me & figure 8

no one deserves it.

february's random sample

let it die - the dutchess & the duke
blood bank - bon iver
ghosts - laura marling
bedside manner - dawes
the execution of all things - rilo kiley
happy when i'm gone - sera cahoone
in my time of need - ryan adams
my hanging surrender - nathaniel rateliff & the wheel
dismantle me - the distillers
clean getaway - maria taylor
thirteen - big star
the cave - mumford & sons
the fool - neutral milk hotel
lover's spit - broken social scene
colors - april smith and the great picture show
get well cards - conor oberst
look at miss ohio - gillian welch
bad romance - lady gaga
cape canaveral - conor oberst
blindness - metric
beat your heart out - the distillers
cross bones style - cat power
knives out - radiohead
103 - whispertown 2000
test pattern - the thermals
mistaken for strangers - the national
midnight coward - stars
goodbye england (covered in snow) - laura marling
astro - the white stripes
high on a mountain top - loretta lynn
biggest star - the elected
that western skyline - dawes
how we fade - the thermals
star witness - neko case
sinnerman - nina simone
sister i'm a poet - colin meloy (originally by morrissey)
to go home - m. ward

i walk around where you have walked with me.

Dear Loyal Readers (yes, all 3 of you!),

I thought I'd post some new sketches (well, new if you haven't seen my facebook already), and I also wanted to make this blog about music, so I think I'll include a cumulative, cohesive playlist conveying some of the theme songs from my summer. I figure songs tell better stories than any combination of words from my mouth alone can.

I'm An Animal - Neko Case (This song is way too short, and really inspirational when it comes to art ideas. I've been really interested in examining human nature vs. animal nature within artwork, and Neko Case's music really brings that out.)

Eden Was A Garden - Roman Candle (This is one of those "I feel like I'm in a movie" songs.)

Postcards From Italy - Beirut (This song is just gorgeous, I stumbled across it a week or so ago.)

I Called Out Your Name - The Thermals

Man Of Constant Sorrow - The Sparrows (awesome band from Bard College, check em out if you like Bob Dylan/bluegrass/folksplosion!)

Secret Heart - Ron Sexsmith

My Girl To Me - Dawes (This song is adorable and makes me smile every time I hear it.)

Beautiful Morning Light - Fruit Bats

Faking The Books - Lali Puna (very reminiscent of Such Great Heights - Postal Service)

Running Scared - Roy Orbison

Annan Water - The Decemberists

Light And Dark - Kate Walsh, not Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice

When My Time Comes - Dawes

The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1 - Neutral Milk Hotel

I Was Just Thinking - Teitur (A gem of a song. Long distance, missing her.)

This Tornado Loves You - Neko Case (Literally about being chased by the force of nature. Neko can do no wrong.)

Wake Up - Arcade Fire (The preview for the Where The Wild Things Are movie came out this summer, and this song was playing.)

Steal Away - Sam Cooke (This was recommended by Bon Iver on his Itunes playlist, and I fell in love with it. The backup singers add so much to this song.)

Northern Lights - Bowerbirds

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

Passion Play - William Fitzsimmons

Barcelona - Giulia y Los Tellarini (Theme from Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Also relevant to the fact that I was in Barcelona for a few days this summer.)

A Girl Like You - Leonard Cohen

Lucky - My Brightest Diamond (Awesome Radiohead cover. Shara Worden's voice is killer.)

Things We Said Today - The Beatles

Caroline and I -Kentucky Nightmare

Black Balloon - The Kills

Gimme Sympathy (Acoustic) - Metric (I wasn't a huge fan of this song off of Fantasies, but I really like the acoustic version so much better.)

Mid-November - (I discovered Johnathan Rice's first album with the help of Vince, and this song is just beautiful, sweet and soft. Very lovey.)

God + Suicide - Blitzen Trapper

My Mirror Speaks - Death Cab For Cutie

Ballad Of Big Nothing - The Thermals (One of the best covers I've ever heard, hands down. I love comparing this with Elliott's original.)

Cecilia - Simon And Garfunkel

SummerLove - The Brunettes

This Year - The Mountain Goats (I don't know if I hate the singer's voice so much that I actually like it, or if I just like it for reasons undetermined.)

We're Better Not Together - The Blank Tapes

Brand New Start - Little Joy (Ugggggggh this song is so fucking good.)

Call It A Ritual - Wolf Parade

Apple Blossom - White Stripes

Brand New Sun - Jason Lytle

Restless - Whispertown 2000

I'll Keep It With Mine - Nico

True Love Will Find You In The End - