Lake Toba

Naming the country

Now that the United States of America is gone, what should we name the new country?

I think Dubyastan has a nice ring to it. My roommate thinks Bushistan is more to the point. The problem with that, I think, is that there is still at least one person with the name of Bush that is worthy of respect, though she's not a relation. I wouldn't want people to begin to associate her with the name of a dictatorship.

Friday

1. Nina Nastasia: On Leaving
2. Lupe Fiasco: Food & Liquor
3. Radio Citizen: Berlin Serengeti
4. Scissor Sisters: Ta-Dah
5. The Blow: Paper Television
6. Two Ton Boa: Parasiticide

In memoriam: The United States of America

One day I awoke to find myself in a strange country. I had not emigrated. While I slept, my country disappeared. In its place was an altogether different nation. It shared the same flag and anthem of the country of my birth, but it lacked a soul and a moral compass.

I was born in the United States of America. As a child I was taught to love my country and to cherish all that made it great. Above all, I was taught to revere its Constitution, the document upon which our government was founded and which gave every citizen the power to influence destiny of their country.

In the United States of America, elected leaders held many different ideologies, but they all loved the Constitution. They argued over how to interpret it and even whether to change it, but they governed in accordance with our Constitution and its Amendments. Even when it hindered their plans, our leaders respected the Constitution as the final word on what laws they could create and enforce.

The Constitution of the strange country in which I now find myself is feeble and frequently disregarded. Leaders evoke the Constitution when it serves their agendas but dismiss it when it supports an opponent's argument. They enact laws without regard for its content. There is no longer any guiding principle for the creation of new laws except for their thirst for power.

In the United States of America, the most valuable right granted to its citizenry by its Constitution was the liberty to say or write anything. Citizens were free to criticize the government without fear of punishment. One could express any opinion, no matter how offensive or erroneous others may have found it, and expect nothing worse than criticism in return.

In this new, foreign nation, leaders condemn dissenters in limitless ways. One who criticizes the government is branded a traitor. At best, careers and lives are ruined. At worst, those who dare to oppose the government's policies are incarcerated and tortured.

In the United States of America, the Constitution guaranteed a suite of rights under the umbrella of due process. One's privacy could only be breached if a judge believed there was credible evidence of a crime. One had the right to legal representation and to refrain from self-incrimination. If accused of a crime, a citizen was arraigned and tried. The accused was convicted or acquitted by a jury based on the absence or presence of reasonable doubt. The defendant always had the right to ask a judge for release from incarceration of his or her due process had been abridged.

In the new country, due process is abridged on a whim. If a citizen is suspected of opposing the government, he or she is held without access to an attorney, without arraignment, without hope of ever seeing a judge. The government can hold the suspect forever. Those suspected of being the enemy are tortured and forced to incriminate themselves and others. The veracity of confessions obtained in this manner is irrelevant. One is guilty if the government says so. There is no other standard of justice.

In the United States of America, various mechanisms existed to balance power between branches of the government, between the states and the federal government, between political parties, between the government and its people. No one person or entity could become too powerful due to the circumscription of the Constitution. In this way, everyone had reason to defend the Constitution and hence their own small share of the power.

There is no balance in this terrible place. The judiciary has been castrated. Legislators line up to fawn over a despot who claims to be God's representative on Earth. The opposition party is unable to effectively oppose the dictator for fear of losing what little power they have left. When states pass laws that conflict with the dominant party's agenda, the tyrant commands his minions in the national legislative body to nullify it. The citizenry has no rights except to bow down.

The United States of America is but a memory now. I do not know what to call this abominable country, but I will never call it The United States of America.

Albums That Loved Me Back #4

This Mortal Coil: Blood

4AD, more than any other label I can think of, has always exhibited a remarkable stylistic coherence among its various acts. 4AD bands have always had a distinct 4AD-ness about them. Even today, The Mountain Goats and TV on the Radio seem right at home among older acts like Pixies and Cocteau Twins.

It seems ironic that This Mortal Coil, a project that 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell created to allow artists on the label to perform material they wouldn't have had the opportunity to do otherwise, drips with all the trademarks of the 4AD sound. Lavish string arrangements, reverb, samples of birdsong and babbling infants, and singers with speech impediments reconstruct classic pop songs, interspersed with a handful of original instrumentals. Any adjective used to describe any 4AD release is even more applicable to Blood, This Mortal Coil's third and final album - haunting, etherial, gossamer, other-worldly, etc., etc., etc. It's where the ghosts of pop songs loiter and rattle their chains, much to the delight of living ears.

