christmas music recommendations.

bets introduced me to a lovely song that she thought i might like. like this: "i mean, it's michael buble, which may be slightly off-putting." and, you know, i like to pretend i don't like his music. but then i keep listening to it, so there you have it. anyway, it's called "haven't met you yet," and it's about how he's going to meet someone awesome, etc. anyway, he has this line that goes, "i guess it's half timing, and the other half's luck." but he kind of buble-style slurs it, and it sounds so much like he's singing, "and the other half SLUT." it makes me giggle every time. i like it.

and here's a song we would have loved in 2003, and that i still love now - "all that i want for christmas (is to give my love away)" by the rescues. i know, right? you already want it. it was on grey's, of course.

and, every year - all i want for christmas is you, and breath of heaven. it's not christmas without those.

all googly!

i'm a top hit!


i feel proud. even though it seems like the way to get people to click on my site, then leave immediately [i'm like, stay, guys! look around!] is to name a post with lyrics from a kind of obscure indie rock song. sorry to disappoint you, google searchers.

but look! in a search that people might actually make...


are you looking for a catholic blog about faith and reason? then stay! but, apparently, beware of my sometimes-hatred for catholic bloggers.

an interesting piece on public transportation - kudos for mentions of convenience and people's assumptions of what we can and cannot do if we don't own cars. i remember overhearing a woman [with a baby in a stroller, too] asking if she could interview that day, instead of coming back the next day, because she had taken the bus [in the un-bus-friendly city where i grew up]. and, in chicago, i had a neighbor who walked with a cane who used to walk up the million steps at our non-accessible train station. and, when i scoot to my seat as the bus is already moving or climb over ice piles on the sidewalk, i think there might be other reasons that older people move to the suburbs. city life seems to demand a certain amount of health and ability to get around, especially if you're living on a budget... in a building without an elevator... commuting without a car...

it's no meat loaf. i know, i know.

new on the sidebar, and recommended...
i love you more than blank. got this in an email today, and - oooh. it's almost like my friends know what i like.
and maria finally started a blog! yay. it appears that she likes running and music and, you know, awesomeness. and i encourage you all to start blogs, too, so i can say nice things about you and also look like i have lots of blogfriends.

and in her honor here's a song that will take you, um, a long time to listen to. and THAT is how it starts.



don't think i listen to music this cool on my own. kevin knows. [see his comment.]

wouldn't trade one stupid decision for another five years of life, eh? i'll buy it.

[new tag cloud is making me want to have lots more tags. WATCH out.]

"the pressure of language..."

so i casually read the freakonomics blog, a lot. and the other day, i casually read this article about giffen goods, i guess, and tangetially related to prostitutes and rice. and then i read feministing, and oops - i was supposed to be outraged.

interesting comments, though - i think the one i linked just now is getting right to the point. like, yes, insensitive turn of phrase. but not blatant assholery. and also, they're economists. they're the ones who [in their book, summarzied here] attribute the drop in crime in new york in the early 1990s to the drop in unwanted pregnancies after roe v. wade passed in 1972. because potential criminals aren't being born. i mean, what? i feel like that's a bigger threat to human dignity [of course, feministing doesn't get to that, but that's another post] than conjecture about the economics of the sex trade. but they go ahead and make that point, because it's supported by statistics and they're in the "hey, sorry, but we think this is causal." [that word is so awkward.] and, also, i think they're basically good people who make up statistics about college students and sweatpants. so that's why this debate was so interesting to me, i think. because i actually like the guys on the other side of the outrage, and that's not usually how i feel in this kind of situation.

i think what i originally wanted to blog about was how the language we use can change our entire meaning. how it carries implications we don't always anticipate. and how the blogosphere is CRAZY. comments are crazy. and i feel pretty open-minded [who knows what other people think of me, but i try], but i read a lot of fury out there on issues i didn't anticipate.

my employee handbook actually says something like, "communicate in person whenever possible to avoid being misunderstood." which, you know, seems sort of cumbersome in the modern world. but, point well-taken - no matter how clearly i write, how well can all of you really understand what i mean? and how many people are getting angry right now?

only semi-related - has everyone seen the multigrain cheerios commercial where the guy asks the girl if she's trying to lose weight [because she's eating mgc]? and she's all "do i look like i need to lose weight?" ahh, yes. i always try to fit the comeback, "ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?" into conversations in which it doesn't belong. people get pretty awkward when i do that.

my current jam [and title of this post] is "the cool, cool river" by paul simon. rhythm of the saints, first of all, is an under-appreciated album. and this song is probably my favorite little-known song. give it a listen.

"i believe in the future we shall suffer no more. maybe not in my lifetime, but in yours, i feel sure..."

sigh. at present, through a glass, darkly. but then, face to face. i love that, really, that passage is about being understood...

ouch. bad day for polka.

still, this is pretty awesome. my favorite part is how he "chose to face the music."

