amplified to rock
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Weezer t-shirt: Don't get me wrong, I thank my lucky stars daily that I am not working at my old shitty job that made me unhappy and crabby all the time. I've realized (cue swelling New Agey-type music) that maybe money isn't as important as happiness. But goddamn it, I
want a fucking Weezer hoodie, I want that red shirt, I want both stickers for my Charming Car, and...oh man, that black t-shirt has long sleeves, I want one of those too. And a keychain. And an autographed copy of
Pinkerton.
Conditioned like one of Pavlov's dogs: I have to ask my boss if I can leave at 3. It's not a big deal at all, I can make up the time next week, though she probably won't make me do that. She's very reasonable and approachable and easy to get along with, but I still find it completely nerve-wracking. I think it has a lot to do with my former job, where requesting time would often lead to questioning from my former boss (who thought all employees should work 60+ hour weeks without overtime or comp time) who wanted to know how you could
dare ask for time off when there were (unrealistic) deadlines that he wanted met.
I have the same problem when my current boss says she needs to talk to me. When my former boss said he needed to talk to me, it usually meant I was going to get lectured over something or another that I had done, or that my work ethic was going to be criticized, or that my office was going to be taken away. I wonder how long it's going to take me to get over this, or if the damage has been done and I'll always be like this, flinching and nervous when I have to deal with my boss.
"I'm tired...so tired...": Well, I am. I don't know why I always stay up really really late the night before I have to go to work early. The night before my days off, I'm always in bed by 1. Weird. Anyhow, I went to Brew and View last night to watch
Survivor. I cannot believe how involved I've managed to get in that stupid show. It drives me crazy when people talk about television shows as if they're reality, as if they know the characters personally and are personally involved in the plot lines. But I find myself almost doing that with
Survivor. Gah.
Post-Survivor, there was dinner at the Flat Top Grill. I made my best dish ever last night. It involved pineapple. I know that doesn't sound very tasty, but it was. I consumed too much garlic last night, however. I have brushed my teeth four times since then, and I have consumed about 12 cinnamon Altoids, but I can still taste garlic. Gross. I'll try not to breathe on anyone.
Oh, and about the subheads: I thought that would be a funny thing to do for a day or two, put little subheads on every post. But Paul emailed me and told me that he likes it, so I'm going to keep doing it. I kind of like it too. I'll try to keep them exciting for you. Nothing worse than lame subheads.
The psychology of Nanette, a primer: I am standing on the shore of a river loaded with crocodiles. I have a sharp stick. A crocodile comes up on the shore and opens its mouth, showing its teeth. I proceed to taunt the crocodile with the sharp stick. The crocodile bites off part of the sharp stick. I move closer and continue to taunt the crocodile. It snaps again and leaves me with just a short stick. I keep taunting, figuring I'm going to taunt as long as I can until the damn crocodile manages to hurt me.
Today's a slow day. It's my off day and I slept and I read and I burned CDs for people and I read some more. I got my tax refund check this week, I put that in the bank today. It was a pretty hefty check because the idiot payroll person at my former employer managed to treat my four weeks' severance pay as if it had been one day's pay, thus taking one-third of the check out in taxes. I guess that's what happens when you work the same miserable job for thirty-two years, as she had: your brain rots.
I'm excited about the Weezer show tomorrow. It will be nice to see Jackie and Nick and Jared. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be able to leave work early tomorrow so I can go to dinner with them. I *never* have appointments on Friday, so I hope that doesn't change tomorrow. I'm sure my boss will let me go early if nobody makes an appointment.
