Saturday, April 12, 2008

Mixtape For My Faux-"Last Day of Work"*

This turned out to be a bit premature. Alas.

1. The Good Life-Some Bullshit Escape (Black Out)
2. Tegan and Sara-Wake Up Exhausted (So Jealous)
3. Cursive-A Career in Transcendence (Storms of Early Summer)
4. Against Me!-Walking Is Still Honest (Crime [EP])
5. Art Brut-Blame It on the Trains (It's a Bit Complicated)
6. Maria Taylor-One for the Shareholder (11:11)
7. Belle & Sebastian-Step Into My Office Baby (Dear Catastrophe Waitress)
8. Bikini Kill-Suck My Left One (CD Version of the First Two Albums)
9. Embrace-Money (s/t)
10. Desaparecidos-$$$ (Read Music, Speak Spanish)
11. The Faint-Your Retro Career Just Melted (Danse Macabre)
12. T(I)NC-Capitolism Stole My Virginity (A New Morning...)
13. Les Savy Fav-Knowing How the World Works (Inches)
14. The Clash-Career Opportunities (s/t)
15. John Vanderslice-Coming and Going on Easy Terms (Cellar Door)
16. Tilly and the Wall-the Freest Man (Bottoms of Barrels)
17. She and Him-Magic Trick (KCRW Open Road Recording)
18. Devotchka-We're Leaving (How It Ends)

*This is the truncated version as the original was far too long.

**On an unrelated note, I've been looking for that John Vanderslice song forever. Except I was convinced that it was by Wolf Parade even though there was no evidence to support such a belief (there may have actually been *negative* evidence).

From Such Great Heights

The past couple of weeks have been hell-ish. But the job drama is over, in the way where i still have one, so that's a positive thing. And I went out with coworkers last night. There's a bar/restaurant across the street from where I work that makes very strong Long Islands (which I don't drink because tequila is my nemesis) and awesome Whisky Sours.

Originally, when I thought I was going to be through working at the CQC, I felt like an actress playing a prisoner facing their execution. The audience knows that the hero is going to escape (perhaps the hanging rope will break) and ride off into the sunset. And in fact, I did get my reprieve. The governor, as it were, called at the 11th hour. Except I didn't get a pardon, I got commuted to a life sentence (or six month extension of my contract).

Now I feel like a supposed terminal patient whose doctor later calls them back to admit the labs made a mistake and they're not really dying. It should be great news but all I can think of now is how I've already sold my home and bought my ticket to Europe (metaphorically).

If nothing else keeping my job means that I will be able to afford my adult apartment and the lifestyle to which I've become accustomed (ie. spending too much on CDs, concert tickets, etc.)

Speaking of CDs, I went to Laurie's (Planet of Sound-henceforth just Laurie's) today to buy myself celebratory music. I love that store, seriously. They generally have what I'm looking for even when I'm not actually looking for anything. This is how I get myself into trouble, actually. And the staff is super nice. I've finally broken the silence barrier so now sometimes I actually exchange a sentence or two with whoever is behind the register. It's kind of awesome.

Today's purchases included Lucinda William's "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" and the Postal Service's "Give Up." I've actually had both albums in digital format at one point or another but have sadly lost them. And lucky me, the gentleman behind the register decided to forgo charging me tax on my purchase. This was especially great considering the amount of money I'm responsible for sending the government in the next few days to balance out my taxes (or the lack thereof).

And now I'm sitting at Dollop drinking peppermint tea and contemplating what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. Stay tuned and we'll be surprised together.