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February 9, 2013

Why am I on this desert island and where did this CD player come from?

By lucysfootball

Well, in a surprising twist, opening night was cancelled tonight (well, your last night, I suppose, but my tonight, as I am currently sitting here on the couch watching all the shows I missed this week – fine, Glee, I AM WATCHING GLEE, stop judging) so I ended up with an unexpected day off. Which means YOU end up with an unexpected blog post. Win-win? Perhaps. Let’s see how this shit turns out.

So last week (earlier this week? Ugh, my timeline is all off, sorry, not getting enough sleep will totally mess with your already-effed-up internal clock, you guys, no joke) my wonderful sj blogged about her Desert Island Discs. Well, she didn’t call them that, *I* called them that. Because that’s what they call them in one of my favorite plays I saw last year, The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard. Apparently, there is a radio show called Desert Island Discs on BBC where famous people come on and tell the audience what their top 8 albums would be, were they to be stranded on a desert island. This show has been running since 1942. Do you find that as amazing as I do? Good grief, that’s a long time. I assume it would be classy, since it’s the BBC. The BBC does CLASSY shit. If it was NBC, it would be like the cast of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or some such nonsense.

sj only allows FIVE albums. She is totally strict, yo.

So since she posted this post, I have been mulling. Mull, mull, mull.

Here’s the thing. I don’t listen to albums. Because I am a music cretin. I listen to SONGS from albums (well, obviously, where else do songs come from) but whole albums? Nah. Not in this instant-gratification-digital-age. I like a song, I download that song. I don’t listen to the whole album. See, entire albums always have at least one or two songs that I don’t like. And then I have to skip past those songs. And that means it would have been cheaper to just download the songs I LIKED, rather than buy the whole album, you know? I know. I suck, musically. I really do. I’ve accepted it.

HOWEVER! I soldiered on. Soldier-like. Soldiery. And came up with my five desert-island discs, were I stranded on a desert island. Where I would immediately probably die, because a., I need daily medication to, well, survive, and wouldn’t I not have it on that island? and b., I would frizzle up and die because I’m about as pale as the underbelly of a fish and I can’t imagine I would have all the sunscreen on that island, come on. Also, how am I playing these CDs on this island? And if I have a way to play these CDs, why can’t I have my phone and play all the music I have there? I mean, I’d have to have power to play those CDs. Can’t I use that for my phone? I don’t need my 3G to play my music.

Where is the POWER coming from? Are we creating it from coconuts or something?

Where is the POWER coming from? Are we creating it from coconuts or something?

FINE I WILL PLAY THIS GAME CORRECTLY. These are five albums that I like all the music on and could listen to without wanting to stab…well, whoever’s on the island. The seagulls. Or crabs. Or…um…I don’t know, what animals are on my desert island with me, sj? Is that part of this game? Shit, is this island like that Stephen King island from that story where that guy had to eat his own fingers and said “lady fingers lady fingers they taste just like lady fingers?” Ugh, that gave me nightmares for like a MONTH.

My Five Desert Island Discs (in no particular order)

Flood – They Might Be Giants

I can listen to this whole album over and over and never get sick of it; it’s one of my go-to road-trip albums. This has been the case since…let’s see, I got it in…crap, 1992, I guess. So that’s 21 years. And I’m still not sick of it. So it’s an easy choice.

Favorite songs: “Birdhouse in Your Soul,” “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)”, “We Want a Rock”

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band – The Beatles

This was a tough one. I was GOING to go with The White Album. I even told sj I was going to go with it. Because, well, why wouldn’t you? It’s the longest of them. You’d get the most bang for your buck, as it were. But as much as I love some of the songs on it, there are some songs I do NOT love as much, because that’s the album where they got all experimental and weird and then Charlie Manson was all “this inspired me to have people stab people, yo.” So it almost made the cut, but then I went with Sgt. Pepper’s.

Because honestly, if I’m going to be on a desert island forever (am I going to be on a desert island forever, sj? Is that how this works? Good grief, do I have any books or anything? I’m really freaking out about this) I don’t want to go the rest of my life without ever hearing this album again. Wait, seriously, how did I even GET on this island? Was I on a boat? I hate boats, this is ridiculous, how did someone even GET me on a boat? Was it a cruise ship that sank or something? Do I even have Fed Ex packages like Tom Hanks did to play with? DO I EVEN GET A WILSON?!?!?!

Favorite songs: Kind of all of them? FINE. “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “She’s Leaving Home,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “When I’m 64″

The Assassins Original Cast Recording (the 1991 one, not the one with NPH. Sorry, NPH!)

I know every single song on this album. I can sing them WITHOUT the album, actually. So maybe it’s a waste to bring it to my desert island. Will I have chocolate on my desert island, sj? I don’t know that I want to live somewhere that there’s no chocolate, sj. OMG, sj, WILL THERE BE PUDDING EVER AGAIN? I’m kind of all a bundle of nerves about this, I’m not going to lie.

Anyway, if I had this album, I could play it, and them also probably put on the musical with the various animals and palm trees and such on my island in case I started missing theater. So that wouldn’t be me losing my mind on the desert island or anything, now would it?