Today, a brief summary: I was in a bad mood all day as a result of staying up way too late talking on the phone. I look tired. I feel tired. I am tired. I wrote a not-so-good poem today. The only thing I like about it is the title. It is called "Confidential to B." The poem itself is crap, but the fact that I wrote a poem is kind of exciting because it's the first poem I've written in who knows how long. I used to write a lot of
poetry back in the day. I got my mid-term back. I got an A. This lead me to question why everything is so easy for me, why I never have to exert any effort. Then I realized how completely uppity and spoiled that sounds. I'm sure I'll get slapped in the ass eventually. I dealt with a person with a nasty attitude today at work. I also dealt with some very nice people at work today. My Girl Scout cookies came in. I gorged myself on Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies. Tomorrow night I'm going to
Brew and View to watch
Survivor with Tim and his co-workers. After that, we're going to Oberweis Dairy for ice cream. Pardon me while I revel in the bliss of normalcy. Just you wait until I grab him and shake him and demand that he tell me his fatal flaw. That's gonna be a good one. I'm going to call him tonight because I can. Because it's not a long-distance call that's going to cost me ten cents a minute (or more during peak hours).
Let me remind you again of the upcoming party. I'll be creating a separate page for it tonight or tomorrow. You should be there, it's gonna be jumpin' jumpin'.
Now I'm going to go home. Well, I'm going to respond to this paper and then I'm going to go home. I'm going home a little early. I deserve it. Good night.
Obligatory lame post about weird search requests: Today's winners were "
Ryan Schreiber +photo" and "cats fucking." Amusing aside: if you amend the "Ryan Schreiber +photo" search by adding the word "naked," this site is the number one result on the list. Go on, try it! Go to
Google, type
"Ryan Schreiber" photo naked and push the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. You won't find what you're looking for, but it's still funny.
Best euphemism for "we had sex" that ever appeared in a journal entry that I wrote: "We watched Dragnet from the hotel room in Cleveland. That is such a funny movie."
A year ago, I was in New York City. I need to get back there soon. I'm getting this faraway nostalgic feeling just thinking about that trip. A faraway nostalgic feeling that caused me to write an email to Ray, who I don't talk to nearly as much as I would like. I have more positive memories of my relationship with Ray than I do of any of my other recent relationships. He's a genuinely good person, and I miss him a lot sometimes.
Superheroes: Over dinner a couple of weeks ago, Tim asked me the following question: Given the choice, would I rather be Superman or Batman?
I picked Batman. Superman is not cool. I would really rather be Spider-Man (the thought of shooting spider webs from my wrists is really appealing) or The Thing (there's something inherently cool about being made out of orange bricks), but they weren't choices. I picked Batman because Batman rocks without having any superpowers. He's just smart and he has all sorts of gadgets. Of course, I probably cribbed that entire answer from Kevin Smith movies or one of the avid comic book readers I know. Batman's costume is also infinitely more bad-ass than Superman's costume.
So now I want to know your answer. Go to the forum, answer the question. (I'm going to try to use the forum more often. It's been kind of dead for a long time.)
Word geekery: I was on the phone with Aaron last night, and he used the word "ruminate" for some reason. I said "that sounds like you're chewing on something. I know you're only thinking, but it sounds like chewing." He replied with "yeah, like chewing cud or something."
So we spent a good five minutes trying to figure out what the word that "sounds like ruminate, only means 'chewing cud'" was. After a consultation with the handy dictionary, I found out that "ruminate" means 1. To chew a cud and 2. To mediate at length: MUSE. These are two very different meanings for the same word. Kinda crazy.
Today I found Pseudodictionary, which is described as "the place where all of your made up words, slang, webspeak and colloquialisms become part of the dictionary as well." There's some funny definitions in there, some clever new words and phrases that I could definitely see myself using. This one, in particular, is a favorite:
precial (pre-shul) - Compound of precious and special, used to describe a feel-good moment. Ex.: Oh, she got you this cute cute puppy for Valentine's Day? That is so precial!
Time to get my lunch on. If only it was tomato rice soup day today...
