the session is NOT going well

Maybe it's the best thing for you, but it's the worst that could happen to me.
PS Honestly, how is this man not my best friend?
PPS Dallas or not, I'm still totally naming any boy-child I raise Sean Avery. Get into it.
New invasion in conversation

On Thursday night, I saw R.E.M. And while I have to say I was oddly disappointed to not hear "Underneath the Bunker" (have they ever played this live? My guess is "no"), it was a wonderful show. I can't imagine a better first time. Sloan was playing the same night, at the same time, at the other end of town. So we hurried out of The Garden after the last note and got to the Bowery Ballroom just in time to catch the last 45 seconds of Sloan's set. Does this count toward our quest to never miss an NYC Sloan show in 11 years? Probably not. The next night, Sloan played again. I danced and drank and sang and fought enough for two nights, easily. I had another wonderful time despite the efforts of that moron in the Brooklyn shirt ("But my ex-girlfriend used to go out with Chris!" Uh, why would that mean I'd let you cut in front of me?) and the-funny-only-to-Chris-Murphy "Skip Lowe". Yikes. Still, the fun never stopped.
Sloan's new album, Parallel Play, came out yesterday. My pre-ordered copy is somewhere in the mail, but Yep Roc is nice and lets you download it as well as having a hard copy.
This morning, after spilling my coffee on my light blueish green shirt ("I'd call that seafoam," said a co-worker who shouldn't say things like "seafoam"), on my long, hot walk to the train, I listened to the album for the second time - first on headphones.
I wasn't going to be easy to please after this terrible coffee-spilling start to the day (and after being bitterly disappointed in Never Hear the End of It), but I clearly and officially really like this record. I have a couple of favorites right now, but I share with you "The Dogs." It's the longest and maybe the best.
Sloan are on tour now. I will see them next Friday (not Thursday. I have REM on Thursday), and I think you should too.
This morning, on the way to work (sipping on an ICED coffee -- thank you so much, Daniela, for asking) I was listening to the previously discussed "Lovely Allen" and realized that I love it because it reminds me of Thrush Hermit's glorious "Patriot." The videos are quite different, I think you'll find, but I can't hold that against Holy Fuck. No one can come close to "Patriot."
I have a strange relationship with music videos. I loved them, mainly. At first, they were a novelty to be enjoyed late on Friday nights or whenever I was visiting Long Island. Once we had cable, I began consuming music videos the way I had previously consumed books, constantly, passionately, voraciously. I still remember the first time I saw "Pictures of You," "Lies" (oh, "Lies"!), even "Underwhelmed" (how is this video nowhere online?).
I just had the most wonderful idea, but I've already talked myself out of it.
Every once in a while (more like every couple of years) I meet up with people I used to know and still sort of know, in the following-along-online way. Today was one such day.
There's a dog barking behind one of the houses. I like to think it is because I am singing this song out loud in my kitchen with the windows open and the little guy is singing along. Probably not though.
Anyway, I am going to keep singing it, because I got out of work on time which means I am alone in the house for a bit. Until I go off the deep end and start singing out loud on the subway, or magically become a decent enough singer that I will sing in the house in front of people, this is one of my few chances to go for it. Singing is good for the soul, you know.
Singing this (Long Way by The General Store) is excellent for the soul. Tam (and Lola, of course), I thank you for bringing this into my life lo many years ago.
Speaking of many years, today is 12 since I met Dollie. Whoa.
Sometime last week or the week before, I got re-crushed on someone. Re-crushed is bad, worse than newly-crushed. With newly-crushed, there's a lot of learning to do, things to watch for, things to look up.
Poor Dollie. Oh, you have no idea what she's had to listen to for the past two weeks. It's about a boy, of course. It almost always is. I only talk about two things, work and a boy, not always the same boy, but generally only one at a time. At least this boy is pretty great, so that's helpful. The thing is, he really likes talking and listening, so in a perfect world, I could talk to him about him and he'd probably never get annoyed, but we don't live in a perfect world, do we? No. And poor Dollie has to pay.
