Anniversary

O My God 66th Post

Thesis

So, the anniversary of #METASWAG is on a night like this. I've gotten nine hours of sleep in the past three days. The weekend is only twelve hours away. Twitter and I are restless following the execution of Troy Davis. Reading took up the bulk of my evening.

All of this somehow adding up to the place where I am right now: a good place.

I never really expected this project to take hold of me the way it has. It's more important to me than it has any right to be: something that I cherish and depend on for comfort and relief. Sure, I have a Twitter account that bares the brunt of my dissemination, but it is by no means as rewarding as the extended sit-downs I have with this blog. Here is the space where I construct language more carefully, even if it's to critique a movie or write about Kanye. Here is the space where I get to really engage with my own headspace.

In other words: I love you, #METASWAG!

Reflection

This past year has been one of the most significant of my life. Some things have remained constant (my sleeplessness, my love of Grouper), others have changed (my majors, my facial hair). Not too many surprises there. I'm continuously redefining and reconstructing an identity that suits me in the moment, while noticing that I can't shake some behaviors - I'm still too comfortable around people I barely know, and too removed from people I know best.

Most importantly (on a day-to-day basis for the Self that I do and don't know), I've gone from thinking about different things to thinking differently about things. Which is to say: I've undergone a sort of ideological shift. I'm not seeing with the same eyes I did a year ago.

My hindsight is still nowhere near 20/20. Even if I'm more self-critical (read: hungover shower-cry-singing "Marvins Room" with all the wisdom of a few hard nights), I'm not very self-restrained (read: I keep trying to be that guy at the party). Maybe in another year I'll have constructed a Me that doesn't fear letting others make an impression first. That can ignore anxieties so I can help You better. That thinks more carefully about words before using them.

Or maybe I can take my time with Me and continue to blog like it's the only thing that matters.

#TYBG

By the way, thank You. For reading. Chances are you matter a lot to me. It means something. Have I told you lately? I was probably too busy complaining about the amount of reading I have or screaming the lyrics to "Countdown." Let's just be honest: You're great, whoever You are.

Conclusions

Here I am. Listening to the Garden State soundtrack (so help me Based God, I didn't even disable scrobbling). Excited to see where the next year takes me. More excited to sleep. Goodnight, fam.

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Coffee

No One Should Feel Like This At 4 AM

Thesis

But I do. If you plan on reading a lot before bed, turns out you don't have to take a nap and drink 16 oz of coffee. Especially if the nap is from 8:30 to 9:05 PM, and the coffee is at 11 PM. And while I'm happy to say I completed all my reading (140 pages of the baddest feminist legal theory around), I can't help but feel a little disappointed with my decision to drink coffee tonight. In other words: it's 4 AM.

I didn't plan on 4 AM-blogging until finals. Or winter break. But here I am, circadian rhythm compromised. I figured I might as well blog while I'm jittery and wide-eyed.

Black Flame

Lil B is also awake right now, but in his defense, it's only 1 AM on the West coast. He just released his seventh album of the year. There's already another announced album in the works. Keep it up, Based God. Your work ethic is an inspiration. "Goldhouse" is sounding great right now. #RARE #TYBG

Lamestream v Alt

I'm conflicted, fam! What is my tr00 identity? Can I live in the interstices of lamestream and alt realities?

I'm seriously considering finna getting a stylish haircut and a tattoo this weekend. The tattoo would be an X in a circle (X-Men logo, y'all) on my left bicep. Haircut would be something like Justin Bieber's VMA 'do with some totally alt steps shaved into the sides. I think it could look totally killer.

On the other hand, I'm really into professional football again. Like, jumping around and screaming during the Bears game. Did y'all even know I love the Bears? I've kept my football fan identity concealed. Can I be tatted up and totally alt while still loving sports? Of course! I'm #BASED. I do whatever I want in the name of positiveness.

Conclusions

Maybe it's time again to try falling asleep. Pray 4 me that I'm successful in my sleep endeavors. Otherwise I'll have to listen to some more Slayer and write another blog post.

MEMORYHOUSE FINNA BLOW UP AFTER THEIR LP COMES OUT

THIS REHASH EP WILL DO FOR NOW

The Years (Full EP Stream) from Memoryhouse on Vimeo.