PARTY PARTY PARTY!If you read amplified, you probably also read Are You Wearing a Wire?. This means that you are aware that Hey Mercedes will be touring in another couple of weeks. I know that a lot of web-people are planning to head up for the show when they play in Chicago, so here's the deal: I'm planning a get-together. Let's all meet each other, chat, have a good time. Want to be there? Just RSVP (nanette@spoonbender.org, please put "RSVP" in your subject line) by March 16. You don't have to be a weblogger to attend the party, of course.
Saturday, April 7, 12:30 PM. Flat Top Grill, Belmont and Southport, Chicago. The Flat Top Grill is vegetarian *and* vegan friendly! Everyone loves make-your-own stir-fry! If you need directions, or if you have any questions, email me.
Feel free to post this in *your* weblog--just make sure you include the RSVP information so people can let me know if they plan to be there.
And yes, as far as I can tell, Hey Mercedes (or at least part of the band) will be there.
A few quick things:
Hellsbelle's boy has started his own
journal, complete with references to the infamous
Heavy Metal Parking Lot. Rawk. Only two entries so far, but I'll be looking forward to more. Hellsbelle and The Bishop have got to be the coolest couple ever on the face of this earth.
I'm going to Minneapolis at the end of this month for the Soft Boys concert. That's what happens when you have a friend who is an obsessive Robyn Hitchcock fan: he follows the Soft Boys, you get to go along. If you live in Minneapolis, or if you live within driving distance of Minneapolis (this means you, Yahtzeen boys), I'll be arriving the afternoon of March 31, I'll be seeing the Soft Boys that night, and I'll be returning to Chicago around 6 PM on April 1. Yeah, it's a whirlwind trip, but if I have fun, I'll come back this summer.
Speaking of the Yahtzeen boys, both Phil and Ryan emailed me and said that I can feel free to fill the EventBot over at Yahtzeen with Chicago shows. This will save me the trouble of designing a web page for it, it means it will be automated, and it means that anyone will be able to add shows whenever they want. I'd link directly to the page, but the Yahtzeen server has been acting up, and I'm not able to load the site right now.
Coming later today: party announcement. Yep, I'm having a party. Of course you're invited! It wouldn't be a party without you!
Since the
Midwest Shows List died, there hasn't been any reliable, comprehensive list of upcoming shows in Chicago. I did a quick Google search to try to find one, and I came up with a few Chicago show lists, but they're either
infrequently updated,
too specialized to be useful, or
seemingly defunct. My sources for information on upcoming shows tend to be the Chicago Reader, venue websites, other weblogs, and the occasional visit to a record label website. I often catch myself thinking "it would be nice to have a comprehensive shows list."
I've been tempted to set up a Chicago show list a couple of times before, but I've always decided not to do it because I know how much work would have to go into making it a valuable resource. If I'm going to put the effort into putting such a resource together, I don't want it to be some half-assed listing that dies after two months. However, I'm starting to get so frustrated that I'm thinking it's time to throw down and take it on. But *only*--and this is a major *only*--if I have a person (or two or three or however many--the more people who are willing to help with this, the better it will be) to help out. I've got the webspace, I'm willing to coordinate and organize and do a bunch of stuff to keep it going. If you're interested in helping in any way, email me and let me know. I'm going to need all sorts of assistance, everything from designing the site to helping to keep it updated. Every little bit counts, so if you have something to contribute, by all means--please do!
Even though weird search engine request posts are kind of cheesy, when someone gets to your site by searching for
pictures Assless pants, that's worth mentioning. My question: why did they capitalize "assless"?
If you have a minute, check out some of the results. There's actually some pretty funny stuff there. I didn't know that fans of Felicity had such a thing for seeing one of the characters in assless pants...
Holy sheep shit, it's an episode of Mr. Show that I've never seen. Enough of this weblogging!