Here is the story of tonight (please read it as a very bad limerick):
Why does the world hate me? I am a nice lady. Why is it that I must get terrible Sean "My Soul Brother" Avery news (which, for 20 minutes there, was basically, "He got a heart attack and probably died.") after a terrible loss, followed by a terrible episode of "American Idol" that I had to watch in the midst of other terrible times. No, really. I had to watch it. Like, for serious.
Here's what happened:
Hockey. We win, we lose, it runs my life. PS Have you met Fredrik Sjostrom?
<--
I mean, really. Whoa, right? Today hockey isn't looking great, but we will still win the Stanley Cup and I will still get my tattoo.
In other news, everything else is difficult and making me miserable, including the fact that my annual (see 2007 and 2006) so so so wrong obsession with a so so so wrong man has come around, and he's pulling a "CSI: Miami" this year. I can laugh about it now, but that doesn't make it OK.
Hmm, what else? Finally, after getting my hands on the book years late (and then choosing to put it on the backburner and avoid reading it right after my poor Nipsey went to heaven), I am reading "The Year of Magical Thinking." Which is great because I can't even listen to "11:11" without crying (believe me, I have tried!), clearly a book about death is just what I need during these fragile (for some reason) days. But what Joan Didion does (what she always does) is make me itch to write my book. So I have been, a tiny bit. A very tiny bit. I came home last night after an unsettling outing with El Fano (the movie was disturbing, not the company) and wrote two small parts. I think I only have about 1,200 other parts to go. Hooray!
Me: I can't believe I didn't win a Peabody again.
Labels: delights, eavesdropping, hahaha, hockey
I was separated from the boys today at work. So, of course, I have taken to singing "North Dakota." Not because it's as dramatic as all that, but how many opportunities do I get to bust this one out (alone, in my own house.)
Have I mentioned how much I love "Cheaters"? OK, so I love "Cheaters." My stepfather, whose TV watching is mainly limited to sports, "Law & Order" reruns, "Cops" and the Lifetime Movie Network (yeah, we can't figure that one out either) introduced me to it, and I've been hooked since.
Mike Viola is moving. He's off to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks, for a good long while, I'd imagine. (He does have a little girl and all. You don't want to uproot a kid a couple of times a year.)
I have a monster crush, which means that I am feeling a little in love right now (or a lot in like, at least) — in that fun one-sided way that I enjoy. When I feel this way, it makes everything sound a little better and more romantic, including songs.
So sometime last week — Monday, I think — I finally got around to visiting Mike Viola's web site, which I don't do daily. Turns out he posted on 2/14 that this Joe's Pub party was a send-off ("I'm waving goodbye, you think I'm waving hello"). He's moving his family to Los Angeles.
On Friday night, at around 12:30AM (OK, I guess that's really Saturday morning), I had a very strange experience. My favorite musician at age seven (Marshall Crenshaw) and my favorite musician for the past 10 years now (Mike Viola) did a few songs together on stage.
They started out with the Crenshaw standard "Someday, Someway," and while that is probably not my favorite song of his, it's perfect in every way. The moment was, well, stupendously bizarre. In a good way.
And while I imagine a few dozen others felt exactly the same way (it's not a stretch that a Mike Viola fan would be a Marshall Crenshaw fan), it seemed like it was a special moment just for me.
I'd also imagine that everyone has heard "Someday, Someway" a billion times now, but maybe you haven't. You really should.
Another beautiful child gone too soon. I hate when people die so young.
Labels: hating
I think this is the greatest email ever. Is that so wrong? Everything about it makes my heart sing.
From: Hatty Penny
Subject: Does your lady make you sick? Cheer up!
Are you getting bored with your witch? The same woman all the time is lifeless! These girls will knock you out.
