Monday, November 03, 2008

Zack Harrison Memorial Music Monday: Election Eve Edition

During the 2000 election (my first), I was attending school for an ill-fated semester at Rhodes College in Memphis with a dorm full of WASPs of the first degree - fish out of water city. Gore won Shelby county, but he lost his home state. I was crushed, but I still had no idea what were were getting into. Round two, I was up in the MA, Kerry's home turf, ensconced in a liberal enclave, confident that Amurkuh had learned from its mistake and would rectify the situation. I had a little election watch party. By 3am, everyone was gone. I sat on my big blue couch, numb. I've already done my voting, and this time, in a state that will go my way (obvs, not OK), but I'm still not holding out any hope. As wonderful as this country is, it still has a long way to go.

Not election related songs, just things I've been listening to on repeat:

Trying My Best To Love You - Jenny Lewis (from Acid Tongue)
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window - The Beatles
True Affection - The Blow
Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) - Peter Sarstedt
Papers In Order - The Old Ceremony
All Night - Sam Phillips
Sweet Lorraine - Patty Griffin
Sun Will Shine Again - Slackstring
Bag Lady - Erykah Badu

Friday, October 31, 2008

I Want Candy*

If you were to call me right now, and our discussion somehow devolved into "hey, what are you wearing?" (as it so often does), I would respond as such:


Hey baby, I hope you like pre-shrunk cotton, cause I've got on a t-shirt. It's more than just a t-shirt, it's an over sized, traffic cone orange frock with delightfully whimsical black felt shapes placed strategically to resemble a carved pumpkin. Oh yeah. My boxy tee, lovingly and expertly crafted by the youngsters in my office to celebrate the holiday, sits atop a pair of ill conceived J. Crew jeans. They seemed like a steal at the time, but months later, after an unfortunate brush with a full length mirror, I've discovered these jeans are more mom than MILF. That's cool, though, cause I rock my Chuck's that used to be cream colored but now are closer to asphalt. Hello? Are you there? Hello?

*

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Otis Redding Wednesday

Sometimes, there is nothing that describes one's mental state better than an Otis Redding song.




You Dont Miss Your Water ( LP Version) - Otis Redding

Monday, October 27, 2008

Zack Harrison Memorial Music Monday: Actual Music Edition

Sometimes, I have these moments where I revert to my seventh grade self, where the most important thing was hovering near my stereo late at night, while the rest of the house was silent, absorbing, then reabsorbing a newly discovered song. My room had a window that got enough of a street light to cast a long rectangle over the carpet next to my bed. I'd lay on the floor in the middle of the lighted outline with my ear pressed to the speaker, pressing repeat until I couldn't lift my arm any longer.

TV on the Radio - Family Tree*




*Not the official video, but oh well.

Zack Harrison Memorial Music Monday: Hamm Sandwish Edition

I have no music for you. Apologies. It all sucks anyway.

In a related story, I love Jon Hamm. L.O.V.E. love. He brilliantly hosted SNL Saturday night (and no, I didn't TiVo it, I was actually at home watching). I think my favorite thing, besides the kick ass extra sets performed by Coldplay (not!) was the introduction of Jon Hamm's John Ham.



I can't find a clip of that, so instead, enjoy Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women.



Also, if you're not watching Mad Men, you are nuts. The season finale aired last night, so you have ample time to Netflix seasons one and two in preparation for the new season beginning in what feels like forever. Get your gimlets and cigs ready and just do it! I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone since I know you're all going to watch. Right?

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Hey look, we're in the paper! The NY Times Magazine, no less.

Get a load of this. (For those not in the know, Oklahoma City is the location of Oklahoma's only professional sports franchise, the newly transplanted Seattle SuperSonics, now known as the Thunder - probably not on the radar of most NBA fans.)


Here is a highlight:

With Seattle on a roll — it’s home to Microsoft, Amazon.com, Starbucks, Costco, Nordstrom — it is difficult to fathom why any team (or business, for that matter) would leave the city and its famous quality of life for a metropolitan area one-third its size. And why Oklahoma City? Even in its own state, Tulsa would seem to have greater national prospects, with its rolling hills, mansion-filled neighborhoods and cultural accouterments of a serious place, as opposed to flat, brown, insular Oklahoma City, where unseemly oil wells blight even the Capitol grounds.


Ok, fine. It ends up being somewhat fair in the end. And, it was the best written piece about Oklahoma I've seen in a long, long time since we're usually stuck with The Oklahoman. In any case, I gotta find me some tickets.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Food politics. It's a lot more interesting than the other kind.

I've had a little crush on Michael Pollan since I read The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals back in 2006. It got worse when I followed that with his 2001 book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World. I devoured his most recent book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, in about five minutes earlier in the summer (I had to wait till it went on sale since I spend all my income on trips to Whole Foods). He makes me want to swear off Sonic and Chick-Fil-A forever. He makes me want to quit my job and return to the land. I actually do make an effort to avoid high fructose corn syrup at all costs. He recently wrote an article in the New York Times Magazine that eloquently sums up the importance of the oft overlooked and problematic American food system.


Sunday, October 19, 2008

Zack Harrison Memorial Music Sunday: No one reads so I don't have to follow a schedule edition.

This week, I was inspired by the boys over at TLO (The Lost Ogle, for the non-Okies) who have managed over the last few weeks to cobble together the beginnings of a videotrack of some supersweet, cringeworthy musical moments of my youth.  Seventh grade school dance montage! Yeah!  You can check it out here.  Pretty sweet, no?  

