money out of my account, and the clincher: I had to pay $5 any time I spoke to a teller.
Personally, I am okay with online bank accounts, and I loved ING and HSBC. I could do anything online/over the phone, and do it more efficiently than in person. Besides, I got higher interest rates because less B&M stores meant less overhead. But Bank of America has B&M locations and they have a lot of them. I always thought it was a given that as a customer, I could enter one of those locations, but this a la carte method of banking was new. And annoying. This $5 fee was really the nail in the coffin, even though I have never spoken to, and now will never speak to a BofA teller in person.
I'd been dreading the phone call, because I am never in the mood to speak to a retention salesperson. I've only called a handful of times to see what a company can do for me, and gone through the rigmarole when I needed to, but most of the time I am simply done with that company, and answering all those questions is so painful and aggravating.
Maybe it was because I had less than $400 in my accounts. Maybe it was because I've never had more than I've needed to pay my bills in those accounts (I keep my savings elsewhere, with higher interest rates and no fees for transfers), but they were not sad to see me go—I got the feeling they couldn't have cared less. Throw a girl a bone BofA—you are worse than my high school boyfriend.
Marie walked me through the steps, gave me confirmation numbers, and told me that my check should be cut by March 7th, and that I should receive it within a reasonable timeframe after that date. Easy peasy. She was very nice, and didn't fight me too hard on closing the account, but then again, they're probably getting a lot of calls like this these days. Maybe I did good to call on a Friday. Maybe I will be updating you in two weeks about my second phone call to Bank of America to try to close my account again.
Is anyone else as excited for the Hunger Games as I am (besides basically all of my awesomer friends minus my husband)? Well, if you're not pumped for the Hunger Games (well, not the Games themselves, unless you're some jerk from the Capitol of Panem), get pumped by listening to this sampling from the Hunger Games track list.
For some reason the soundcloud link is not working...so here is a terrible video version (just listen, don't watch)
Anyway, this post is about music and not about the Hunger Games or why so many people approaching thirty are excited about the movie version of an insipid YA trilogy—this post is about music, and the music that will be accompanying said movie.
The lineup looks pretty good, including this Decemberists song. Some Arcade Fire, some Neko Case...not too shabby:
Hunger Games Track List:
01. Taylor Swift (feat. The Civil Wars) – “Safe & Sound”
02. Taylor Swift – “Eyes Wide Open”
03. Arcade Fire – “Abraham’s Daughter”
04. Kid Cudi – “The Ruler & The Killer”
05. Miranda Lambert (feat. Pistol Annies) – “Run Daddy Run”
06. The Civil Wars – “Kingdom Come”
07. The Decemberists – “One Engine”
08. Glen Hansard – “Take the Heartland”
09. The Low Anthem – “Lover is Childlike”
10. Punch Brothers – “Dark Days”
11. Secret Sisters – “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder”
12. Birdy – “Just a Game”
13. Ella Mae Bowen – “Oh Come & Sing”
14. Jayme Dee – “Rules”
15. Carolina Chocolate Drops – “Reaping Day”
16. Neko Case – “Give Me Something I’ll Remember”
I was a little bit better about making sure to capture a picture on most days, but some days I felt myself phoning it in (pun intended). Still, there are less orange boxes than there were in January, so even though February is an abbreviated month (albeit less so on a leap year), I think I did better than last month. My favorite photo from this month was the one of the succulents on my windowsill:
We were surprised on Saturday with a visit from my cousin. I didn't even know that work had recently brought him up north, but since he had a free Saturday, he took the Megabus up to Boston. We had a blast at the Sam Adams brewery tour, and we took him to Giaccamo's in the North End, followed by a mandatory cannoli trip at Mike's.
Things That Made Me Smile
Breaking up when the relationship is not right for you, or at least taking a break. Of course I am not talking about my husband, but about Tommy Doyle's on trivia nights. A toxic relationship is a toxic relationship, whether it's a boy or pub trivia ♥ New days and fresh beginnings.
Jack White's first album, Blunderbuss, is due to be released on April 24th. This is his first single, Love Interruption. J and I heard this on the radio the other day and I couldn't wait to see what Jack White had cooked up this time. I am a huge fan of the Raconteurs—theirs is one of my top five concerts of all time. I never really got into the White Stripes, but I'm excited to take a listen to this album and see if it's something we'll add to our collection. I'll bet anything Jack White does would sound good on vinyl.
I love celebrating his birthday almost more than celebrating my own. I surprised him with a vinyl copy of Radiohead's The Bends, and we went out to dinner with a bunch of friends to one of the most awesome restaurants in Somerville, Highland Kitchen—I ate about twelve thousand buffalo brussels sprouts. I also made red white and blue (freedom) cupcakes that were decorated with robots. Geeky fact no.157 (that people at the table did notice): the candles were J's age in binary: 11101.
Things that made me smile
I recently went to a guided meditation for the first time and we used energy as a concentration tool. This is going to sound so strange like hippie nonsense, but I actually "held" a ball of energy in my hands this week. It felt awesome and powerful and so calming ♥ Long weekends are great—I feel refreshed and recharged, and so much brighter—for my short work week! ♥
It's been a long time since I've felt like songs like this speak to me, but I know how difficult it is to open your heart to people. I don't ever care to go back to the days wondering and waiting, but sometimes I still do just this. Only it's not people I'm waiting for. It's just me, waiting to learn, forgive, and open up to myself.
Since it was Valentine's Day on Tuesday, I thought it somewhat apropos to post this video about how a couple fell in love over an email typo. It was very sweet.
