Some Mighty Fine Wine

Normally I object to all forms of plagiarism, as well as music snobbery. I try to be original (well, as original as you can be on a blog, which isn’t saying much) and I’m about the furthest thing from a music snot there is. But I saw this on Joe’s blog and he encouraged others to try it, so I kind of feel okay about it. I’m not sure of the original rules, or even if there were any. I know Joe added a rule of no hip hop, but Joe can eat it, cuz I really needed hip hop for number 8. Anyway, I had a lot of fun doing this, and I suggest you guys try it, too.

Mixtape Challenge

1. A favorite political track –
“War”, Edwin Starr
I played this over and over when my brother was in Iraq. But I loved this song long before any of that shit went down. It’s heavy, but it’s still incredibly fun to sing along to, and you can rock out to it while you wash your car.

2. A track that will get you out on the dance floor no matter what –
“Don’t Stop Movin'” – S Club 7
This song is silly, and anything associated with Simon Fuller should be immediately thrown out. However, whenever I hear this song, I can’t help but think about the clubs in London. My friends and I would get dressed up and go to some posh club… and proceed to do “The Lawnmower”, “The Shopping Cart”, and basically every other horrific dance we could think of. It was one of the best times of my life and the only time I have ever enjoyed dancing at a club. Ever.

3. The song you’d use to tell someone you like them –
“Baby I love You”, Aretha Franklin
I originally chose “I Want You To Want Me”, by Cheap Trick. However, I’m trying at all costs to avoid using any songs associated with Dawson’s Creek. I would also love to use “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” by En Vogue, but that’s a little forward. And also slutty. So I guess I’ll stick with Aretha, who has aided me in starting/healing most of my relationships.

4. A song you know would sell a lot of VWs (iPods, whatever) if they used it in a commercial – “Bohemian Like You”, Dandy Warhols
I still can’t figure out why they never used it.

5. A song that forced you to sit down and analyze its lyrics –
“Rudie Can’t Fail”, The Clash
I am obsessed with The Clash, and this is the song that turned me on to them. It’s fun, upbeat, and kind of silly and ridiculous. For years, I had absolutely no idea what it was about, but I never cared. I was going to put down another song by them, “Train in Vain”, because I used to think it was a really sweet love song until I actually paid attention. But I love “Rudie” more.

6. A song you like that a 2-year-old would like, too –
“Believer”, The Monkees
Because I f-ing loved it when I was two, and I still do.

7. A song that makes you drive too fast –
“Kashmir”, Led Zeppelin
Sigh. It just does it for me.

8. A song that makes you feel like kicking someone’s ass –
“Somebody’s Gettin’ On My Nerves”, Salt ‘n Pepa
I know that Joe amended to rules to exclude all hip hop. But I had to choose this one. Seriously, when Salt ‘n Pepa tells you to “forget that you’re a lady and give ’em what they deserve”, how could you not want to punch somebody in the face?

9. A song that both you and your grandparents like –
“Joy to The World” – Three Dog Night
Because who doesn’t like it?

10. A song that you really liked when you were 14 – 16 that you don’t hate now –
“La”, MU330
This song reminds me of riding in a car with boys for the first time ever. Travis and Mark would play this all the time and sing it at the top of their lungs. Then we’d go to Denny’s, or park behind the post office to get krunked. When I hear it now, it reminds me of a time when everything was brand new, and everything I did seemed so freaking cool. Plus, this band is from the Lou. What more could you want?

11. The song you’d send to someone you hated –
“Kiss Off”, Violent Femmes
This is also a song that makes me drive fast, but only when I am angry. It’s therapeutic and completely relatable… and the counting at the end is classic. Everybody has wanted to tell someone that at some point in their life.

12. A sad song that would be in the soundtrack to a movie about your life –
“Maps”, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Last year, my boyfriend broke up with me (temporarily) and moved to England. Then my next boyfriend had a family emergency and had to move to Thailand. This song came out right when all of this was going down, and it stuck a chord with me. A sad, pathetic chord. If you know anyone who wants to travel internationally, you should tell them to just date me.

13. The upbeat song to start the opening credits to a movie about your life –
“Stephanie Knows Who”, Love
Honestly, I want to pick “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson, but I might want to save it for later. And besides, this is the only song I’ve ever heard with my name in it, aside from “Stephanie Says”, which doesn’t make any sense. Karl introduced me to Love and this song last year on my birthday, and I think it’s awesome. Whenever I hear it, I turn into a total egomaniac. So, what better song for my fucking movie?

14. An a capella song –
“Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)”, the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack
This is the song that plays during Romeo and Juliet’s wedding… and I think it’s precious.