Labels: hahaha
What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? Handed in a letter of resignation, met a New York Ranger. Surely some other things as well.
Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't remember them. I always resolve to be better, so I'm guessing that I kept it in some ways and didn't in many others.Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.
What countries did you visit? Not even Canada.
What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? A new apartment. Other things.
What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory? July 9.
What was your biggest achievement of the year? Walking away from an abusive relationship with my job.
What was your biggest failure? Falling into the same patterns in a new place.
Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing requiring serious medical attention.
What was the best thing you bought? My heathered blue Gap European collection dress.
Whose behaviour merited celebration? Everyone I love, pretty much.
Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Why give it any more airtime?
Where did most of your money go? Rent, cable, Metrocards. What a thrilling existence!
What did you get really, really, really excited about? Hockey. Flight of the Conchords. "Big Brother" (wow, that is sad).
What song/album will always remind you of 2007? There aren't too many songs that have time-sensitive memories linked to them -- this wasn't the year that I played "___" all (summer/winter). But I have a very vivid '07 memory tied to "On Call" by Kings of Leon, so let's go with that.
Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? happier
Thinner or fatter? fatter
Richer or poorer? poorer
What do you wish you’d done more of? Celebrating.
What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying.
How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas? With my family, like always.
Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? My mom.
Did you fall in love in 2007? The acceptable answer is "No." But I'm going with "I don't know." I am unacceptable.
How many one night stands in this last year? Zero.
What was your favourite TV programme? "Flight of the Conchords."
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I have no valid reason to hate.
What was the best book(s) you read? "All Souls." I'm a bit behind.
What was your greatest musical discovery? That my mind can change a lot. Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte and a dude from The Strokes all put out some music that I actually enjoyed.
What did you want and get? A job at Madison Square Garden.
What did you want and not get? There's still a week to find out. I live in hope.
What were your favourite films of this year? "Lars and the Real Girl." "Once." "The Darjeeling Limited."
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? That actual day, I went to dinner with Dollie. The weekend after, I had dinner with Dollie and a whole bunch of other friends -- two of them traveled a billion miles to be there. I was (and am) 32.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More money. More time off. Fewer infestations.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Short Dress, Black Tights
What kept you sane? Friends, family, hockey, sleep.
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Jemaine!
What political issue stirred you the most? Stirred: The crappy lineup of talent out front in the presidential race. I am unimpressed. Shaken, on the other hand: Just about everything else.
OK, so the hockey game SUCKED (I blame myself; clearly wires were crossed and Matt Cullen and his teammates made off with my good wishes and luck) — but there was a big Theory sale, and Dollie went and picked me up this great perfect dress. It is my first Theory dress! And it is great, perfect and great. Hooray!
I just killed a bug with my hand and instantly regretted it. I announced, "That was shitty. Now I feel bad about it." Um, no one is here. Who am I talking to!?!
In better news, Dollie is my hero. You may not get that bananacake joke (well, well, well, you should!), but trust me, it's the best thing ever written.
And so ends my month of daily blogging. I'm not sure if it would be more or less impressive were I not writing two posts a day over at the work blog, but I did it.
Speaking of the work blog and things that I do, every day in December (Yes, weekends. Yes, Christmas) there will be a new 2007 year-end list. That's 31 lists. It all starts tomorrow. I won't tell you exactly what the first theme will be, but I can give you one clue (Why? Because who's going to stop me? I already killed a bug today. Look out.) That clue is: Sean Kingston. Be sure to stop by, disagree with me, post your own lists and suggest other Best Of lists. Seriously, comment all day long. Become the new Bradley. I'd love it.
I love winning. And we won! Even though I wasn't there. Finally. Nice one, boys.
I am feeling better, and work has been good, but it is very frustrating to keep churning out genius high-quality blog post after genius high-quality blog post to no fanfare and few comments. It is making me feel sad and unappreciated. You know what would make me feel better? A movie deal. And a new apartment, with a fireplace and a backyard.