Wrapped up in books

I must post an entry about my favorite books.
I generally prefer non-fiction, I am very intrigued by the knowledge that what I am reading is true and happened. I like to read collections of essays and articles by various writers, mainly music related. I enjoy Chuck Klosterman's books because I love thinking about pop culture in relation to the world and what the world's obsession with it actually says about humanity. Dave Eggers is also great.
Despite loving non-fiction my all time favorite writer is Kurt Vonnegut. I re-read The Sirens of Titan a few months ago for like the third time and I loved it just as much as any other read. He makes these extraordinary characters and places them in these crazy situations and worlds but then in the end everything sort of makes sense. His view of the world is also remarkable, you can learn a lot from his characters. I currently have "everything was beautiful and nothing hurt" tattooed on my foot. That quote writen on a tomb stone basically says that when people are alive they go through good times and tough times but after death looking back one can only say that they got through it and everything was beautiful. Love it. I also plan on getting "so it goes" done on the sides of my fingers (like "so" on my index, "it" on my middle, and "goes" on my ring finger). I find that quote especially great because it speaks of mortality and life, it just goes, no one can stop it and it is always ordinary and predictable. So it goes. Brilliant.
I have purposely not read all of Vonnegut's books as of yet, although I have read most, just for the reason that I always have something new to uncover about his writing and discovering his stories. I will continue to devour his books in time, slowly so I don't get to the end so fast.
I would recommend you read Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and The Sirens of Titan. Oh and also Breakfast of Champions. A few concepts and characters are present in several books so familiarize yourself!

say something

I am not sure how I feel about public transportation. On one hand it is great for the environment and stuff but on the other hand it is incredibly creepy and annoying. Tonight I had the pleasure of taking the red line home as I always do but at 10:00 at night it tends to be a freak show. The guy sitting across from me looked like he had a meth problem and he kept falling out of his seat and falling asleep. But by far my most random expirence was when I lived in Cambridge last year and I was on the train to school and a homeless man sat next to me and screamed "you fucking bitch" in my ear for no reason, and thats a direct quote. I think there should be a special car for questionable individuals. I think I would rather have someone creepy on the train than someone smelly during rush hour. There is nothing that wakes you up quite like the some of the smells when everyone is packed in tight like sardines.
I could go on and on about this topic but complaining doesn't really do anything (except feel sort of good) so I will end.
Here is a song for your time, one of my favorite new bands, enjoy.

MGMT-Kids from Oracular Spectacular

Major Fail

So I managed to order the wrong book of half.com not once, but twice! Reading is obviously something I cannot do well.
Fail.

Pretend

Today I am feeling quite positive; I am not sure if you can feel positive or just be positive but I guess they are the same. I bring you no ranting about anything just a fun, happy song you can dance to!
Apples In Stereo- Energy from New Magnetic Wonder

headRadio

Today while unpacking boxes, sensoring and hanging clothes I was thinking about the Grammys. The Grammy awards are held each February and are supposed to honor the greatest musical achievements of the year. To me the Grammys are just another excuse to give Madonna, U2, or Alicia Keys awards. The nominations are rarely made from musical merit but instead by who is the most popular, who sells the most records, or my favorite who is the oldest most historical act. Seriously, stop giving U2 Grammys! Just because they make a record does not mean it was the best of the year. The Joshua Tree, War, Achtung Baby were incredible records but their ship has sailed as far as I am concerned. Also I am sick of Coldplay getting nods for everything they ever make, Viva La Vida was not their best but thats a whole other argument.
This year despite many so-so artists getting nods some really good artists were recognized. Radiohead got a bunch of nominations for In Rainbows which was released digitally in 2007 but released physically in January of 2008. They deserve each award they are nominated for, I absolutely loved the record. Radiohead is one of the few bands that is truly innovative. Also it is great to see Kings of Leon nominated even though their best record is definitely Beacuse of the Times and that was not recognized when it could have been last year. Also I find it odd M.I.A is nominated for "Paper Planes" when it was released on Kala in 2007, it was just as good of a song then? right? Kala should have won a boat load of awards in 07 but hey thats just me.
The only category that makes sense (as far as nominations) is best alternative album. Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket, Radiohead, and Gnarls Barkley are all great artists, although Gnarls Barkley should be replaced with MGMT's Oracular Spectacular but we don't live in a perfect world.
This has been perhaps one of my most unorganized post ever, I apologize, this is something I feel strongly about and it would probably be even more difficult to understand if I was actually talking to you (I ramble).