Favorite songs: “Unworthy of Your Love,” “The Ballad of Guiteau,” “November 22, 1963″

Running from a Gamble – Company of Thieves

This one’s a fairly new album, so I’m going out on a bit of limb. But I love it, and I’ve listened to it over and over since I got it…um…last year, I guess?…and I’m not even close to sick of it. I love this band. To total distraction. They are just amazing. So, maybe I’m jumping the gun, since this one’s not a tried-and-true love…but I’m going with it.

Favorite songs: “Nothing’s in the Flowers,” “Death of Communication,” “Tallulah,” “Won’t Go Quietly”

More Adventurous – Rilo Kiley

sj and I love Rilo Kiley. Love love love. So we totally have been discussing this. I chose this album, even though I am the most heartbroken that, in choosing this, I will never again, as I am STRANDED on a desert ISLAND, why aren’t you people even LOOKING for me, have you FORGOTTEN me? Already? Good GRACIOUS but you have short memories!, get to hear “A Better Son/Daughter” again, which is probably my favorite Rilo Kiley song. HOWEVER, this album has MORE good Rilo Kiley songs on it, so I had to go with this. This is why this game is super-hard, because you have to choose ALBUMS, not SONGS.

Favorite Songs: “Does He Love You?”, “Portions for Foxes,” “The Absence of God,” “More Adventurous,” “A Man/Me/Then Jim”

And just because apparently I am being SENT to DIE on an ISLAND, here’s my favorite Rilo Kiley song which I will never get to hear again, sniff:

There you go, people of the interwebs. The five albums I would take on a desert island. How badly did I embarrass myself right now? sj, how’d I do?

sj told us all what her favorite song of all time was on her post. So I was thinking about that. I don’t know that I have one. I fluctuate. If you looked at the songs I listen to most, it’d read like a schizophrenic’s playlist, seriously. I just don’t know. I can’t pick a favorite song. I can pick a favorite book, but not a favorite song. I have too many favorites. Here’s probably the one I’ve been listening to the most over the past couple of months? And sometimes I have to turn it off at work because it makes me weep? It’s the part near the end with the tears in her voice that does it. And the lyrics that hit really close to home. But I don’t know that it’s my favorite. It’s just wonderful, is all. And it’s wonderful because it’s true.

Tomorrow, or the next day, or whenever I blog again, we’re going to talk about ANOTHER music thing. I know, it’s like a little theme I have going on. I would talk about it today but it’s late and I’m tired and it’s snowing like a son of a bitch, were a son of a bitch to snow, and I have to get to bed so I can get up super-early and drive in terrible conditions on roads that have not been plowed. Yay…? Also tomorrow is opening night. However, the roads will have been plowed by then. I hope. Gulp. Happy weekend, people of the internets. Stay warm and dry and not snow-covered and such.

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13 comments | posted in best-of, blogs, friends, lists, music

December 31, 2012

Last year’s words belong to last year’s language

By lucysfootball

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

New Year’s Eve always makes me all reflective. Like those strips on your running shoes so cars don’t hit you in the dark.

Super-reflective and artsy as shit.

Super-reflective and artsy as shit.

Tomorrow is for looking forward; today is for looking back.

2012. What can we say about 2012?

2012 was a roller coaster of a year. And listen, it is a fact about old Lucy’s Football that she HATES roller coasters. They make your stomach hurt, they bounce your head all around, they dig your earrings into your neck and they make you dizzy. I’d rather walk through the animal barn at the fair or something, that’s less distressing and sometimes you get to pet some sheep with their warm fleecy wool and soft noses.

Aw, sheepers! *pet*

Aw, sheepers! *pet*

There were good things this year and there were bad things this year and I’m still not sure if I consider it a win or a loss, to be honest. I’d like to say it’s a wash, but I don’t know if that’s the case, even.

But let’s not make this TOO depressing right out of the gate, right? I mean, do you come here for total depressing navel-gazing? What’s that? Sometimes you do? FINE, never let it be said I don’t deliver.

Let’s go through the highs and lows of 2012, yeah? It’s the day for it if there ever was a day. Tomorrow we can optimistically opine about 2013 but today we can look back on the year that was.

Fired. There is really nothing like being called into a conference room with your boss and the HR rep and to be told you are not only being fired, you need to be out immediately. And then being escorted to the door because you’ve possibly become a scary liability who might cause some sort of scene. In this economy, it is one of the most frightening things ever. Especially when you totally kind of brought it upon yourself because the reason you were fired was ostensibly for too much internet usage and also blogging at work even though you kind of weren’t REALLY blogging at work, only writing the drafts there and setting them to publish during work hours once you got home at night, and the only reason you were using the internet at work at all was because there was very seldom enough for you to do and the days stretched out looooong in front of you.

However, when you hated the job – and I mean hated, hated, HATED, to the point you had to pep-talk yourself into going in every morning and not sit in the car weeping, you kind of think, huh, maybe this isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened, on some level. Then the unemployment stretches for about four and a half months, and you spend a month of it sitting on the couch so depressed you can’t take a full breath or move and all you want to do is sleep, and the remaining three and a half months working 50-60 hours weeks just to pay the bills…well, you get tired. July to December was a very long stretch, and a good third of my year. It’s hard to look back on 2012 without thinking of it as the year I lost a third of it to working too hard and being technically unemployed and worrying. Constantly. From the minute I woke up to the minute I fell asleep.

