Music

Update: another good reason not to make top 10 lists, I made the original WIP list back in July and half those bands I don't even listen to now. huh.


Since I was ridiculed many years for only putting 1 album on my "top 10" list I have not made another list. I felt totally justified in proclaiming that Sophtware Slump was so good that it woulda been THAT much better than whatever I could have made 2 - 10. I felt it was a strong statement. Other people, my husband, didn't agree. So whatever. I figure no one gives a shit what is on someone else's top 10, they just want a reason to tell you what's on theirs. The only reason I ever look at someone's list is to make judgements (come on, we're being honest right?) and (less likely) look for new music. If I see something on a lot of lists I may seek it out...

but today as I was rocking out in the car, I figured that since I have a whole tag for "lists" I should use it! And if I make an evolving top 10 list during the year come January I won't have to struggle to remember what I liked and I will already have my list so that you can judge me.

here it is... (I think I was just inspired to make another list; reasons why I have comments disabled)

in alphabetical order by the second letter in the first word:

Jay Reatard, Matador Singles '08
Kanye West, Graduation… it came out in 07, but whatev. I’m lovin it in 08.
The Black Keys, Attack & Release
Gossip, Live in Liverpool
The Kills, Midnight Boom
Times New Viking, Rip It Off
King Khan and The Shrines, The Supreme Genius…
Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple
Mudhoney, The Lucky Ones
newest addition in bold

huh, couldn't come up with 10. I'm sure I forgot some. Don't hate. It's my list. You don't have to listen.

the list will evolve assuming something else I like comes out this year, updates in bold. I have high expectations for the Jay Reatard Singles, Clinic and, Spiritualized

I accidentally just broke a girl's heart

We never answer the phone. I happen to think Caller ID is one of the top 5 inventions of the last 15ish years (along with TiVo, HD, Smart Phones, and Online Banking) and it allows me to know when I can ignore the call. So, the other day we get a message from what I assume was a nervous telemarketer with poor reading skills and just deleted it without thinking. I noticed that it was a real phone number though and not blocked or an 800 number which I thought was odd. Just a few minutes ago I noticed the same number pop up and the girl - even more nervous this time - left a message like this

Hi, uhh, this is ______, and I am calling from, uhh, Califo, California and I am looking for, uhhh, Guy Vaughn. It's not, uhh, anything, I , uhhh, just, uhh, am looking for my father who's named Guy Vaughn....

at that point I was so startled but I didn't want the poor girl to go on wondering so I just answered and said "Hi, uhh, Guy Vaughn lives here but he's not your father" - man - HARSH. I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just so fucking surprised. She was clearly disappointed and uncomfortable and I said "I'm sorry" and she said "It's ok" and hung up. I wanted to call her back and apologize and tell her that I've looked up my father and mother too and thought about calling them. I wanted to tell her how courageous I thought she was and good luck with her search. I felt terrible.

But then...

I wondered, man - what if it IS Guy? can you imagine. She sounded sorta young... like coulda been in her teens. Maybe I should have him call her? omg. can you imagine. A search on white pages.com brings up 6 Guy Vaughn's in California, but our phone number isn't listed. Did she PAY to find it? Wow... I am totally not going to be able to sleep tonight. Can we really just assume he isn't her father??? you just never really know right?? can you imagine.

Of course, Guy is out of town so I am processing all of this on my own. Calling him. Hold on. Ok, not sure where he is, so I am just going to keep assuming he needs to call her and figure all this out.

oh shit, I think I just found her on Facebook.

Fuck it, I'm calling her

She was really nice. It's not Guy Guy.... hope she finds what she is looking for. good grief. I need a drink and to go to bed.

I need a new nail salon

So, my current preferred nail place is just too far. It's in Santa Monica, which is only like 6 miles away, but considering I live in Los Angeles and there is probably 750 nail salons between here and Santa Monica there is no real reason to go all the way up there, unless I am meeting Nancy for breakfast, but that's only like half the time. And I'm not talking Main St Santa Monica (south)- I go allll the way up to Santa Monica blvd and 4th Street (north-ish) - so not only is it far, but I usually end up parking wayyy the hell up in one of the 3rd Street Promenade structures. Bad. But I've been happy enough with their service so I make the trek. But today I am reconsidering. I get that the economy is in the shitter and business is probably way the fuck down for businesses that offer what some people, although not me, would consider non-essential.