"if i could FIND YOU NOW..."

got a delicious burrito today. and yesterday. yesterday, they cooked the outside of the burrito on a big grill, the rice was yellow and delicious, and the man said "claaaaaro que si" when i asked him if he had any salsa for me. [i find the spanish language, in general, charming. i think it would be different if i were actually good at speaking it.] today, there was no rice, i got chipotle flavor and fat-free black beans [whatever], and the burrito was really spicy and delicious. i was a little disturbed, though, when the guy taking my order didn't speak spanish. then i was a little disturbed about being disturbed. [i was meta-disturbed.] anyway, did i mention that it was delicious?

as i got off the bus, a neighbor with his dog may have seen me do air drums to this song. am i a fifteen-year-old boy on the inside? maybe.



but THEN, on the way home from the bus, walking got very treacherous. but only in some spots. my theory is that something under the sidewalk is making only some spots melt and then refreeze, but under the snow. [i should have been a scientist.] so, every ten steps or so, i'd unexpectedly and suddenly lose my balance and have to catch myself. but then, all of a sudden, i just BIT IT. it was one of those falls where i didn't even rememeber thinking, "oh, shit, i'm falliiiiiiiinnnnnngggg..." nope, no slow motion at all. just BAM and, "hey, why the hell am i on my back on the ground? and why's there all this snow on me?"

it was unrelated to the air drums, just so you all know. i had already moved on to being distracted by a little kid and his cars-themed one-shoulder backpack.

so i recovered by rocking out to this new find, which i love.



yes, my brother got an electric drum set for christmas and played along with his ipod for like three days straight. why do you ask? does it seem like i've spent a lot of TIME with him recently?

:)

breakstone's fat free sour cream is totally the diet dr. pepper of dairy products. seriously, those guys have CRACKED the diet technology. how do they make it so good? and do you think they'll ever make ice cream?

this blog post will change your life.

i had a conversation the other night in which one of my friends alluded to a comment one of HER friends made that changed her life. she very earnestly [see below] told me that it actually changed her life. i, of course, believed her.

the comment was something like, "our generation doesn't value the internal life." we're always into telling people everything we do and constructing a whole narrative [and you know how i love narrative] - but where's our reflection? or prayer, even?

i like this for two reasons:
1. the "secular ways to talk about the faith business" thing. i'd tell very few people that they'd be happier if they thought more about their prayer life, but i'd talk to a lot of people about their INNER life. like, are you taking time for yourself? do you feel like you never relax? is something bothering you, and you don't know what it is? and i'm not saying religion is the answer, but i wonder if we're wired to require some kind of... well, something more. something that makes us different than the worker bees.
2. as an over-sharer, i'm sensitive to the value of not sharing some things. if they're really important.

then, i had another life-changing conversation.

h: i always think it's so weird when i'm drunk at a bar and someone asks what i do - and i talk about working with kids.
b: try being a religion teacher. that's always a fun conversation to have with a stranger...
j: but i think that's just part of being our age, you know? trying to balance having a career with still trying to have fun and be young.

and we moved on to talk about how much people should talk about their weekend activities at work. but, how awesome is that? yes, bar conversations as a metaphor for being a 20-something and feeling like you're living a double life. well, two or more lives. i mean, that's one of the reasons i started this blog. [and maybe it ties in with the "inner life" thing more than i thought.] because, if i can't talk about the things that are important to me, how important are they? and, if i can't talk about my job at the bar, why am i in that job? [or, of course, why am i going to the bar?] let me be as authentic as i can be. yes.

then, i had another one.

m: can we blame society when we respond to sincere emotion with snark?
b: YES. please always feel free to do things WITHOUT IRONY.
m: someone once told me i was "earnest" and i didn't know what to do with that.
b: i think that's a huuuuuge compliment.

and i do. [someone once told me that something i did was "endearing." i liked that, too, and consider it somehow related.] but you know, when you have a moment of earnestness with someone, where they lean over and say something real and serious and important to you - that's what i'm talking about.

and the opposite of that, well - while i'm ethically opposed to [or, i guess, offended by] stuff white people like, i often think about the entry on irony.

Also, you might find yourself in conversation where you mention that you like something and there is an awkward silence indicating that it is not cool. In this situation, you must say “oh yeah, I also like [insert similar things]” and smile, the white people will laugh and all will be well.

again, one of those things that always sticks with me. maybe because i've spent a lot of time worrying about how to be ironic. or, you know, asking my friends whether other people were being ironic. [because you just have to KNOW.] and all along, i think, i'd rather be earnest.

oh, and my current favorite life-changing conversation? i was upset about something, and one of my favorite slightly older friends just said, "your 20s are really hard! i remember being really confused the whole time." i was like, THANK YOU. that's just what i needed.

on a related note, may i interest you in a few songs. and in seeqpod, where you can search for songs and embed them! i got this recommendation ["like youtube for songs"] in a christmas letter.

first, as always, i thank the lord for the people i have found...

[later ed: apparently seeqpod is now defunct. you'll have to provide your own elton.]

and, "fill it up again" by the indigo girls. from a relatively recent album. and ROCKIN, especially for the new year. the new road is an old friend...

[later ed: guys, when the album all that we let in came out, i was very "this is my LIFE" about it. kind of still am.]

so what i'm saying is, get the whole song. right now.

"i want to change the world. instead, i sleep."

i have a list on my computer of songs i can't find on itunes. then i check itunes periodically to see if they're available yet. tonight, i downloaded "keep breathing" by ingrid michaelson [yes, my favorite genre of music is "songs i heard on grey's"] and the title of this post is an actual line from the song. shoot. a little close to home, there, ingrid.

song's good, though. sort of the opposite of "world on fire," but i like it.