It’s not all bad, though. If I hadn’t had that part-time job that became full-time when I needed it to, I would have been living in my car, or back home with my parents. I was lucky to have it. It saved my life and sanity.

Hired (x2). But for every bad, there’s a good. Finally, after months and months of worry and work and toil and trouble, I was lucky enough to find not only a full-time job, but a wonderful full-time job, with people I love, doing something I enjoy, at a location I really like, getting paid enough money to not only live on, but live on comfortably. I pinch myself daily. I’ll never think I deserve nice things, and when they happen, I always wait for the other shoe to drop. I still wait. I have one ear out for that other shoe at all times. I feel like it’s going to be a very loud, very clunky platform sandal of some sort.

Or a big ol' loafer.

Or a big ol’ loafer.

Not only did the amazing job come through (thanks to theater friends) but ANOTHER job came through thanks to theater friends and I now can say I write for the paper. And I get to see plays for free, and review them, and people can read what I’ve written, and how much that actually influences people, I don’t know, but it’s what I do that I love more than anything else. When you have a job that doesn’t at all seem like work…well, you might be the luckiest person alive. It’s what we all want, isn’t it? It’s what I always dreamed of for myself, a job that I loved, that I’d do even if they didn’t pay me. And I have one now, even if it’s very much part-time.

Friends. Any recap of 2012 would not be complete without mentioning the friends that have walked through it by my side. I’ve made friends this year (one of whom is, I’m quite sure, my sister separated at birth – sj, my love, what would I do without you? I can’t even imagine) and become closer than I ever thought possible to others (Andreas, my beloved Science Fellow from the land of the Finns, you are a blessing I will never stop being thankful for), both near and far. I know some of the best people in the world, both that I’ve met with my face and that I’ve yet to meet but talk to on a daily basis. I’ll never stop being grateful for this; I’ll never stop being a little tearful when I think of how lucky I am.

I have also lost friends this year. It’s the way of the world, I think. Life’s constantly changing; things happen, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the…well, not-better. People change. You change. Whether you want this to happen or not. Sometimes you can fight this; sometimes you can win. Sometimes it’s beyond your control and you lose, or you’re just so tired of fighting the inevitable you just give up. Sometimes the loss is a good thing. Sometimes the loss leaves you unable to breathe and with a heart so filled with sorrow and regret and memories that sneak-attack you when you least expect it that you don’t know how you’re going to pick yourself up from it because you never imagined a life without that person in it. But you do, of course. Pick yourself up from it. Of course you do. Life goes on. It’s what life does, right? No matter how shattered you are inside, life just keeps on truckin’. And every day things hurt a little less, until the most hurtful thing that’s left is how something that once mattered so much is now no more than a distant ghostly memory.

Sometimes being an adult is all eating chocolate for dinner and staying up past your bedtime and sometimes it’s the deepest sadness you can imagine. We don’t tell our children this when they’re little. Otherwise they wouldn’t want to grow up, now would they?

Book. For all of the other things it was, 2012 was the year I finally had a book I’d written published. It is possibly my proudest moment of not only the year, but of my entire life. Holding a book in my hands I’d written…hearing from people who’d read it, talking to them about words I’d written and labored over and worried about and lived…seeing reviews of it go up, seeing it hit number one in the Kindle store, even if for a very brief period of time…absolutely amazing. All of it. I’ll never get over that as long as I live. Thank you to all of you who bought it and told people about it and geeked out with me about it. You helped make a dream come true. Someday maybe I’ll do it again, who knows? Life’s a funny place, really. You never can tell what will happen.

That’s one big apple. It wasn’t a year of much bon vivantery, but the teeny amount I got to do was awesomeness. I got to go to my favorite city in the world and meet one of my favorite PEOPLE in the world, my wonderful Susie. And we had a day of adventure and walking and talking and shopping and eating and so many things. Say what you will about the interwebs, but if you do it correctly, you can meet the best people the world has to offer. My Susie is one of those people, and meeting her in person just proved that. Love you, Susie!

Blog. What would a year-in-review be without talking about what takes up a majority of my free time, this here thingamabobber? The day in 2011 when I decided, “what the hell, let’s start a blog, Ms. Amy, what have we got to lose, really?” will live in infamy as the day a very silly off-the-cuff decision led to rewards beyond imagining. Without the blog, where would all these words in my head go? Without the blog, how would I have met all you wonderful people? Without the blog, how would I be this person I am now? The answer to all of those questions is a big old, “I don’t know.” A lot can live in an “I don’t know.” A lot of emptiness and sadness. I love it here. I love what we’ve all built. I love every bit of this. Thank you all for being part of this. Without you, it’d be a lot less fun, now wouldn’t it?

