esprit de l'escalier

What dreams may come

I got the newest issue of Paste magazine in the mail last week. This is usually a dangerous occurrence, to my wallet at least. There's an interesting article about Thom Yorke, although the cover photo and photos with the article make him look like the male counterpart to Tilda Swinton's White Witch.

Actually, the articles that got me most excited this month had to do with upcoming films. There was one article that got me especially excited. It was about Michel Gondry's upcoming film, The Science of Sleep. I love Michel Gondry. I have his collected videos and Eternal Sunshine is one of my favorite movies. I love his mix of stop animation (which reminds me a bit of Jan Svankmejer—who has a new movie out soon too) and his creations and uses of mirrors and camera tricks. I cannot wait to see this movie. (What I don't like is Paste's WAY too busy and over produced page design. Several articles have these over designed graphic heads that are totally illegible. Can you tell I'm in the middle of a class on text and image?) The story is about a man moving to France and falling for the girl next door. Problem is he doesn't really speak French and she doesn't speak Spanish and they have to speak through broken English (and their imaginative creations). Gondry said he intended this, because in some ways the struggles with a non-native tongue can force you to be more honest. (I guess it's harder to lie in another language.) Anyhow, I can't wait for the dreamscapes and Gondry's creations.

There was also a short article about Half Nelson, a new movie with Ryan Gosling. He plays the one middle school teacher who can connects with one of his students. Unfortunately he's got a drug habit and she finds out about it. It sounds like it's well made and I'm looking forward to seeing it as well. (Not to mention Ryan Gosling...)

I have been listening to Reg's Coffeehouse weekly for a couple of months now. (He's how I discovered Will Hoge.) Reg has been talking up Ray LaMontagne's upcoming album, Till The Sun Turns Black, out Aug. 29. LaMontagne was in Reg's studio and this is what Reg had to say:

As he sat across from me in the studio this past weekend performing on the show, all I could think about was how honest and pure this music was. His voice echoes all the emotions he is feeling and it possesses anyone in its path. As you hear it, you are overcome with a calm only to be ripped to shreds emotionally by the words of a man who wants you to feel his pain. “Till The Sun Turns Black” is one for the ages, a record that will only get finer in time. It is one of the strongest offerings ever from an artist of my generation.

My only hope is that Reg shares some of that in-studio performance online soon.

So those are some of the things I'm waiting for, while I slowly melt. I hope it cooled off for those of you on the west coast, but your heat has migrated. Oy. Is it fall yet?

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Also, happy birthday wishes to Harry, Mariah and Bird!

Youthful summers

I found a link to a You Tube upload of a Josh Ritter in-store performance, I think in Seattle. I thought it would be a good opportunity to try this whole You Tube thing out. Here is a clip of Josh singing a standard, Me and Jiggs, a song about youth, summer, friends and music. It's a good clip because it has his trademark smile, it's infectious, and he breaks half way through to thank the audience (and the store). It's not the best video because of the location, but the sound quality is good. Take a peek.

(Libby, this is really for you and you know why.)

Okay, because I can't help myself, here is a clip of my other music crush, Will Hoge, from a recent show in my hometown. The sound quality isn't great, but the song is awesome (Love From A Scar) and it looks like it was a great show. (Though he seems to chew gum a lot when he plays, which is odd.) He's playing a street festival here this weekend. I am *so* excited.

Sandwiches are beautiful, sandwiches are fine!

"I like sandwiches, I eat them all the time!"

Somewhere there exists a tape of a radio station my siblings and I made one afternoon, and on that tape is a little version of me singing that song about sandwiches. I knew it from one of the Kid Songs tapes we had as kids. The radio station ends in a brawl, as most things we did as siblings ended. You can hear our dad bounding up the steps and pulling kids off of each other. The tape is hidden somewhere. My brother probably has it, biding his time.

Anyhow, I'm thinking about that song today because I'm hungry and I long for a delicious sandwich and know that I'm stuck with the normal places in the loop. Nothing spectacular, all chains. What I really want is a salad and sandwich from Benevolence in Columbus (a long-time family favorite). My stomach rumbles with the thought of their homemade breads and their delicious salads, heaped with sunflower seeds and that dressing!! Sigh. I'm in a bad way, foodwise.

I wouldn't mind a trip to Letizia's, which is down the street from my old apartment. I used to spend my Saturday mornings there with an everything bagel and cream cheese (their everything bagels are the best-- just the right amount of stuff on it without being too overpowering) and my home work or a book.

I'm sick of footlong sandwiches. That seems to be the standard in the loop. I need to break free of my normal areas and explore something new to spice up my life. What do you all do for lunch normally? I can't get my act together to make lunch, though I know I probably should.

Ooooh... I just found an article that might help me out of my lunch funk. Doesn't this place sound interesting (hopefully in a good way)?

Grrr...