In the 25 minutes I was there I had to say:
No, I don't want a 10 minute shoulder massage
No, I don't want extra buff
No, I don't need extra hand massage
No, I don't need extra foot massage
No, I don't want hand paraffin
No, I don't want foot paraffin
No, I do not like all this upsell bullshit
Yes, I am sure.

Looking for recommendations close to home to have one.

Writing Class, lesson one

So I have a friend that is taking a photography class and is loving it. And you may know that I really enjoy the picture taking so I looked into his class but quickly realized that taking a photography class would require GOING to a photography class, as in leaving the house, as in getting off of the couch, as in it's fall and will probably start getting cold (altho I did just buy a really cute jacket) and do I really want to drive all the way to Santa Monica after work once a week for 6 straight weeks - the horror. I didn't want to totally give up on the idea of taking a class though and noticed the same people offered online classes. Sweet. Stay on the couch and still feel productive when I can manage to squeak out 20 minutes of motivation. Sooooo anyway, I signed up for a beginning writing class... I've taken a bunch of writing classes and thought a beginning one would be good and not too demanding (I would imagine?) and hopefully get me motivated!

ANYWAY - I figured since I was asked twice about why I haven't been posting (am totally feeling the love btw - thanks bitches!) that I would go ahead and post my writings from the lessons. I hope to continue this but I reserve the right to get lazy and not post, be a total flake and not post or think the assignment was lame or required some personal information or experiences that I don't want to share, and not post.


Lesson 01
Go to Discussion Area 1 and introduce yourself by writing a paragraph that tells us:
Something about you.
What you hope to get out of the Beginning Writer's Workshop.
(yeh - not very demanding, I know - but it's lesson 01 - what do you want? btw you should see some of the frightening replies. here I go judging again. bad cindy)


hello.
by: Cindy
Hi everyone… I am 35 and have a great husband, some pets and an awesome job. My awesome job consumes most of my time and all of my energy. I love to write but many years ago had a terrible experience with an ex-boyfriend reading my journal which contained some seriously personal thoughts and things that could have been very hurtful to people if he chose to share what he read. I signed up for this class hoping to find some motivation and start writing again. I also have absolutely no focus and am very easily distracted – I walked away from this 3 times, went to check my email twice and sent two IM's – so I guess I am also hoping to find some focus through motivation. I also love run on sentences and writing in all lower case, but those are mostly because I am lazy. Oh yeh – I am also lazy. Lesson 1 – check!

side note, i just decided that all blogs should be called blahgs. as in blah blah blah...

At the end of the blog...

The other day I was listening to a friend at work talk about how annoyed he gets when people say "at the end of the day" - I added that I also didn't like when people said "When all is said and done" - I'm watching some terrible reality show right now and someone said "At the end of the day you have to look out for number 1" I just decided I hate "look out for number one" more than the other two.

I have some others that really get under my skin and annoy the shit out of me, usually when I am sitting in a meeting listening to people who like to hear themselves talk.

- get under my skin
- look at something "holistically"
- at the eleventh hour
- FRANKLY (that one usually gets said with a snippy tone or elevated voice
- ANYthing sports related. We're not a football team for fuck's sake
- once in a blue moon

whatever.

Detox day 11, over the hump!

Guest Blog - Sometimes I wonder...

I received this yesterday in an email and felt it was appropriate as a first "Guest Blog" post. Technically, it's an email, not a blog. But thankfully I get make the rules.



by Anonymous Blonde
Sometimes I wonder...

Why is it so hard for the women [at Mattel] to flush the toilet. I wait to see if floaties come back up don’t you? It's the polite thing to do.
Why do they put such a huge roll of toilet paper on that wheel anyway? Don’t they know it wont spin and you fight to tear off one sheet at a time for like half an hour?
A bathroom experience really shouldn’t be that frustrating. I'm just sayin.

Nick Cave news. omg. omg. omg

FUCK YEH! So, without seeing even a trailer, I have already determined that The Road is going to be my favorite movie of the year and will probably get into the Top 5 (behind Pulp fiction and fighting for placement with Goodfellas, LA Confidential and Purple Rain) and since it was a John Hillcoat film I sort of assumed Nick Cave would, at the very least, be on the soundtrack. Soooo happy when I read the news that he'll be doing the score, that is going to be fan-fucking-tastic. I can't wait.

So to recap the awesomeness that Nick fans have to look forward to in the coming year:

1) The Road w Nick score source
2) Reissues - make that Deluxe Reissues! says who?
3) A new book! Now I just need to finally finish the last one! If it's on the internet in Canada it must be true

yay. I win.

Sailors are the new pirates.

So if you have spent more than say, 3-1/2 minutes with me you know that I use expletives. A lot. What can I say, I am a product of my environment – I grew up in Lawndale, Carson, San Pedro, in a totally white trash family complete with drugs, Thanksgiving Day fights concluding with brother 3 trying to hit brother 2 in the head with a hammer (did I mention they were grown men and bro 2 was my father?), and unemployment/welfare checks. So yeh. I swear. Usually I just think it’s part of my charm, but sometimes I think “fuck, I really need to cut back.” Knowing this is nearly impossible I think I have a good solution – Talk like a Sailor Day. We already talk like pirates once a year and that's getting a little tired honestly, talking like a sailor isn’t really a stretch right? And it’s for EVERYONE, all ages, all occupations, everyone. Little Jacob running around after the soccer ball screaming “oh shit, why the fuck do I have to pass the ball to HER?” or James asking his financial planner "HOW THE FUCK CAN I RETIRE IN A MARKET LIKE THIS" without anyone getting offended or all uppity. Get it all out in one day and the rest of the year people can go back to judging.

- No offense to actual sailors, I love boats.

Baby Steps

Everywhere I click lately it seems that people are making lists about all the ways they are going to improve themselves - maybe that fucking terrible movie (not that I saw it) The Bucket List got people to thinking...maybe I just happen to be clicking on lots of pre-midlife crisis blogs... maybe it's the screwed up state of our country and the uncertainty of where we are going to be depositing our pay/unemployment checks. Whatever the hell it is it inspired me as much as I can be inspired lately. Some lists are before I die lists, some are before I turn ____ age. But I need little goals.

I actually started writing this two weeks and was hoping to come up with some more, but I've never been won those people with "goals" - like I said, baby steps.

Before Dec 31 2008
Finish the living room art project
Go to the gym for 11 straight days
Go 3 weeks without coffee (hah! only 4 more days and I am there!)
Maintain or improve my current weight. (ok, obs I want that number to be lower. baby steps)


Before Sep 28 2009
Find an awesome Los Angeles TShirt or Print
Get a new tattoo


Before I die
Have some will power and say no to things that I know are bad for me
Stop multitasking and just do things one at a time

Day 7

Day 7 Detox

The headache is gone! Yay! AND I have tons of energy. Unfortunately Guy is also gone so I'm basically bouncing off the walls and needing to figure out what I can do with all this energy!

Yesterday was the hardest day of the detox, went to a kiddie birthday party where there was a ton of tasty food (so I was told) icey cold beers (it was HOT) and cake! I did good though, I had a piece of chicken that I am pretty sure was "safe" and stayed away from everything else. I'm actually pretty shocked that I've been able to stick with it, wonder what's gunna happen in 2 weeks when I'm done. Oh I've lost 7 lbs. So there.

Bounce bounce.

Day 4

Day 4 Detox.

Headache.

(Day 5 has started much better)

Day 3

Headache.

Day 2

Detox Day 2 9/23 Tuesday 1 drink, 1 headache
Today was not an easy day. The Headache set it around 10:30, 11-ish. The insanity that is my Inbox was also out.of.fucking.control and it just made for a rough day. I really need to be drinking more water. I want a cup of coffee so so bad I can hardly stand it. I think approaching this whole “detox” thing as a challenge to myself was totally the way to go. Only 19 days left. (and really, I’m not going the whole 21 days because we’re going camping the last 3 days of it, but I don’t need to admit right now that I am already giving up, do I? no.)

