it are officially yuletimes! :DDDDD and since the signup form has taken LITERALLY all evening, i am leaving the letter to a future date. possibly that date is tomorrow.

( however, this needs to be saved for posterity )

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i don't remember a time in my life when i didn't know r.e.m. i may not have known their name, i certainly didn't always know the songs, but i knew that voice, and i KNEW that guitar.

1989: i am 7, and i definitely remember what i now know to be pop song '89 and stand. (we didn't have cable, so i didn't know the dance.)

1991: i am 9. i know this 'r.e.m.' is a thing. losing my religion is all over the radio. my dad buys out of time, and i remember liking radio song better than losing my religion. i was NINE. (years later, when i own a cd player, i steal it.) i remember thinking how incredibly sad the story of the marble steps in the liner notes was.

1992: i am 10. 'r.e.m' has become what i understand to be an artistic entity (inasmuch as i understand what that is), and i remember automatic for the people being released. my mom buys it. i love the yellow cd with the track names in black. nightswimming is probably the most beautiful thing i'd ever heard. i do not understand star me kitten.

1993: i am 11. me and two or three of my friends are being driven somewhere by a friend's mother, and it's the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine) comes on the radio. me and my two or three friends sing along to every word, even bill's weird harmonies, even 'it's time i had some time alone'.

1994: i am 12. monster is released, my mom buys it. again, i love the cd itself: BRIGHT BLUE with the little bear thing. wtfkenneth is on the radio. it is AWESOME. these are the weirdest songs i've ever heard. my first real experience of anything approaching grunge. probably the first of their albums that existed in actual, cohesive album form for me. (it's probably sometime around here i steal out of time from my dad.)

1995: i am 13. my class takes a field trip somewhere, and man on the moon comes on the radio. cue the entire bus singing along, yelling the 'yeah yeah yeah yeah's.

1996: i am 14. new adventures in hi-fi is released, my mom buys it. this cd, i don't so much love as am frustrated by. which is the right side? half the time i put it in the cd player upside down. (this is probably r.e.m.'s intent, the bastards.) i remember not being thrilled with e-bow the letter when it was on the radio, but only because i had no idea who patti smith was.

1997: i am 15. bill berry leaves the band, and i'm sure i only heard about his aneurysm at that point, because i remember being just utterly rocked by the news. but what are they gonna do now?

1998: i am 16, they release up, and i remember nothing of it aside from daysleeper on the radio. i'm sure my mom bought it, and i'm sure i listened to it, and i think i remember being pissed that bill had left and now they were crap. shut up i was 16.

2001: i am 19. reveal is released, and i pay attention again because reveal is GOOD. though it takes me a while to get into it.

2002: i am 20. while waiting in the mall food court for claire and gemma to get off work, i am ambushed by the video for all the way to reno on the big screens.

2003: i am 21. in time is released. i encourage the r.e.m. community on lj to pick it up on the day of release because it's always cheaper and there's a nice extra in the form of a poster in the deluxe edition. this year also contains my very first r.e.m. show. chicago, september 26. my dad gets me a pair of tickets for my birthday, and they are up in the nosebleeds where all the people who don't care much are. i sing along to everything and irritate the fuck out of them. i buy a t-shirt. it becomes my favorite shirt ever. eight years later, it is dying so hard.

2004: i am 22. around the sun is released. i am not into it, except for wanderlust. but they tour again, and fucked if i'm not going. this happens. and this happens. and then i spin around the sun a million fucking times and GET IT. (i'm trying to divine you.) i move to denver that year, and it becomes the music of that as well. i specifically remember listening to it while putting the kitchen table together, and being struck by the ascent of man.

2005: i am 23. i go to dublin that summer, and this happens.

2006: and i feel fine (best of irs) is released. but honestly, there isn't much in there that i pay attention to because i already own dead letter office.

2007: i am 25. r.e.m. invite the public in to watch them rehearse at the olympia theatre in dublin. why the fuck did i not quit my job and run away. THIS IS NOT A SHOW.

