Break Up Albums

I'm not including the years because I don't know them all, and I'm too lazy to look them up:

Amy Winehouse, "Back to Black" - any album that includes the lyric "I cried for you on the kitchen floor" is clearly an album for me.

The Good, The Bad, and the Queen, "The Good, The Bad, and the Queen" - ah, Damon Albarn, master of the building song, how did I get by before I knew ye? This album makes me feel there is something larger than myself to which I belong.

Of Montreal, "Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?" - again, a lyric: "The mousy girl screams 'violence, violence!'" But everything about this album is a huge release. I love it. Thanks, PB.

PJ Harvey, "White Chalk" - already got its own write-up here, but the decadence of this pathos is too rich not to mention. I cry just thinking about the white chalk hills...for me they're red clay, but we've been over that too...

Tori Amos, "Boys for Pele" - it's all in the title, really, and this album has seen me through a few. "Don't take me back to the range" is a standout thematically correct lyric for this one...but again, there are so many.

Iron and Wine, "The Sea and the Woman" - ok, it's not a real album, but the ground it covers in five short songs leaves me bereft enough. To be enjoyed in moderation, along with these other artists: Ben Trickey, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Aphex Twin, Sparklehorse, and Mogwai. For different reasons, of course.

In addition to GBQ, these all make me happy in a forget myself and sing along way:

No Doubt, "Best" - don't knock it.

Cake - anything, really. I can sing pretty much all their songs, and I do it so well.

Regina Spektor, "Begin to Hope" - it's all in the title, and she has a piano.

The Sugarcubes or Bjork - again, pretty much anything makes me happy.

Blur, "Parklife" - Blur makes me happy, but "Parklife" sticks out as the shiniest album (to me).

Um, that's enough for now. I wish more (any) of you had music blogs. It would be a good way for us to learn about good music. Do it!

Still feeling audacious

Back on Nov. 4, I had the pleasure of being on the phone with one of my Atlanta friends as we watched the election results roll in, and I told him I'd blog about it, and I haven't yet, so here we go...

I know you're all sick of reading/writing about the election, but I've been pretty quiet overall about the whole thing, so allow me a moment. I hadn't realized how much I've been personally impacted by the culture of fear that has permeated my consciousness for the last seven years. I've always tapped into it, and been aware of it, of course, but also, I'd always somehow imagined myself to be above it. When Obama won, I felt a physical relief. No matter what else you think about him or other politicians, I think you have to recognize that the message of hope and perseverance is a much healthier and happier one that the one of fear-mongering, de(of)fense-oriented knee-jerk belligerence we've all been inundated with for the last eight years. I am proud of my country again. I wouldn't say I'm all rosy-eyed innocence, but I do believe my faith has been somewhat restored in my fellow Americans and in the political process. I would never have imagined two years ago that this man would be our next President. Americans have been too caught up in protection and agression (and it's not worth getting into the race part of if because I just don't have anything to say that's new) for me to have thought this was possible. I'm still just really happy and excited, and I hope this is part of a cultural shift in general.

Personally, I've often been criticized for making decisions based on fear and avoidance, a sort of "what if" comes up for every alternative when I'm planning. One of my ongoing initiatives in personal growth has been to make decisions based on knowledge and contentment (my two questions "Is it smart" and "Is it fun" fit in here) - this has been a struggle for me, but over the years, I've seen it improve. It delights me to think that the whole country is joining me in this shift. I'm even deluding myself to thinking it has something to do with some epoch shift and universal alignment and whatnot, but seriously, whatever I think - I feel a little bit better knowing the figurehead in my country is respectable and inspiring to all sorts of people all over the world, and that at least a lot of people are thinking with hope instead of fear.

Oh oh oh, one sort of funny thing DID happen...I'm used to voting in GA, which is a much more controlled and content-heavy process than voting here in the small town in VA where I was registered. When I went in, I handed the 90-year-old monitor lady my voter registration card and chatted while I fished out my license. She waved me on in and told me she didn't need my license. So I asked if she needed any picture ID, and she said "No, you have your registration card right here." I said "What if someone had stolen that from me?" and she says "Well, then I'd need to see your ID." At this moment, a couple of guys sitting at a table nearby were all "Yep, that's right" and "You got it" and whatnot, and the younger monitor woman just looked sheepish. I asked her this way "What if I had stolen this from someone?" but she just sort of glazed over. Now, I voted at like 6:45 pm - am I REALLY the first person to bring this up to them today? The old woman never did understand what I was talking about. So don't get too worried - I'm still plenty jaded about the process and about the general stupidity level of people in the world - but it is also kind of funny.

So, there it is, my politics post. One day I'll get on about religion, but let's just leave it where it is for now, shall we? I'm still on a hope high.