confession

i have a confession. i publicly decry good bands that have attained popularity in a smug attempt to appear too "indie" or concerned with originality to be impressed.

i know, many of us put up some front regarding music that allows our tastes to seem somehow more informed. but a recent article from pitchfork about coldplay made me realize just how stupid and deep my hypocrisy runs (ironically, most of my snobbishness is encouraged by pitchfork).

a few months ago, my friend will asked me if had listened to the new coldplay album because he really liked it. without hesitation, i produced some lame quip that none of coldplay's songs make any sense (which is actually true, but irrelevant).

like any sane person, he responded that half the bands we listen to make no sense (if he recommends a band, i like it without fail, so he knows my music well). i think at that point i sputtered an inane response under my breath about how i was "just over their style" while i fumbled for a rational response in vain. i believe i tired to change the subject next.

what is so despicable is that i finally listened to the album (after a recommendation by another will) and liked it. of course, most of their songs still don't make sense. their thinly veiled and esoteric political statements just make me angry. but the music is still good. see, why couldn't i have said that to my friend and just enjoyed the music? 

this is just part of a wider trend in my life of making statements which sound good based on a preconceived notion of "true" art, political sensibilities, or lifestyle in general and then scrambling after the fact to find the reason behind them. why not just state up front what my personal taste is rather than perversely pretend there is empirical evidence behind it? i guess the need to feel important, original, or informed outweighs the simple pleasure of enjoying music with friends. 

it's great to have an opinion and even to have reasons for it. to portray them as anything other than taste is foolish. anyway, feel free to mock me whenever you hear self-important sounding speech.

snow, part iii

at this point, i'm about as tired of images of the snow and my dog as you are. but i'm a man of little imagination and easily revert to homeostasis. so more of the same it is.

i know six inches might be next to nothing to most people in the midwest. to a southerner, there's little difference between six inches and four feet. i might as well be living in alaska now. in fact, this is the first time that i've had residence in a place where the snow fully covered the blades of grass, so you can imagine what a big deal this is. i hope you enjoy the pictures.

snow day, part ii

i guess i spoke too soon concerning snow in stl. we got a lot yesterday and are supposed to get more tonight. 

from google's weather application:

Tonight
Snow in the evening...then snow and chance of sleet after midnight. Snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Near steady temperature around 18. Northeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 90 percent.

snow and then sleet. sounds fun.

the dog just stared out the window at it coming down. for half a second i wondered what she could be thinking about her first snow. probably something like, "what...the...hell just happened?" at least, if i was a dog who only knew eating and walkng down my street to the park, that's what i would think.

things that make me laugh, part v

as i've never considered cullin the harbinger of humor in my life,  i was surprised when i enjoyed the following comic strip he sent me. maybe my humor's just gotten older and dumber...less like a 26 year old and more like a 48 year old. the strip is from get fuzzy, by darby conley.

good riddance

"and now, the end is near..."

 for years many americans had been waiting for yesterday. for my part, i have to confess to voting for the guy...twice. twice?! yes.  i was 18 in 2000. who knew anything then? the second time around, i guess i should have known better...but what option did i really have?

but anyway, this post is not a justification, but more of a farewell. let's reflect on what we're going to miss about the guy. according to him, history will bear out his decisions, so we'll let them stand for themselves for now.

here's my list of w's more redeeming qualities:

style. the guy couldn't say abu ghraib to save a million people's lives. but then, who could? he laughed like such a goof ball--he had that affable style.

consistency. even if he was sticking to the most asinine position conceivable, you knew he'd be there the next day as well. it was mostly a fault, but every once in a while, you could appreciate him for it.

no terror attacks. that he thought this was the only relevant job to his presidency was a mistake. we're still learning about the sacrifices this country is making in the name of security. but on the surface, you got to hand it to the man. hopefully, the trend will continue and we'll see that we can properly strike the balance between freedom and security. 