Half an hour trumps three and a half hours. As of two days ago, The Nephew and his mom have officially moved half an hour away. Half an hour is much better than three and a half hours, visiting-my-favorite-person-in-the-world-wise. I’ll be polite. I’ll give them some time to settle. Then I’m going to show up like the magi bearing gifts and I’m going to read him books and play with him on the floor and giggle with him and tell him stories and big words that thrill him and I will be happier than all the things in all the land.

So if we weigh the good and the bad…well, I guess the year was a wash, all-told. But not the awesome kind of Wash like on Firefly.

More than ready for my 2013. Big plans for you, year. BIG OLD PLANS. Starting with a whole day off tomorrow in which I will do whatever the hell I want.

Hope you all had the best 2012s known to man, and that your 2013s are amazing wonderful sparkly affairs full of wonder, mystery and magic. It’s all I want for you, really. It’s not too much to ask, right? Right.

28 comments | posted in analysis, best-of, blogs, friends, history, holidays, Internet, Jobs, memories, nephew, real life, thoughts, work, writing

December 27, 2012

The most important thing is that people read…

By lucysfootball

“[D]on’t ever apologize to an author for buying something in paperback, or taking it out from a library (that’s what they’re there for. Use your library). Don’t apologize to this author for buying books second hand, or getting them from bookcrossing or borrowing a friend’s copy. What’s important to me is that people read the books and enjoy them, and that, at some point in there, the book was bought by someone. And that people who like things, tell other people. The most important thing is that people read… ” — Neil Gaiman

Now, it wouldn’t be the end of the year without an end-of-the-year best-books post, would it?

Here’s the problem, though.

I was totally broken this year and read NO BOOKS.

Well, I read SOME books. But I used to read hundreds of books a year. I’m not even exaggerating. I just counted, and this year I read – ready? it’s totally embarrassing – 53.

Fifty-three books. This is utterly shameful.

Here’s the problem. The stretch of unemployment (or, I guess you could call it, overemployment, as I was working a LOT) kind of made it so I had a choice: read or blog. Or, I suppose, read and blog and don’t sleep. But sleeping isn’t really something that’s on the table and able to be cut, you see. And that was a big chunk of my year. (4.5 months! That’s over a third of the year!) Since I started working at my new job, I’ve had a little more time (not a lot, but a little) and have actually read a few books (well, plays, but that’s what I have to read right now – I’ve mentioned, I think, we’re in the middle of play selection at the theater so I have to read a billion plays so we can decide what we’re doing next season…but I have high hopes that once that’s over, I can read REAL BOOKS again) since. So I have high hopes for 2013 and upping my number from – UGH – 53. FIFTY-THREE. What am I, in KINDERGARTEN? This is EMBARRASSING.

Also, my most abject apologies to my beloved Susie, because this lack of reading means I can’t write reviews for Insatiable Booksluts, and oh, I want to. So badly. I feel terrible that I haven’t been able to. Because it’s something I love doing. Writing for IB is one of my proudest achievements, and I’m not able to do it right now. So, yeah, that’s kind of killing me.

But! Like an intrepid soldier! I went through my meager list of books and picked out the top ten books I read this year, because I’ve done this every year since I moved here, and I didn’t feel like I could stop now, even though I embarrassed myself with the number of books I read this year. 2013! I WILL CONQUER YOU BOOK-WISE!

So here are my top ten books of the year – again, much like the music post, these books weren’t necessarily published in 2012, but I read them this year, so they make this year’s list. Amazon links included for those of you who like such things, of course, and in case you end up with a bunch of giftcards for Christmas and are wondering, hmm, what should I BUY with these, I wonder?

10. Us – Michael Kimball (my review of this one at Insatiable Booksluts here)

I like books that make me cry. I like all things that make me cry, let’s be honest. Television shows, movies, music, books. This made me cry. It’s a teeny little book about love and the fragility of life and how well we know the ones we love and it just tore me apart. It was so beautifully written. Just an absolute gem of a book.

9. Deathless – Catherynne M. Valente

This is a gorgeous retelling of Russian folklore. I’m a sucker for anything fairy-tale related, and this one doubly won, because I wasn’t aware of the fairy tale it was based on (the Russian tale of Koschei the Deathless) so it was all new to me. And it was beautifully written – it had a very modern-fairy-tale feel, with just enough mystery and magic and romance to make my heart swell. I loved it so much. (sj, if you haven’t read this one, I think you might like it – I know we both have a love for all things fairy-tale related.)

8. Zazen – Vanessa Veselka (Susie and I discuss the book at Insatiable Booksluts here)

This is a dark, poetic, powerful book. It’s an alternate reality, but not so far from our own, in which bombs drop all the time and it’s just the way things are; people live in constant fear, talking about leaving, going somewhere that’s safe – but where’s safe, really? The narrator is lost, but trying her hardest (oh, how I relate to that) and the writing is just gorgeous. This is the author’s first book – and if a book like this is your first book, whoa. Good for you, you know? Think of what you can do from here. The mind utterly boggles.

