Simply Amazing

Further evidence that all of the constituents of Broken Social Scene (Feist in particular) are simply amazing:

please watch

Brooklyn <3

It's been no secret to anyone who has talked with me in the past couple of weeks: I love Brooklyn. Granted, after the chaos that befell just before my departure from Manhattan, any place might seem a pleasing refuge. But falling cranes and closed off streets aside, I think I would be happy to be in Carroll Gardens regardless of the way in which I left the tiny hovel that my last apartment was. Strolling down the sun dappled sidewalk, light filtering through the trees, my friend commented that he felt as if he was in some sort of film set, an idyllic, homey place. And for the most part, it's just about as close to that as you're going to get. I love that when I get out of the subway, I see parents playing with their kids in the yards in front of their houses. I love that there are yards and houses! I love that the trees and plants aren't cordoned off into an architectured park and that the air is filled with birds (and perhaps the distant hum of the BQE) as opposed to being rent by the sound of drilling and construction. I love that it doesn't feel like being in the city, and yet the city is still right there. The calm and space is a most wondrous feeling. I think I'll stay in Brooklyn forever.

music for all occassions

Sometimes it is necessary to add a bit of exuberance to your life, like, for example, on a morning after an un-restful night's sleep when getting out of bed, much less getting myself all the way to work and facing the issues of the day, seems a magnanimous feat of willpower. At times like this I often seek the company of musicians like Sufjan Stevens or perhaps a band like the Shout Out Louds, whose robust cheeriness is pervasive and helpful in willing a change of mood. I never thought I'd add Sigur Ros to this list, an Icelandic band whose poignant and somewhat morose music, has, in the past, nearly brought me to tears. But thanks to Bob Boilen's All Songs Considered and my morning addiction to the NPR music page, I was introduced to the new sound of Sigur Ros. While still retaining the incisive subtlety of the music I'd heard previously, the track featured on the show, Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur, is infinitely more lighthearted and upbeat, so much so that it entirely altered my outlook towards the day. And though mornings can often be so brutal, a great song and thus an unexpected change to a sunny disposition can make all the difference.

Frightened Rabbit

When, blog after blog, I find myself reading about the potential record of the year, even though it's only the beginning of June, it's something to pay attention to. Especially when the first thing I read links them to the National, one of my favorite bands, and whose album Boxer was by far my favorite of last year. Frightened Rabbit is a band from Selkirk, Scotland whose music evokes the landscapes of a National song and the pop sensibility of Okkervil River twinged with a Scottish brogue. Marked with hype, at first I wasn't thrilled with what I heard, but after listening to a few songs, I was entranced. After a couple subway listens, I haven't quite gotten the intricacies of their lyrics, but it's definitely left me wanting more. Their new album "Midnight Fight Organ" is definitely a highly recommended summer listen.

recommended online reading

Blog-hopping a few days ago, I found the website New York Portraits and it's since become one of my favorite stops on the web. The photos aren't necessarily of anything spectacular, but perhaps that is what's most appealing. They portray a normal New York; a place that can be awesome at times, awful at others, and somewhere in between most of the time.

another pattern!

This one really works when tiled. Pattern making may be my new calling.

On The Perils of Being Young

The I Wants

There is a song called "Rich Wife" by The Long Winters that got caught in my head. As the lyrics were flowing by, I began thinking, it wouldn't be so bad to be a rich wife. I would never want for anything again, because I could have everything I want. I only want a few things—this would solve at least some of my problems. Clearly there are other more important issues that would have to be in place before I would accept the position of rich wife, but if all else were right, I don't think I'd mind marrying into money.

This got me thinking about the other day when I proclaimed to my dad that I wish we lived in a socialist country.

I, along with probably most of the population of this country, if not the world, have a terrible disease called the "I Wants". What this disease consists of is an overwhelming desire to have certain things and the inability to procure them. The consequence is a ridiculous sadness over the inability to have everything we want, which is an unattainable wish to begin with. The origin of the I Wants probably comes from a combination of innate desire and the influence of
advertising and media on our society. They feed off of one another, heightening the impact of the I Wants upon ourselves. Not to mention that technology has quickened the pace of our society so that not only are we yearning to possess many, many things, but we feel a need to
possess them now. But that is another essay.

I've been searching for a pair of brown boots. It is not imperative that I buy a new pair of shoes—I will not be going barefoot in the cold if I don't. However, I really, really want them and can generate many, many reasons as to why I should buy a new pair of shoes until it seems like something I definitely should do. However, boots (or at least those that don't fall apart right away or feel like plastic) tend to cost more than a gentle sum of money. And I don't earn more than a gentle sum of money. Conundrum. Herein lies my problem.

My first reaction, reflecting on my complaints, is that we should become a socialist nation. In my base understanding of Socialism, everyone is equal, thus reducing if not entirely removing the aspect of desire from our lives. I also understand that Socialism, the non-corrupt version of socialism, is not a viable way of running a country, because it cannot exist in reality. Human nature does not allow it. Damn human nature. We are desirous creatures—for things, for power, for entitlement. This was the case even before we had television commercials telling us literally what "I want". As I write, the latest commercial for Verizon, graces the television screen, featuring a number of diverse individuals telling us, what they want, while in the corner of the screen their desires are spelled out for us "I WANT ________fill in the blank". Conveniently the services provided by Verizon will solve all of their problems.

Unfortunately, many things are not as simple as signing up for Verizon.

My other idea—inspired by the Long Winters song—is to become rich. Whether it is by marriage or my own personal accumulation of wealth, if I have a bulging bank account buying a pair of boots won't be such a big deal. At this point in my life, as a recent college graduate with bills and loans to pay, an entry-level salary, and no prospects for a wealthy husband, becoming rich is not a viable option either.

I probably sound pretty ridiculous right now. I'm sure you're thinking, "Don't you realize that those two ideas are totally opposite? That neither of them are actual possibilities? Why even
bother wasting your time thinking about it, when it's not going to solve your problem." Or more likely, "Don't you listen to the Rolling Stones? You can't always get what you want."

I do realize this.

Unfortunately you can't just take a pill to make the I Wants go away. Our natural inclination is to want something more, something mundane—I want a cheese sandwich for lunch—something a bit more complex—I want to do something meaningful with my life. However, the I Wants doesn't have to be a terminal disease. Some things that we want are unattainable, and we have to accept that. Others just take a bit of strategizing and effort to make possible. And in the end, at least ideally, we get what we need.