15. A good song from a genre of music that no one could have guessed that you liked – “One Step Closer”, Linken Park
I know, I know, I know. This isn’t a genre of music that I like, and it could be argued that this song isn’t remotely good, so I’m not sure it counts at all. But I saw them perform it live once, and the lead singer sang it perfectly. Or screamed it perfectly. Ever since my choir days I’ve had the hots for boys who can sing, and I’m sorry, but Chester can totally sing, and it totally turns me on. This is probably the dirtiest secret that I have. Don’t tell anybody. I just wish that he was in another band, so that I had zero reasons to like Linken Park.

16. The song you think should have been playing when you were born –
“Jupiter Child”, Steppenwolf
This song fucking rocks. Also: I’m adopted, and at some point in every adopted kid’s life, he or she wishes they were an alien or a princess, or any of those things that are remotely plausible only if you are adopted. “Nobody ever knew where you came from”? Natch. It’s mine. Also: it would mean my birth mom requested Steppenwolf in the delivery room, which is totally awesome, and as we all know, totally awesomeness is genetic.

17. A favorite artist duo collaboration-
“Under Pressure”, David Bowie and Queen
I shouldn’t have to explain why. I should, however, feel compelled to make a Vanilla Ice joke, but I won’t.

18.A favorite song that you completely disagree with (politically, morally, religiously, etc.)-
“Closer”, Nine Inch Nails
Every time I heard this song on the radio, I would rock out. Being young and naive, it took dozens of plays before I realized what was going on. I was shocked. Shocked. A little ashamed, too. That song is dirty and filthy, but I still secretely listen to it every now and then.

19. The song you love despite the fact that your IQ drops several points each time that you hear it –
“Baby, One More Time”, Britney Spears
Yeah, again: I know. But I think this song is amazing. How else can you explain the “success” of Ms. Federline? This song was originally written for TLC, which is one of my favorite groups of all time. If TLC had done this song, y’all would have loved it, too. I never realized the beauty of this song, however, ’til I heard Travis do a slow acoustic version of it on VH1 Storytellers. It was painful and beautiful. Close second in this category: “Straight Up”, by Paula Abdul.

20. A smooth, relaxing song –
“Surfing on a Rocket”, Air
I heard this song about 900 times the last time I was in London. I’ve only heard it once in the States, and that was in a car commercial that was only on the air for a month or so. Therefore, unlike Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, this song is a London memory that will remain sacred.

21. A song you play loud to annoy the neighbors –
The Saved By The Bell Theme Song
I run on my treadmill at 6 in the morning, and if the TV is on while I run, it’s usually tuned to this. I’m sure if my next door neighbor sleeps with her window open, she’s woken up to this, and man, that has to be irritating. I should be able to come up with something better, considering my other next door neighbor used to play the drums (poorly) in a Christian punk band. I listen to “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen all the time while I’m on the treadmill, too, but I used Queen for number 17. Perhaps I should say Paula Cole’s “I don’t Want To Wait”, which I’ve used to wake up Ra and Pammy. But again, the Creek…

22. A song about sports –
“Going The Distance”, Cake
Like “La”, this song reminds me of being 16. I always think about getting drunk in Rachel’s basement when I hear this. Good times. But it happens to be about sports, too, so I’ll use it. I would use “Eye of the Tiger”, but that’s really predictable, and I also used it as the title of an old blog entry already.

23. A favorite track from a supergroup –
“Wooden Ships”, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Are they even a supergroup? Like I said, I’m about the furthest thing from a music snot. However, the Woodstock soundtrack was one of my first CD’s, and this song is on there, and I love it. Hell, it was either this or something by Velvet Revolver…

24. A song that makes you want to drink more beer –
“Anything For Love”, Meatloaf
This song is fucking hysterical. Completely over the top, and super long. I think everyone needs at least a couple beers to get through it. I always hear this song in bars. And I’m always laughing when I hear it. And every now and then, it leads to an awesome “deep” drunken conversation about what “won’t do that” means, either personally or theoretically. And everyone drinks more beer. Cheers!

Playing Hookey Can Be Sh*tty

So I called in sick to work today. I’m not sick. There was just a lot of stuff going on and I was really stressed out. I feel kind of guilty, but then again, they should feel kind of guilty for paying me as little as they do.

It’s a damn good thing I stayed home, though. Around 1, my dad was doing the laundry, and all of a sudden, water just started spewing out of my toilet for no reason. It wasn’t like, sewage or anything, but hey, toilet water is still water from a toilet, and that’s gross. I was really pissed off, but then again, lord knows what the basement would have looked like if I hadn’t been there to turn off the water in time.

It’s ironic that I took the day off to relax, and I ended up completely pooped. Practically literally. Pooped. Gross.