2008: i am 26, and oh this fucking YEAR. one video posted to ninetynights.com becomes a bit of an obsession for me: peter playing a chord progression, arpeggiated like he always do. this becomes hollow man. accelerate is released. this is the album i've been waiting for since new adventures. hollywood bowl. red rocks. united center. the pit ticket. lakewood amphitheatre. after that, i start playing my bass. a lot. i manage to tab out sing for the submarine, which i feel is quite an achievement.

2009: i am 27. i move to LA. i keep playing bass. damn you mike mills. live at the olympia is released, and i still do not own it because i don't want the regular version, i want the damn deluxe edition and holy god is it expensive. also, r.e.m.'s 30th anniversary.

2010: i am 28. courtney acquires a piano. the first thing i learn to play is beat a drum. the second thing i learn to play is i've been high.

2011: i am 29. collapse into now is released. there is flailing. they decide not to tour the album, and we are all intensely saddened by this. and then three days ago.

so, my life with r.e.m., guys. don't quite know what else to say.

THIS IS NOT AN OBITUARY

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so today my favorite band broke up. today is fucking fired.

but no, i can't think like that. (well, no, i can. today is totally fucking fired, without references.) i mean, it's not like we didn't see it coming, though i certainly didn't realize we were coming up on it so fast. i don't know. i always thought about next time i see them, next tour we'll do this, and now those futures don't exist. unless they do a 'reunion tour', which i don't know how i feel about, because how much does that smack of geriatric-rock-star-itis?

awesome things: this is possibly one of the best, most spontaneous, and rather stupid things i've ever done in my life. it was also my last r.e.m. show.

i have a fairly large r.e.m. poster hanging in my cube at work. people were nice to me all day.

as i posted to tumblr:


i’ve been an r.e.m. fan since i looked like this (circa 1986). 25 years later, i am impossibly richer in music, friends, and amazing experiences because of r.e.m. thank you mike, peter, bill, and michael. i love you guys.

if you like them too, tell them: thankyourem.com

so basically, the end, and i don't want to talk about it anymore.

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HEALTH BULLETIN:

i do, in fact, have strep throat. but as a bonus for playing, i also have an ear infection! YEAH MAN. haven't had one of those since before i hit puberty. no i'm not kidding. i seem to recall more of an unbearable stabbing pain, though. i'm sure it'll show up eventually.

seriously, i'm blaming children. because who else would i pick this shit up from. maybe i'm just regressing.

i also have amoxicillin. two in the morning, two before bed. the adorable pharmacist intern told me that it decreases the pill's effectiveness, so i should have a backup birth control method. just fyi, guys. because hey, i didn't know that. (not that this would have applied to me the last time i took amoxicillin. not that it applies to me now.)

made the slightly douchey doctor guy laugh, though. no, he was very nice, just a bit self-important.

a parody i thought of while waiting in an exam room for an hour but will never ever do anything with because it's just too wrong: Christian Science Theater 3000.

oh my GOD i can't wait for all this to go the fuck AWAY

[edit, 10:40pm: ah. there's the stabbing pain.]

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all right! more stuff what i done!

ok, tuesday i basically just hung out, caught my breath, petted zoe, went to pasqual's for dinner with dad, had a massive margarita, and bought a bus ticket so i could go to summerfest on

wednesday! took the car downtown, and dad took me to the union so i could catch the bus. had a lovely ride to milwaukee, during which i listened to the florence + the machine mix that tenar made. it is awesome. she is awesome. they are awesome. there's a HARP. i mean, that's epic. i can't wait til the 6th. the bus dropped us 'fest-ers at jackson and michigan, which isn't quite 'fest grounds, but close enough. i worried a bit when the driver said we should go back there to catch the bus back to madison, but whatever, i was off! walked down to the grounds, got in, and realized i had to play the game that all midwesterners despise: finding your mates at summerfest. called cordy: they weren't even out of illinois yet. mom texted and was like "we're in this one place" and i got there and no they weren't, plus there was a trumpet (stab), so i started to text her back, but then she called, and i had to run away so i could talk. and then she was like "why don't you just text me" and i said "yeah that's what i was doing when you called thanks" and she said "oh. bye." ha. so eventually we found each other and she bought me beer, and we went and got food, and sat by the lake. meanwhile, everyone in the city got out of work and came to 'fest and it was fucking insane.