Gullzilla
I love things like gullzilla, because when ridiculous things like this happen and aren't fake they're even more serendipitous and amazing.
Things That Made Me Smile
The feeling I get when I've completed a design project ♥ Having friends that are so terrible that we not only threw a surprise party for someone (such a mean thing to do in its own right), but we made it a "bad cheese" surprise party because this person enjoys a fine cheese, and we don't lose an opportunity to tease him about it. A few of us have deliberately bothered not to learn how to pronounce gruyère, so we'll call it g-cheese to his face. We are all the worst ♥
Well, after nearly a week of waiting and emailing and calling, I finally have a conclusion from the t-shirt design committee.
They agreed that there was nothing wrong with using stock imagery. As another entrant whose design was pulled pointed out, by barring stock imagery they'd limit the accessibility of the contest to people who weren't designers. A very good point that I wish I had made!
I came to my own conclusions about this as a designer.—as someone who could produce the imagery that I used, but why? I have two jobs and am going to school. I don't have time to draw/photograph/trace yoga practitioners. Design groups frequently host contests like this and their designers are sometimes encouraged to use specific stock imagery. When they consulted with the communications department, the designers there confirmed all of this. I'm no longer defending any of my actions or theirs, just stating what my main arguments have been since the beginning.
The long and short is that even though all of our actions were above board this year, the competition has been compromised and they're just going to pull everyone's designs. An apology/explanation email will be sent to the entire getfit community, and we will all get a very nice consolation prize for our efforts. Next year the rules are going to be written so that the parameters are more clear. Whatever direction they decide to go (yes or no on the stock imagery), I'm glad the ambiguity will be removed from the rules. I think they did a very good job handling all of this, with the exception of jumping so quickly to accusations from a petty little mole rat in the first place.
The only hitch in this whole thing is that the person who originally fingered two of the designs will probably benefit from this like the rest of us, but that isn't the committee's fault. The committee will most likely have to come to the conclusion that this person was just trying to do a public service—I have a really tough time believing that Tattletale McJerkface was acting in anyone's interest but their own, and has some seriously bad karma coming their way. But maybe that's just me.
However you choose to celebrate this holiday (whether you participate in courtly love or consider it a manufactured Hallmark holiday), happy Valentine's Day!
My best Valentine's day was with J in 2006. We went to dinner in Waltham, rode through a snow storm to search for Strawberry Peeps, and watched The Squid and the Whale, and it didn't feel manufactured at all.
Since Valentine's Day falls on a Tuesday this year, and J will be away on travel, I will be at pub trivia with friends. Besides, we've been having more frequent but more random date nights every now and then, so I think we'll just consider it another Tuesday, although I did decide to surprise J with a copy of The Squid and the Whale, since it was on sale at Amazon—what great luck!
Since Valentine's day is tomorrow, I thought maybe some people might need a balm in the form of fuzzy animals. Even when people don't love you, animals always do. This song is just pure silliness: You don't want to love me / I don't want to love you / I can find other things to do / I've got friends at the petting zoo.
Miracles of Modern Science are the Bon Joviver dudes. FYI.
It's been a rough week (see above). I was accused, wrongly, of unoriginal design in a tee-shirt competition (how silly those words look coming out of my keyboard). My entry was pulled, and an email was sent to everyone who voted for it:
Thank you for voting for this year’s getfit@mit tee-shirt. Unfortunately, two of our finalists, including your choice, were disqualified from the contest when it was brought to our attention that portions those designs were not original, unpublished work, in violation of contest rules.
I had to send a strongly worded letter to their office about copyright and what constitutes original work. My source material was free, and what they found was another website that used that same source material in their own way, entirely uniquely from my own design. The "portions" of work that were "published" were used elsewhere because they are free for commercial and personal use.
What constitutes original design is such a hot topic in the design and blogging community, and it makes me sick to my stomach to be put in this position, but I feel so vindicated knowing that I am right, and they are so very wrong. So why do I feel bile at the back of my throat when I think of my design in the hands of people who don't understand these concepts, and who don't even bother to follow up with such strong and serious claims, but instead jump immediately towards the liability side of things at the expense of one of their fellow employees? Why can't I move on with my day and know that I'm right and they're wrong? Why do the words "libel suit" keep swimming through my head?
All I can do is sit and wait for now. And maybe buy a new wine glass*
*No wine glasses were harmed in this hullabaloo—it simply fell down in the sink and shattered to a million little pieces. It was just a bad day all around, is all.
I was actually doing a little bit of JD Salinger sleuthing (trying to find a copy of Hapworth 16, 1924), and somehow stumbled on this little bit of serendipity. The only thing I have to ask is, WHEN IS SOON? My friend Matt and I are geeking out a little bit, and I hope my question is answered quickly.
Also, curiously, the post where I found this clip says that the order a person ranks Wes Anderson movies is very revealing. They did not expand on that statement, so I have no idea what they mean by that (only that their order revealed that I did not think very much of their order). So without further ado, my order:
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic
Rushmore
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Darjeeling Limited
Bottle Rocket
The irony here is that before I started this list, I did not agree with his ranking Bottle Rocket at the bottom, but here we are, and that my number one is more revealing of my love of JD Salinger than Wes Anderson. Bottle Rocket is classic Wes Anderson. Raw. Pure. Sparse. But it shows just how much promise he holds for all of his future endeavors, which is why it's at the bottom of what I consider a very elite and perfect list of movies.
Dog Delivers Receipt
People. Will someone please tell my husband to GET ME A DOG? I doubt having a snausage of my own will stop me from posting video after video of dogs, but maybe it will help a little bit.