I thought I would have more to say about my personal impressions about this album. I don't even have any specific recollections about hearing it for the first time. But upon reflection, I realize that it moves me consistently because it is nearly perfectly aligned with my conceptions of what music should be: sincere but refined. The production is merely confection. Underneath processing and samples and reverb, what you have is a simple melody and a heartfelt chorus. Lyrics are selected for content and not for a convenient rhyme. This is the common thread running through all the songs, whether a cover or an original composition. It seems that Ivo selected TMC's songs to distill these elements in particular, expressing more about why he loves music than about the subject matter of any particular track. I think that it is for these reasons that Blood remains a timeless example of a nearly perfect album.

Thursday

1. The Cure: Pornography
2. Nico: The End
3. Destroyer: Your Blues
4. Teddybears: Soft Machine

BBC fucks over Sparks on live radio, later blames hosts

Monday morning, as previously reported at Pitchfork, Sparks was scheduled to be interviewed on the BBC's morning show on their London radio station, 94.9FM. The hosts, Jono Coleman and Jo Good, informed them that they could not play the new single, "Dick Around," because the BBC did not think the song was appropriate for the time slot. Later, the BBC tried to pin it on the hosts, saying that it was actually Jo and Jono that decided to err on the side of caution and not play the song. I have listened to the segment and the hosts were clearly surprised and embarrassed that they could not play the single that Sparks was invited to promote. You can listen to the segment here - it begins about two and a half hours into the show.

One place you are sure to hear "Dick Around" is on paleunderweight podcast 27 this Saturday. I hope you tune in.

Here is what I've been listening to today:

1. The Fall: This Nation's Saving Grace
2. Sparks: Hello Young Lovers
3. Diamanda Galás: La Serpenta Canta
4. Nine Inch Nails: With Teeth

Strange

2006 has been the year of bizarre music news.

Earlier this year, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation was inducted into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. Now, in an even more bizarre turn, John Zorn has been awarded a Macarthur Fellowship (AKA The Genius Grant) for his work with his record label, Tzadik.

Not that I'm complaining. I hope this trend of academic recognition of great artists continues. Perhaps the next Democratic president will name Diamanda Galás as head of the NEA. Ok, I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

Here's what I've been listening to since Saturday:

1. Girl Talk: Night Ripper
2. The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
3. Richard Thompson: Front Parlour Ballads
4. Jens Lekman: Oh You're So Silent Jens
5. Wolf Parade: Apologies to the Queen Mary
6. This Mortal Coil: Filigree & Shadow
7. A.R. Kane: i

paleunderweight podcast 26

Now available.

1. Klee: "Für Alla, Die"
2. Ratatat: "Wildcat"
3. Iron & Wine: "Cinder and Smoke"
4. Mission of Burma: "Donna Sumeria"
5. David Bowie: "Art Decade"
6. Ohsees: "We Are Free"
7. Antony & The Johnsons: "Cripple and the Starfish"
8. Budd/Fraser/Guthrie/Raymonde: "Why Do You Love Me?"
9. Nina Simone: "Wild Is the Wind"
10. Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "No Bad News"
11. Belle & Sebastian: "The Stars of Track and Field"
12. The Whitest Boy Alive: "Golden Cage"
13. Basement Jaxx: "Smoke Bubbles"
14. Soulwax: "Krack"
15. Fujiya & Miyagi: "Photocopier"
16. Brazilian Girls: "Le Territoire"
17. Gogol Bordello: "Undestructable"

Wednesday and Thursday

1. Grizzly Bear: Yellow House
2. Brazilian Girls: Talk to La Bomb
3. Nina Simone: Nina Simone at Town Hall
4. David Bowie: Low
5. Gogol Bordello: Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike
6. Mission of Burma: The Obliterati
7. Belle & Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister
8. Cat Stevens: Teaser and the Firecat
9. Budd/Fraser/Guthrie/Raymonde: The Moon and the Melodies

Breaking the silence

I'm going to take a few moments away from my strict regimen of assal horizontology because it's been too long since I've posted anything substantive.

I am currently listening to The Letting Go by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, which is simply lovely. So far, possibly his best work since I See a Darkness. Yes, that's right - better than Superwolf, even.

Marianne Faithfull announced today that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, but it was caught in the early stages. I wish her a full and speedy recovery.