Of course I'm an obsessive fan of The Smiths. They provided the soundtrack to my late teenage years. I don't have a Morrissey t-shirt for every day of the week like I did back when I was 19, but I still listen to my Smiths CDs every so often, and I still get just a little bit excited when I read something like
this. I'm going to have to check that out next time I'm at work, where I have an Internet connection that can handle streaming video reasonably well. I should have enough time at work on Friday to watch the entire webcast.
(Frankly, my heart skipped a beat when I saw the headline: "See The Smiths Live!" I thought, just for one second, that Morrissey and Johnny Marr had decided to set aside their differences and reunite the band for a one-off show that would turn into a reunion tour [a la Bauhaus or any other band that pulled that trick]. I would travel great distances and go to great trouble to see a Smiths reunion show, even though I know deep down inside that it probably wouldn't be all that good, that I'd pay a ton of money just to see Morrissey get pissed off and leave the stage after half an hour or less.)
Since the cam's on so infrequently, I feel the need to announce when it is on. Therefore:
The cam is on, and will remain on for the better part of this evening, while I write my paper. Feel free to check in on me. And feel free to distract me with email. Say hello if I don't already know you. Or something like that.
Just so you know: I've joined the illustrious crew of
New York London Paris Munich. Come on, you know you care about what I think about mainstream pop music and videos.
(Wow, it's been a lot of music content around here today! More than usual! Can you tell that my personal life is so copacetic it's almost not worth writing about? Because that's the truth of personal websites: it's not very interesting when you're happy, but the second you're down they'll descend on you like vultures.)
Now, back to my paper on Virginia Woolf...a paper that I should have started last week instead of today. It's due, uh, tomorrow at 4:30. I won't have the luxury of sitting around and writing it tomorrow during the day, because I'll be volunteering at the library tomorrow, and I don't want to blow that off. Procrastination, thy name is Nanette.
It is time to get excited:I check the
Noise Pop Festival website every few weeks to see if they've posted the lineup for the Chicago version of the festival yet. Well...it's still not set in stone, but the tentative lineup is available, and it includes (dramatic pause so you can get all excited): Yo La Tengo, Television (with the *original members*, folks) and (here's the other dramatic pause) GUIDED BY VOICES. So I'm already marking off May 9-13, I'm going to be in rockshow heaven. And it's perfect timing: I'll still be on semester break for most of that time period, so there won't be any school-related conflicts. Of course, I'd skip school to see Yo La Tengo, Television, or Guided by Voices...The Rock must come first.
While playing around online, I came across Lindsay's pita, which I like very much. Lindsay's one of the staff members of Superstar in Stereo, whose design I absolutely adore. I think this is the second design they've had that I've absolutely loved.
Also from Lindsay: a pop festival in Windsor, Ontario. I could DRIVE there if the lineup is good. It would give me an excuse to drive the couple of extra hours it would take to get to Toronto. I mean, when you're that close...why not? If you're in a band and you're interested in playing Fantastic! 2001, there's information on the website about sending your press kit/recordings in for consideration.
Speaking of Toronto, the coolest library school student in Toronto is back from her hiatus today. I'm looking forward to this big update she's promising.
I was right: the
Mil Mulliganos are playing at the Double Door (in Chicago, duh!) on Thursday, March 22. They go on at 9:30, I think they're the first band playing. Tracer and Today's My Super Spaceout Day will also be playing that show. I assure you, I will be there, as Thursday is a regular "going out" night for me. You should be there too.
If you can't be at that show, well, they're playing on Friday, April 20 at The Note. And if you can't be there, well, I'll have a karaoke party at the Marigold Bowl sometime in April and you can see Nathan rock out there. (And oh man, does he ever rock out. Words cannot describe...)
My pals the
Mil Mulliganos get
reviewed in
Splendid today. I need to make it out to one of their shows so I can pick up their CD. I thought they were playing at Metro or the Double Door in the next couple of weeks, but it wasn't listed on their site, so I'm not so sure that they are. Nathan, if you're out there, let me know.