I am trying to change around my layout and colors and add a photo banner and Typepad is NOT WORKING FOR ME. It says that it has this green/blue theme with a pretty blue photo in the header. Is that what is showing up? No, it's a bastardized version of my old theme. ARGH! Can anyone help?

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Okay, so now it's working and I've fussed with the colors a bit more this morning. I'm not a hundred percent sold on it, but I think I'm over thinking it. Cool colors in these hot days.

A sign of the impending apocalypse

I have spent the evening crafting a mix cd and making tacos. (Picture me shaking my butt, singing off key while sweating over some ground beef in my airless kitchen.) I have listened to it in its entirety twice now and I think I'm happy with it and that it is ready to be sent off to its recipients (ahem, Briana and Amy, and probably others, if you want one, let me know).

So that impending apocalypse? You might think it has something to do with the lunacy in the Middle East, or at least the lastest fuck-ups by our president. No. That's not at all what I'm referring to. Apparently you haven't heard that David Hasselhoff is planning to create a musical about his life. That's right people. The Hass wants to bring us songs about talking cars, soap operas and well-breasted life guards. I think the space-time-continuum may indeed fold into itself. As Libby's reply to me about this was, "It's like the best train wreck ever. I'm repulsed and yet I know that if the ticket is cheap enough, I'd totally see it!" She's probably right. (Hat tip to The Fix.)

I was reading the Tattered Coat today and read about a bit of a written war that went on in a comment thread at Stereogum between Ryan Adams and some haters. Mr. Adams wrote on a fansite about how he is planning on coming out with three different albums in the next year. A bunch of people were bitching about how Adams is too prolific (and they got petty and nasty, as it sometimes happens at music blogs or forums) and Adams responded, several times. I like Ryan Adams, but I do think he needs an editor. Yeah, he is an awesome song writer, but sometimes I think his vision needs a little more focus. This has kept me away from any of his new albums for several years. But he has a point about people going to forums just to rip apart an artist, I think to try and feel bigger about themselves. It's pretty pathetic and annoying, which is why I generally stay away from places like that. People suck sometimes. It's interesting, though, to see an artist step into this arena and try to defend himself. You don't often see that. Unfortunately he got sucked into a negative place where no one really wins. (My favorite story about real live music gods commenting on blogs is when Pete Townshend visited Tom Watson last month. I practically fell off my seat when I saw his comment. He visited Mannion and Blue Girl, too.) (Thanks, Matt, for the link.)

My last linky-loo for the evening is to Go Fug Yourself, a longtime favorite that is always able to put a smile on my face. Now, based on some earlier posts, one might think I don't like Keira Knightley. That's not entirely true, I just don't like her in Jane Austen flicks. I like her in pirate movies. She has been doing some *interesting* things with belts lately. As in not using time around her waist, as one would think. With this outfit, she's using one as some sort of outside-the-clothes bra. Interesting...

Talking flowers

Roses3
Originally uploaded by clairehelene7.

My snap dragons are amusing me. I like to pinch their petals together at the base so that their mouths open up, talking to me. I think they would scold me, with their haughty heads. I don't have my camera today, but here is a rose from Portland that looks like it also could have been plucked from the gardens of Wonderland.

However, there was the hill full in sight, so there was nothing to be done but start again. This time she came upon a large flower-bed, with a border of daisies, and a willow-tree growing in the middle.

`O Tiger-lily,' said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, `I wish you could talk!'

`We can talk,' said the Tiger-lily: `when there's anybody worth talking to."

Alice was so astonished that she could not speak for a minute: it quite seemed to take her breath away. At length, as the Tiger-lily only went on waving about, she spoke again, in a timid voice -- almost in a whisper. `And can all the flowers talk?'

`As well as you can,' said the Tiger-lily. `And a great deal louder.'

Rain, rain, go away

The rain started again in earnest, as I made my way back from the farmer’s market, lightly jumping over puddles as my heart sank a bit. I had gone from one person who, I didn’t quite dismiss him, but I wasn’t as attentive as I had been the day before, to rush off to see another, who I had been looking forward to seeing all week. Only to be not quite dismissed but the energy (and interest?) of the previous Thursday was missing. I cut through Carson’s to take refuge from the deluge, passing through cosmetics and the pretty young women in white lab coats. I am worried that I lack resolve. I got myself to the farmer’s market, in the rain, hoping that life would take over from there. Silly girl. I am finally feeling confident in myself again; I fully feel myself as I haven’t in a long time. Did the rejections at 16 leave me that scarred? My newly-bought cluster of snap dragons sit in a make shift vase next to my screen. Their pink heads slightly crushed from the walk back, most still wet with rain. I can’t tell if they are cheery or too proud, with their heavy beards.

Sorry for the navel gazing. The blog has been bad about encouraging my need to share the small embarassments of life. I'm also reading this beautiful book, The Gardens of Kyoto by Kate Walbert. It's haunting and melancholy and a little lonely and has put me in a mood. My reading material always finds a way to match the weather, it seems.