THE Drink
Banana
Almonds
Salmon
Steamed veggies (the worst steamed veggies EVER btw – do not, I repeat, do not get the steamed veggies from the El Segundo Whole Foods. Terrible)
Brown rice
Strawberrries
Nectarine
Chicken breast
Lettuce and cucumbers
Sliced turkey

I’ve been in bed since 7:15. It’s 7:55 and really just want to go to sleep.

AND I was just reading another random blog and it was all about how the author isn’t going to be so negative or judgmental and is going to try and focus on the positive things in life. At least I think that’s what it is about, I didn’t actually read it.

Can’t believe it’s only day 2. Feels like a week.

Day 1

Day 1 9/22 Monday 1 drink

Day 1, no major mishaps and everything seemed to go smooooooth. I was reminded by the evil* Dr Patrick that chili – even vegan chili – is made with tomatoes. DAMNIT! Oh well. There’s always tomorrow. Totally felt really good today, tomorrow the headache is going to set it for a couple of days I would imagine and I need to stock up on more snacks because I was reminded today by Tina that I need to “keep my mouth busy” (huh huh) so that I don’t crave sweets.

The Drink
Banana
Strawberries
Carrots
Chili
Salad
Almonds
Grapes
Salmon
Red Potatoes
Green tea
Water (not nearly enough water)

*Dr. Patrick is not evil.

Day 0

9/21 Sunday

Tomorrow I start a detox thingy that is GOING to last 3-weeks (or 21 days, or 504 hours, or 30,240 minutes, or if you like really unachievable goals it’s 1,814,400 seconds – I do love the internet). I say GOING to last because damnit I am totally going to get through this. In the grand scheme of life 3 weeks is soooo nothing. It’s going to be tough – no caffeine, sugar, wheat… it’s really just a super healthy way of eating that I should be doing anyway along with some probably really nasty tasting drink that has all of the vitamins I am not getting because all I ever eat is coffee, sugar and wheat. (yes, I consider coffee a food). Hmmph.

In the spirit of a good kick-off I HAD to go out with a bang, so today I had a huge coffee along with a donut and then a very small serving of a very salty chinese fast food dish accompanied by a super tasty carbonated and caffeinated soda. I think we’re having skirt steak for dinner along with some yummy wine and finishing up with some dark chocolate. So basically, every single thing I have eaten today will be off limits for the next almost two million seconds. Easy! Right.

A quick list of things in my diet that I can’t eat:
Coffee
Red Meat (only during week 2 do I have to stop all meats)
Tomatoes
Pasta
Eggs, dairy
Chocolate
Things with added Sugars. Bah.

Piece of (sugar-free) cake!

oy, I just realized Guy is going to be out of town for most of week 2, really smart planning on his part. I'll have to work extra hard to find things I like and can prepare myself that aren't frozen mac and cheese dinners!

mmmm, matte.....

If it's September we're going to Pomona!

Pretty much every year I try and make it out to the fair. Basically if you've been to one fair you've been to them all and nothing really changes except the prizes evolve into the most current licensed hit (Hannah Montana) and the shopping expos get the lastest As Seen on TV must-have (ShamWOW!). Knowing this does not stop me from wanting to go.... here are some pics of things that can be seen and done at the fair. See you there next year!

A lot on Eva's mind

Eva is wondering when the last time there was 8+ scoreless innings on Colorado and why all of the televised football games are games she doesn't care to watch. Oh, she's also curious about when she's going to be introduced on Boris and Caesar's blog.

Thursday morning thoughts

1) wow, it's already Thursday. (wow, it's already September. wow, I'm already 35.) shit.

2) I have a headache.

3) I'm listening to the Mattel webcast about the new safety standards -- it's exciting stuff really. They just said that if you don't work for Mattel or haven't been invited you should log off or leave the room because the presentation is privileged.. I dunno, that made me laugh. Altho it is kind of fancy that we webcast.

4) I really don't "Love Lucy" - If I explain this comment I will have to kill you. See point 3.

5) Man, it is really not easy to make a toy. We do have cookie socials and half-day Fridays but fucking hell, they get earned.