If You're Feeling Sinister

I have a few things I'd like to blog about, but for right now, it'll just be a general update. So, things that are new (in bullet form):

• Chris and I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and thought it was fun and enjoyable. Neither of us understand any lackluster response to it.
• We also saw a movie called The Fall in an old theater in Ann Arbor. It featured good performances by Lee Pace (of Pushing Daisies fame) and a little girl and was stunning visually, but it wasn't anything really fantastic. It was directed by the man who made The Cell.
• I have a copy of the sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society, which is illustrated by Diana Sudyka--an artist who lives in Chicago and has a Carson Ellis-designed tattoo. I've told myself I have to finish at least one of the books I am currently reading before I can start this one (Middlemarch, Quicksilver, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle). Sigh. More about Middlemarch later. I also purchased another book in the 33 1/3 series (I have read Colin Meloy's book on the Replacement's Let It Be, which was excellent). This one is for Belle & Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister and is written by Scott Plagenhoef, who is the Editor-in-Chief of Pitchfork. I am excited about it, but again, I won't be reading it until one of the current reads is down for the count.
  
• I have the new Death Cab for Cutie album Narrow Stairs, which is very good, though I haven't listened to it enough yet to give a full impression.
• I am waiting for the postman to deliver a new Decemberists shirt as well as John Moen's solo album, Perhapst.
• I have a couple of pairs of new jeans (this is pretty eventful since I'm very picky about clothes, particularly pants).
  
• I have an interview with Grand Rapids Community College this week. I'm trying not to think about it so much so that I won't be disappointed when I don't get a job there

Now, for things in non-bullet form. I still have about 150 pages left in Middlemarch. The thing about this novel is I've been reading it in spurts. I'll be really interested and want to read it all the time, then I'll hit a plateau and not pick it up for a week or more. And every time I get interested, I think I'm making progress, yet still have hundreds of pages to go. So, I'm enjoying it, but also can't wait to be done with it so I can get to the next book on the large stack.

I have spent a good deal of this month substitute teaching for the Lansing School District. The good thing is, I now have money in my bank account, the bad news is, it has been awful. I started out doing all grade levels, but I was nearly crippled by standing all day at elementary schools, so I limited myself to only high schools. Lansing is apparently very poor and this is reflected in their schools. Apparently several schools in the district are magnet schools, but I have not noticed this having any good effect on the school or its student body. I understand that students aren't going to behave very well when there is a substitute teacher, but it's been a tad ridiculous. Perhaps I was raised in a school district that was an exception rather than the rule, but things that occur in the schools I've been in simply would not be tolerated in my almae matres. And no one at these schools seems to be interested in doing anything about discipline. To get a sense of the type of educational facility I'm dealing with, all the doors in these buildings are locked and remain that way throughout the whole day. The faculty bathrooms are locked, but can be opened with a classroom key (which no one told me), the students bathrooms are not locked, but do not have locks on their stalls. One school has a chain and padlock on the door to the third floor that thankfully was not in use during the day, though it would not surprise me if it were--one of the afternoons that I went to the school, the front door to the building was locked and did not have any kind of buzzer or indication of where an open door might be found. Sometimes, I would get a key to the classroom, and therefore the bathrooms, sometimes not, at which point I was pretty much shit-out-of-luck. They don't really give me any information when I come to the school and I don't really have any authority to wield in the classroom. Many times the students would not stop talking and doing whatever they wanted for the entire class, including my introduction and instructions. So, anyway, the school year is over this week and I don't have any gigs currently lined up, so it looks like its over. Hurray!!! But, I still need a job. Boo!!

Another aspect of substitute teaching is that it has made me very miserable. Now, technically the job isn't that bad. I basically sit around all day and get $75 for doing it. But, because of the problems mentioned above, I don't feel comfortable during any of these days. Feeling comfortable is very important to me. Because of this, and some unknown element, ever since I began this job (April 29th), I have experienced the worst depression of my life. Never have I been so constantly and consistently miserable. What usually lasts for a couple of hours and then goes away, not to show its face for at least a couple of days, if not a couple of weeks, has stuck around, lifting for very short periods of time (maybe one day, maybe a couple of hours). Now, I haven't been doing that well for quite some time now (at the risk of ruining my reputation, my libido has been almost non-existent for almost a year, which is very unnerving and depressing), but it's been particularly bad as of late. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

But...here's to better days ahead, and more blog entries in the near future.

Come Hell

My day began early last Monday. I hit the streets of Chicago around 6:30am, breakfasted, parked, and ended up outside the Park West at about 8:15am. I was first in line for the Colin Meloy show that night at 7:30pm. I was alone for about four hours, trying to keep warm as the sun slipped behind a tall apartment building across the street. Eventually, the sun came back and it was a nice day. And eventually (around 2pm), the tour bus carrying Colin, his fiancee Carson Ellis, their son Hank, and the opener Laura Gibson pulled up. I had come bearing gifts and waited by the tour bus to bestow them. Colin came out and I gave him a DVD of 2 concerts from 1982 and 1981: Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks, respectively. I gave him The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room (one of my favorites) for Hank. And I gave him a Carson Ellis-themed crossword puzzle I had made for Carson. I was also carrying my copy of The Mysterious Benedict Society for Carson to sign (I have Colin's autograph in my copy of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater). He thanked me and went on the bus to give the crossword and get the autograph and then went inside.



