At the Bottom of Everything

This week owned me, it kicked my ass in every imaginable way. It was very sad for all involved. And now it's over. So maybe karma can cut me a break?

How did my week suck? Let me count the ways:
1. Work. My cube assignment was moved into uncharted territory, far from the people who have made Monday through Friday bearable. It takes me about three months to fully warm up to new people and I only have two months left. I imagine that everyone around me thinks I'm weird which is unfair because I am clearly the normal one. Also the keyboard was filthy! I felt like Monk cleaning it out. Gross.

2. Arienette. Some jackass-douchebag-motherfucker stole my bike's back wheel. What the fuck?! Really?! What the hell are you going to do with a tire? I've been imagining revenge scenarios since Wednesday. I am not a forgiving person. Especially considering that it's going to cost me around $130 to replace the damned thing. That's twice what I originally paid for the thing! Not cool. Part of the issue is keeping it as a fixed gear/non-coasting bike.

Side note: I know this is probably a ridiculous thing to do. Culturally, I mean. But like the author of Stuff White People Like, I can't seem to help myself. It's kind of like driving a stick shift car, more control and more fun. And since I'd pay later to change it back, I might as well get it done right the first time. Provided the shop I took it to can figure out the logistics. I sort of suspect it's a drug front.

3. Fortunately I found a reduced price Saturday ticket to Lollapalooza. I didn't really plan to go at all this year since $80/day seems steep to pay for an event. (I understand the arguments of dividing per band you see, etc but it's still $80 down). Also I don't really like festivals since I end up hot and gross feeling, dislike portapotties and get sunburned just thinking about no cloud coverage. However, it's my birthday weekend and I have a boatload of SPF 50 leftover from Pitchfork.

The urge to see CSS, creative budgeting and the desire to have a Friday off work tempted me to get a Friday ticket as well. Even after the bike incident of '08 I thought I could maybe swing the entrance fee. Of course, I made my final decision at 2:30 am Friday after going out Thursday night. By which time tickets were sold out. I blame Radiohead.

4. All the little things you don't think about that go wrong on an every day basis but suddenly develop significance when larger things fuck up. Examples: missing the bus, losing newly purchased items, late payment charges, sudden shift to genuinely hot/humid summer weather that I dislike, etc.

5. Deleted for personal reasons.

6. Missing the vast majority of Shark Week because I didn't realize it was happening. Fortunately we have On Demand and I caught parts of the Top 10 Deadliest Sharks, How to Not Get Bit, Dirty Jobs: Greenland something Shark.


*The (Liz) Lemon Shark-My New Favorite

I feel like there was something else but I forget. I know this is all very whiny. IDC.

Today ought to be better. Devotchka, Okkervil River, Wilco and Mason Jennings for sure. Probably some other stuff. We'll just have to wait and see.

Indeed!

P.S. I have been listening to the new Black Kids album all week and wish to amend any prior statements I may have made. It is awesome! Especially the song Love Me Already. I really like how the music mirrors the lyrics. Also the new Conor Oberst song Danny Callahan is also fun and awesome.

"What's sweet? What's bitter?"

So Pitchfork fell firmly in the "Awesome" column again this year. I could probably spend an hour discussing the festival but I'm still exhausted. Perhaps if I spend any portion of this weekend at Dollop I can summarize the awesomeness that was Les Savy Fav, Jarvis Cocker, etc (sadly I missed M Ward but She & Him are playing in town soon.) I even managed to restrain myself at the record fair so I only picked up a few things:

1. British Sea Power-Open Season
2. Of Montreal-? 7" (Subtext Read, Nothing New?/Back to School)
3. Rainer Maria-Hell and High Water 7"

I've had side A of the last one on repeat for the past 24 hours or so. Until they're rolling out of the speakers, I tend to forget how much I actually enjoy Rainer Maria. I love their song titles but generally I skip over them on my way down the alphabet on my Ipod. Their roughness reminds me of Braid but not in a derivative way. But I digress.


"I've seen the girl who'll be brave when I run off
She's been picking her fights like she knows how to win them"

Hip or...?

Sarah-Sarah and I have started playing a new game when we go to shows. It's called HIP or PEDOPHILE? Essentially the game involves pointing out other concert attendees and deciding if they are HIP or if they are PEDOPHILES. Sometimes they are BOTH.

Once we played using a the video of I'm From Barcelona's song "We're From Barcelona."* Those members of the at-home audience can play along if they have a copy (conveniently found on Youtube ).

HIP or PEDOPHILE is derived from 'the Burg mini-episode titled HIP or DANGEROUS .

Which is my way of saying you should watch the 'Burg.



Indeed.









*Disclaimer. I in no way mean to imply that any member of I'm From Barcelona is, in fact, a pedophile (or hip for that matter, for those who find the term offensive, or even that any member of I'm From Barcelona *has* hips). It just happened to be the music video we had On Demanded when we created our version of the game. I do mean to imply, however, that some of the band members have creepy facial hair.

**I am slowly teaching myself HTML tags. I imagine it's as annoying as people learning to make signs in Paintshop and using five billion fonts on a single page. The internet is fun!