Camellia Sky

Camellia Sky
Originally uploaded by Monster..

cheery photo for what will surely be a rainy day.

mix CD mayhem

For whatever reason today I thought to myself, "self, now would be an awesome time to straighten out all of those mix CDs that don't have covers and are in three places." Why do I listen? I now have a big mess and CDs all over the bed, and a gigantic project of making new covers. Plus, I swear (!!) that I had at least three copies of part two of a particular mix (all made because I lost track of the others at one point or another), and now I can't find any. I know what this means - I will make another copy of part 2, only to have six of them show up under my bed or in the refrigerator, or somewhere really unlikely, and then it will be lopsided and evil all over again. Keeping track of CDs is definitely not my super power. I once held a grudge for over two years over a CD (the only thing I have ever won in a contest!) that I thought my uncle's child bride had accidentally put in one of her CD cases. Well, no. It wasn't HER who put it in the wrong case - it was me. And I didn't even put it in one of my OWN other cases. It showed up in my sister's copy of the Grosse Point Blank soundtrack. (under the proper CD of course, to avoid detection - it's almost like it was hiding from me!) So it is like I stomped on The Child Bride's Luis Miguel CD for no good reason (other than the obvious Luis Miguel sucks reasons). (to be fair to LM, he may be awesome (doubtful), but I am still all grudge-holding because he is forever associated with the Mysterious Disappearance.)

I think I will just take a deep breath and hold off looking for the missing CDs until tomorrow. Like tweezing my eyebrows, there are just some things that should not be attempted after midnight. It just makes me crazy - I know they're here somewhere.

movie list

I have a lot of Thoughts right now, but most of them are barely making sense inside my brain - they are not ready for the outside. So, I will make a movie list instead! Movies watched recently (last week or so) by Me. (keep in mind that I like to watch movies/have them running in the background while I work on projects).

Originally, I wrote a lot more about all of them, but decided to try brevity for a refreshing change of pace.

Chicago - a must for fans of jazz, liquor, singing, dancing, and getting away with muder.

Wonder Boys - Love! Learn that a Ford Galaxie 500 has plenty of room.
James: That's a big trunk. It fits a tuba, a suitcase, a dead dog, and a garment bag almost perfectly.
Grady: That's just what they used to say in the ads.

Thoroughly Modern Millie - Millie is a #1 Groover with aspirations of being "absolutely fatal" in this musical-comedy set in the 20's but made in the 60's. Learn to do the Tapioca in the privacy of your living room.

Royal Tenenbaums - it seems like something you should be reading, but I am so glad it is something I was watching. It sounds good, too.

Garden State - thumbs up. Seeing someone eat Lucky Charms in a suit of armor makes up for a lot of other things. Plus, The Shins, TWICE!!!

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle - another benchmark in stoner-movie cinematic history. The ideological heir of, Dude, Where's My Car?. Neil Patrick Harris gets special mention for playing himself as a drug-addled, self-obsessed, car-stealing, seat-humping asshole.

Simply Irresistible - (aka "the magic crab movie") deeply flawed, yet I find it strangely comforting. Magical realism in a department store restaurant - I don't know why they didn't let me write their ad copy!

Paw #1

Paw #1
Originally uploaded by Babsi Jones.

Such a cute paw! I don't think I could get this close for any macro paw-shots without getting swatted at. Or having the cat stand up and walk over, defeating the whole purpose. Louie is the worst cat-model, ever.

iPod mind reader

Because I thought it would be fun (I love lists), I put my iPod on shuffle/ songs this morning and wrote down ten in order (#'s 4-14, because I didn't think of it until I was already on #4). I know that the folks at Apple have officially disavowed any mind-reading capabilities in the iPod, but sometimes I wonder... This morning I wonder because they started off slow, and got increasingly more upbeat - just in time to wake me up!

1. Wasn't Even Looking - Jukes
2. Song of the Black Lizard - Pink Martini
3. In a Little While - U2
4. Legionnaire's Lament - The Decemberists
5. Sweet Head - David Bowie
6. Things that Scare Me - Neko Case
7. It's Delovely - Ella Fitzgerald
8. Miss Teen Wordpower - New Pornographers
9. We Got The Beat - The Go-Go's
10. Dancing Queen - Abba

better than fine

I love Fiona Apple. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I really REALLY wish that Sony would get with it and release that album already. We want it! (uh, not the royal WE, but more of a 'we the people') I am working on a whole "why I love Fiona" post, but I am not articulate enough tonight. Or I should say I am probably will never be articulate enough, but I am going to work on it. In the mean time, here are some thoughts on one of her new songs. As I've mentioned previously here, I am really fond of weirdo orchestrations AND waltzes in pop music, so when I saw one of the titles on the new album was called Waltz I was very happy indeed. It did not disappoint! As with many of the songs on this album, it deals with many things, one of which being the importance of being true to yourself. This sounds like a song from that off-kilter circus that sits on the outskirts of town, drawing you in with its twirling melodies. Here are the lyrics - I like this one a lot:

If you don't have a song
To sing you're okay
you know how to get along
humming
mmmmm

If you don't have a date
Celebrate
Go out and sit on the lawn
And do nothing
'Cause it's just what you must do and
Nobody does it anymore.

No I don't believe in the wasting of time
But I don't believe I am wasting mine

If you don't have a point to make
Don't sweat it
You'll make a sharp one being so kind
And I'd sure appreciate it
Everyone else's goal is to get big-headed
Why should I follow that beat being that I am

Better than fine.

Tre amici pesci

Tre amici pesci
Originally uploaded by Kazze.

Hee! I love the yellow against the white. This is from the ever-interesting flickr group, The Secret Life of Toys.
If you go look at this picture, there are at least two more in the series. I don't want to spoil it for you, but at least one of those fish makes it off the back of the toilet.

the yay list (cont.)

I have decided that it is time to list things that make me yay-ful once again.


1) Ella Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter. I know some people find Cole Porter too clever by half, but I think he's de-lovely. Ella is just awesome, and that is that.
2) Perspective! I don't get it that often, so when I do I really try to savor it! (savor savor savor)
3) cooking for friends
4) Fiona Apple songs! Sony needs to wake up and release that album. Good review/explanation of things so far here. I don't agree with everything he says, but he makes some good points.
5) TV shows on DVD. A godsend in this age of blaring advertising. It is worth 40 bucks to watch a whole season of something on your own time, with no commercials. Or even better, to check them out from the library. My library just got season one of Carnivale, huzzah!
6) clean sheets.

Kissing Mister Quimper

Kissing Mister Quimper by Grant Morrison (#9)

So, last month when I did my little Invisibles comics post, I was wrong, wrong, wrong - I was right about it being cool and freaky, but wrong about how many and in what order. I started off thinking that maybe it had just been a long time (it has) and that the story is really dense and confusing (it is), but as I read more I realized that my reasearch was just plain bad and I had to have missed some, somewhere. I have now gone to Amazon, which I probably should have done in the first place. I was counting on obsessives on the internet to give me a nice list after a lazy google, but that has let me down. Amazon, on the other hand wants to lift dollars from my wallet and gave me a nice tidy list. They won't get the dollars from my wallet, but they will facilitate me getting the right Invisibles book from the library.

Here is the corrected list:
The Invisibles Vol. 1: Say You Want a Revolution
Apocalipstick (The Invisibles, Book 2)
Entropy in the UK (The Invisibles, Book 3)
Bloody Hell in America (The Invisibles, Book 4)
Counting to None (The Invisibles, Book 5)
Kissing Mister Quimper (The Invisibles, Book 6)
The Invisible Kingdom (The Invisibles, Book 7)

...and, now that I read the description of the one I thought I missed (Counting To None) I think I may have read it. But I know I haven't read book 7. Clearly, the answer is to try to read them all within a few months of each other instead of wating a year or more to pick up the next volume. As for actual content on this volume, I will say that I really didn't like the art as much as I did in earlier volumes - particularly for King Mob and Ragged Robin.

Wrought Iron Collage 2

Wrought Iron Collage 2
Originally uploaded by rustman.

this is from the Catchy Colors group on Flickr. Some really great pictures to be found there!

deadline eating my brain

This deadline is eating my brain like funyuns. Yes, that's right. My brain is now the consistency and color of artificial puffed styrofoam onion rings. Project was supposed to go out today, and right now is the time it should be at UPS. It is in pieces on the living room floor. I figured out pretty quickly today that shipping was not going to happen, so I beseeched and was granted clemency, Hallelujah! But only for one day- which is fine, because I am so very sick of this project right now. I am reading over notes I've received along the way and second guessing EVERYTHING. Plus, the directions for the four binders I have to do are so confusing. Am I supposed to scan every damned thing in addition to swatching and sampling?? Because that's not going to happen.

I know that this first project will be the worst because I have to get over my learning curve for everything, instead of just the new things. I am really grateful for this opportunity, but I have to bitch. I am so tired, I have no clean clothes, and it looks like an atomic grade craft-bomb went off in the living room. A living room which I share with two other people who are certainly more tired of it than I am.

I think I will go take a shower, try to find a clean shirt that is OK to get paint all over, and pour myself another Diet Max. (Albertson's had ZERO bottles of diet coke yesterday, so I was forced into house brand. Which tastes like diet rite, tab, and road grit. Copious application of lemon helps. I've had this at other people's houses and it never tasted like this. So, now I think not only was the grocery store out of the real deal, but they had a bad batch of the imitator as well.)