cordy and andrea and their friend showed up, we found them, dear god it was crowded, and so we went to look at the lake again. climbed to the lawn seating at the top of the marcus amphitheatre so we could look at the actual whole lake, not just the lagoon bit. it was pretty amazing. i hadn't been in marcus since about 1997 or so when i saw bob dylan and paul simon, so this was pretty fucking cool. boats. did i mention boats are the best?

made our ways back down to our seats, which were all over the place. i was fairly close-- not as close as i would have liked, but high up enough to see much of the orchestra (if the piano had been elsewhere). before the show i was like "they can't fit an orchestra in front of that screen, what are they going to do?" and andrea and cordy were like "just wait." when i got to my seat, i could see that the orchestra was behind the screen, but i was still confused. "just wait."

( just wait. )

waited for cordy, then couldn't wait any longer or i'd miss my bus. said goodbye to andrea, shoved my way back through the 'fest throngs to an exit, any exit, and pushed my way up to jackson and over to michigan. bus? nope. however, i recognized a dude from the bus to summerfest, and asked if he thought we were in the right spot. he did think so (at least that's what the driver told us at 5), and lo, the bus didst appear. got on, curled up in a seat, checked my red rain video to make sure it had decent sound (it does), turned florence back on, and pretty much checked out for the entire ride back to madison.

nelle and mel picked me up, nelle got pulled over for the FIRST TIME EVER for a burned out headlight, and they dropped me at home. zzzzzzz.

thursday! i took nelle out to brasserie v for lunch, since she had been driving me all over creation and i felt i owed her at the very least for coming out and getting me the night before. she also had a bucky book coupon (two for one lunch!), and it was lovely. we ordered frites which came with this amazing cajun aioli. we had beer (a saison for me, a porter for her), she got a whole sandwich, i got a half and some very eastern european cabbage soup, and it was all extremely lovely. back to her place, back to dad's place.

lisa showed up later (did i mention she and dad are engaged now? yeah), and despite my reservations we had a very nice evening.

friday! the three of us hung out the next day, and sometime in the afternoon lisa took the zoe puppy back to her mom. dad was sort of heartbroken, it was very sad. nelle came and picked me up about 3:30, and off we went to mineral point and brewery creek, nelle's parents' inn and brewery! it is in a building from the 1850s with three foot thick stone walls, and truly kickass. i am IN FUCKING LOVE with her dad's summer shandy. god i could drink it by the gallon. her mom told us that room 2 had not been rented that evening, so we were welcome to stay the night since after dinner we were off to american players theatre, aka my favorite place in the world. nelle had never been there before! i'm a little sad that her very first play was not a shakespeare, but richard brinsley sheridan's laff riot the critic was as good an introduction as any. a review in the isthmus said that it was bloody hilarious, but at points almost collapsing under the weight of its own absurdity. which i have to agree with, but i also think that if they'd pulled any comic punches, it wouldn't have gone off nearly as well. also, it's almost a guarantee: if APT actors are in 18th century costume, you are going to laugh your arse off. (oh look, there it goes now.) a splendid time was guaranteed for all (despite it being about 94˚ until 11p when it cooled off to 89˚). back to the inn for the night, sleeping in blessed a/c.

saturday! took a roundabout and absolutely gorgeous route back to madison.

( huge picture is cut for hugeity )

went up to state street to hit up a room of one's own for two books: bright's passage by mr josh ritter, and american gods tenth anniversary (the authors preferred text) by mr neil gaiman. found them both. hojeez i spent a lot on books today, but i spent it at room, so i'm not complaining. nelle dropped me off at home, where i interrupted dad's nap, and polished off bright's passage in about six hours (counting food and conversation breaks). i was disappointed and somewhat alarmed to find that mr ritter has apparently fridged a girl in order to make his plot go. SIGH. I THOUGHT BETTER OF YOU, SIR. i'm going to have to read it again.

so that's basically that. it is now saturday night, i can't believe i've done all the stuff in only a week, and i still have a week to go! this coming week is even more jam-packed than the past one, so don't expect awesome epic posts like this (even though i would love to keep it up). i mean, u2 tends to fuck my posting plans quite thoroughly. but i will try. because going through every minute detail of my days is sort of fun (provided interesting things happen during those days).

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( so basically my one-and-a-half thoughts on Doctor Who 6x02: )

goodbye, Elisabeth Sladen. i'm going to watch Ark In Space in your honor. because Ark In Space is brilliant.

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so i can't really articulate how i feel about the protests in Wisconsin right now. probably because i have such mixed feelings about it. thrilled that people are doing this, excited that such an important event is going down in my hometown, livid at Walker for having so little respect for the people who work for him, and completely brokenhearted and actually quite guilty that i'm not there. booking a weekend flight is looking so good right now, but i can't i can't i can't. (it's a three day weekend, even! FUUUUUUUUCK.)

therefore, i've been velcroed to twitter and faceboat all week, trying to keep up. i'm going to attempt to post links to the best stuff i've found.

i'm gonna start this off with the email i sent to Scott Walker, which will be utterly ignored. ( i am not a happy camper. )

unfortunately i live out of state, so i don't count.

basically, what's going on is this: Governor Scott Walker, he of the "no we don't need the train let's kill the train project and reject all this federal money that they are willingly giving us GODDAMN I'M AN IDIOT" before he even took office, has decided that the best way to fix Wisconsin's budget deficit is to screw public workers. which includes municipal workers, university employees, parks employees, every kind of civil servant you can think of, and OH YEAH TEACHERS. (which brings me to this photo right here: Scott: your son is in my class.)

except the budget deficit? wouldn't even EXIST if not for Scott Walker! in an op-ed piece, the Cap Times says Walker gins up ‘crisis’ to reward cronies. and hey, look at those numbers! even i can understand this bit.

In its Jan. 31 memo to legislators on the condition of the state’s budget, the Fiscal Bureau determined that the state will end the year with a balance of $121.4 million.

To the extent that there is an imbalance -- Walker claims there is a $137 million deficit -- it is not because of a drop in revenues or increases in the cost of state employee contracts, benefits or pensions. It is because Walker and his allies pushed through $140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January. If the Legislature were simply to rescind Walker’s new spending schemes -- or delay their implementation until they are offset by fresh revenues -- the “crisis” would not exist.

so basically, Walker gave a bunch of money to his business partners in teabaggery, and he's demanding that the people who work for him pick up the tab. by the way? the money is not the issue. i can't stress that enough. the hikes in pension funds and health insurance fees is not the issue. the issue is that Walker finds it necessary to remove the unions' collective bargaining rights as well. he's pretty much cutting the unions off at the balls. union members will no longer be able to pay dues directly from their paychecks, unions will have to hold annual votes to see if they're still relevant, and the only thing unions will be able to bargain for is wages. which will be dependent on inflation. no bargaining for anything else. ANYTHING. even some Republicans think this is too radical.

Wisconsin has a very long history of workers' rights and labor unions (see primary documents at the Wisconsin State Historical Society). because of unions, we have paid time off, we have health insurance, we have bereavement leave, we have mental health days. we have child labor laws. we have eight-hour work days. we have a minimum wage. we have weekends. because of the labor movement and unions. in 1959, the state legislature granted bargaining rights to local government workers. Scott Walker, in classic Republican fear-the-hungry-masses style, wants to undo over fifty years of workers' rights. in the guise of A BUDGET REPAIR BILL. i do not have the WORDS for how much this man FILLS ME WITH BURNING RAGE.

