Is there anybody out there?

Wow. Do I even have any readers left? Sorry to have disappeared for a year, but it's been a busy one... it was my first one as a full-time editor and work deadlines seemed to take precedence over my blog (and, subsequently, my life). But since it's the season for resolutions and there are so many big changes afoot for me right now (like the big move I'm undertaking on Saturday), I figured now was as good a time as any to get back in bloggy spirit.

I see that my last little post was a Best-Of list for 2005, which will make an excellent segue to my Best-Of list for 2006. This year marked a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I was invited to participate in the Pazz And Jop Poll. It was the first time I think I actually heard enough of the albums that came out this year--thanks to my new job--to make an informed decision about what the cream of the crop was. And it was the first time that I didn't love the crop of pop hits that came out this year. That is not to say that it was a bad year for music--just the opposite, some amazing albums came out this year--but this was the first time in recent memory that the super big pop hits didn't do it for me.

I could write a diatribe about what was missing for me in songs like Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous," Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack," Gwen Stefani's "Wind It Up" and any big hit released by Fergie. Sure, some of those songs had some great beats (many courtesy of Timbaland who might just be having the best year ever!), but most of them just made me want to gouge my eardrums out. Not all musicians must be able to write music. Not all of them must be able to sing. But one or the other would be nice. (I realize that this disqualifies much of Madonna's early career, but she is a God to me and is therefore exempt from this discussion.) And I don't mean that in a rockist way, but what the hell is Gwen bringing to the table with "Wind It Up?" It's just a lot of her bleating insipid, name-dropping lyrics over a beat that is so delirious that it gives me vertigo.

It's not that I'm a total rockist. I LOVE pop music. Check out last year's list. I got crap for supporting My Chemical Romance and my number one song of the year was Kelly Clarkson's (a song, I must add, I still think is the best single of the millennium so far). In year's past I've cheered on Beyonce and Jay-Z nd Mariah Carey. But this year's batch of pop confections just didn't do it for my sweet tooth. Maybe I'm bored by what is becoming a name-brand producer's medium. Or maybe I'm just tired of hearing my pop stars try and be something that they're not (Justin, you ain't no Prince and Fergie, please never rap again).

That said, there was some great music that came out in '06. I hunkered down with a bunch of Canadians pop weirdos and Brit rappers and Brooklyn rockers and the year just sort of flew by. So here is the list of my favorite albums and songs of the year. (What, you didn't think I was going to actually type them out again, did you?)

I'm so moving on....

Yeah, I know, I know….I said no more writing about music here. Well, I’ve said a lot of things. I said I was quitting smoking and, while I’ve made a valiant attempt, I definitively still puff away. So there….

This week the Pazz and Jop winners came out. Since this list comes out in February, a good month after everyone else has stopped making lists, I’m usually all over it. But this year I just don’t really give a damn. I hemmed and hawed over my on choices for best albums of the year, which I published here in December, and each time I turned them into a different employer they changed a little. But since the start 2006 a whole month ago, I’ve been bombarded with CDs and I just don’t feel like rehashing 2005 anymore. I’ve moved on. I’m busy embracing the Talkdemonic record or the Mystery Jets EP (and, yes, still salivating over the Jenny Lewis album). I don’t want to talk about “Golddigger” anymore. I’m tired of Sufjan Stevens. (Who, I’m sorry, is just too Jesus-y for me. And any indie-rocker out there who is enjoying the music but ignoring the Jesus aspect, is missing a lot of the point.) Yeah, I’m also a little bitter. I know and work with (or have worked with) like 100 of the 800 participating critics and yet I’m not asked to participate. Whatever. Once you’ve actually worked on Pazz and Jop—which I did last year, inviting critics to participate, inputting and checking results—it sort of loses its magic. Plus every critic votes one of two ways: Either by picking the most hip or esoteric records they heard (hence the high placement of stuff like MIA and Konono No. 1) or by trying to seem like a proletariat everydude (c’mon if you make your living reviewing records and the only thing you can see fit to vote for is Mariah Carey or Young Jeezy, I’m kinda sad for you). It’s just so unsurprising. Check out the winners for yourself. Kanye swept it. I suppose rightfully so. The best thing about Pazz and Jop is the singles category because the usually uptight rock critics have to admit that they liked that major label hip hop jam or that oversung girl pop song that dominated the airwaves. I mean there are people who vote for tracks on their favorite esoteric album, but really it’s a category for embracing the best of what gets played on the radio. That’s the thing, while I am kind of offended by people who are trying to seem “down” by rating Mariah Carey’s album as the best of the year, I am equally offended by people that can’t get off their high horse long enough to realize that she put out some of the best SINGLES of the year. In fact, if I HAD been asked to participate in Pazz and Jop my singles ballot would’ve looked something like this:
10) Galang- MIA
9) Helena- My Chemical Romance
8) When The President Talks To God- Bright Eyes
7) Daft Punk Is Playing At My House-LCD Soundsystem
6) Blue Orchid- The White Stripes
5) Feel Good Inc- Gorrilaz
4) Banquet- Bloc Party
3) Shake It Off-Mariah Carey
2) Golddigger- Kanye West
1) Since U Been Gone- Kelly Clarkson

Aside from the Bright Eyes song which I just think is smart (I remember hearing it at the show with Adam last year and I just fell in love with it), these are all just tracks that, when I hear them, make me wanna dance and sing along and just generally go apeshit. So, that said….you should totally take me with a grain of salt.

Also the roommate and I went to go see Match Point on Monday night and, I must say, I am still upset about it. It is 2006 people! Must every film about infidelity end up like Fatal Attraction? That is just so misogynistic. I don’t want to ruin the movie for those of you who haven’t seen it so JUST STOP READING HERE…..
That said, is it too much to ask that a movie about being unfaithful doesn’t turn the “other woman” into a shrill, sex-crazed villain who must be killed? And why must the little wife-y be so mousy and plain. In real life I suspect these situations are just three people in a mess. Not a man who is tempted away from his plain, sweet wife and then tormented and stalked by his attention-starved, crazy lover. That man DROVE his mistress crazy. He pursued her and wore her down and then once she loved him, he didn’t want her anymore. I accept that storyline—it happens all the time, I’m sure—but I don’t want to watch that woman be villainized and murdered. I didn’t like how Woody Allen made us root for the man to get away with everything. I think he did that by writing women who were unlikable. Anyway, it made me sad.

Now, for Adam, who asked that I still write about music here so “he would know what to keep an eye out for,” here is my list of what I’m listening to these days…..
Talkdemonic (s/t)
The Boy Least Likely To (the Best Party Ever)
Controller.controller (X-Amounts)
Mystery Jets (Flotsam and Jetsam EP) ****Soooooo good, these guys are the next NME darlings.
Two Gallants (What The Toll Tells)
The Duke Spirit (Cuts Across The Land)

Handle Me With Care

It has now officially been so long since I’ve written here that I wonder if anyone even reads this anymore. I apologize. It’s been hard to come home and write on my computer since I started the new job where I spend all day writing at my computer, but I promise to try and be better.

Today is my birthday and lucky me (and Neil Diamond and John Belushi—RIP—who share my birthday with me), British scientists declared January 24th the most depressing day of the year. Awesome. I did have a great party with Jon on Saturday night and I was thrilled at how seriously most of my friends took our costume theme. When I develop some patience I will upload at least a link to the photos. They are hilarious. I look very naked. The evening would have been better had I stopped drinking one hour earlier than I did, but what’s done is done. Unfortunately now that I’m old, I don’t recouperate like I used to, so Sunday was a blur of television, heavy water consumption, and dizziness. Now that it is my actual birthday, I feel kind of let down. I mean, it’s Tuesday. I’ve worked all day. I don’t feel like going out tonight, nor do I have plans. So, in short, the British scientists were right.

I’ve decided not to write about music here anymore, since that is what I spend my days doing now and I can’t bring myself to come up with clever adjectives twice to describe the same record. But I will say this…..the new Jenny Lewis album is awesome. My favorite song is her cover of the Traveling Wilburys “Handle With Care.” Jenny sings the George Harrison main melody while M. Ward sings the Jeff Lyne parts, Ben Gibbard does a nice job with the Roy Orbison parts, and Conor Oberst gets to live his childhood dream and be Bob Dylan. I must admit I get kinda jealous when I listen to this song. It gives me weird little, middle school chest pains. It sort of reminds me of how a friend of mine tells a story about crying herself to sleep as a little kid because she knew that Brice Beckham (a/k/a Wesley from Mr. Belvedere) would never be her boyfriend. I’m weirdly jealous that Jenny got to sing on this song. I can just imagine how fun recording that song must’ve been. I want to be in that recording booth. And I want to take a break with those guys to go smoke in between takes. And I want to be the one to run out for pizza when the session is going late. The knowledge that this will never happen, hurts me on the inside. This song has also made me think about Conor and his quaverking, emotional voice. It might actualy be my favorite voice in rock. It isn't pretty and it isn't perfect, but when I'm sad it's the only thing I want to hear. It's like pressing on a bruise. It makes it hurt worse, but in a good, deliberate way.

Grandma got runover by a reindeer

There is so much I want to say that I can’t keep it straight for long enough in my head to actually type the words out. It's days like today that I wish that I paid attention when my techno-geek cousin was talking about computer programs that can turn your voice into words on the screen over Thanksgiving. Cuz Lord knows, I can talk! Ok, well one of the best lessons I learned in my overpriced education was organization, so I present to you, my readers, another list. What I’m thinking about these days:

1) The human body is scarily fragile. (Need proof? Check out my roommate’s disturbing pics of her broken foot—before and after the cast—here (https://shaya_in_new_york.blogspot.com) Its weird how easily we can fuck up this perfectly functioning nature-made machine that we inhabit. It’s like, a doctor finds a lump in your ovaries and then removes all of your lady parts—“just in case.” Or you trip at a drunk, crowded party and you’re hobbled, barely able to get home up five flights of stairs on crutches. Or you mysteriously develop a canker sore for the first time since you were 12 that literally eats away at the bottom of your gums that hurts so bad that you can’t chew or speak without wincing. (And, even weirder than that, then you wake up one morning and your mouth, which hurt like you imagine childbirth hurting, is miraculously healed and there isn’t even a scar!) We do all of these things: smoking, drinking, eating fried food, ingesting other, bad-for-you substances, thinking that all of the harm that those things can do to do won’t happen to you. You walk a dangerous line between being cautious and not caring. And then one day you trip on some stairs and you can never wear high heels again. The whole thing seems terrifyingly futile.

2) Relationships are fucked up. I am seconding Shaya’s “give up” proposal. I was walking behind this girl today when I left work to get lunch and she was talking on the phone saying, “And then he says to me,’Can I be perfectly honest with you, I don’t want a girlfriend right now.’ And I’m devastated, but what am I gonna do? I mean we’ve been sleeping together all semester, every time something happens, good or bad, we call each other, and we spend all our time together. If that isn’t a girlfriend, I don’t know what is? Cuz he still wants to sleep with me.” And I recently had brunch with another friend whose ex had crawled out of the woodwork to apologize for how HORRIBLY he treated her five years ago, which would be great except that it took her five years to get over him and now he’s back in her thoughts because he wants to be “friends.” I feel your pain, girlfriends! I don’t want to be one of those man-haters (because I much prefer to be a sex-positive feminist) and I know from all of the wonderful men in my life that women can be equally horrible to men, but I am constantly finding myself flabbergasted with what men think its ok to do to women. If you, dear reader, happen to be one of those gross couples who actually like each other (like Chris Rock says) you are either a) living a lie (sorry, you or your significant other is cheating, thinking about cheating, has cheated in the past, or is just basically sticking around because you or he/she are too afraid to be alone) or b) you’re disgusting and I don’t want anything to do with you. Sorry to be the grinch on this one, folks.

3) In good news, I got a job. Yes, as of January, I’ll be one of the employed majority with health insurance and everything. Unfortunately I’m so neurotic that I basically skipped over being excited and went right to being terrified about it. I am sad to give up the freelancing lifestyle (ah! Sleeping til 1pm!), but I’m glad to be working in the field I want to, making a regular paycheck, and I am looking forward to being able to go to the doctor. You know, they keep telling me avian bird flu is coming. Plus, see item #1.

4) I’ve spent all week hemming and hawing over my top 10 list (which I’ve had to turn in to various employers in different forms). I still can’t really narrow it to ten since I think a lot of great music came out this year. Also, it is hard to really stand behind calling my list a “Best Of” list since a) I certainly didn’t hear every album that came out this year, b) I have very strong genre preferences and therefore would never put a jazz or r&b song on this list because I don’t give a shit about those genres, and c) it’s not so much that I think that these albums are the best made or best sung or Most Important—they’re just MY personal favorites. Really my formula is, a) did this album come out this year? b) did I like it? c) am I still listening to it months on or did it have a burst of overplayed love from me and now I can’t stand the sound of it? (such as the M.I.A. album. ) So here, in no particular order, are my favorites. Feel free to leave me comments about how wrong I am. (Oh yeah, and all of you Sufjan fans—I know, I know. His melodies and voice are awesome. But there is too much God-lovin’ for my taste.) 1)I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning: Bright Eyes (It’s still on heavy rotation on my iPod after a year!) 2) Separation Sunday: The Hold Steady (First I hated this album, then it kinda grew on me, and now I’m obsessed.) 3) Clap Your Hands Say Say: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Yeah there was a lot of hype, but I can’t remember the last time a self-released debut was SO good) 4) Silent Alarm: Bloc Party (How quickly you forget that this album came out this year. People were peeing themselves about it in March and then they forgot. Well, it’s still better than 99% of what came out in ’05.) 5) Apologies to the Queen Mary: Wolf Parade (Yeah Canada! This album doesn’t get old—see my hyperbolic review of it from a September post.) 6) The Woods: Sleater-Kinney (The ladies meet Led Zeppelin! Plus—and I’m sorry Carrie—“Modern Girl” is a really good song) 7) Late Registration: Kanye West (Aside from the fact that I want to have like 10,000 of his babies AND the fact that he gave the best soundbyte of the year with, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” this was Kanye’s fucking year! Anyone who doesn’t like “Hey Mama” or “Gold Digger” doesn’t have a soul) 8) Get Behind Me Satan: The White Stripes (This album is totally underrated. Meg and Jack sound great, not only when they rock out, but in intimate little ballads like “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet) 9) Laughter’s Fifth: Love as Laughter (I’m just putting this out there—Sam Jayne will you marry me?) 10) Tanglewood Numbers: Silver Jews (Berman returns from addiction and suicide with a shiny—by his standards—country/pop/new wave album. Dying on the inside never sounded so good) Now here’s where things get tricky: Honerable Mentions: Ta Det Lungnt: Dungen (I fucking love this album, it must be like hearing the Who for the first time for those of us that weren’t alive in the Keith Moon days. The album was released in the US this year, but since I actually heard the import first LAST year, it got bumped to make room for Sam Jayne.) and Awesomer: Blood on the Wall (I still listen to this album all the time—it’s great. And I only had room for one young New York band on the list and, again, that spot went to Sam. But now that I’m thinking about it, I might listen to this album more……) And so the hemming and hawing continues.

5) After my last post where I titled the list “Things that Make You Go Hmmmm,” I weirdly heard the song the other day while watching Ellen. (God, I’m gonna miss being a freelancer!) Her DJ played it as the dance song that day. I honestly hadn’t heard C & C Music Factory in easily 10 years and, I have to admit, aside from being startled by how truly bad a song it was, I was mesmerized by the lyrics. Weirdly, I could totally “rap” along—I have a weird aptitude for remembering long-forgotten song lyrics—but my conscious mind really didn’t remember the lyrics being so ridiculous/sexist/racy/stupid. For example what kind of “crib” do you have that has a fireplace and a bearskin rug? Are you the Brawny paper towel guy? Also, what kind of hardcore dude or sexy lothario sits alone in his queer pad, “drinking cocoa” on said bearskin rug alone? Why would someone’s girlfriend get their best friend to hit on their boyfriend to test him? Why would you invite your friend “Jay” to move into your house with you and your wife? This isn’t “Three’s Company,” bitch! Why would you go “hmmm” when your child was born looking like Jay? Every woman in this song—from his high school girlfriend who lied about being a virgin to the patient wife who’s being cheated on—is an embarrassment. I can’t believe I used to sing along to this song on the radio all the time when I was 12.

6) You know how you can listen to a song for forever and not really listen to the words or pay attention and then one day, because of where you are in your life, it makes sense. For example, sometime back in college, I finally "got" Ani DiFranco songs like "Untouchable Face" and "Gravel." (Yeah, I said Ani, wanna make something of it? It's not like I'm still buying her albums....) Well my current favorite song (after taking months to finally admit that I love it), aside from Johnny Cash and June Carter's cover of "It Ain't Me Babe," is Mariah Carey's "Shake it Off." I never really paid attention to the lyrics before but now it seems like the female empowerment anthem of the year. That's right girl, shake that man off, he's no good! It kind of reminds me of when my friend from LA told me not to make fun of Britney Spears because her last album really helped her through a bad breakup and all I could think was, "Really? Britney?" But were she going through that breakup this year, Mariah would totally be her girl.

Busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style.

Well, we've had out first snowfall and I think (though its cold and the streets are wet and slushy and the sky has been grey all day, making it very hard to get out of bed this morning) it's really brightened my mood. I now finally feel like it is the holiday season. it snuck up on me, but now all of the tinsel and shopping enthusiasm finally makes sense. I felt unusually bah humbug the other night when I left work (precariously situated in Rockefeller Center) and couldn't make it through the throngs of Christmas sweater-clad, slow-walking tourists. They descended like locusts about two weeks ago, making my one block walk from the subway to my building annoying--as that one block just HAPPENS to be the block of Radio City, whose "Spectacular" is like catnip to these Iowan kitties. Usually I just put my head down and charge through, but on this particular Wednesday night they were like an inpentrable fortress of stretch pants and whining children. To make matters worse, police had cordoned off the side streets and huge trucks were driving against the traffic, holding up what was already becoming the longest walk to the train ever. Then I remembered--it's the fucking Christmas tree lighting! Usually my whole commute--from the Lower East Side to Rock Center--takes about 1/2 an hour. Wednesday, amongst the throngs of tree gawkers, it took me half an hour to get to the train! I couldn't even use my usual entrance--they'd closed it! I know we should be kind to tourists. They are good for our local economy. Plus, loathe as I am to admit it, I used to be one of them, staring in wonder at a city a longed to be a part of one day. And I'm usually good about giving people directions and forgiving people for walking slowly while staring upwards--frankly it is a compliment to this awesome town--but Wednesday night I had to actually stop myself from punching people in the throat.

Other things that are making me go hmmmmm this week:

1) Now that we are all reading about Keith Urban (thanks, Nicole!), am I the only one who thinks its strange that his name is "urban" when he plays "country" music? Is that his real birth name? That'd be like if R. Kelly's name was R. Country.

2) I've always been very jealous of my friends with names like Jane or Suzanne because they have tons of amazing songs written about them. (I'm even jealous of my girl Melissa, even though her name only appears in an Allman Brothers song--and I FUCKING HATE THE ALLMAN BROTHERS--and as one of the girls with a "big old butt" in "Da Butt.") I feel like I've got to show some love for Levy, for no other reason that I finally have my name in one of their songs--even if it is my Hebrew name. Hey, a girl's gotta take what she can. So check out "Rivka" off their recent album "Rotton Love." Though James Levy was one of those Sidewalk Cafe anti-folk guys, this album is very faux-Pulp to me. Actually the album has Retown written all over it, with riffs stolen from Jesus and Mary chain and crooned lyrics a la Morrissey. Certain songs even sound like Bell and Sebastian to me (though not as clever). It's so weird that they aren't British. In other news, I clearly need to get me a musician boyfriend so there can be a song with my (actual, English) name in it. C'mon, you don't have to rhyme anything with Rebecca....just throw it in the middle of a line in the verse...

3) The best phrase I heard thrown around this week: "Santa's boyfriend." As in, "My friend is dating the guy who plays Santa." "Oh, so that would make him Santa's boyfriend?!"

4) Do celebrities have a longer gestation period that regular humans? Because I swear, I feel like Jennifer Garner was pregnant for like 5 1/2 years. Britney Spears too was trashtastically preggers for like a decade. I think you must need a longer incubation period to fully develop the sense of entitlement that comes with being a celeb offspring. In Britney's case I feel like little Sean Preston just knew that being in the womb would be the last time in his whole life that his parents wouldn't be whoring out photos of him or paparazzi's wouldn't be snapping shots of him. Plus who'd want to leave Britney's womb--it's all you can eat Cheetos in there all the time!?

5) Google is scary. The last time I googled myself, there were like 29,000 hits and most of them were crazy fanatical people (and some asshole from the New York Press) who wrote articles/blog posts/online comments in response to my article in the Voice. I was called a Village Idiot, a feminazi (nice), a baby killer, and someone who should'be been aborted. This is what's wrong with debate in our country. Rather than try and understand the point I was making with my article (which was simply that people will put anything--sex, violence, titilation--on tv, but not abortion and that ghettoizes the millions of real women who have had them) and then refuting it, people resort to partisan name-calling and threatening jingoism. I thought I would find the hate mail funny, but it actually really disturbed and upset me. I guess its good to know that I'm not sending my work out into a vacum and that it's being read--even if its being hated. I did recieve one awesome letter from a woman who is an abortion provider who felt maligned and angered that abortion was so conspiciously absent on tv and that really makes up for every right to life nutcase who just wants to call me names on the internet.