Now, the last time I saw the Decemberists was one of the best nights of my life, so I had pretty high expectations for Monday. It didn't seem to me as though Colin remembered me, and so I was a little disappointed. Later in the day, while I was waiting, I had a couple of other encounters. I met Carson, and she thanked me for the puzzle and told me that she's a crossword fanatic. Then, I saw Carson come by with a nanny and little Hank (who is really, really adorable), I saw Hank come back later in the day and he was crying a bit (which was also adorable), and I saw Carson walk by a couple more times. On one of these occasions, I was reading the book I had brought for all of the waiting: Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Live in the Castle. Carson saw the cover and told me that Colin was reading the same book!

The main event: Laura Gibson opened and was very good, though I think I might've enjoyed the show a bit more if we had been sitting in a cafe rather than standing in the Park West. From what I'd read about her openings for other stops on the tour, I was expecting her to be very quiet and a bit awkward, but she made pretty wonderful onstage "banter." Then, it was on to Colin Meloy. My goal, for a while now, has been to get Colin to like me. I just want to be friends, perhaps correspond regularly, be one of his favorite people...that's all. So, I do my best to come off as smart, interesting, charming, etc. in any encounter with the man. Perhaps I come off as trying too hard, though. I got the impression that Colin found me a bit irritating more than anything else (I should note that I have a tendency to get this impression from a number of people fairly often, so maybe it's just me). It seemed different that night than it has been when I've been in front at Decemberists' shows. This was my second time seeing a Colin solo show, but my first time being right in front. Anyway, the "highlight" of the night happened during "A Cautionary Song." I knew, from watching youtube, that he's been encouraging audience interaction on this tour and that when the line comes up "the sailor's sorry racket calls for maidenhead," he's expected the audience to call for maidenhead. So I did. I yelled out "pussy!" This surprised Colin quite a bit and it took him a minute to laugh and announce that it had made him blush before he could continue with the song. I felt a bit bad since I remembered right after I yelled out that it was an all ages show.

After the show, we stayed around the bus to see Colin and I apologized for making him blush. He told me it was alright and thanked me for yelling out, but then it was a bit awkward as I continued standing there rather than thanking him and leaving. He gave a salute, and I saluted back and then continued to stand there awkwardly. Finally, I did turn around and leave and felt a bit of a fool for not being more smooth. Then, I drove to Joliet and started a saga that shall have to be continued in another post. All in all, it was fantastic, but now I'm trying to get over a bit of an inferiority complex. C'est la vie.

A bit of really good news: when I finally got back to Michigan, I commented on both Colin and Carson's myspace pages, offering my hope that they enjoyed their respective gifts. Later that day, Carson commented on my myspace page saying that she very much enjoyed her crossword puzzle!!!! Hooray!!

More Later...

My Moon My Man

Chris and I saw Feist at the Fillmore in Detroit on April 10th. I have never been to Detroit, but I thought I knew what to expect since the city is pretty notorious. We arrived at the venue around 2pm and were the only ones there. It was barely drizzling, but it was very windy, which made it a cold, unwelcome day. A little over an hour after we got there, Feist and one of her bandmates rolls up in a taxi. We learned later that they had been at the Motown Museum (somewhere I'd like to go before we move out of this awful state). I had brought along "Ricky Gervais presents The World of Karl Pilkington" (a collection of transcripts from Ricky Gervais' podcasts) for her to sign and she happily obliged. Apparently, she and her bandmate had just been talking about Ricky Gervais and quoting The Office, so she wrote: "'I froze your tears and made a dagger...must you breath, for I need heaven' Feist, quoting David Brent with admiration" and then signed Feist. She was very lovely, but a rather short woman, which I was not expecting at all. She's about 5'2" and I spent the rest of the afternoon marveling at this fact. I had always assumed she would be around my height or taller from videos and such, and she's not that short, and it doesn't make any difference, it's just that I had to change the picture in my head which can sometimes feel odd.

Anyway, the show was great, despite some annoyances. Apparently Detroit crowds get rowdy, so the Fillmore had security guards (read fat guys in a Fillmore t-shirt) stand between the barricade and the stage. This is fine except that one of them stood near the center of the stage, and the stage isn't really high. This is kind of fine except that this particular security guy was hugely ignorant, a douchebag, and a chatty Cathy. He started conversations with us and people around us (including people in the second row) and talked during the opening act and while Feist was onstage. Sample gem: "That guy looked retarded. He sucked. I'm sorry, but it's the truth." I didn't realize that a large man from Detroit who likes hardcore rock (he informed us of this several times) was able to judge and provide such truths. The crowd that night was not terrible, but don't let that fool you: they were bad. At one point, Feist started a song and then instead of singing the lyrics, she sang about how if a performer sings very softly the crowd automatically shuts up since it doesn't know what's going on. She even stepped away from the mic and sang for a while until the crowd finally stopped buzzing. Most impressive, though, was her voice. I knew she could sing, but man, she can sing!

Chris and I also saw Ben Folds at a small college in Michigan this past week. I would write about how the show was good and the audience was perhaps the worst I've ever seen at a show and how Chris and I are ready to never see a show in Michigan again (but then admitted that of course we would go if it was a really good act), but then I would get angry and disappointed in humanity (once again).