Hold On - Wilson Phillips




Here Comes The Hotstepper - Ini Kamoze




Motown Philly - Boyz II Men




Rico Suave - Gerardo




Black Velvet - Alannah Myles




More Than Words - Extreme




I'd Die Without You - PM Dawn



This one's just for fun since I couldn't find a video for All-4-One's (She's Got) Skillz and embedding is disabled for Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (Sophie B. Hawkins).


Saturday, October 18, 2008

Oh, how I wish I was lying,

but unfortunately, I have terminal dorkitis. It's hereditary, you see. Here's my belated submission for DorkFest.

1. When I was a young girl growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, I went through a phase that I assume most girls enjoyed; Victorian decoration obsession. Essentially, I pressed a lot of flowers, covered things in ribbon and doilies, developed topiaries, collected an astounding number of hatboxes, silver plated trays and leaded glass. It looked like I lived in a nursing home, except, you know, I was 12 or whatever.

2. I know all the words to this song:




3. Currently, there are three kinds of tahini in my kitchen, because I am conducting a taste test. The early lead goes to Joyva.

4. There was this little incident: Live blogging the HPVII.

5. I've made it a point to memorize the phonetic alphabet.

6. I learned to drive a standard, even though I've never owned one, just in case there's a terrible emergency and the only car is manual.

7. I used to blog regularly.

8. At the end of the tax year when I was little, before my parents would shred all of the bills, receipts, etc that had outlived the seven year retention rule, I would invite a lucky friend to come over and bring her stapler, tape, pens and paper clips - it was time to play office!

9. The voice of StarDate is Sandy Wood.

10. My pet fish was named Rimsky-Korsakov.


Monday, October 13, 2008

Out of office reply:

I will be out of the office from Monday, October 13 through Wednesday, October 15. I will return to the office Thursday, October 16. Should you require assistance, please contact shitoutof@luck.edu.

-Blythe

Saturday, October 11, 2008

blowing donkey balls

well, that just happened.

hamburgers.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The one where I didn't get to go to ACL,

but the BF did. You can read his about it here. I stayed behind to slave away for the greater good. Boo.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Monday, September 22, 2008

a-hem

I have a big announcement to make. This is embarrassing, but is required as part of, you guessed it, a 12 step program for AA*. Here goes.

I DO NOT HAVE AN iPHONE.




*Apple Anonymous, obvs.

Friday, September 12, 2008

I'm so peternal, it hurts.

So, I think that instead of lady ovaries, I have lady dog ovaries. Seriously, I cannot watch that Sarah Mclaighskdjan ASPCA commercial without sobbing (I'm not kidding - do not look directly into their eyes!). I have to be dragged away from the open box full of wriggling puppies at the farmer's market. When I am sad and lonely, I log onto petfinder.com and get sadder and lonlier because none of those pups will be mine. It's not like I don't have (or have had) a dog. Claire is kickass in her own way, but belongs more to my parents now than me. There was also Zealand, who was tragically lost to BreakUp06. And yeah, this is probably not the best time to have a dog. I work 60 hours a week. My relationship is only a year old and probably isn't dogproof yet. My landlord kind of said no dogs in the lease. That said, I want a puppy, damnit! Clearly, I've forgotten all of the literal shit that goes along with raising a dog and what little assholes they can be. I've lost countless shoes and undergarments, but I still want one. Bad. So bad my heart hurts. Ouch.


I



Love

You,



Puppies!

Monday, September 08, 2008

I'm in love. Again.

It's been almost two years since my last relationship abruptly ended. During that time, I've moved from MA to the OK, upgraded from a Corolla to a Camry, worked for a candle conglomerate and a university, lived back with the 'rents and in my own place, all the while still unable to finish reading Salt, but that's neither here nor there. My relationship status has also run the gamut. I kind of went nuts there for a bit, seeking the company of whatever was new and exciting or around, then I settled into a relationship of convenience and even had a little fling at work. But, that's all in the past now, because I'm finally in love again. I honestly didn't think it would happen, that I was destined to long for what I had, knowing it was just out of reach. However, I'm happy to report that I'm no longer heartbroken and in a wonderful relationship. It's even better than what I remember.


This is me using the Photo Booth application on my brand new MacBook. Love at first site!

You complete me.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

A message from my Oklahoma relatives:



This is a small sampling of the forwards I receive daily. For some reason, my immediate family has decided to hide our political and religious leanings around the more conservative segments of the extended fam. I guess my parents don't want their parents and siblings to know that they've raised a couple of Godless, bleeding heart liberal children that are in favor of legalizing pot, prostitution, gay marriage and don't give a shit that John McCain was a POW. If I get one more email telling me that Obama is a Muslim, I'm telling all of my little cousins that Santa isn't real.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

I hate 24 hour "news" channels.

Hurricanes schmuricanes. Gustav? Hannah? Ike? When Barack is the celebrity president, I hope he installs new heads over at the National Hurricane Center that use the wealth of bizarro baby names of celebs for future storms. I think Gustav might've gotten more coverage than the Jolie-Pitt twins, but barely.

Apple
Banjo
Coco
Diva Thin Muffin
Ella Bleu
Fifi Trixibelle
Georges I-VII
Hopper
I.P. Freely
Jermajesty
Kal-el
Losel
Moxie Crimefighter
Nayib
Ocean
Pilot Inspektor
Rocket
Sage Moonbloog
Tu
Willow
Violet
Yamma
Zuma Nesta