Sad songs say so much

This is literally the most depressing thing I've ever experienced: Last night, at 2 a.m., I was being driven home in a car service from work by a very chatty older gentleman. His car smelled like an airplane and stale cigarettes at the same time (though you don't really find those two smells together anymore) and he was clearly hard of hearing, but he was nice and when he tried to engage me in conversation, I felt like I should play along, even though I was so tired that I could barely make words. So, he looks back at me and says, "Writer?" And I was like, "Yeah! How'd you know?" And he says, "When I pick people up from your company I can always tell if they are an art director or a writer or a sales representitive. I think it's because I used to work in advertising." I should have been content to leave our conversation at that, but I didn't want him to think that I was a writer for this company, because really I'm just a lowly fact-checker (well, among other reasons). So I explained that I was a freelance writer who just worked "here" as a fact checker to suppliment my income. And my driver goes, "Oh I went to journalism school! I used to write for a newspaper too, but then I left when I realized there was no money to be made in it!" Now, not to be snobby, but this guy drives a car for a car service! But, he's right, I'm SURE he makes more money than I do. How fucking sad is that? I saw my whole life flash before me: Am I going to end up a grizzled old lady driving a petty cab, stomping on the dreams of young, hopeful writers?

You've gotta give a little

Thanksgiving was great. (As those of you who know me already know, it's my second favorite holiday after Halloween!) The travelling wasn't as hectic as it could have been, it was nice to see my family, and I was a totaly sloth. What's not to like? Plus, since my mother is still recouperating from surgery, my sister, my aunt, and I cooked the whole meal and I'm pleased to say, it was still delicious. (The best dish was my sweet potatoes!) I also took occasional breaks from sitting on my fat ass in front of my parent's ENORMOUS TV and eating my face off to do a little shopping (though I successfully avoided the mall and, hence, the crowds). So, all in all, a good trip.

I also learned some valueable lessons:

1) If you were ever obsessed with a play and they make that play into a movie, you will inevitably be torn by the results. "Rent"--which I went to see the first day I was home--wasn't good, by any stretch of the imaginiation, but I'm already making plans to go see it again (perhaps dragging my roommate) because it was still exciting to see to hear those songs in surround sound and to see those characters that I was so in love with once. I'm convinced that, even if they had done a good job (perhaps if another director--one who DIDN'T make "Home Alone"--was hired), I wouldn't have been satisfied. Firstly, because we are more accepting of certain unrealistic conventions in a theater (as opposed to on screen, where we expect everything to be natural). And secondly, because no movie could capture the palpable yet ethereal magic of my MEMORY of the play. (Though the part where Adam Pascal is singing "What You Own" on top of a mountain in Santa Fe like the Britney Spears "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet A Woman" video was cringeworthy and embarassing by any standard.)

2) I'm not sure what the mathmatical equation is, but sometime before you turn 30 you will go home to your parent's house one day and it will magically no longer feel like your home. This happened to me for the first time in my life over this holiday. That's not to say that I didn't feel welcome there or that it wasn't comfortable but, after 6 years of living in NYC, I finally felt (as I lugged my heavy suitcase up five flights of stairs yesterday) that I was coming home instead of leaving it. And when I slept in the bed in my parent's house, I had nightmares every night--like you do when you sleep somewhere unfamiliar. Last night back in my shitty bed in New York, I slept like a baby! I suppose that is a good thing, a marker of growing up. But it is a little sad.

3) Global warming is real, people. It is disturbing to me that today's low is 56! It is almost December! I woke up in my flannel sheets with the heat blasting (I can't control it), sweating. That is unnatural.

4) The amount of time you have off from work is directly proportional to how much you don't want to go back when your vacation is over. I've been off (being a lazy lazy person) for five days, so that makes this Monday morning five times harder than usual.

5) Though the Christmas season seems to start earlier every year, there is something exciting about the days following Thanksgiving when everyone can drop all pretenses and just embrace the season. Retailers seem kind of desperate about it--like they've been holding off, trying to appear tasteful, but now with December in reach, they can finally let it all hang out and greedily trumpet the Christmas season. And companies are starting to hold their holiday parties. It's like everyone has an excuse to be drunk everyday from now til the new year.

And, in pursuit of some of that holiday merriment, you'll definitely find me at the Loose Record holiday celebration this Friday. The bands are good, the bar is ACROSS THE STREET from my apartment, and Loose Record is run by a friend of Lacey's. Hope to see you all there!