Also at Splendid: a new column, "True Tales from the Day Job," in which musicians tell sordid stories about their day jobs. This week, Jen from Barcelona tells her story of working at Margaritaville--yes, a Jimmy Buffett-themed restaurant/bar. Also, Mark says that Jen and I look alike. I think that this is not true. Her teeth look like they are straighter, first of all. (Not that I have teeth that grow in sideways or anything, but they're a little crooked. Charmingly crooked.) Her nose is also different. And it looks like maybe she puts a bit of effort into doing something with her hair.
And to those of you who voted for Hey Mercedes to cover "Teenage FBI": Come on. They should cover "Echoes Myron" and everybody knows it. (Of course, I also named "Game of Pricks," "Big School," and (yawn) "I Am a Scientist" when I voted.) If they cover something off Do the Collapse, I'll be kind of disappointed.
I think I'm going to try to see Rainer Maria at the Fireside Bowl on Saturday. Of course, I'm probably going to have to go alone because Matty hates the Fireside. I know that Aaron from this little infrequently updated weblog will be there. Will you be there? Let me know.
I've got a paper that I need to write, and I want to get my lunch on. I wasted four and a half hours watching Diff'rent Strokes last night. I'll never get those four and a half hours back, but somehow, I feel enriched by the experience. And they showed my favorite episode, the one where Kimberly's hair turns green because she rinses her hair with acid rain that she collected in a copper bowl. It's funny how much times have changed--her green hair didn't seem quite so weird any more.
I know that most of the people who read this weblog also read
Are You Wearing a Wire?, but I felt that I must mention this. Apparentely, the men of Hey Mercedes are planning to cover a
Guided by Voices song on an upcoming GBV tribute album, and they can't decide which one to cover. So they're conducting a poll and letting their readers decide. Go on over there and vote!
I killed some serious brain cells today by sitting and watching four episodes of
Survivor. I am embarassingly into it. I don't know why I'm so embarassed about watching--and enjoying--
Survivor, I mean, I listen to bad pop music on a regular basis, I know the words to several Destiny's Child songs, and I'm really excited about the
Diff'rent Strokes marathon that's on Nick at Night tonight. (Seriously, I've been waiting *years* for reruns of
Diff'rent Strokes. And then tomorrow night, it's several hours of
Silver Spoons, which I can't watch because, as an adult, I'm totally embarassed by the fact that I was majorly hot for Ricky "the Ricker" Schroeder. And Friday night is not only the Weezer show, it's also several hours of
Square Pegs, another show I've been waiting for years to see again. I'll probably watch more TV this week then I've watched in the last six months.)
I was kind of sad when Mitchell was voted off the island. I know, he was all weak, but I thought he was kind of cute. Maybe it's just my thing for skinny boys, I don't know. The only episode I haven't seen is last week's, but my brother told me what happened, so I'm all up to date now.
This weekend was quiet, calm, peaceful, and normal. Both evenings followed a similar pattern: go over to Tim's, eat dinner, watch bad TV, watch movies. That's very simplified, and many other things occurred, but that's the gist of it. And I'm extraordinarily pleased with it, because it's so rare for me to ever be involved in any sort of romantic entanglement that even remotely resembles anything normal. Unfortunately, this weekend will not repeat itself for at least three weeks, since next weekend I'm seeing Weezer in Chicago on Friday and he's seeing Weezer in Milwaukee on Saturday night, and then the weekend after he's going out of town on a company ski trip.
Q: Why do I not work for a company that sends me to Colorado for free for the purpose of hanging out and doing nothing?
A: Because I chose to major in English.
Bah.
Anyhow, everything is in this "so good it's boring" phase right now, so I find myself not having all that much to say. Oh yeah...Folk Implosion is playing in Chicago on May 2, opening for the Melvins. May 2 is my mom's birthday, though...hopefully she doesn't have any "big family plans" for that evening. Lou Barlow versus my mom? That's just too hard.