Trying to figure out Flickr

I decided to start a Flickr account. I have been wanting to do so for a while, but haven't out of laziness. Since I have approximately a bajillion photos from my recent trip, I figured now would be a good time to start. (Also since it was ridiculously hot here this weekend, I decided to hole up in the new apartment with the new internet and fool around on the internet on Saturday.)

I have yet to tag and name all of the photos, though I did so for a lot of them. I also have no idea how to make that cool little block of photos that link to the set, as I have seen in other blogs. I also haven't figured out the badge situation and how to put a link to my page from my blog. Patience. Anyhow, here are my photos, if you are interested.

This weekend officially began my month of busy-ness. I started my beginning painting class on Sunday, which was a lot of fun. I have no idea what I'm doing, but we're using acrylic paints, which is at least familiar to me. (Ah, the good ol' days of children's crafts of painting rocks, boxes and t-shirts!) Tuesday my summer session class begins, which will take up my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have no idea if all of this will make me more or less verbose on the blog. We shall see.

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Update: AHA!

www.flickr.com

A "This Is Your Life" sort of meme

I was incredibly inspired this morning by the memes at Stories about Wolves and Wandering Sparkle (who I just found via Wolves). I was inspired by their honesty and I thought, hey! I'll do that. So here it goes...

10 years ago…
It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years and I was fifteen. I was going to becoming the Feature writer for the school newsmagazine when fall rolled around and I spent a lot of time with my friend Renee and this kind of lame about-to-be senior. A highlight: stealing a fire hydrant. I’m still not sure how we accomplished that.

5 years ago…
This was the summer of the boy scouts. Actually, it was the second summer I was in a work place that was inundated with scouts. I was working at my old dorm’s center desk—forwarding mail and answering the phones. It was a cushy, lazy summer gig. That is until the boy scouts arrived. I think it was a jamboree, but EVERY BED ON CAMPUS was full with scouts for a week. I was working 6 hour shifts in a tiny room that had a huge counter. In essence I was a caged girl for the hundreds of boys to come ogle. I had them lined up across the counter and several deep. I didn’t take this as a compliment; I knew that I was one of the only young females on campus.

1 year ago…
I was in the middle of reading Undaunted Courage and on a huge Jane Austen kick. I was living with my twin brother and my current roommate Natasha and blogging for about a month. Is it sad that I can’t remember with clarity last July and that reading my blog archives from then doesn’t help me much?

Yesterday…
I almost became a Mary Kay rep without even realizing it. I went to the farmer’s market at the Daley Center and chatted with a cute organic farmer. I caught up (briefly) with my cousin Hasia. I had dinner with my bro and he helped me set up some stuff on my computer.

Today…
I went to City Hall to get my new city sticker for my car, on the last day before the cops start issuing tickets, just like last year. It took me only 20 minutes, which was 40 minutes less than I thought the trip would take. On a circuitous route back to my office I ran into a good old friend from high school (the ed-in-chief to my managing editor of the aforementioned school paper). She just moved here Saturday to go to law school. I’m so happy to have Jen in Chicago! She is the third person I have serendipitously run into on the same stretch of pavement in the last 2 years. It is a magical place.

Tomorrow…
Is going to be ridiculously hot. I still haven’t gotten my head on straight from my holiday and need to figure out what needs to be done to make my life more livable (ie: laundry) and fun (ie: friends). I have a feeling the laundry will win out in the beginning. It’s too hot for dirty underwear.

In 1 year…
Who knows? Maybe still in this cubicle. It depends on how quickly I can finish this Master’s program. Maybe I’ll be getting ready to move somewhere new or to a new job. I’m not sure. I’m just trying to plan a couple of months ahead at a time.

In 5 years…
Goodness. I’ll be thirty. I have dreams of a house with lots of color and noise and people, big and little. Who knows who those people will be, but hopefully I’m one of them and not just some creep-o looking in from outside. I hope I like what I’m doing. I’m still figuring out my path. I’m not too worried about what 30 will bring.

A woman in pink

"Excuse me, but I love your skirt."

I turned around to see a woman in a light pink suit, bottle blond hair and an enormous smile. I was worried.

"Oh, thanks. I've had it for years."

"Well it's just great." She faked a turn to go and said, "I need to go, but let me give you my business card. What's your name? Oh, my mother almost named me Claire! I work for a company that does a lot of presentations and internet work. You have such a nice presence." Her card was light pink and matched her suit.

I had just been accosted by a Mary Kay rep.

People have told me of rose-hued women staking out places in Union Station, trying to lure young women to become their minions in the world of home-sold makeup. I figured it would never happen to me. One of my cube-mates and good friends at work sells Mary Kay. I told this to the woman and she backed off a bit, not wanting to encroach on another's territory. Very strange. I continued on to the Daley Center for the farmer's market, looking for fresh green beans and the cute organic farmer that chatted me up the last time I was there.