where are the Democrats, you ask? well. this is the best part, and also the part that offsets my UTTER FURY and allows me to breathe. the Democrats FUCKED OFF. THEY BRAVELY RAN AWAY, AWAY. (not a relevant link, just funny.) they literally fled the state so the Republicans wouldn't have a quorum for the vote on the bill. Walker sent the state troopers after them (a group of state employees, by the way, whose union is exempt from the bill, along with firefighters and police, because Scott Walker couldn't possibly be such a monster, could he?), but since they crossed state lines, the troopers were unable to track them down and bring them back. this was on tuesday, i believe? they're still gone. people have hung a huge sign from the capitol building, reading RUN DEMS RUN. i love it.

so that's the story so far! my dad has been down there a few times, sending me photos from his blackberry, the little geek, and taking part in what has to be just a fucking amazing experience. i think everyone i know in Madison has taken part, and my mom (who lives in Milwaukee) is finally going tomorrow, after hopping up and down in impatience all week. now i'm going to let other people who are much more articulate than me have a chance.

first we have former Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold on Rachel Maddow (youtube). goddamn i love that man. please join Progressives United.

State Senator John Erpenbach on Rachel Maddow as well, being interviewed from an undisclosed location (msnbc). "i'm not on a beach." AHAHA.

here's the first mention on the BBC: Democrats flee Wisconsin Senate to slow anti-union bill.
the second mention: Protesters keep up pressure at Wisconsin capitol.
and in pictures: Wisconsin union protests.

JacquelynGill is a great twitter account to follow; it sounds like she's been in the capitol building for days. #wiunion is the hashtag to follow, and WEAC, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, is a great source for info too.

a joke from Scott Walker Is A Douchebag on faceboat: Q. what's the difference between the wisconsin state senate and a pineapple? A. on a pineapple, the pricks are on the outside.

Wonkette: Teabaggers Annoy WI Democrats At Lazy River; WI Gov Threatens Obama. this r srs lol. i certainly hope that Senator Fred Risser is enjoying a margarita and a warm water park somewhere in Rockford. also, the fox news article it links to, Wisconsin Governor to Obama: Mind Your Own Business, asserts that Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller lives in Montana. he doesn't. he lives in Monona. let me illustrate.



however, the state troopers know where Senator Miller lives. here's what happened when Walker sent them to fetch him. oh how i loled.

as of today, Unions offer concessions as Capitol stalemate, protests continue (Wisconsin State Journal).

this weekend? is going to be big. i mean, BIG. not that this hasn't already been big. this might be the biggest demonstration Madison has ever seen. certainly the biggest since the Vietnam protests in the sixties. so, here are some tips for a safe and happy protest, and also what to do to protect yourself if shit gets ugly. Madison-types, if you're going tomorrow, please read this. i don't want any black eyes or broken bones (or even any stomped-on toes if you can help it). keep it peaceful, keep it upbeat, please be safe, and don't let the t-bags get you down! don't confront, they'll just boil your bones to make their bread. and remember, they're not even Wisconsinites! they'll have been carted in from out-of-state just to piss you off and start shit. don't let them.

for those of us out of state or otherwise unable to participate in the flesh, here are a couple things we can do. donations for 'Fox News will lie about this' banners! also, feed the demonstrators! Ian's Pizza is taking orders from around the country, and delivering pizzas up the block to the capitol. they take visa and mastercard, and their phone number is 608-257-9248.

i'm going to close with a couple things that made me so happy there were tears in my eyes. first, Egypt Supports Wisconsin. second, a video showing just how dedicated, energetic, positive, and above all, PEACEFUL, the people in this protest are. there was surprise Arcade Fire, so those who are susceptible, beware.

ok, so i've spent... about two and a half hours throwing this together, and i'm sure there's plenty i've missed, but i'm going to stop anyway. because otherwise i'll be trying to track down every link i've read over the past week, and my brain will leak from my ears and nostrils, and that's just gross.

solidarity, Wisconsin.

[edit: no, wait! one last thing! Representative Paul Ryan (R-Dist. 1) wants everyone to know that there is RIOTING IN THE STREETS OF MADISON! panic! chaos! it's like CAIRO! and it must be true, because he said so on MSNBC! well.



this is me, ded from laff.]

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mom called me within five minutes of getting out of the shower last night, so here's an alternate 21:00 frame from yesterday.



and then she texts me today: OMG THE SHOVELING THERE IS NOWHERE LEFT TO PUT THE SNOW AND I CAN'T FEEL MY LEFT ARM

my suggestion: have a hot bath, a beer, and a nap?

her riposte: no, the water will go cold too fast

me, after going WHAT??!?!??!1 at my phone: well, the beer and the nap. two out of three.

her, winding down: i have lemon tea and am lounging on the sofa

me, just trying to help: hot water is good for sore muscles. i bet you'll be feeling it tomorrow.

her, because there just isn't enough in the world to be sad about: i expect to be wincing with every move i make

and then i had to Stop It because i was flailing at my phone, going "THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT" and no good would have come of any extension to that conversation. OH MOMS. WHAT CAN YOU DO.


i am attempting to fight off a sore throat slash run down tired feeling type thing. if it can just hold off until friday, then i can have the weekend to be tromped on by germs. that's fine. just. can i get through tomorrow, please? (it's too damn early in the year to take sick time. grr.)

and lastly, OMG CAN I HAVE A SNOW DAY TOO MOM PLEASE? because this looks like the MOST FUN EVER.



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one more before bed!

::chinstroke:: this may require its own tag.

edit, 23:09: and the one more. i look like a sheep in the 21:00 frame.



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hey ho fellow yuletider! it's that time again! i am SO EXCITED for this year, are you? yaaaay!

so, to business. i know i gave you, dear author, almost no help at all with these prompts, but i blame the new signup format. change is oh so confusing, please hold my hand. but hey, that's why dear yuletider letters exist, non?

( click me! click me! )

seriously dudes, i am SO EXCITED and i CAN'T WAIT to get started! i hope this helps you, o esteemed author, and if you don't find it, well, that's ok too. i will be sure to love anything you create, because how awesome is it that we share a teeny fandom! HAPPY YULETIMES!


<3 izzy

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17. a song containing lyrics you would get a tattoo of

already done, but i'll throw in another just for funsies.


see icon. my left foot. also, what the fuck is this camerawork. dnw.



this is a thought for the future (when i have money again).


( 30 days )

today was a day of laundry and lying on my bed doing fuckall. lovely. the quiet was excellent. sometimes quiet is exactly what's needed.

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8. one band/singer whose popularity you will never understand

see, but the thing is, i do understand. i understand that people have different tastes, and i understand that some people have dreadfully, irreparably bad taste, and that the music THEY like tends to be the super trendy big-selling drivel that i cannot stomach.

but i UNDERSTAND.

( 30 days )

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iphones to happen in seven to ten business days! how exciting. how 21st century. oh indeed. (i don't get to keep my number though. this makes me sad.)

today i looked at airfares to madison over labor day. they mock me with their near affordability. damn you, rent. the midmonth paycheck is always the fun one anyway. maybe they'll come down some more.

see, this is what happens. i open up the 'update' page, and then completely lose all inspiration (and literacy).

realized today why you never get to read any of shakespeare's comedies in high school: all the dick and fart jokes. damn you, falstaff, you ruined it for everyone!

friday night, jill and dave were here! we watched some sneaky footage of peter gabriel's soundcheck at the bowl, and then STOP MAKING SENSE. why are they so brilliant. david byrne is a snarky motherfucker, tina weymouth is fucking amazing, and chris frantz makes me want to DIE. the soundtrack lives in my car now.

many fun times at amy's 11th 25th birthday on saturday. slip and or slide, water balloonage, sidewalk chalk, pin the tail on ken's house, grillin' and chillin', and a frickin' piñata that i busted open like a badass. unh. amy needs to post the video of us breaking water balloons on our heads, because that was SWEET. people kept driving past her house to gawk. like multiple times. how are we so cool.

heading down to orange county and jill's apparently endless house and musical instrument collection for the fourth. taking the train! that will be fun. trains are inherently excellent.

