Side One

[I wrote this last night, but Geocities was down, so I couldn't upload it until this morning.]

If there's no traffic, it takes exactly one hour for me to get from Marissa's front door to my front door. That's useful to know.

I had a fun fine time tonight, but I'm too sleepy to do it justice. So for now, I'll give you something random to tide you over.

I listen to music in the car, especially on long drives. I've been making a mixed tape, and last night I finished Side One of a 120-minute tape. I listened to it on the way to and from Hayward tonight. Here's the annotated line-up, in order:

• "Oppenheimer," The Old 97's. I love this song. One of my criteria for this tape was that I be able to sing along with all the tracks, and this is one of my favorites to brutalize with my own vocal rendition. It's a song about love, how it's difficult and rewarding and can be all-encompassing. And even though I'm rather opposed to the whole One True Love idea (I think it's silly, unrealistic, dull, and dangerous), I still sing my head off at the line "No, I'm never gonna fall for anyone else but her." My ideology doesn't stand a chance against The Old 97's.
  

• "That's Just What You Are," Aimee Mann. I am not as hip as Amily-- I've only had this album for a couple of months, and Amily's had it for years. I wonder, after me and Amily broke up (it was a rough separation), did she listen to this song and nod along? "Would it kill you just to try and be a nicer guy?" I definitely could have been a nicer guy back then.
  

• "The King of Carrot Flowers," Neutral Milk Hotel. I first heard this song on a live tape that I borrowed from D. I don't even remember what band covered it-- Tomato Love Apple, maybe? Anyway, I dug the cover enough that I bought this album, and the original is even better. Dark and twisted and joyful and addictive.
  

• "The Best Time of the Year," Rockwell Church. Such good songwriting! So sad and particular!
  

• "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby," Counting Crows. I listened to This Desert Life often on my drive cross-country to Santa Cruz, during which, of course, I crossed a desert (or two). This is my favorite track from that album. Even if I don't know what the song's about, exactly.
  

• "The Victim," Juliana's Pony. My favorite song from the Total System Failure CD. Juliana is the maestra of bitter, sarcastic rock.
  

• "Saving Grace," Jodie Manross. To think I hardly noticed her when she sang with 3-Five-7! Jodie's CD Still is lovely, and (as you've no doubt guessed) this is my favorite song from it. Folky big-voiced goodness.
  

• "Fishtail on the Washboard," Valorie. Valorie played at the Lake Eden Arts Festival. This is a song about cars, objects, personal mythology, neo-luddism, and resistance from within a system. It's one of my favorite songs, period. The lyrics are singable poetry. Listening to it tonight made me really miss Meg, though-- we went to the Festival together, and that long weekend was one of the best times of my life. I wish Meg was here with me.
  

• "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," Neutral Milk Hotel. I listen to this song and my heart fills up with summer.
  

• "Wise Up," Aimee Mann. I liked the movie Magnolia a lot (except for the bits with Tom Cruise-- knowing his character was supposed to be unbearable didn't make him any more bearable). My favorite part of the movie is when all the characters sing along with this song.
  

• "The Carnival," Bikini Kill. "This is a song about the seedy underbelly of the carnival. The part that only the kids know about. This is a song about 16-year-old girls giving carnies head for free rides and hits of pot." I think that, Kathleen Hanna's opening spiel, pretty well sums it up.
  

• "Not a Pretty Girl," Ani DiFranco. You know how great this song is, right? Yeah. That great.
  

• "When You Loved Me," Juliana Hatfield. Sad sad sad! But I love to sing it.
  

• "Valentine," The Old 97's. Of all the ways a man can lose his heart, there ain't none better than he tears his own apart. What with V-tine's day coming up, this seemed an appropriate track to include. A slow and sedate song, especially when compared to "Oppenheimer."
  

• "Keep It Up," Soul Asylum. I needed something short and happy to fill out the tape, and the boisterous enthusiasm of this song fit the bill. I've been a Soul Asylum fan for years, and they've been underrepresented in my mixed tapes recently. Of course, their last couple of CD's haven't been especially good. The quality of their many albums really does describe a near-perfect bell-curve... One wonders if they'll rise again.
  

Okay, g'night, kiddies. Don’t stay up too late. The last one out of the circus has to clean up everything.