7. Wildwood – Colin Meloy

I’m fairly sure this is for children. I don’t even care. It made me happy. Prue’s younger brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and brought into the Impassible Wilderness just outside of Portland, Oregon and she has to go rescue him with the help of her friend Curtis and some totally kickass talking animals (oh, you know I love talking animals.) It’s also written by the lead singer of the Decemberists, which kind of makes me smile, because you can sing AND you can write? Well, you might just be the perfect guy, I don’t know. (I like The Decemberists. I don’t LOVE The Decemberists, but I like them very much. I appreciate what they’re doing. I’m just waiting for that one perfect song from them, I guess. In the meantime, I like what I’ve heard.) Plus the illustrations are GORGEOUS.

6. Warm Bodies – Isaac Marion

Yes, yes, again, I think this is for the kiddos. Well, the kiddos of the young-adult variety, anyway. Don’t care, loved it. It’s zombie fiction and it’s a love story and it’s WONDERFUL. The zombie apocalypse has hit, and we’re seeing it from the zombies’ point of view – or one zombie, really. And that zombie falls in love with a human girl. And that love starts to change him, somehow. And it’s not at all cheesy or stupid or childish. It’s funny and dark and twisted and intelligent and it made me both laugh and cry and I was so happy I gave it a chance. Also, the trailer for the movie actually looks pretty decent. A little campy, but good. And it has John Malkovich in it! Come on, you know I love that. WHO DOESN’T LOVE THAT!?!?!?!

5. Americas – Jason Lee Norman (review at Insatiable Booksluts here)

I’ve been randomly thinking of this book on and off all year. It’s just that good. It’s lyrical and poetic and beautiful and it will make you laugh with the discovery of new and magical things and it will make you cry with the realism and heartache and sorrow. I can’t recommend this enough. Just a perfect little book. I can’t wait to see what Norman comes up with next; I predict great things.

4. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened – Jenny Lawson (review at Insatiable Booksluts here)

This book made me laugh probably harder than anything I read this year. Also, it hit me out of nowhere with sneak-attack tears, but mostly all the laughter. You all know Jenny Lawson as The Bloggess, and I’m sure most (if not all) of you read this book this year – it made a LOT of best-of lists this year, and with good reason – but if somehow this book escaped you this year, please do yourself a favor and pick it up. It’s funny as hell. You deserve that, don’t you think?

3. Citrus County – John Brandon (review at Insatiable Booksluts here)

Such a gorgeous, sad, beautiful book. Written so, so well. And just utterly filled with longing. Longing so thick and so deep it just welled up and off the pages. You could feel the humidity of Florida and you could hear the insects and you were just utterly immersed in that longing for something not…quite…tangible. And when the book was done, it stayed with you.

2. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

I love Gillian Flynn, and have read (and enjoyed) all of her other books – but this one. Whoo. I can’t even describe. It brought you one way, then another, and I am not even a thriller person, and her other books weren’t so much thrillers, and this one was, and holy HELL but did this book work for me. I had no idea where it was going or what was coming next and I could not put it down. And it wasn’t like one of those thrillers that you buy because you’re about to get on a plane and there’s nothing else in the store and it’s KIND of thrilling but meh, throwing peanuts at the guy sitting across from you on the flight would be, too, I suppose. Nope. This was well-written and twisty and intelligent and not your typical stupid thriller. This woman can WRITE.

1. In One Person – John Irving

I loved this. Well, it’s not overly surprising – I mean, I’m a total John Irving fan, I’d read anything he’s written, gladly. But this one hit all the right levels with me. I related to the characters; it had that gorgeous Irving storytelling I know and love; a very gay-friendly storyline; a lot of big, deep thoughts and ideas that made my headarea super-happy; and there was a section in the middle with some flirting that was completely conducted with German poetry. Oh, well THAT made me grin. Then also cry, because it was so melancholy and also beautiful. Nice job, Irving. I will continue to read anything and everything you publish until the end of all time.

So, there. I read a few other wonderful books this year, but these are the top ten. And next year there will be more. THERE WILL. I have the BEST OF INTENTIONS ABOUT THAT. *shakes fist at world*

45 comments | posted in best-of, Books, lists, reading, recommendations

December 23, 2012

My Annual End-of-Year Music Post, Which I Again Did Incorrectly (Part 3 of 3)

By lucysfootball

Well, here we are, my little end-of-year hooligans! It’s the last of these posts. For this year, anyway. Who knows what will happen next year? No one, is who. It’s a good bet I’ll continue to listen to terrible music, though. It’s what I do, you see. It’s what I’ve always done and I can’t imagine it will change in 2013.

In news of flu, I am still dying, but maybe not dying as much. My fever was up all night, but today it’s down, so maybe I’m on the mend?  I still feel like utter crap. I called out from work today, which makes me feel terrible. Saturdays are really busy and they need me there. But if I went in, I’d a., cough and cough whenever I tried to talk, and b., probably get my germs all over everyone I work with in time for then to get the death flu for Christmas. That’s not fair to them. This shit is INSIDIOUS-contagious, yo.

Today’s goal is to take a shower, put on clothes, and order Chinese food (because I’m really wanting the soup.) And maybe clean the house a little since Mom and Dad are coming tomorrow to bring me presents. We’re supposed to go to dinner, too, but baby steps, darling sunshines. I haven’t eaten anything but toast and sugar-free jam in two days. Oh, and fruit punch. And I had a popsicle yesterday.