"regret's, i've had a few; but then again, too few to mention..."

at this point, i don't feel spouting off the litany of decisions we should be angry over. while i'm eager for our new president to take office, i fear that no one can bear the burden placed on him. but i appreciated his inauguration speech and now i just want to appreciate the moment in american history. now he'll have to really be president. let's hope that in 8 years, his list of redeeming qualities will be longer than our previous president.

speaking of 'hope,' can we put a temporary ban on that word and 'change,' too? seriously. they need some time to breathe and recover their meaning. 

in that spirit, i'll start writing about something worthwhile. last night, i threw a little new president party. i encouraged people to dress up becuase why go to a party if you're dressed up? we had a good time. here are some 'introspective' pictures from the evening. 

snow days

snow days used to mean alot in my world. now, aside from asthetic value, they mean next to nothing . even at work, they offered the promise of at least a late start--that can throw off your entire day, in a good way. 

now, snow days really do mean nothing. i get up, make some coffee. look at the dog--should i walk her? no. sit at the desk. "oh look, it's snowing. that's pretty."

unless the snow turned into freezing rain that anchored itself to the power or internet lines and the extra weight pushed them to braking point...nothing.

look at it, even the fake google weather picture looks more appealing.

mlk: day of service

in spite of news' hype about barrack obama getting out and painting some schools today, this "day of service" thing is really great. i'm sure my more partisan friends will inform me that's its just a liberal tool (after all, acorn and the dnc are involved)--but whatever. i just wish i'd paid attention to all of this sooner (or wasn't working on mlk day). but it looks like people are scheduling events well into the future. i hope it goes well. 

things that make me laugh, part iv

franny, discovering herself. 

she just heard the birds on planet earth. naturally, she tried to find them behind the tv. 

it's colder than it looks

current temperature: 3.

high today: 9.

whaaaaaat. did i move to st. petersburg? russia, not florida. it doesn't look that bad, but it is...

there's not much else to post. mainly me complaining. yes, i grew up in the south. yes, single digits frighten me. this is called "_____ cold" (fill in your expletive). that is all.

how to waste $50

i got back in town last night to discover that the show i've been obsessing over the past month (to be my first proper concert since i got here) was about to begin in an hour and was sold out. i didn't think girl talk was playing until next thursday. fool that i am didn't think it necessary to buy tickets beforehand or double-check his dates.

as soon as i got off the train, megan met me to try and scalp tickets. we spent an hour in the cold, haggling with scalpers and generally being angry at every 16 year old boy dressed like a woman and every girl dressed like a 12 yr. old. finally we were able to get two tickets, one from a nice and intoxicated kid going to school at loyola in chicago (sorry, em, he doesn't know your brother). the other came from a guy who's other ticket for his wife was a phony (foreshadowing). for the both of them we paid about $50, which was only $20 more than face value.

when we went through the line to get in, it turned out that my ticket (from the intoxicated loyolan) had already been scanned. the kid went through, then came back out and sold us his ticket. i don't know if it was out of malevolence or drunkenness, but anger and frustration are not adequate words.

we sat in the lobby for about 15 minutes just stalling, hoping the ticket checker would have a heart and let us in. there was nothing he could do. either megan went to the show by herself (not an appealing proposition, espeically in light of one of the better conversation we'd had outside the venue earlier with a particularly wise 19 yr. old: "i had sex with a girl at the last show! the enitre crowd saw my ass." amazing. i'm sure that's how she would describe it as well), or neither of us went. we gave up and went home.

i guess the most disappointing thing about the whole evening was that by the time we got home, i wasn't that depressed. maybe i'm trying to be coyly jaded or just getting older, but sitting outside the theater last night seeing those kids didn't make me want to experience that crazy concert at all. i should've known before going to a concert like girl talk, but i guess i just ignored that quiet, prideful and judgmental voice in the back of my head until last night.

i still love going to shows. and i even truly appreciate the semi-counter culture that the indie music scene can be. i've just gotten very choosy about live music and what was once unique is now mainstream. there are still plenty of original artists (girl talk is one of them) and there are plenty of listeners who will enjoy them as art and not as consumption (maybe girl talk is intended to be more of the latter?). but i guess all things change, including my love for live music and what used to be considered independent. this sounds pretty trite and stuffy, i know, but there it is. in spite of everything, here's to hope for art...