To end on a good note, I will mention that I'm getting all geared up for what I hope to be the best night since October 29 of last year. Chris and I will drive to Chicago tomorrow, he'll get on a bus to go to St. Louis and I will hang out with John. Monday, I will be outside of the Park West all day and see Colin Meloy perform in the evening!!!!!!!!! I will then be around Tuesday night and Wednesday in the early afternoon, hopefully seeing friends. So friends, clear your schedules.

The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings

It's nice outside today and I hope it lasts, though odds are that it won't. There's two trees outside the window of our drawing room (Chris and I decided to class the office/computer/spare bedroom up a bit). They are big, tall pine trees and one is on the corner of our lot so that I can almost see its top when I'm sitting down at my desk. The window and my desk are also in such a position that when I'm sitting here looking out, all I can see is trees and patches of sky. I like this view since I can either pretend that I am on a floor that is above ground level (higher floors always seem more exciting and better, but yet so above-the-fray and peaceful) or that I am not in Lansing, MI. Perhaps this view is indicative of a country home where I go to write and I have a foreign housekeeper in the next room who may or may not be plotting to kill me one of these days. Perhaps I'm in Illinois. Perhaps I'm just somewhere where the day-to-day hassles of people and noise and banality are banished, at least for the moment.

Anyway, I'm still unemployed and I'm trying to do worthwhile and productive things while I have all the time in the world. I am trying to amp up (speed up) my guitar learning, but I get discouraged very easily. Chris thinks that it's because I find it difficult, but I think it's a bit more than that. I like to think I'm not the type of person who tries something once and then quits if she's not immediately successful in the endeavor. I'm more the type of person who tries something and instantly feels that she'll never be successful in the endeavor. It's not that I'm diametrically opposed to hard work, it's more that I worry that even with a lot of hard work, I'll end up mediocre at best. Then again, whenever I think about how easily I become discouraged and hopeless, I also think that I tend to be persistent in pursuing things and that I often get what I want in the end. Then, I feel a little better. And, I can play the Futurama theme song on guitar, so there's that.

I was reading a copy of the History Channel's magazine and I found this anecdote very amusing: not that long ago, Iowa wanted to add the wild sunflower to their state's list of destructive weeds and therefore encourage the plant's destruction. Kansas found out about this, and so they threatened to name the Eastern Goldfinch (Iowa's state bird) as their official game bird. Also, apparently some people mock Iowa by claiming the state's name is an acronym for "Idiots Out Wandering Around." Oh, how I love state rivalries.

The Mariner's Revenge Song

Youtube has now twice failed to post my video on my blog. So, here's the video I made.

I hope you like it!

Get Over It

As a burgeoning songwriter, I've given a lot of thought to my future career. Most of this consists of daydreaming about being friends with famous people and everyone adoring me and all my talent (your standard fantasy). So, when I picture this, I am always reticent to write a break-up song. They're usually very bitter and signify that the writer is not over that past relationship. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of really good break-up songs, but I thought it would be nice to pretend to be one of those people that doesn't even think about bad boyfriends/girlfriends from the past. But, it turns out I've written a break-up song. This only came about because I came up with an idea that was simply too good to resist. I think I like the song, but of course I don't sing it well because...I don't sing well. Anyway, I don't want to give away what the song is about--I'm hoping that before too long, I'll have figured out a guitar part for it and then I'll record it and post it here. Let's just say that this song will most likely never be played on mainstream radio.

Holy Shit

After Chris received a text message from a friend, we have been searching the news sites and watching the news shows to learn about what happened at Northern Illinois University. They don't have that much information as of now, but I'm exceedingly glad to hear that the shooting did not take place in Reavis and that all of the people I care about are not injured. Hopefully all of the wounded will be taken care of and the casualties will end with the gunman. Hopefully NIU will pull together and everyone in campus will heal as much as they can as quickly as they can. Hopefully we will learn the gunman's motives so that there might be some sense of closure or at least a step toward meaning in this senseless ordeal. Hopefully this is the last school shooting for quite some time, dare I say ever?

Wordplay

I've constructed a crossword puzzle! It's not very good. Here are the clues:

Across
1. Baking or Fountain
5. ____fall, comedy staple
9. Calamari
14. Dance from the Pontos region
15. Makeover
16. Tosses out
17. Bassist Query for 35 Across
18. Leave out
19. "M*A*S*H" Iowan's nickname
20. "____ Hill," song by 35 Across
23. Home of Ben Gurion International Airport
24. Give off
25. "____ Driver," song by 35 Across
28. Prefix meaning halfway
29. Neighbor of the black kettle
32. Not sat or laid
33. Rival of MSN
34. "Leather and ____," Stevie Nicks and Don Henley duet
35. Band from 48 Across
39. Chocolate and caramel candy
40. Singular European mountain range?
41. Artist's support?
42. Comm. by hand
43. French Mrs.
44. "Do You Want to Know a ____?" song by The Beatles
46. Capital of Ukraine
47. Flightless bird
48. "Rose City," home to 35 Across
55. Turn on your heel, maybe
56. Place to suckle
57. Horse with an injured leg
58. Inspector Javert's grave
59. "O Roma o ____!" a cynic's take on Garibaldi's motto
60. Hamlet's lament for Yorick
61. Forest of "As You Like It"
62. Several hearty loaves?
63. It refracts light

Down
1. "____ for Myla Goldberg," song by 35 Across
2. Actor Sharif
3. Android from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
4. The most successful Baldwin brother
5. Rooting for an inmate?
6. Created again
7. Mine entrance
8. "Married ____," film featuring 4 Down
9. Vile
10. 2 pints
11. Food safety watchdog
12. Fancy typography, Abbr.
13. Org. to find your test-tube sister
21. Omit a sound
22. Naturalist Zola
25. A mode of persuasion
26. Train isn't running in Chicago at Christmas?
27. "____ that voodoo that you do so well!" Hedley Lamarr order
29. Isn't fashionable anymore
30. Apu and Manjula's clan on "The Simpsons"?
31. Instructing an émigré from the USSR?
32. Icelandic straw
33. Electric guitar necessity
34. "Billy ____," song by 35 Across
36. Transportation for a legionnaire?
37. Onetime venue for Colin Meloy
38. Happen again
43. Glove alternative, favored by kittens
44. Dose with morphine
45. Overacts
46. Danish dollar
48. Hyde Street ____, near 20 Across, sung about by 35 Across
49. Author of "Metamorphoses"
50. Mexican footballer Castillo
51. Israeli airline
52. Strong wind
53. Nation on the Arabian Peninsula
54. Untouchable Treasury Department star
55. "The More You Know…," e.g.

Sleeping Lessons

So I've been keeping something a bit secret. And I suppose I shouldn't. For probably as long as I can remember, I've had the notion that I would be immensely successful in the entertainment industry, in many of its venues. I've decided that I am going to seriously pursue one of those venues. Namely, I've been writing songs. I haven't told anyone about this because I'm not very confident in my ability to write songs or to perform them. On the other hand, I really want to have this ability, plus Chris seems to like what I've written so far. The process is going a little slowly since I'm still learning to play guitar and still need to learn to play piano. But I've written about ten songs so far--meaning that I have the words and the melody but can only perform them a capella. I also wanted to not tell anyone because when I finally get a demo recorded, I could enlist friends to listen to it under the guise that it wasn't me in order to get an honest and objective opinion of whether any of what I've done is worthwhile or not. Anyway, that's what I'm working on.

In other news, I found out some very interesting things last night. I stumbled across the bass player of My Brightest Diamond's blog. He wrote about the show Chris and I attended in Grand Rapids here, though he didn't mention us (which is a little disappointing--maybe we weirded him out a bit). I discovered, though, that he's younger than me, which was pretty surprising to me. I tend to be unprepared for people to be younger than I am since I'm used to being the youngest one in any particular group. It's also a little disorienting when someone is successful and famous (okay, semi-famous) and has accomplished this in less time than it will take you. Anyway, even more shocking is the fact that this guy is none other than John Lithgow's son!!!!! Holy shit!!!

Marry Me

So, it's that time of year again. Though the year isn't over yet, I don't think I'll have time to see anymore movies before January 1st. I have seen 20 films that opened in 2007. I don't really like ranking movies since some of the decisions are difficult and I always feel as though I'll regret where some of the films end up in my list. But, without further ado, here is my list of films for 2007:

1. The Simpsons Movie what else would be #1? Fantastic!
2. Paris, Je T'aime even better than I had hoped, a wonderful film--all of the segments are great
3. Lars and the Real Girl very touching and done perfectly, a wonderful example of when all the parts (directing, writing, acting) come together to create a marvelous whole
4. Bender's Big Score though not released in theater, it is a superb culmination of the series and I can't wait for the other three DVDs
5. No Country for Old Men this would be higher on my list, though this year saw a lot of great film competition
6. Hot Fuzz I really wan't expecting much because of ignorance (I haven't seen Shaun of the Dead), and it blew me away
7. Charlie Wilson's War while Tom Hanks is spectacular, as usual, I really enjoyed this film almost solely because of Philip Seymour Hoffman (the fact that his character, both in personality and appearance, reminded me of John Roderick didn't hurt)
8. Live Free or Die Hard I had faith in Bruce Willis and the Die Hard series, but let's face it, with a title like that, I thought maybe it wouldn't be so great. I would say it's the best in the series, except that they're all this great
9. Stardust a very fun film that doesn't take itself seriously, but also doesn't make too much fun of itself
10. Waitress a wonderful and bittersweet film that almost makes me want to eat pie
11. The Darjeeling Limited not the best Wes Anderson film, but still a good film that, though it might sound cliched, really does take you on a journey as an audience as the characters' layers peel
12. Shoot 'Em Up a very fun movie that features some of the most creative ways to kill people
13. Ocean's Thirteen I did really enjoy the film, but it seems to have faded away quite a bit after viewing
14. Dan in Real Life perhaps this movie would be lower on the list, but Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche are enormously charming
15. 1408 though I was disappointed that Samuel L. Jackson didn't have a bigger part, this movie had more to it than I was expecting, it's premise is very intriguing, more so than I thought it would be
16. The Number 23 also an intriguing premise, though less so that I thought it would be
17. 28 Weeks Later I found this movie a bit frustrating, none of the plot would've happened if people hadn't been incredibly stupid, which I suppose is true of almost all films, but shouldn't there be a good reason to make a sequel to a really good first film?
18. Starter for Ten I was disappointed by this film since I do really really enjoy trivia, but James McAvoy has a very nice accent
19. Blades of Glory should've been funnier
20. Knocked Up this could possibly be in the last position of the list of movies I have seen period, and it's such a shame to see Paul Rudd in such an awful movie

There you have it. There are a lot of films that should be on this list that aren't. Perhaps one of these years I'll actually have the time and financial resources to see all the movies I'd like in the theater. And perhaps someday, seeing a movie in the theater will be a much better experience. I've been noticing quite a few chains making steps in this direction, either having late shows for those who are over 17 or catering exclusively to adults (with lots of disposable income, mind you). Here's hoping...

When I Was A Young Girl

I was telling Chris a story from work, and he suggested that I should share it here. One of my duties is to make sure that the bulletin boards in the three break rooms are up to date and clear of any inappropriate material, as well as to keep the break rooms themselves tidy. So, I was carrying out this task today and had the opportunity to do something fun, satisfying, and a bit controversial. The downstairs break room is notorious for leaving newspapers and coupons strewn about one of the tables. There is much to be thrown away from this particular break room. Today was no exception, and today featured a special item. There was a Bible sitting on the table. I checked the inside covers and flipped through the pages to make sure there wasn't a name inscribed, that this book belonged to someone who had forgotten here. Seeing no name, and seeing a couple of "good news" pamphlets stuck in various pages, I surmised that this was someone's attempts to spread the good word. So, I did my best to help that endeavor. I walked over to the trash can and dropped the book in, its weight compacting the various paper towels and other trash below it.

In other news, I have written a children's book (if anyone knows a publisher, I'm all ears), and am currently writing a second one.

In sad news, I am all out of Double Stuf Mint Oreos. They are manna from heaven. I already miss them.

"I'm Back Baby!"

Last Tuesday, the first of the four Futurama feature-length films was relased, and man, it is fantastic! The revamped theme song is addictive and is quickly becoming my favorite song as of late. Bender's Big Score has a really fascinating plot, ties together characters, events, and themes from the whole series, and is very entertaining. Seeing old story lines completed or enhanced was very satisfying, and like the best episodes of Futurama, the movie is equally hilarious and bittersweet. The only problem is that now I'm growing very impatient for the remaining three films.

In other news, since I've started work at this office, I've had a picture of Colin Meloy as my wallpaper. For my birthday, my boss gave me a picture frame, so now I have a picture of me and Chris sitting on my desk. After the amazing events of October 29th, I have the picture of me and Colin Meloy on stage as my wallpaper. This has caused some of my co-workers to come to two conclusions. 1. Colin Meloy is my boyfriend and 2. I play guitar. I do not object to either of these, but, people are inevitably disappointed when I explain that neither of these things are true and wear an expression much like the one that occurs when I explain why I wear a flower behind my right ear everyday. Maybe I should start using a story about my Jewish grandmother using her last moments to plant roses at Auschwitz when people ask me why I wear a flower.

I finished reading both The Time Machine and A Family Daughter. Both were highly enjoyable, though Maile Meloy wins in this round. I did like H.G. Wells' dystopia, but I found the Time Traveller, like Robinson Crusoe, to be quite an idiot, and therefore frustrating. A Family Daughter has continued the recent tradition, for me, of enjoying a book despite not enjoying any of the characters. There was no one in Meloy's novel that I really found myself attached to. In her previous book that features most of the same people, Liars and Saints, I was on the border of not liking them, but this one tipped the scale. I realize that there's more to a novel than simply the characters, but it's still a little unnerving when you're not really devoted to any of the personalities and still think the work is great (I'm looking at you Mansfield Park). Part of me really feels that I should re-read Liars and Saints now, since the former book is the novel that the main character of A Family Daughter has written, but I also would really like to move on to another universe now. I think it shall be The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski, but I have so many books sitting on my shelves clamoring to be read. I'm hoping it won't take me too long to get through The Fifty Year Sword, since it will be a dense and confusing read, it isn't very lengthy. Suggestions for what to read after that? I recently bought The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which is a heavy contender. At work, though, I have just started George Eliot's Middlemarch, so I should be good for reading at work for quite some time now.

Dragonfly

Chris and I had perhaps one of the strangest concert-going experiences ever this past Saturday. We went to see My Brightest Diamond in Grand Rapids and were expecting to see a really great concert that would follow the basic concert-rules, namely, that we would arrive early to get a spot in the front of the line and perhaps meet some of the musicians, then stand in a General Admission floorspace in front of the stage and rock out with a bunch of other twenty-somethings. How wrong we were. First, we arrived in Grand Rapids (a place which we'd both only been once before to visit one of Chris' colleagues and eat meat). We went to see said colleague and his brand new baby. The baby was about 7 weeks old, which is the youngest baby I've ever seen/met, and I have to say, I prefer my babies a little older (so that there's at least a little bit of interaction between you and the infant). We arrived at the "theater" around 4pm for an 8pm show and were the first attendees there. The "theater" was the Ladies' Literary Club, which is a historic landmark that used to be a meeting place for literary ladies and is now a small auditorium. From the outside, though, it still looks like a house rather than a host for music acts. So we waited on the front steps. After waiting there a little while, a van pulls up and a man with pink pants comes bounding up the steps asking us if this is the place. Chris and I tell him it is and then wonder to ourselves if this guy is Tim Fite (the opening act that neither of us knew anything about). It turns out yes, it is. A couple of hours later, three other people show up to wait, though they are there to see Tim Fite (they were under the assumption that he was the headliner and had never heard of My Brightest Diamond, and they are most likely high). By this time, it's getting pretty close to the time when doors will be opening and there are five people in line for this show. Will this be the whole audience? It's beginning to seem mighty strange. A little while later, a group of college girls (the show is being sponsored by Calvin College) and ask us if they can go in. We tell them that the doors will open at 7:30pm. They tell us that they're ushers. I restrain from asking them why they asked us if they could go in if they're working there while at the same time thinking that if the crowd (which may or may not be comin) gets out of hand, what are these tiny little girls going to do? Then, a little later, a van shows up and out come a handful of Calvin College students. So now, there's a total of about ten people here to see the show. Finally, the doors open and we enter the Ladies' Literary Club. Chris and I go straight to the front row and find the middle two seats. The people behind us? They get as close as the third row. This trend continues as others file in the small auditorium. There are even several people who get as close as the second row, then decide that it's too close and move back! Why is the front row too close? We had no idea and will remain confused about this for a very long time.

Anyway, now the show starts with Tim Fite. It's a really interesting act, and while Chris and I were nervous about this guy, all our fears were put to rest. He is a great performer who incorporates video into his show and interacts with the audience very well. At one point, he came into the audience to grab one guy's hat, my scarf, and another guy's glasses to wear up onstage while he finished his song. He also played mine and Chris' heads like a turntable. He also has an interesting mixture of genres, including Southern Gothic bluegrass/folk, pop, and political hip hop. I recommend checking him out. Around 9pm, My Brightest Diamond took the stage and this is where the concert-going experience hits the apex of strangeness. Chris and I stood at the edge of the stage, as we would for any other show, only we were the only ones. There was My Brightest Diamond, then us standing there, then a good three to four feet of floor, then the front row of seats, then everyone else, who remained seated and silent. Chris and I sang along, but I had to mouth along to some songs since it was so quiet in the auditorium. And of course we rocked out, but we were dancing in front of a whole auditorium. It felt very weird and I much prefer being crammed into a tiny space in front of the stage, surrounded by pushy and sweaty teenagers to this experience of being the only ones up by the stage. The last song was "Freak Out" and here people came up to jump around, but it was only at this point that we were joined by any audience members at all. So, a really great show (including covers of Roy Orbison, Edith Piaf, and Nina Simone), but a really odd occurrence.

After the show, we went up to the merchandise table to buy one of Tim Fite's albums, and he gave us a poster he designed for the tour, as well as two postcards he also designed along with the CD. He was terribly shy and a bit awkward, which was interesting since his stage persona was quite the opposite. He signed our poster and then Shara Worden came out to sign it as well. We had met Shara outside of the theater in Champaign when she was opening for the Decemberists last April and she remembered us. We ended up talking to her for a good twenty minutes or so about an assortment of things, including the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who she is distantly related to (!). We then made the hour-long drive back, still confused about what just happened.

Rock A Little

Lars and the Real Girl, which we saw at a mainstream movie theater in Lansing (which is both great and very unfortunate, is in contention to be one of the best movies of 2007. While it was nice to not have to drive an hour away to see the film (which we had to do to see The Darjeeling Limited and then were kind of screwed out of seeing the short film Hotel Chevalier), seeing it with members of the Lansing community proved difficult. There were a couple of groups of people there (one consisting of pre-teen girls, who I'm guessing still have their copy of The Notebook in their DVD players) who did not understand what this movie was. Like the films of Wes Anderson, Lars and the Real Girl is hard to classify genre-wise and ends up being called a comedy. Some of our fellow audience members clung to that tag and laughed throughout the film, even after it became obvious that this movie isn't a gimmick and doesn't have a schtick. While thoughtful movie-goers were pulled into the story and humanity of this carefully-put together, delicate, deeply compassionate, and magnanimous movie, others were still caught on the one-line premise: a man dates a doll. Everything about this movie was wonderful--directing, writing, and acting (from the whole cast). What's even more wonderful is that it is a jumping-off point for a great post-movie conversation. One is left ruminating over many questions, which is not to say that the film doesn't leave one satisfied--it very much does. I would suggest running out to see this one, but maybe it's best left viewed without the kids who got lost on their way to go see The Game Plan.

The Chimbley Sweep

The Decemberists Long/Short of it Tour 2007
Originally uploaded by Nicolemc99

This is proof that it actually happened, though I'm still reeling. If anyone finds reviews of the two shows, pictures, video, etc., please let me know. I've been scouring the web but haven't found too much coverage so far.

In sadder news, it turns out we were really lucky, as all the dates of the tour after Chicago have been cancelled. Get well ill Decemberist!

I Was Meant For the Stage

Holy shit!!! I had quite the eventful weekend. On Friday, Chris and I went to a department Halloween party with a dress-up-like-a-game theme. I decided to go as the game Eat, Fuck, Or Kill, which consisted of three baby dolls--one tied around my waist, one on a platter with some parsley, and one hanging from a noose. It was pretty fantastic (if I do say so myself), only no one at the party had heard of the game. Before we even arrived, though, Chris and I accidentally locked ourselves out of our apartment and had to call a locksmith to let us in. This was bad thing #2 in the last couple of weeks, the first being that I dropped my ipod into a clean toilet bowl and will now have to send it in to hopefully be repaired or buy a new one. But, I thought that maybe these were actually good luck charms for the Decemberists' shows this past weekend. You see, the last time I saw the band, a very bad thing happened the night before when Chris and I were stuck in the city with my car that wouldn't start (and then it was a bit damaged from the towing). All was forgotten, though, when before the concert, while waiting in line, I talked to Colin Meloy and he recognized me!!! So I crossed my fingers that perhaps this too was some sort of karma.

Indeed it was. We arrived at the Vic Theatre at about 11:30am on Sunday. One girl was in line (who I had waited in line all day with last April when the band played at the Riviera Theatre). One of the guys working with the merchandise asked us about the deal where if you bought a two-day pass, you received a poster and needed to photocopy what the two-day pass tickets looked like. So, I volunteered (after he said I could accompany him on this task). Turns out, he photocopied the tickets in the Decemberists' dressing room, so I was standing in the hallway right outside of their door. Nate was talking on his phone right next to me, and when he was finished with his conversation, he introduced himself to me (meaning that I have now met all five Decemberists). And I could see Jenny and Colin on the couch talking and Colin eating a sandwich. Back outside, the band soon came out to walk around the area and I had my chance to ask Colin my questions--about Jane Eyre's influence on "The Island" and about how to pronounce his sister's name (turns out I'm an idiot and have been mispronouncing it all this time). He told me that Jane Eyre had nothing to do with his song (but said "good digging!"), that there was a bit of James Joyce (parallax). So I was pretty happy that I had a chance to complete what I had set out to do.

The show was fantastic!! It was really great to see the opening of the tour as they were still working out how they were going to do everything and seemed to be in a mood for spontaneity. Colin had his shirt sleeves rolled up and on his inner right forearm, just below the elbow, there was a tattoo of a ship. I called out that I liked his tattoo and he looked at me and said thank you, and then rolled up his sleeve a bit more. I can't be absolutely certain, but I'm pretty sure he made eye contact with me several times in the show, and he came out to the edge of the stage near us several times as well. The show was supposed to be over at 9:45pm, since there's a 10pm curfew (all ages show), and the band was warned that they were going over at one point, but they wouldn't cut the night short (it wouldn't be the Long Of It if it was cut short). They played until about ten after 10pm, including an almost ridiculously long cover of Pink Floyd's "Echoes". After the concert was over, John, Chris, and I decided to hang out by the stage door to see if the band would be frequenting any local bars. I also wanted to tell Colin that when he drums (during The Tain), he looks a bit like Mick Fleetwood with his expressions. We had to wait a bit (a firetruck and ambulance pulled up while we were waiting--it seems that Nate hit his head and was being checked to make sure he was alright), but eventually they all came out and signed autographs. I was last in the little semi-circle of people, and I was busy forumlating my comment, apparently too busy to hear him say to me, "Hello, it's good to see you again." (!!!!!) I told him my observation, and he was very happy about it (Fleetwood Mac is one of the biggest influences for the band, according to some interviews). He told me it was a "high compliment." Then they were whisked off by a van and I was left giddy and incredibly sore.

But that's not all. We arrived at the theatre around 11:30am on Monday as well. There was no band-meeting before the show this time, but it was more than made up for. The set list for this show was highly discussed during the day of waiting--which short songs would they play? Would it be all upbeat, or would they mix it up? It turns out that they played a bit of everything and mostly things that aren't usually played. The set began with the first five of the six songs, in order, from the 5 Songs EP. The rest of the set was a mix of the peppier and the less so (i.e. "Eli, the Barrow Boy"). They ended the encore with "After the Bombs" and started the encore with "A Cautionary Song" which featured Chris and John reenacting the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (and the front row was able to sit on the stage at this point to make room for the reenacting). But, the two absolute highlights (of the night and of my life up til this point, really) came with the performances of "Culling of the Fold" and "The Chimbley Sweep." I was hoping that they would play "Culling of the Fold" and hoping that I would be one of the audience members who come face to face with Colin during this song. He did his usual round of audience interaction, and then kind of fell into the crowd a bit, right on top of Chris. Towards the end of the song, he came back, and touched my cheek as he finished singing!!! He then went to stand on an amp in front of the drum set and jump around a bit while the band was ending the song, and ended up falling into John and the drum set a bit. By this point, I was already on cloud nine, but it wasn't over yet. During the instrumental break on "The Chimbley Sweep," Colin and Chris had their guitar riff-off, but in the middle of it, Colin walked over towards me. I thought he was just going to play near the crowd as usual, but instead, he held his hand out to me and pulled me up onstage!!!!!!!! Then, he gave me his guitar and pick and then he went into the audience to play the role of a fan. It was an odd mixture of extreme excitement and a bit of terror as I can't play guitar, not even a little bit (and it was a bit difficult to try as the guitar was hanging pretty low on me, given that I'm smaller than Colin Meloy). I attempted to play at least a scale or strum a chord that I knew, but there was a capo about halfway down the neck which was a bit hindering for me and I could barely hear any sound that I was making. I tried my best to play the rock star, but I was shaking quite a bit. I tried walking around and high-fiving the audience, but I was a little afraid that I would trip over all the wires onstage and mostly stayed put. At some point (I didn't really notice that much of what was going on aorund me), Chris and pulled up another audience member to play his guitar. In the meantime, Colin was acting the groupie, shouting to John that he loved him and jumping around. Eventually, he came back onstage and I gave him his guitar back, shook hands, and then he hugged me and I joined the audience again. So, aside feeling like a bit of a schmuck for not actually knowing how to play, it was fucking phenomenal. I'm still not entirely sure that this actually happened to me, and everytime I picture Colin holding his hand out, I giggle like a school girl. This truly was the craziest thing that's ever happened to me.