With luck I will cheer up when it is time to send the invoice!

at B.B.Q. party...

at B.B.Q. party...
Originally uploaded by aran_apple.

so beautiful! I think these are camelias floating in a swimming pool.

Modesty Prevails

Modesty Blaise: The Gabriel Set-Up (#7) Peter O'Donnell

Modesty Blaise is amazing - she is like a girl James Bond, but cooler. A former criminal mastermind who now uses her powers for good, Modesty cuts a smart and stylish figure in London. Her loyal side-kick is Willie Garvin, Thai-style fighter and cockney man about town. Modesty is the spiritual mother to Buffy, Xena, Emma Peel, and ass-kicking women around the globe. The Gabriel Set-Up is a collection of comic strips featuring Modesty. Peter O'Donnell wrote several novels in addition to the comic, but the comic was first. For lots more info, go here, or here.

Got Your Number (#8) Stephanie Bond

This one was pretty disposable. It is a mystery/romance that was supposed to be funny, but didn't tickle my funny bone particularly. There were some great moments, but overall it was eh. I give it an eh, plus, grade. I would rather read Crusie. Got Your Number had a pretty interesting premise, and a promising beginning, and then got embroiled in lots and lots of exposition that just laid on top of everything else, waiting for the moment far too late in the book when it would become relevant. I think what jarred in my mind was the herky-jerky back and forth between jokey humor and pretty dark stuff. Plus, she telegraphed the killer with a really obvious stereotype. Jokey/darkness be a brilliant combo when it works (Buffy), but tedious when it doesn't. I read it at the beach, and it did keep me turning the pages, but I've definitely read better in the same category. I would give her another shot, though.

fire & ice

fire & ice
Originally uploaded by The baboon.

I love the glowy orangeness and blueness of this picture! And the roundness and reflectiveness.
Since it is round, it provides a really feeble segue into my next question -
Can you help me think of songs featuring the sun or the moon? Not ones you hate, but ones that make you go "!!!!", or at least make you happy to hear when walking down the street or riding in your car.

Some that I have already thought of:
- Have a Day; It's The Sun; Light & Day by The Polyphonic Spree
- Mr. Blue Sky - ELO
- Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles
- Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles

... I know there are more but I am blanking on them right now. I'll edit them in as I think of them. Obviously, that's only on the Sun side. Any night/day songs would also be appreciated.
edit: Here are some more -
I Wish I Were the Moon - Neko Case
Blue Moon - Elivs Presley
I'll Follow The Sun - Beatles
Mambo de la Luna - Kirsty MacColl
Una Notte Napoli - Pink Martini (thanks to Martina)
Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
Sunshine Superman - Donovan
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Island in the Sun - Weezer
Pink Moon - Nick Drake
Moonshadow - Cat Stevens
So Lovely Is The Night - Chris Isaak

back to normal

The Aunt is on her way back to Florida after a very nice visit. The deadline for the projcect has been extended over the weekend. The sun is shining! Hooray!! I feel very fortunate right now, but also a little superstitious - like maybe I am too fortunate. -narrows eyes and looks shiftily about- It would be silly to not appreciate the good while it is here, though. So I will knock on wood and continue on.

Unrelated to anything - the woman that I am doing this freelance project for keeps emailing me to call her. Just to chat or whatever. It is so weird!! I didn't the first time because my aunt was here and we were on our way out the door to the beach - but then she sent her numbers again and there is really no way and no reason not too. I just am more of an emailer than a phone caller. But it's not like she's asking me to perform brain surgery or anything else I could reasonably decline, so I'll do it. It is so crazy that I feel weird about it, but there you have it.

Abolutely Fabulous

Abolutely Fabulous
Originally uploaded by Foutugraphe.

Fabulous! I even like the typo in the title.

Good Stuff

To remind myself that it is often the little things that make the difference between a really great day and a really crappy day, I would like to offer up the following list of small things that are making me happy right this very minute. Or at least contributing to overall feelings of non-misery. (Yay, non-misery!)

1. Hot Oil treatments for my hair - not even Alberto VO5 - the el cheapo Suave ones. They make my hair happy, which as anyone who has ever had a bad hair day knows, is a good thing.

2. The Old 97's. They just do. My name is Stewart Ransom Miller, and I'm a serial lady killer - ha!

3. diet coke. hello, my bubbly, caffeinated friend.

4. SPRING.

What are some of the small things that make you smile, or contribute to your overall feelings of non-misery?

Munich stadium seats

Munich stadium seats
Originally uploaded by Daveybot.

Have a seat! Don't these look like numbered pistachios or something? It must be one of those weird quirks of individual brain chemistry that makes certain images interesting and others boring, but I really like pictures of these empty molded chairs. One of my favorite pictures that I took in Canada was of the orange chairs bolted to the upper deck of the ferry.