Also, when you’re sick and you have a fever and chills, are you aware the best thing ever is a hot shower? Like the hottest shower ever? I stood in the shower the last couple of days and just MOANED with how GOOD it was. I seriously at one point said “this is better than the best sex EVER, sorry, sex.” I wanted to stay in there forever and ever. Until I felt like I was going to pass out because I’d been standing for too long. I realize I probably should take a bath but I hate baths like crazy. I don’t know if I’ve taken a bath in years.

So these are my top ten songs of the year. These are the songs that I’ve listened to over and over and over on YouTube; these are the songs that, when they come on the radio, I turn the volume way up and sing along loudly and off-key (because that is how I sing because I know no other way.) These are my best songs of 2012. Which I hope are not too embarrassing and you will not all hate too much.

Let’s get started, then, shall we? Sure we shall.

10. “Love Interruption” – Jack White (Blunderbuss, 2012)

I want love to/forget that you offended me/or how you have defended me/when everybody tore me down

I do love Jack White. He makes me smile. This is an awesome song. And it’s not just about squishy-squishy love-love – it can be about any kind of love. It’s about how love just punches you in the stomach. I adore that. Also, and not at all on-topic, the album title Blunderbuss makes me laugh, because I call Dumbcat a blunderbuss all the time. I know it’s actually a gun, don’t be silly. I just think it sounds like what he is. He blunders. So he’s my blunderbuss.

9. “Fuckin’ Perfect” – Pink (Greatest Hits…So Far! – 2010)

Pretty, pretty please/If you ever, ever feel/Like you’re nothing/You’re fucking perfect to me

This is my song for all my most loved people. I often think, if only the people I love could see themselves through my eyes, they would never get down on themselves again, you know? Yes, I know. I know, it’s stupidly optimistic and things are never this easy and blah blah blah. But I still love this and the point is still valid. Also the video made me cry.

8. “5 Years Time” – Noah and the Whale (Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down – 2007)

Oh in 5 years time I might not know you/In 5 years time we might not speak

This is via Andreas. Andreas sent me wonderful music this year and this song has been listened to so many times. It’s both happy and melancholy; quirky and adorable and intelligent. I love it so much. Thank you, Andreas, you are wonderful.

7. “Rootless Tree” – Damien Rice (9, 2006)

Let me out of this hell when you’re around

This is an sj song. When sj discovered we had a mutual love of Damien Rice, she asked if I’d heard this song; I hadn’t, so she promptly sent it over. (I know most people, when they like a singer, listen to everything that singer ever did. I don’t. I mostly just listen to the song I discovered that I liked over and over and over. In Damien Rice’s case, that’s 9 Crimes and The Blower’s Daughter.) I love Damien Rice because he’s got this huge well of emotion in his voice. You listen to him and your heart just aches. I love when there’s that much emotion in a song, emotion so deep that it transfers itself onto you.

Also, any song that screams “Fuck you” over and over and over will always and forever win with me, because sometimes I need to yell that. Sorry. It’s just a true thing.

6. “Keep Your Heart Young” – Brandi Carlile (Bear Creek, 2012)

Don’t go growin’ old before your time has come/You can’t take back what you have done

Told you you’d probably hear Brandi Carlile again. This one’s a lot happier than the last one. Still with that bittersweet tinge to it that she does so well, but it makes me smile. A lot. I plan on keeping my heart young for a good long time. I think it might be the key to all things, honestly.

5. “I Won’t Give Up” – Jason Mraz (Love is a Four Letter Word – 2012)

I’m giving you all my love/I’m still looking up

This is going to make Ken SO DISGUSTED, as Jason Mraz totally assaulted him (sort of) recently. And listen. I HATE JASON MRAZ. Hate hate HATE. I hate all of these hippie singers. I lump all of them together, the Dave Matthews/Jason Mraz/Jack Johnson type singers who are all “Duuuuude” and laid-back and they annoy the shit out of me. But I really, really, REALLY like this song. The first time I heard this song, I was all, “Who’s this? I like this song.” So I did my Shazam thing (best app ever), and saw it was Jason Mraz, and was SO DISGUSTED with myself. But then I heard it again a couple days later and I thought, “I still really like this song. Dammit.” Then I heard it a lot over the next few weeks and months and I still really liked it. So sometimes, even if the singer makes you want to stick hot needles in your eyes, they do something you really like. Sorry, Ken. Most abject apologies. This is just a really pretty song.

4. “Jolene” – The White Stripes (B-side of “Hello Operator” single – 2004)

Well, you could have your choice of men, but I could never love again/he’s the only one for me, Jolene

This is my other top-ten sj song. She and I were talking about “Jolene” and she mentioned that she loved the White Stripes cover version of the song. “There’s a White Stripes version?” I said. She sent me over a link. I immediately fell head-over-heels in love and have listened to it a billion times since.

The original has been one of my favorite songs since childhood; the cover is AMAZING. The original is sad and wistful, but the cover is really raw and emotional and painful and (sorry, Dolly) how the song SHOULD be sung, in my most humble opinion. The White Stripes KILL this one. When I was researching this (as a side note) there were people online who were all “I can’t believe Jack White didn’t change the gender of the lyrics, this makes him sound like he’s gay.” Way to miss the point, assholes. Also, if he changed the gender of the lyrics, wouldn’t he have to change the title of the song to “Joseph” or something? Stupid.