We waited outside the stage door again, mostly so I could apologize for my lack of talent and promote myself by telling him I could play trumpet (maybe they could use me on this tour for "The Sporting Life"?), but Colin went right into the van and it drove off. Oh well. I think I can make due with only having the experience of playing onstage with the Decemberists. Holy fuck!!!!!!!!!

Wonder Boys

I have finished reading Jane Eyre. It seemed to me to end a bit abruptly, but it was a pretty good read, I'll say. Rochester is a bit of a douche bag, though not nearly as much as St. John. It tends to drag a bit, though I did really like the first part of the novel, before Jane grew up. I enjoyed Charlotte Bronte's writing--she has a very poetic style. I don't know that I really have that much to say (write) about it though. I've been reading a few academic articles about it, but after that I'm not sure what I want to read at work next. This is where you come in, dear readers. Please help me decide what to set upon next by voting. Here are some options.
Reading at work:

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Sea-Gull by Anton Chekhov

anything by Charles Dickens

Middlemarch by George Eliot

something by Henry James

Ulysses by James Joyce

something by Edgar Allan Poe

anything by Mark Twain

anything by Jules Verne

something by Edith Wharton

something by Virginia Woolf

Stay tuned to vote on what I should read next in the at-home category!

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Good news everyone (besides the Bible)! For the past week or so, I've noticed a contentedness blossoming in my life. I'm getting more organized and confident with my job, as well as my reading progress at said job. I bought a swim suit and will be swimming every other day, which helps the whole healthy-in-the-body bit. Most importantly, I've had better and better thoughts recently. What I'm really happy about is that I am content and not ecstatic. This is very important to me, as the former more or less equals healthfulness and the latter not as much. It feels almost as if I'm starting over, which is pretty nice. I am becoming better at relaxing and maintaining a laid-backness throughtout each day. While before I might imagine myself somewhere or doing something else if I didn't particularly like where I was or what I was doing, I am now just imagining a happy place/thought. The difference is that now, it's a more relaxed imagining--instead of thinking about being somewhere else physically, I find it works better if I picture the place mentally and leave it at that, without the extra work of making it tangible or realistic (if that makes sense). I'm trying to be more patient with people, especially when I'm driving (though I don't think that one will work so well until I get out of this state--no wonder they don't make cars here anymore, they don't know how to operate them). Also, I'm trying to be productive, but at the same time not worry about being productive so much. Basically, I'm trying and somewhat succeeding at worrying less overall--which is a great improvement for me. I think the only place I am less successful with this strategy is in the financial department. So, if you have a lot of extra cash that has been burdening you as of late, please feel free to send it my way.

Post to come: the TV season so far (idea stolen from John)

Everything In Its Right Place

Happy Belated Birthday John!!!

In other news, I have become greatly worried about the current and future state of House. Last night's episode (spoiler alert!!!! Oh No!!!!) featured House acting like a room full of writers have succumbed to fatigue/writer's block/absence of good ideas. I was afraid when I saw the preview for last night's episode last week. Surely they won't have their star character act completely out of character, surely a life long atheist and superb doctor won't act this naively , surely they won't throw all of the characterization they've provided the past few years in one fell swoop. I can accept him sticking a knife into an outlet in order to prove someone wrong (beyond a doubt, or at least as much as that is possible), to shut down the inevitable comment of "you've never been there," but now the preview for next week makes me worry again. Surely they're not going to bring the supernatural into this show. Why are the writer's obsessed with his atheism and continually provide him with inferior foils espousing Christianity? Can't there be an escape from the overabundance of the bad side of religion in our culture right now (I'm looking at you people who don't "believe" in evolution)? Hopefully this will just be a case of networks providing horribly inaccurate previews for their programs (I'm looking at you ER trailers). And another thing...I don't like what the writers are doing with this new blonde chick. Okay, so she's the "female House," only it doesn't work. I get the point that men get away with being sarcastic/arrogant/condescending/aggressive/etc. much more than women do, but that's not what's happening here. The reason House is likable is that he's exceptional and can back up all of his arrogance and everything else and then some. This woman is not exceptional and I'm tired of hating all the female team members (though I do like the woman who correctly diagnosed the patient this past week). So, hopefully I'll be able to continue watching House. If they fuck up next week, I won't be able to watch and then I'll be very sad and mourn my loss for quite some time. Sigh.