Anyway I could write all day about things I dislike but thats just too negative. Instead I will leave you with some suggestions!
If you are feeling a little indie-ish listen to Twin Cinema by The New
Pornographers
If you are feeling a bit gloomy listen to "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight" by Bauhaus
If you are feeling dancey listen to Danse Macabre by The Faint
If you are feeling instrumental listen to "Together we will Live Forever" by Clint Mansell (amazing!)
If you are feeling sad listen to Pink Moon by Nick Drake
If you are feeling even sadder listen to Either/Or by Elliott Smith
If you are feeling pissed off listen to "New Noise" by Refused

happy listening!
also watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PqI12R8YNU

Rawr

So tonight I will post a theme playlist. I am sure there is a way to post the playlist in like a zip file or something so you wouldn't have to download each song individually but I have not yet figured out how that works. So tonight I chose 7 songs from bands that have an animal in their name. The songs do not have much to do with each other but I realized today that I have many bands on my ipod that take their name from the wild. Not all were included because I don't have any patience. Enjoy this animalistic playlist!

As Tall as Lions- A Break a Pause
Patrick Wolf- Paris
Modest Mouse- A Different City
The Unicorns- I Don't Wanna Die
Grizzly Bear- Lullabye
Fleet Foxes- Textbook Love
Band of Horses- Our Swords

Shake

Tonight I am in a dancey mood. I don't really feel like physically dancing or even moving that much but I am sure in a dancey electronic music like mood. The following four songs fit into that mood for the most part, a few are more expiremental than anything but go with it.

M83- Don't Save Us From The Flames
Xiu Xiu- Fabulous Muscles
The Faint- Your Retro Career Melted
Teddybears Stockholm- Automatic Lover

Fun for everyone!

Hello again.
Tonight I do not bring much banter but I do bring some songs. My abstaining from illegal downloading has been very painful, tonight I yearn to download limewire despite the concequences. There are so many records I need that I do not have the money to buy: truly devestating. With this post I decided to be un-lazy and actually plug in my external hard drive and post some songs. I know it seems sort of hypocritical to not download illegally and then post songs to people to download for free but it is truly just a taste, and you have to have a taste before you commit to the whole thing. I bring you some songs I spoke about last post, from The Shins and Bright Eyes.

The Shins- Sleeping Lessons from Wincing the Night Away
The Shins- Saint Simon from Chutes Too Narrow
Bright Eyes- Easy/Lucky/Free from Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Bright Eyes- At The Bottom of Everything from I'm Wide Awake it's Morning

Also I would just like to urge anyone who reads this to go and read a book by Chuck Klosterman. I just re-read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs yesterday for like the 10th time and it is still a great book. I think I like his writing because he writes the exact way I think and about things I think about. The essay about the Sims is amazing. If you don't read the whole book at least read that essay!

sleepless, moneyless, hopeless

Here I am awake at 5 am yet again. Yesterday I managed to fall asleep around 1 and wake up at a normal time so I thought maybe I would be good today but of course not. Insomnia really makes you crazy, I spend so much time alone in my room while the world sleeps. The only person I have spoken to in the past 6 hours has been myself, in my head of course. It sucks. Additionally I cannot just lie in the dark and try and sleep because I start to have anxiety attacks thinking so much. I definitely need to up my dosage.
In other news lately I have been listening to a lot of Bright Eyes and The Shins. Wincing the Nigh Away is an amazing record! I have always stood by Oh, Inverted World as my favorite from the Shins but I think I may have to change that. "Sleeping Lessons" is by far one of their best songs, "Australia" is also amazing and the transition into "Phantom Limb" gives me chills! Great music.
As for Bright Eyes I have been giving Digital Ash in a Digital Urn many listens as well as I'm Wide Awake its Morning, my two favorites. Conor Oberst can really do no wrong, even when he is bad he is still good. "Easy/Lucky/Free" is incredible, as is "At the Bottom of Everything". But still his older stuff like "If Winter Ends" and "The Calendar Hung Itself" always gets a play admidst a Bright Eyes marathon.
Oh! I am also broke, I get like 15 hours a week at work which is incredibly dumb. If anyone wants to hire me please do! Email me I like to work!
peace

New year's resolutions

My resolutions for 2009...

-Blog more
-Eat Less
-Budget my time online better
-Fall asleep when it is dark
-Exercise
-Listen to more music
-Read more
-Get my GPA up
-Get a sweet internship
-Graduate early (this will more than likey happen)
-Save some money

what are yours?

Yeah so its a little late

Because of the new year I feel the need to share some of my "top whatever" lists for 2008. I really only care about music so I guess I will just fo with the top 10 records of 2008...

1.Lil Wayne Tha Carter III
2.She & Him Volume I
3.TV on the Radio Dear Science
4.Sigur Ros Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust
5.Beck Modern Guilt
6.Kings of Leon Only By the Night
7.My Morning Jacket Evil Urges
8.Nine Inch Nails The Slip
9.Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
10.MGMT Oracular Spectacular

honorable mention The Killers Day & Age

I am still unsure about the order...this will have to do.

2009 could go either way I think, new records are expected from AFI, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, The Horrors, M. Ward, The New Pornographers, and many more.

Here are some downloads that really have nothing to do with what I just listed but they are good songs nonetheless.

my favorite Beatles song, "A Day in the Life"
The New Pornographers "Sing me Spanish Techno"
Death From Above 1979 "Black History Month"