3. “Ho Hey” – The Lumineers (The Lumineers, 2012)

I belong with you; you belong with me; you’re my sweetheart

Ooh, look, The Lumineers are back. This is just a total joyous song. Joyous and fun and romantic and wonderful. It makes me so happy when it comes on the radio, I can’t even tell you.

2. “Somebody that I Used to Know” – Gotye featuring Kimbra (Making Mirrors, 2011)

But you didn’t have to cut me off/Make it like it never happened and that we were nothing

It made me laugh when this made it onto sj’s worst-of-2012 list, because I knew it was going to be in my top ten of the year. I ADORE this song. I’ve listened to this song over and over and over this year. I liked (shh, sj) the Glee cover they did this season. I loved seeing Gotye on Saturday Night Live. Did this song get overplayed? Yes, I guess it might have…but for those of us who loved it, we liked how much it was played. Also, it’s TRUE. The lyrics are true. I like that you get the male point of view, then the female point of view, on the breakdown of the relationship, and how they see it differently, because isn’t that always how it is? Also, both of their voices are amazing, and the video makes me smile. So, yeah. Love it.

(Also, the Walk off the Earth cover is worth a view, if only because it amazes me that they all use the same instrument. You’ve seen this, right? If not, check it out.)

1. “I Will Wait” – Mumford and Sons (Babel – 2012)

And I came home/Like a stone/And I fell heavy into your arms

And my best song of the year. I’ve listened to this song more this year than anything else all year long. I absolutely love it. Love more than I can even say. It’s gorgeous and it’s sad and it’s wistful and it’s joyous and it’s got everything I love in a song all rolled up into one. Over and over and over I’ve listened to this. It comes on the radio and I can’t turn it up soon enough and I sing along SO LOUDLY. Again, I’m well-aware people are all “Mumford and Sons are a stupid hipster band” but I don’t even care. Love them. So much.

There you go! Thanks for sticking with me for three full days of this! I hope I have not embarrassed any of you too badly. And if I did…well, love you to death, but I’m probably not going to become someone with good musical taste anytime soon. I like what I like. I’m lowbrow all the way.

Happy weekend, everyone!

18 comments | posted in best-of, favorite, friends, lists, music, songs

December 22, 2012

My Annual End-of-Year Music Post, Which I Again Did Incorrectly (Part 2 of 3)

By lucysfootball

Here we are again!

I just want to say, I totally shouldn’t be blogging right now. I have been hit with the killer death-flu. I know I’m a total exaggerator, but in this case, I’m not even exaggerating. I have a fever that’s fluctuating between 100-102 degrees, every bit of me aches, EVERY LAST BIT, and I am having trouble breathing without coughing like an old person on their last legs. Last night I felt pretty bad, but I thought, nah, I’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep. Well, that was a lie. I couldn’t sleep more than an hour at a stretch without waking up coughing and/or in a puddle of sweat with the covers all tangly (DAMMIT COVERS!) and then I called out sick to work. I had every single intention of going but when I stood up in order to get ready, I almost passed out. I had to put my head between my knees and sit on the couch for a while to recover myself. This made Dumbcat pleased. “Mom mom moooooooom! What are we doing is it a gaaaaaame? Can I play can I can I can I?” he said in his inimitable cat-language. Then he leapt on my my back like he was a mountain goat and I was the mountain. That made me cough. Right now, everything makes me cough. Including breathing, walking, laughing, crying, and going to the bathroom.

Here are the middle-picks for my top thirty songs for the year – numbers 20-11. Both sj and Ken will be pleased today. Also probably horrified at times, but there are things here to make them pleased.

20. “Blue Skies for Everyone” – Bob Schneider  (Lonelyland, 2001)

Go to sleep, hit your head/Scream until your face is red/And you’ll find when you are done/Blue skies for everyone

This one’s all sj’s doing. See, sj sent me a Christmas present recently, which was a wonderful playlist with the best cover art ever? And this song was on it. And I fell in LOVE with it. Isn’t it fantastic? All moody but also kind of funny and super-intelligent? And I like how it’s bitter and twisted, but also optimistic. And she said that it was played in one of her favorite movies, Gun Shy, which I then watched and it was very good because she’s got excellent taste. So this video’s for you, sj – look! All the Gun Shy goodness! (Also, why didn’t you tell me how pretty Bob Schneider is? Good gracious!)

19. “We Are Young” – Fun featuring Janelle Monae (Some Nights, 2011)

So if by the time the bar closes/and you feel like falling down/I’ll carry you home tonight

This song makes me bop all around in my car. I think it’s for younger people but I don’t even care. It’s fun.

18.  “The Story” – Brandi Carlile (The Story, 2007)

And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed/They don’t know my head is a mess/No, they don’t know who I really am/And they don’t know what/I’ve been through like you do

I heard this song for the first time this year and then I bawled as if I’d lost my puppy. Then I came home and found it online and listened to it over and over and over and over. You really have to listen to it to get the full effect – she’s got this raw edge to her voice later in the song, like she’s about to lose it. It’s just gorgeous.

