moving on

finals week!

dear u.s. government,

Tragic story out of Kato today: http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_126091507.html

Can't say I blame him.

one of those conversations

I think I'm going to go to Montana next week. First North Dakota, then Montana. Will you drive? No. Take the train out of Minneapolis. When? Right after the movers come and clean my apartmnent out. Why? Because I don't want to go home just yet. How come? I have my reasons. What are they? My fault. Are people going to be mad? Yup.

what my iTunes top 10 Just For You song selections might say about me

Me and iTunes have a special connection; you might call it a thing. I give iTunes things (money) and iTunes generates long lists of you bought X Album, which means you should spend $9.99 on Y Album. Our relationship is strictly monetary. We don't call each other and chat about how the latest Broken Social Scene album lacks the umph of the Feist years and we don't think to send one another themed compilations via snail mail. It's rare if I purchase a song from the Just For You list, songs iTunes tells me "have been chosen just for me" because I know what I want to buy before I get onto the site. iTunes is not my store, it is the register that allows me to walk out of the store without the alarms sounding off. There's no annoyed riffling of money by the young goth chick stuck behind the counter at the record store who sees that I've purchased some Pixies and wants to know if I've heard the new Breeders album. On iTunes, if I purchase the Pixies, they might tell me I should purchase Colbie Caillat (just puked in my mouth a little).

But, what if there was actually a person behind my Just For Me selections, plugging all my purchases into a database, cross-referencing genres and artists to come up with the perfect musical cocktail? What on earth must this person think of me? What does my iTunes top 10 say about me?

10. Fools, The Dodo's
This girl has bookmarked Pitchfork. (...and visits it at least once a week.)

9. Flourscent Adolescent, Arctic Monkeys
This girl likes internal rhyme that's clever without being annoying (true, as a writer I pay attention to the sound of words) and she likes obscure nature references (also true! I'm a NatGeo/Nova/Discovery nut!).

8. Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, Asleep at the Wheel
Umm. OK.


7. Run Rudolph Run, Chuck Berry
Okay, I get Christmas songs a lot. It's for my annual Christmas mixes. I hate them 11 1/2 months out of the year, but it's all worth it once December rolls around and the fam is dancing and singing and drunk and waiting for Santa.

6. Baba O'Riley, The Who
Rock musicals...hell yes. She's got Hedwig and ATU. She's gotta love The Who.

5. School of Hard Knocks, Van Morrison
Hmmm...from the looks of it, a priviledged white girl. Better throw this one in.

4. Everything She Wants, Wham!
This is one of those out-of-left-fielders. For the record, Faith and Freedom George Michael does not equal Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go George Michael.

3. Things I Don't Remember, Ugly Cassanova
This girl likes Modest Mouse. (This makes me think there's more to this list generation than I thought because all the MM in my library is from my own personal collection; none was purchased on iTunes. They might just be on to something.)

2. Little Boxes, Pete Seeger
(Maybe you do pay attention, iTunes! Bravo.)

1. Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis
(Shit. I'm not mad. Just dissapointed.)