Hail Social-Get In the Car

Posted on August 26, 2005
Filed Under Song of the Day | Leave a Comment

this is for real…

News bulletin

Posted on August 26, 2005
Filed Under Blather, family, music, the written word | 1 Comment

Quickly, I need to tell you all, that fall is coming. You know–in case you hadn’t noticed, I have some evidence to present.

The weather: Well, I guess it’s warmer today, but it’s been lovely. That sharp hint that I long for basically all year is creeping in, now and then. And the light is clearer.

Back to school: I am such a nerd. I have always loved back to school and all its trappings. Yes!!! I long to purchase a package of 20 pencils for 39 cents! Yes!!! I want shiny new pens! Yes!!! I did actually buy a package of 20 pencils for 39 cents!!! And then there’s new school clothes… My mother is heading back into her 3rd grade classroom to get ready for another year. I can’t say she gets the rosy glow at the thought of it that I do. For her, it’s work. But the thought of all those construction paper displays and desks arranged in little sets and safety scissors… it’s a warm fuzzy thought to me.

Another sign of fall (pretty much my favorite season, if anybody had to ask), is all the shows coming up. On the agenda so far (you deserve fair warning):

9/1 Rainer Maria/Hail Social
9/11 Of Montreal
9/30 Interpol/Boom Bip (Portland, ME)
10/5 Dead Can Dance
11/8 Broadcast

And there are several other tempting shows coming up as well. This will definitely be one of the busiest seasons for me, music-wise, in a very long time.

Oh, and did I also mention that I’m expecting the arrival of my niece this fall??

!!!!

… and by the way, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is excellent, and Motherless Brooklyn is also fantastic. Go read them both (then again, if you haven’t read any of the Harry books yet, best read them in order).

The Big Takeover

Posted on August 15, 2005
Filed Under And another thing..., music, the written word | 1 Comment

If you like your music magazines to offer good, original articles and interviews, and lots of them, check out this magazine. The current issue features Interpol (of course), Wilco, Low, Mercury Rev, Doves, Ian Brown, Chris Stamey, Neko Case, Damon and Naomi, and Tortoise, among others.

History…

Posted on August 15, 2005
Filed Under Blather, politics, the written word | Leave a Comment

Oh… and I keep forgetting to blog this…

Here’s today’s history thought. I’ve been working on some projects in American History, and as I was going through material on the Andrew Jackson era and the election of 1828, I couldn’t help but be reminded of–you guessed it–Bush. The author writes:

“Charges by Adams’s supporters that Jackson was an illiterate backwoodsman added to Jackson’s popular appeal by making him seem like an ordinary citizen. Jackson’s supporters portrayed the clash as one between the democracy of the country, on the one hand, and a lordly purse-proud aristocracy on the other. Jackson, they said, was the common man incarnate, his mind unclouded by learning, his morals simple and true, his will fierce and resolute. In contrast, Jackson’s men represented Adams as an aristocrat, a dry scholar whose learning obscured the truth, a man who could write but not fight. Much of this, of course, was wild exaggeration. Jackson was a wealthy planter, not a simple frontiersman. But it was what people wanted to hear.”

I wonder if the author consciously wrote it that way to draw that parallel.

Harry, Motherless Brooklyn, and Austin’s release

Posted on August 15, 2005
Filed Under Blather, art, daytripping, dining, family, films, friends, the written word | 2 Comments

Ezra and I have lately been engaged in our normal summertime activity of reading Harry out loud to each other. I have to admit, though, that I’ve been doing most of the reading this time. I love to read it… It’s addictive or something. We re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix first–to refresh our memories since so much happens in that book–and now we are in the midst of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’m enjoying it immensely. In just a few hours when Ez is home and we’ve had our dinner and everything, we will likely be reading it again!

On the “what I’m reading on my own” tip, I carry Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem with me to the gym. It’s slow going just reading it at the gym, but it’s really quite good. Ezra read one of his other books, The Fortress of Solitude, and he really liked it. I will have to read that one as well, because it sounds excellent.

We saw Rita, Brian, Cheri, Matt, and Kirsten last night… for the first time in ages (well, it was the first time I actually got to meet Matt in person!). It was really nice to see everyone. Ladies, if you’re reading this (that means you, Cheri!)–hello, dears! I don’t expect that Matt and Brian ever drop in here, but I could be wrong! Hello everyone! Anyway… a lovely rainy night in a pub was had by all. AND Ez and I were finally able to give Rita the life-size Austin Powers talking effigy we’ve been meaning to give her for about a year now. It was truly a memorable evening. (K. Bates, unfortunately, had a migrane and had to stay home. Literally, a raincheck, for we must get together soon.)

Kim’s Virginia shower is this weekend. I’ve been cooking up a storm in preparation–trying out recipes and whatnot. A little while ago I made yummy scones (not really hard to do!), and last weekend Ez and I worked on our egg salad recipe. Mmm. Food.

A few weekends ago, we went to the DeCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln with our wonderful friends Amy and Doug. It was one of the first nice days we’d had weather-wise in a long time. It was much fun to wander around the sculpture park, and I took entirely too many pictures, of course. We realized after a bit that we were all pretty dehydrated, though. Afterward we went to see Broken Flowers, which was pretty good–definitely worth seeing. And then we wandered in restlessness unable to be decisive on dinner… which was I think one part tiredness (at least, on my part), several parts too-nice-ness (everyone deferring to everyone else), one part not-knowing-too-much-about-the-area, and several parts general lack-of-decisiveness and wander-ment. Anyway, it was a lovely evening, and I was happy to be out among friends. When hunger took over, we ended up having just the nicest dinner and drinks at Laurel on Berkeley Street in Boston. Thank you (a bit late) Amy and Doug!

Friday night

Posted on August 6, 2005
Filed Under Blather, dining, music, photography | Leave a Comment

Ezra and I had a lovely Friday jaunt to the Harvard Square area. I got to play with my new camera (still learning–I guess I always will be). It had stormed in the afternoon, so the sunset was pretty nice.

We walked across the Common and into the square, and tucked ourselves into a corner of Pho Pasteur, where we enjoyed rice-broccoli delights. Then it was time for a journey to Newbury Comics, where new purchases galore were considered (and some actually made). New aural goodies I came home with include: