31.7.07

meet me here

"no don't cry, i have to go
i have to go, please don't cry
say goodbye, and don't say no
please don't say no, say goodbye"

don't say no, say goodbye
say goodbye

meet me here, tomorrow the same time"


ah those song-sters. their words are better than mine, most of the time...it's the brevity, it's how the fit all the feelings of the moment fit into 3-4 short stanzas (thank you indie bands)...a chorus that repeats...that you remember, that lives in your head...i would just run around & around trying to figure out the way i want to say what i'm feeling...and then you find the right song for that moment-and you don't have to keep looking.

thanks, song-writer people.

y r.

french phrases for scenesters

want to appear to know more than you do? want to impress collegeaus, friends, family & fellow coffeehouse posers?

then these french phrases are just for you.

lesson #1 - the art set

so, picture this:

you are invented to attend a gallery opening, peruse a friend's "sculptures", are caught reading your boyfriend/girlfriend's journal...basically you are asked to comment on something you could give a shit about.

here's what you do.

point to some obscure part of the art at hand, and say "this is the pièce de résistance of the entire work". (peace day resistAHnce - molly phonetics, not real-if you want real, go home). it literally means "the best feature"-but by using your new french accent & trendy lingo, it doesn't really matter AT ALL what you say, just the flair with which you say it.

lesson #2 - politiks
you are at a dinner, you are at the gym, you are having cocktails with bourgeouise friends, and some topic related to politics surfaces like an oil spill in alaska. you don't know what they're talking about, but you KNOW they are conservative. the conversation focuses on you...everyone is staring...you have to say something...pull out your scenester french, and you will be everyone's fav political guru.

"well, it's "x's" (society, media, fill-in-the-blank) obvious laissez-faire attitude that is creating this situation".
(lay-say fair)-meaning? having a lenient or indulgent policy toward the actions of others (letting them do whatever they want). so again, this is only to be used with conservatives...or creatively with liberals.

another one that could work here is coup de grâce (coo-de-grA). it means "final blow, finishing strike". used in a sentence...

"i always thought this was a neo-nazi conservative country...but the coup de grâce was when that guy was elected president for a second term."

lesson #3-everyday uses

so here a few bits & bobs to spice up your normal boring conversations...to be used sparingly...don't overdo it, then it will be obnoxiously obvious you got this from a blog, which is a total scenester taboo.

regarding anyone you are talking about behind their back
*je ne sais quoi (je ne say qua...whatever, that looks just like the word, but other than that random "s" on the 3rd word, this one is kind of phonetic, sorry)..."an indescribable feeling or inexpressible something"...this can be good or bad, depends on the context.

*savoir-faire (sav-wa fair) - "know-how" is the real people meaning of this (a compliment)

regarding yourself or describing something your pov (point-of-view)
*raison d'être (rais-on (but really light on that "n" or you sound like you are from the country) day terr)..."reason for being"-good one, use it all the time.

*fait accompli (fay accompli)...done deal, nothing to be done about it now...i guess i tend to lean toward the dark side of french phrases, the ones about "final striking blows", etc...(go figure)

*force majeure (force ma-jor-eh)..."irrestible force or overwhelming power"-no reason, i just really like that one.

ok, enough "conversation stunnahs".

impress your friends. get something good out of it.

you scenester, you...

et voila!

27.7.07

никакая любовь в течение утра

(no love for mornings-in my native russian tongue)

weather is absolute ass-so foggy its like being covered by a moldy blanket every time you walk outside. the sun comes out for about 30 minutes between 3 & 5 o'clock...and then it's back to blanket town.

nothing fun to report on the world around me-the weather is tugging on my soul...sounds macabre, but really-how much grey & damp/moist (there's that word again) is one supposed to take?

i am dressed in the style of a greek tragedy-all white with gold jewelry...i thought i would try & coax the sun out of its summer siesta.

last friday priya & i got really hyped up with an advanced case of sun poisoning, and took the pictures seen here.

oh, and weekend plans? i plan to hunt the yeti of chinatown & photograph graffiti. it's going to be a wild time in the old town tonight.

23.7.07

mad love for mcsweeney's

all of their articles are funny...really. all of them.

this one especially got me tearing up, trying not to laugh in front of my work colleagues...you have to really have the songs for each character playing while you read-to get the full mental picture.


21.7.07

for the expats in BsAs or NwYkCy or SnFo


(oh's & ah's heard the world over...the rare sighting of a capital letter, and not an explicative...from molly...ohhhhhh ahhhhhh).

so a far away friend asked to for a top ten list...and being an ocd list maker, i am of course deriving obvious pleasure from this assignment. the main difficulty is limiting myself to 10 songs-top 10 songs for what? a lay in bed & feel sorry for yourself kind of day? a go out & get a new job "i need a pick me up" kind of day? a before you go out & shake your groove thing set? you can of course now see how "challenging" (thank you corporate america) my task is turning out to be.

molly, oh molly. can't just answer the question...i have to psychoanalyze the list...break down each song...is it the right song for the occasion? will it make those that listen to it melodiously melancholy? or malevolently maudlin? will it make you feel overtly optimistic? or oppressing & ominous?

alliterations aside. (but not really)

it's now been a good 12 hours since this project was undertaken. i muddled through music all morning...and am no closer to reaching the perfect set...

wtf?

screw it. without further ado (there was a lot of "ado" here, to be sure)-top 10 songs for those that are living on other continents (yes, jenivie oveda, that's you). (song - artist - album...probably didn't need to point that out, but i was never one to leave out the ridiculous & inane details...pl. ref. the 2-day long preamble above)

1. pulling our weight - the radio dept. - pulling our weight ep
2. don't call me whitney, bobby - islands - return to the sea
3. publish my love - rogue wave - descended like vultures (just buy the whole cd, serio)
4. don't look back into the sun - the libertines - don't look back into the sun
5. lola stars & stripes - the stills - logic will break your heart
6. fake empire - the national - boxer
7. honk if you're lonely - silver jews - american water
8. fill my little world - the feeling - twelve stops & home
9. chicago (mutliple personalities disorder version-ONLY) - sufjan stevens - the avalanche (thanks*)
10. you got yr. cherry bomb - spoon - ga ga ga ga ga

whew*.

l8r l8y

20.7.07

dogs...miss cleo's of the natural world?

have you heard that load of crap about how animals "spidey sense" natural disasters & move to safer ground?

all lies.

big earthquake last night in berkeley-the couple in the apt. beneath me felt it, people all the way in orinda felt the earth moving

& me?
i was wide awake in america-in my room, 4:42 am...not sleeping, not dozing, just really awake (and no, mom, not on crack).

& where, you might ask, were my three noble steeds, my 3 protectors, my bodyguards against impending doom?

asleep, snoring like pigs from approximately 1:30 am until 8:00 am.

science doesn't explain everything.

19.7.07

relationship "pointers"

funny funny-good way to waste a few minutes & put both hands on your belly & shake around like a bowlful of jelly.
enjoy.

18.7.07

welcome home, banana


ladies & gentlemen...finally, finally, finally she came home. she traveled to distant lands...for a year of new people & experiences, etc., etc.
she experienced
...a new love
...a new heartbreak
...weird rules & feeling 13 again
...moving to pamplona
...seeing london
...italy with 3 of her favorite people
...julian being locked in a garage
...flying business class

in total-it seemed it wasn't exactly what she expected (or any of us, for that matter), but after quite a lot of drama, a lot of late night & early morning phone calls-she's home.

and in 30 days from today, she is moving to san francisco...to live with her favorite sister & start on another great adventure (that sounds like a really bad country song-apologies).
& me? what do i think about all this?

i'm glad she's back-VERY glad-and ps, ana, you are not allowed to move to another continent again-

& about ana moving into my cozy apartment? i am excited about that too...but realize my days of typing blogs in the nude are coming to an end (tear, from me & from all of you out there, i'm sure).

welcome home, weirdo.

my new fav t-shirts

i freaking love tshirts - noise bot & palmer cash have some radical (yes, radical) tshirts.
a few (a lot) of my favorites are below.




17.7.07

back to blogger...


tried iweb since getting all mac-obsessed...and though i am still totally ocd about apple products...i have to say, blogger is better (google, yr).

so back with a vengeance-huge bummer have to start over from scratch...i was obviously a little hasty when i decided to totally eradicate/raze my original blogger space-all old posts are gone, too much of a hassle to move them back, blah blah blah, i complain too much.
great times ahead.