It’s fixed now. And hell, it’s not like a mudslide or a tsunami. I always feel really really guilty about getting upset about the little things. I’m whining about a gross bathroom while millions of people in dozens of countries (including ours) have homes and lives that are completely destroyed. Or I’m crying about a break-up while my Grandma is dealing with her sick boyfriend. Or I’m yelling at my boyfriend for being too busy, while in the meantime poor, poor Brad and Jennifer are separating.

I feel like such a selfish asshole sometimes. It’s not like anyone drowned from my overflowing toilet. I really need to just suck things up and move on. And I did. With a water-vac.

Gross.

Seriously. Tsunamis and mudslides and Brad and Jennifer. It’s the end of the world, y’all.

Also: it’s 70 degrees today. It snowed three days ago. I love St. Louis so much.

Reach Out And Touch Someone (But Not Like That!!!)

Tonight Mark told me that he has five best friends in St. Louis, and that I’m one of them. He told me that his New Years Resolution is to talk to all of us at least once a week.

Right now is a really strange time in my life, and I suppose it’s just as strange for everyone else my age. Everyone is moving or getting married or starting a serious job or a serious relationship. People are starting to grow apart and move on. We don’t have a lot of time to sit around and catch up, and we’re all watching the minutes on our cell phones.

I’m one of those people who hates saying goodbye. I hate it. Even when I know that it’s time to move on, it still breaks my heart. I really miss a lot of my old friends, even if I don’t want to hang out with some of them anymore.

It’s amazing how one day someone can mean the world to you and you know every single thing about each other, and a few years later, they’re a complete stranger. Mark and I had a friendship like that. One second we were “soulmates” or whatever and the next, we have to hear about each other through mutual friends. For a long time, he was my best friend and the only person in the world that completely understood and got me. Our relationship was totally solid and it lasted a long time. The friendship, oddly enough, is the part that’s been really off and on. Life, as usual, got in the way.

Anyhoo (which is his favorite word), I’m glad it’s on. And during times like these, it feels so great to know that an old friend misses me just as much as I miss them.

Everybody should call an old friend tonight. Give somebody some warm fuzzies. Life would be so much better if we didn’t let it get in the way as often.

This Is What It Sounds Like When I Laugh At You

This has nothing to do with anything, but has anyone else watched Purple Rain lately? I just recently saw it all the way through for the first time, and I swear to god, the whole movie plays out like a “Walker, Texas Ranger lever” segment on Conan O’Brian. Any movie where someone stares pensively out into a body of water is crap. Any movie with Prince dressed in leather and full make-up, sitting at a lake and dreaming of the future like he’s on Dawson’s Creek is hilarious and absolutely ridiculous. All the movie’s missing is a scene where he and Apollonia dance around a table and get into a food fight while “Respect” is playing.

I’m not really a fan of New Year’s resolutions. There’s so much potential to screw them up, and then what – you have to wait another year to try again? That’s silly. Quit smoking or start running or whatever when you feel like it, not when everyone else is trying – and failing miserably. If I make any sort of resolutions at all, I’m much more likely to look at the coming year, and the events and changes in my life that are inevitable. These things (such as finding a job and apartment, and Brian moving here) will definitely change my life and change me as a person, and it’s fun to think about how those changes will branch off and affect so many other things about me (like the fact that Brian will totally make me quit smoking … jerk).

When the future year (or I guess current year now – it’s 2005, y’all!!!) freaks me out, I like to look at the past year and think about everything I’ve accomplished – like flying to London again, getting a masters degree, getting back together with Brian (and breaking up again and getting back together again), and interning at an agency and being good at it. It’s easy for me to do stuff like this because I’ve had a journal for 10 years. Hell, if I’m really freaked out about the future, sometimes I’ll go back and read every New Year’s entry I’ve ever written.

So much for that Emerson quote.

And about the whole apartment situation… some of my friends like to tease me that Pammy isn’t real. She totally does exist. Unfortunately for me, so does her brand-new fiance. Congratulations, Pammy!!! But that does mean no new apartment for me. For the time being. I wasn’t ready to leave the basement anyway. You can’t force people into things when they’re not ready.

So… to Jen and Ron, your New Years party was fantastic, by the way. Thank you so much for being amazing hosts once again.

I didn’t have anyone to “officially” kiss, but I got a drunk smootch from Conor, so that was nice. I’m getting really tired of this whole “boyfriend’s out of town – maybe next year” thing. I know that he’s trying very hard to save up money to move here, but holy balls. My New Year’s resolution is to kiss my boyfriend next year. Not sure how I’m going to do that, especially if he doesn’t move here, but whatever. I’m gonna.

At least he will be here for my birthday. For the first time in our 3 1/2 years of knowing each other, we get to be together for a birthday. I’m really excited.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!!!