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answers to the 'guess the lyric IF YOU CAN' meme, plus the winners, are under the cut. because i spent an hour and 45 minutes waiting for the car place to change my oil, put in a new headlight, and remove the rusty bolts from the front bumper so i can put the damn license plate on. (they did the oil and the headlight. apparently i'm on my own for the rusty bolts, even though they said sure no problem we won't even charge you. fuckers.)

( artist and title goes here )

came home to BOOKS BOOKS ALL THE TIME BOOKS. mmmmmbooks. tried to unscrew to bolts off my bumper, but they're seriously on there good. i don't know what i'm going to do about that.

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guess the lyric IF YOU CAN meme is still running, so go ON. GUESS. i'll probably keep it going through the weekend at least.

so on wednesday, i drove out to Pasadena after work to meet up with commodorified, pecunium, and their friend Sarah. went to Lucky Baldwin's, the pub we hit up after Huntington Gardens last August, which was lovely. monopolized the jukebox again, had excellent pasties, excellent beer, and excellent company. a splendid time was guaranteed for all.

last night i went out to Pasadena again (with Cordy, Amy, Ken, and Dave) to meet up with rhythmsextion and half of her Fockers at Barney's, which was much louder and much more crowded than Lucky Baldwin's (and far far surpassed their obnoxiousness levels as well). but we still had a good time. they played fairly decent music for the most part, and what wasn't decent was easily mockable.

Pasadena twice in three days is a bit much for me and my gas tank, however. on the other hand, i really like driving that section of the 134 by Eagle Rock. so it's all good.


i've finally got to watch the BBC's Wonders Of The Solar System series. OH MY GOD. Enceladus. the ice crystal GEYSERS on Enceladus. Titan. LIQUID METHANE LAKES on the surface of Titan. SATURN'S RINGS UNH. Saturn was always my favorite.

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this is not a first line music meme. this is also not catwalksalone's chain link music meme. this is a 'find the lyric buried somewhere deep in the song IF YOU CAN' meme.

comments are screened, guess as many as you can (artist AND title for one point, artist OR title for half a point), and whoever guesses the most WINS CASH AND PRIZES! well. maybe not cash. but there will be a prize. i suppose it depends on who wins; some of you are not as much about the fic as others. we'll work something out.

( lyrics go here )

in other news, i dreamed about Venice this morning. a part of Venice that i'm pretty sure doesn't actually exist, but whatever. i was on this little observation deck thingy with a ton of other people, and it was creaking and swaying under the weight, so i went back into the main building because it was freaky. but GORGEOUS. god i love Venice. i mean damn.

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oh god my eyes are burning.

tonight at orchestra, one of the people in my section came in late. he was mumbling to himself while getting his violin out and looking everywhere for his music. very disruptive and annoying. so i said look, why don't you just share with me. and stop being so irritating, i did not say. and this is what i get for being a good person.

HE REEKED. like b.o. and smoke. my eyes watered and i couldn't take a deep breath for two hours. it was pretty fucking miserable. i suppose i feel bad for the flute player who usually sits next to me since she had to breathe and everything, but OH GOD. and every time i scooted away (with the excuse of not wanting to poke him in the head with my bow), he scooted closer (with the excuse of needing to see the music, like he couldn't move the STAND or something).

got in the shower as soon as i got home. was very thorough. can still smell him. this is disgusting. i almost asked him, during the break, can you possibly hold off on the cigarette please, but i don't know how to politely inform someone that they SMELL BAD.

i am having a beer and watching West Wing because i feel i deserve it.

(also on sunday i broke the mug that Claire gave me a couple xmases ago, and that makes me a lot sad.)

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ok. it's about damn time i did it, and damned_colonial's recent post gave me the kick in the ass i needed. pretty much this:

And as for my friends who are still on LJ... well, here's the thing. Let's say my friends were meeting every Friday at a bar where I felt intensely uncomfortable. Say, for instance, that the owner of the bar keeps standing round listening to our conversation over our shoulders, and never gives us correct change, and lets a bunch of GOD HATES FAGS protesters set up right by the door. And I say to my friends, hey, I don't like this, why don't we go to another bar? And my friends ignore me. And I say it again, and they continue to ignore me. So I say, "OK, I'm going to be at this other bar on Friday night, and I'll buy the first round," and most of my friends don't show up.

Well, fuck that.

if i'm reading you on dreamwidth, i'm removing you from my lj flist. obviously this is not because i don't love you. but you're HERE already. (if you aren't crossposting to dreamwidth, i'm not removing you. also obviously.)

and since they're just sitting there, some invite codes!

https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=BZMA3YX3TTGMGAAAAR6J
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=CY95GD75N6H9VAAABGFY
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=H5DY8J4XKTJZRAAABGFZ
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=EH9BYB7TSJEB2AAADNHQ
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=3A3QCYVAXYPHEAAADNHR
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=CBBTGRB5XN6AEAAADNHS
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=K3YM7N5PWN5PYAAADYTL
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=8M2K9FREVVPMAAAAEGY8
https://www.dreamwidth.org/create?from=izzy&code=6EB4SYKEAHB9RAAAEGY9

have at.

in other news, i have arranged the fugue from Bach's Prelude And Fugue No. 1 for string quartet. now i just have to make GarageBand do a bit of magic so i can see if it works or if it's totally lame and i just wasted the past three evenings. (aside from Bell X1. that was not a waste. that was awesome good times and if i only ever hear The Great Defector on two acoustic guitars ever again, i shall be happy. also, Paul Noonan making Simpsons references is one of the best things ever. another of the best things ever is Paul Noonan's voice off mic. holy shit yes.)

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so i'm doing that movie quote meme because it looks like fun? but i'm posting on dreamwidth? haha. let's see how this works out.

1. Pick 15 of your favourite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Fill in the film title once it's guessed.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search functions.

1. "form up. stay alert. we could run out of space real fast." Return Of The Rhythmically Impaired Fighter Jocks Jedi, lisaofdoom

2. "you can hit me all day 'cos you punch like a wot?" "a girl!" A Knights Tale, rhythmsextion

3. "not a bit like cagney." Help!, stateless

4. "ok. leave this to me. i'm british, i know how to queue." The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, rhythmsextion

5. "it's not easy being a cast-iron bitch. it takes discipline, and years of training. a lot of people don't appreciate that." The Abyss, antigone_ks

6. "excuse me, are we a little teapot?" In & Out, commodorified

7. "you fool, no man can kill me. die now." "i am no man." Return Of The King, sasha_feather

8. "when danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled." Monty Python And The Holy Grail, rhythmsextion

9. "'this is how it is,' the music is saying. 'not how you are used to being. not how you are used to thinking. but like this.'"

10. "a peaceful, uneventful day in a town much like your own. then suddenly, without warning... atomic holocaust!" The Iron Giant, antigone_ks

11. "you've got a promo featuring america's favorite old fart! reading a book, in front of a fireplace! now, i have to kill all of you!" Scrooged, megstress

12. "ha! you may think i'm a hardhearted black sock, but underneath this woolly exterior is a naked pink foot."

13. "am i too late for alexander's panic attack? ...apparently not." Galaxy Quest, lisaofdoom

14. "sell my guitars? would you tell picasso to sell his guitars?" School(io) Of Rock(ness), joy_and_thunder

15. "what's the first thing you remember?" "...no, it's no good. it was a long time ago." Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, lisaofdoom


so yesterday i left work at noon because i was tireder than a really tired thing. went home and slept until 4. woke up, showered, stopped off at orchestra to beg the Bartok and Debussy off of Jim (who didn't have it but seemed pleased at my go-getter-ness and said he'd have it for me next week), went to the store, went home, did nothing, went to bed, slept all night. woke up this morning feeling like a person. it was amazing.

and now i'm starting the extremely daunting task of tagging all my old entries. like, since february '01. oy vey.

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