The second least likely reunion in all of rock music (after The Beatles) is actually happening! The Sugarcubes are playing a one-off show in Reykjavik. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they decide to tour and come to Phoenix. I'm not holding my breath, though.

Grumpator has tagged me with a meme (though I saw it at Carraigduibh first) which I shall now attempt to complete - without a net!

THE BOOK MEME

1. Book that changed your life: Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead. It was the first ethnography I ever read, years before even thinking about getting a degree in anthropology. For me, it has inspired a way of thinking more broadly about culture, a premise for a musical and the name of a band I shall someday form: Margaret Mead & The Samoans.
2. Book read more than once: The entire Tales of the City series. I read it about once anually. Armistead Maupin has helped me through some difficul times.
3. Book on a desert island: Tape Delay: Confessions of the Eighties Underground. It compiles a number of interviews that Charles Neal conducted with dozens of artists from the period, such as Marc Almond, Genesis P-Orridge, Mark E. Smith, etc. The inner workings of the musician's mind has always fascinated me.
4. Book that made you laugh: Non Campus Mentis by Anders Henriksson. A professor compiles a comprehensive history of the world from actual papers submitted by real college and high school students. I was howling at the references to monks taking vows of pottery and to caramelized nuns.
5. Book that made you cry: The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. No need to elaborate there.
6. Book you wish you'd written: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
7. Book you wish had never been written: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, only because I was forced to read it both in high school and in college. Classic or not, it's an awful book and I'm not embarassed to say it.
8. Book currently reading: When Religion Becomes Evil by Charles Kimball.
9. Book meaning to read: Messiah by Gore Vidal. I've made a couple of false starts in the past couple of months. Eventually I'll finish it.
10. Tags: Anyone who reads this blog, feel free to continue the meme.

Here's what I've been listening to since Saturday:

1. Fujiya & Miyagi: Transparent Things
2. Jason Molina: Let Me Go Let Me Go Let Me Go
3. Soulwax: Nite Versions
4. Klee: Honeysuckle
5. The Whitest Boy Alive: Dreams
6. Ohsees: The Cool Death of Island Raiders
7. Erase Errata: Nightlife
8. Ratatat: Classics
9. Basement Jaxx: Crazy Itch Radio
10. Antony & The Johnsons: Antony & The Johnsons
11. Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days
12. Bonnie "Prince" Billy: The Letting Go

paleunderweight podcast 25

Now available.

1. Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke: "Sacrifice"
2. The Rapture: "The Sound"
3. Pixies: "Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons"
4. Galaxie 500: "Instrumental"
5. Public Image Ltd.: "Poptones"
6. Xiu Xiu: "Save Me Save Me"
7. TV on the Radio: "Dirtywhirl"
8. The Decemberists: "Cocoon"
9. Tom Waits: "Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis"
10. Yo La Tengo: "Black Flowers"
11. Beck: "Bottle of Blues"
12. Sybris: "Hobo Detail Shop"
13. Leonard Cohen: "Joan of Arc"
14. Todosantos: "Ian Curtis"
15. Tim Buckley: "Sefronia- After Asklopiades, After Kafka"
16. Okkervil River: "A Stone"
17. Stuart A. Staples: "Dance With an Old Man"

Thursday and Friday

1. Super Furry Animals: Phantom Power
2. Todosantos: Aeropuerto
3. Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke: Duality
4. Galaxie 500: Today
5. The Decemberists: Castaways and Cutouts
6. Public Image Ltd.: Second Edition
7. Sybris: Sybris

Sick

Today I muddled through my workday hopped up on goofballs of the cold medicine variety. I was just slightly goofier than usual.

Today three half-time staff positions were finally filled. It's going to be nice working in a fully staffed office for the first time in over a year. Another great thing is that all three went to amazing student workers. It's reassuring that the jobs were offered to highly qualified people with whom we already know we can work. I can't wait to start training the woman chosen to fill my old job! It's been very distracting switching back and forth between lending and borrowing. Now I'll be able to focus on learning the supervisory aspects of my job.

I have crammed the following into my temporal lobes today:

1. The Rapture: Pieces of the People We Love
2. Yo La Tengo: I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
3. Pixies: Trompe le Monde
4. Stuart A. Staples: Leaving Songs

Tuesday

1. Suede: Dog Man Star
2. Beck: Mutations
3. Tim Buckley: Sefronia
4. Leonard Cohen: Songs of Love and Hate
5. Xiu Xiu: The Air Force
6. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain

paleunderweight podcast 24

Sorry for the delay, folks. I was having problems getting Polderbits to work with my new computer's soundcard. I found a way around it, though. It means that the podcast will only be available in AAC format from now on, but I'm not aware of any listeners that don't use iTunes. If you have any trouble, just let me know and I'll figure something out.