More Sand!

Sample Pictures

Thesis

If the last post was characterized by pleasantness, this post will be characterized by restlessness. I've been inside all day, feeling a little sea sick, and doing chin-ups every few minutes. I have to read and write about Althusser and Shakespeare before I go to work at 6, but I can't bring myself to actually engage with the text. It washes over me. Hopefully something will click in the next few hours.

gg

I stayed up until 5 AM (6 PM, Japan time) last night video chatting with my favorite expatriate. His sun was setting as mine was rising.

Restless Music Blog

I've been listening to lots of Good Luck and WU LYF lately. They're my go-to feel-good fist-pump townie-love end-of-summer fun jams (the Good Luck show last night was pretty great, by the way). Today, though, has called for something more intense. Because I'm feeling restless, I will only write ten words about each of these albums.

Celestial Lineage [2011]

by Wolves In The Throne Room

THIS IS MAYBE THE BEST BLACK METAL OF THE YEAR

Exmilitary [2011]

by Death Grips

IT GOES IT GOES IT GOES IT GOES GUILLOTINE YAH

Conclusions

Off to read and write and focus my energy on something that will supposedly pay off in the future. Academia!

You, nerd?

Practical Life

Live Positive

Thesis

It is my hope that this post is distinctly characterized by pleasantness. In other words, I've had nothing short of a lovely day - the kind of day that makes you proud of yourself.

I understand, Reader, that I often burden you with my existential woes, or the grim fact of my 1,000+ pages of reading per week. These challenges are constant, and do preoccupy me. But just look at today! I finished three acts of Shakespeare before breakfast, participated in all of my classes, read outside in the gorgeous pre-autumnal cool, and am about to fix myself a nice dinner.

I spent less time doing me and more time doing what needed to be done, which turns out to be more rewarding than the procrastination-filled days of my first week of class. I know it's no great mystery that the mundane can be hugely fulfilling of its own accord, but usually it takes Great Art to convince me (and then for just a few days). What I feel now is an easy, uncomplicated satisfaction.

To quote Bilbo: "it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life."

Big Time

Did I mention that my first column was published in the Indiana Daily Student today? The writing's a bit messy, and to my dismay the editors removed most of my parentheses, but I'm satisfied with it and its message. I get to argue my passion (feminism! radical, preferably!). Unsurprisingly, some latent misogyny has already crept into the comments section. I'll deal with that after I've finished with my other passion (blogging! about music, preferably!).

This Is A Music Blog

I wanted to maintain my pleasant mood when I settled down to write this post, and one album immediately came to mind. It's also one that I'd been meaning to review for quite a while.

____________________________________________________________________

My Side Of The Mountain

by Ladies Auxiliary

[2011; self-released]

The debut from Philly trio Ladies Auxiliary is competent and inventive, even if it never asserts itself to the listener. Instead, My Side Of The Mountain puts all of its effort into recreating the comfy feeling of a carefree summer night. Despite occasional deviations (an eerie keyboard tone here, ghostly vocals there), the overall mood of the album never falters. Here is an unapologetically easygoing and restrained record.

That's not to say it's boring or without character. The combination of Casio keyboards, heartfelt vocals, and pedal steel guitar (complimented by vibraphone) works to create a uniquely cozy atmosphere that at times rivals Emeralds in its otherworldly warmth. Especially on 6-minute standout "Charity Reprise" is this sort of alien glow allowed to take hold, before a gorgeous vocal melody and moody guitar finish things in style.

Ladies Auxiliary's bio mentions "friendships" as a founding inspiration for My Side On The Mountain. It's easy to hear this in the band's chemistry and in their ability to convey the rewards and comfort of old pals. While this debut isn't going to surprise or demand the attention of many listeners, it reveals itself over time to be an especially imaginative and assured record that shouldn't be overlooked. Not since Beach House's debut has an album sounded so content to bask in its own pleasantness and sound this good while doing it.

____________________________________________________________________

Conclusions

A good day should be all rights stay good the whole day through. That's how I intend this day to behave. Seems like it will: the sky is slowly filling with yellows, and that interseasonal breeze is still blowing. The immediate future holds no worries. Just soup and feminist theory.

Sounds like my kind of night.

For Ted