I like songs that I have a connection with and that remind me of someone. This one gets full marks for that. Also, Brandi Carlile is wonderful and, much like Ingrid Michaelson, I can’t guarantee you won’t see her on here again.

17. “Stubborn Love” – The Lumineers (The Lumineers, 2012)

It‘s better to feel pain, than nothing at all/The opposite of love‘s indifference

I discovered The Lumineers this year. I know, they’re probably a total hipster band. Don’t care. Love ‘em. They’re joyous, but they also have excellent lyrics. I mean, “the opposite of love’s indifference?” It totally is. I love that. LOVE. I live my life not in fear of hatred, but indifference.

Also, The Lumineers came to play a free show here recently, and when people couldn’t get in because too many people showed up, they tried to play some songs in the parking lot and the cops came and make them stop. Way to go, cops.

16. “Essence” – Lucinda Williams (Essence, 2001)

I am waiting here for more/I am waiting by your door/I am waiting on your back steps 

This is the one that will make Ken happy. Ken says things like “I utterly cannot believe you don’t know who Lucinda Williams is” and then tells me songs I should listen to so I can be introduced to her. Because he’s very calm and patient, even though I imagine he’s probably shaking his head in disgust. Anyway, this year he introduced me to Lucinda Williams, and this song won. So pretty. So emotional. So raw. So, Ken, even if the rest of these make you disgusted, I know you’ll like this one.

15. “Mother of Pearl” – Nellie McKay (Obligatory Villagers, 2007)

Feminists don’t have a sense of humor/Feminists just want to be alone

This one’s courtesy of my beloved Mer. She posted it on my Facebook page this year and it made me laugh and grin and bop all around. It’s an adorable song about a serious topic and I love it so much. Also, Nellie McKay couldn’t be cuter.

14. “Oxford Comma” – Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend, 2008)

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?/I’ve seen those English dramas, too, they’re cruel

I like that this is a grammar song, and it’s so damn catchy. Also it cusses. But for the record, I’d like to say that *I* give a fuck about the Oxford comma; very much so, Vampire Weekend. But I still love the song, so that’s ok, then.

13. “Friday I’m in Love” – Scars on 45 (Live only – 2012)

Monday you can fall apart; Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart

Dirty secret: I love covers.

Discovering a gorgeous cover of a song is one of my favorite things in the world. I heard Scars on 45 live this year when they opened for Ingrid Michaelson and loved them; then my local indie station started playing this recently, and although I like the original just fine, this song is just so, so pretty. It’s not available on an album, and might not be – apparently getting the rights for it isn’t proving as easy as hoped – but I happen to know someone who can turn videos into MP3s for me. I KNOW ALL THE BEST PEOPLE. Who are slightly illegal. But only for the best reasons, you see. So now I can listen to this gorgeous cover and also put it on BFFs year-end CD, because that’s where it belongs.

12. “Keep On Loving You” – Zan Strumfeld (2012)

But when you find someone new, and maybe she’s already there/When you find someone new, please, please don’t share

This is another local singer. She seems to write for the paper, which is kind of awesome. Anyway, this was on the radio the other night on my drive home and I said, “OH I MUST FIND THIS AND LISTEN TO IT UNTIL MY EARS BLEED.” It’s another one you’ll have to click and listen to – no pretty video, sorry – but it’s so worth it. I have to stalk this chick and find her and listen to her live sometime this year. I like her that much. Enough that I want to go among PEOPLE to see her. I know!

11. “We Found Love” – Ingrid Michaelson (Online only, 2012)

We found love in a hopeless place

I think I mentioned this one when I talked about seeing Ingrid Michaelson. She closed her show with this, and I LOVED it. Then I was all, “I need to find this, what super-fun song.” Then I found out it was a Rihanna song. (I don’t listen to popular music. Like, ever. That Rihanna “Umbrella” song? I didn’t hear it for like a year after everyone was singing it. Which made my friends SO CONFUSED. And once I heard it I was all, “what’s the big deal about this song, it’s not even very GOOD.”) So I was a little embarrassed and said, “OH AMY” (I say that a lot) but it didn’t mean I didn’t still love the song.

And look! I found it online! And totally found a (shh) way to download a MP3 of it so I’m a little illegal but I still own it now! (I promise I pay for all my music, unless I can’t find it. If I can’t find it and pay for it I look for alternate means. But I promise I always at least ATTEMPT to pay. I’m honest to a fault, sadly. It makes my dad nuts, especially when it comes to tax returns.)

There you go, jellybeans! What will be on the top ten, I wonder? You’re all SO CURIOUS, aren’t you? Well, at least I know sj is. Since that’s her JOB here.

(Which is why I feel terrible I'm such a heathen, music-wise)...

(Which is why I feel terrible I’m such a heathen, music-wise)…

Stay tuned to see what songs were my FAVORITES this year! SO EXCITING ARGH!

10 comments | posted in best-of, friends, Im most likely dying, lists, lyrics, music, sick, songs

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