Finally:

1. The The: "Out of the Blue (Into the Fire)"
2. Sinéad O'Connor: "Troy"
3. Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel: "I'll Meet You in Poland Baby"
4. Brian Ferry: "The Cruel Ship's Captain"
5. The Soft Pink Truth: "I Owe It to the Girls"
6. Herbert: "Down"
7. Nancy Sinatra: "Let Me Kiss You"
8. Nick Cave: "Fire Down Below"
9. Frog Eyes: "Bells in the Crooked Port"
10. Tortoise: "Autumn Sweater"
11. Soulwax: "Another Excuse (DFA Remix)"
12. Junior Boys: "The Equalizer"
13. Girl Talk: "Ask About Me"
14. The Mountain Goats: "Cobra Tattoo"
15. Professor Murder: "Free Stress Test"
16. Modest Mouse: "Like Like Weeds"
17. M. Ward: "Requiem"

Monday

1. Okkervil River: Black Sheep Boy
2. Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
3. Tom Waits: Blue Valentine

I don't love bacon anymore

You may notice that I have removed a link from the list on the right.

For many years, I read ilovebacon.com almost daily. However, as of late I have found myself reading it less as it has become less funny. It seems that there used to be a higher standard for the pictures that appeared there. They actually had to be funny. Now, a picture of a fratboy pointing at the name of a Chinese restaurant seems to be the best they can come up with.

Recently, they posted a really lame reader-submitted joke about Steve Irwin. Don't get me wrong - I love jokes in bad taste. That's why I loved the site. I don't see the joke, in itself, as a problem:

Q: Who is performing at Steve Irwin's wake?

A: Sting

Other than the fact that the joke wasn't even slightly clever or funny, it didn't offend me. However, some readers were offended enough to send angry e-mails and stop reading the site. I was not among them, but I respect people's right to do so. I'm not going to criticize someone for being offended.

What happened next did offend me. Here is how they responded to the criticism:

...Steve Irwin was a jackass who constantly put himself in harm's way and it finally caught up with him. It's social Darwinisn [sic]. If you really don't get it, please don't visit the site anymore.

There are so many things wrong with this statement that I don't know where to start. First of all, Steve Irwin was not just Animal Planet's answer to MTV's Jackass. He took a lot of risks but they weren't stunts. I'm not a fan but I have a great deal of respect for his work and everything he did for education and wildlife conservation. You can read more here.

Second, the comment about social Darwinism shows incredible ignorance. Perhaps the editor should read up on some of the consequences of social Darwinism, such as the Holocaust.

Finally, to suggest that someone's life is worth less because he regularly risked his life for what he believed in is ludicrous. I'd like to ask the editor, how often do you risk your life for something important?

It's apparent that it's really the editor of ilovebacon.com that doesn't "get it." And believe me - I won't be visiting the site anymore.

Friday

1. Sinéad O'Connor: The Lion and the Cobra
2. The Angels of Light: The Angels of Light Sing: Other People
3. Modest Mouse: The Moon and Antarctica

Like the hammer hits a canteloupe

Warning: if you have no sense of humor when it comes to religion, don't watch this.

Sugarfoot in sepia

As promised, more about the meme

1. Uusitalo: "Tulenkantaja"
   
   One of the less interesting monikers of Finnish house producer Sasu Ripatti. There isn't much interesting about this track our the album that shares its name. I would recommend two of his previous albums, Vocalcity (as Luomo) and The Four Quarters (as Vladislav Delay), far more than this one.
   
   
2. The Mountain Goats: "In Corolla"
   
   In reassuring to know that despite signing to 4AD and working with John Vanderslice, John Darnielle will never stray far from what works for him: focus on melody and lyrics. Four albums after abandoning the home-cassette approach to recording, The Mountain Goats have allayed my persistent fear that production would eventually overtake substance. Though not their best album, it's not far behind All Hail West Texas or The Coroner's Gambit.
   
   
3. Lou Reed: "Andy's Chest"
   
   Transformer is among the finest records ever made despite Lou Reed's far-from-perfect voice and almost embarrassingly silly lyrics. What makes this album spectacular, I think, is how Lou delivers so confidently as if everyone else is a fool for not making surreal and goofy music. And indeed they are.
   
   
4. Suede: "Daddy's Speeding"
   
   Probably my favorite Suede song ever. Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler were at each other's throats when this song was written and recorded, but it hints at the heights they could have reached if Butler had stayed. Ten years later, I was thrilled that they had started working together again as The Tears. The new record is decent, but it lacks the intensity they once had. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they can find their voice again on the next one.
   
   
5. Meat Beat Manifesto: "United Nations Etc. Etc."
   
   At the Center is my least favorite MBM album and one of the worst records I heard in 2005. This song sounds so much like any other generic dub/breakbeat track that it hardly seems worth the effort and expense of recording it. Jack Dangers should just hang it up. I can't think of anyone else who started out so great and fell so far.
   
   
6. Stereolab: "Analogue Rock"
   
   This doesn't stick out as one of their best, but I have never heard a bad Stereolab song.
   
   
7. Avenue Q Original Broadway Cast: "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist"
   
   For a gay man, I could easily be considered a musical theater illiterate (despite the fact that my dreams are often musicals). This and Rent are the only cast recordings I own.
   
   
8. Daniel Johnston: "Sorry Entertainer"
   
   I'm a late-comer to what Isabella Rossellini's character in The Simpsons might call "outsider music" (made by hillbillies, mental patients or chimpanzees). My introduction to Daniel Johnston came earlier this year in the form of the sprawling greatest-hits comp Welcome to My World. Some oversensitive types object to what they see as the exploitation of Johnston's mental illness. However, have you ever heard any great musicians that weren't mentally ill? Should we not listen to The Cure for fear of exploiting Robert Smith's alcoholism? Or Cocteau Twins because of Liz Fraser's speech disorder? Artists make art from the resources at their disposal, including any physical or mental infirmities. Now I just have to find an album made by chimpanzees...
   
   
9. Belle & Sebastian: "Marx and Engels"
   
   Belle & Sebastian are one of those rare bands whose b-sides are frequently better than their singles and whose EPs are better than their albums. The Life Pursuit excluded, of course.
   
   
10. The Cure: "Pictures of You"
    
    If I made a mixtape of the saddest songs ever, this would be track one. It reminds me of an old friend - let's call him Larry - and his deceased partner - let's call him Jim. Jim had a congenital heart defect that caused him to need a heart transplant in his late 20s. He rejected the transplanted heart and died at the age of 33. Larry and he had been together just over ten years. Jim had been one class away from completing his B.A. A few months later, Larry received a letter from the university telling him that they had decided to award Jim his degree posthumously. Larry still keeps it in a frame to this day. I think about this whenever I hear this song and I usually shed a tear or two for Larry and Jim.

Thursday

1. Frog Eyes: The Folded Palm
2. Herbert: Scale
3. The Soft Pink Truth: Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Soft Pink Truth?
4. The The: Infected
5. Nancy Sinatra: Let Me Kiss You EP
6. Girl Talk: Night Ripper
7. Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel: Hole
8. V/A: The DFA Remixes: Chapter One

Wednesday night

I am listening to Keith Fullerton Whitman's MetLife: Dartmouth Street Underpass EP and steeping my nightly tea. A mixture of Lemon Zinger and True Blueberry this time. It smells like those amazing blueberry muffins I learned to make during my brief tenure at the cafe.

Yesterday I received a cute refrigerator magnet/wedding announcement from my favorite cousin, Shannon. The wedding is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. I'd love to go but it doesn't seem likely. Even if I could afford the round-trip airfare to Virginia and two nights in a hotel over a holiday weekend, I still can't be surrounded by family without some kind of emotional support. Shannon and my aunt and my other cousins are all great, but almost every other relative that will be there is a lunatic. My mother especially. Michael doesn't think he could afford to go with me, so the only option left is taking one of my friends, most of whom are chronically broke. Barring some miracle, I will have to just send a gravy boat and my regards.

I finally got contacts this past weekend. After my last pair tore a few months ago, I kept putting it off because I thought I couldn't quite afford it yet. Imagine how embarrassed I was to realize I had vision coverage all along! It only cost me $19 for the exam and my insurance will cover 100% of the cost of the lenses up to $130. I am wearing a trial pair of the monthly lenses until I pick up a year's supply on Saturday. Unfortunately the optometrist mislabeled the trial pair and I only discovered today that I had been wearing each lens in the wrong eye. No wonder I've been getting headaches this week!

Paleunderweight podcast 24 will be posted a week from Friday. This will give me a chance to download my Yahoo! Sitebuilder software and possibly revamp the webpage a bit. I'll also use the opportunity to listen to lots of music, of course.

Now I am listening to the playlist I created from the random tracks described in the previous meme. I will post some commentary about those tracks soon, I promise. But for now, I must sleep.

Goodnight.

Tuesday

1. Professor Murder: Rides the Subway EP
2. The Mountain Goats: Get Lonely
3. M. Ward: Post-War
4. Tortoise: A Lazarus Taxon
5. V/A: Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys

Hilarious video

The Meme Reloaded, or, "I write the blog that makes the whole world meme"

I deleted my iPod meme because I had forgotten what I had wanted to write, but then mcd expressed that he wanted to continue it. So, back by popular demand, is my iPod meme.

Ten random tracks:

1. Uusitalo: "Tulenkantaja"
2. The Mountain Goats: "In Corolla"
3. Lou Reed: "Andy's Chest"
4. Suede: "Daddy's Speeding"
5. Meat Beat Manifesto: "United Nations Etc. Etc."
6. Stereolab: "Analogue Rock"
7. Avenue Q Original Broadway Cast: "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist"
8. Daniel Johnston: "Sorry Entertainer"
9. Belle & Sebastian: "Marx and Engels"
10. The Cure: "Pictures of You"

Commentary to follow... soon.

A post while winding down before bed

I'm up way past my bedtime. I'm waiting for my allergy pills to kick in. My herbal tea - a combo of Celestial Seasonings' Tangerine Orange Zinger and Country Peach Passion - is steeping. I'm listening to the new Junior Boys album, So This Is Goodbye, on my iPod. I reckon I can put off going to bed just long enough to post about some recent events in my life.

I started my new job on the 16th. I am loving it, as I was sure I would. I felt outside of my comfort zone at first, as I am receiving very little direction compared to my previous position. However, I am adapting to my new routine and learning quickly. I'm also using my previous experience on the borrowing side of interlibrary loan to streamline the lending process, much to the delight of my new boss. It helps that the student workers in my department are amazing - the oldtimers are very knowledgeable and dependable and even the new arrivals are eager to help. They are really helping me get through this transition period.

I greeted my 29th birthday last week with a mixture of disbelief and trepidation. I know it sounds silly complaining about my youth slipping through my fingers when I'm still in my 20's, but my anxiety stems from the gradual realization that I can't use my age as an excuse for irresponsibility anymore. I still have areas that need a lot of work, money and housekeeping being the most pressing issues. Despite any lingering problems, however, I feel good about what I accomplished while I was 28. I completed my bachelor's degree. I landed a job that requires a B.A. and that will boost my career prospects. I met Michael. I adopted Sugarfoot. While I didn't cross everything off my list, I still achieved some major goals and laid the groundwork for the coming year.

Since Michael's move was scheduled for this weekend, we celebrated my birthday last weekend. He took me out to dinner and got me Season 8 of The Simpsons on DVD. More than anything else, though, I was glad to celebrate my birthday with the man I love.

I bought my new computer on Thursday and immediately got to work on customizing it for my needs. I spent several hours that night uninstalling all the free trial software and assorted crap that weighed the computer down and slowed its startup. Then I started downloading, installing and tranferring licenses for software that I had on the previous computer. Finally I had to back-up all of my music on the hard drive in case iTunes decided to disallow use of my iPod on the new computer. I lost a few tracks in the process but I was able to replace all but three - all from Wasps' Nests by The 6ths - on iTunes or Emusic. Hoodlums may still have the used copy I sold them last year. If not, I can buy it cheap from an Amazon Marketplace seller.

Michael and I spent most of the weekend working on his move. He hired movers to do all the moving but we unpacked. To be fair, Michael did most of the unpacking, but he didn't ask me to do much. I was mostly an extra set of hands for unpacking large things and a catsitter. We were both surprised that it went as smoothly as it did. Nonetheless, it was very exhausting for both of us and incredibly stressful for Michael. He handled it well, though, and avoided taking it out on me. Not that he's the type to do that, but some of my experiences helping boyfriends move haven't been very pleasant. Michael's graceful handling of the move further reinforced his superiority over others I have dated.

That's all for now. Goodnight.

Blogging resumes!

I installed my new computer last night so I will now be blogging much more regularly. I am helping Michael move into his new place this weekend so I probably won't have much to say until Monday. Happy Labor Day weekend!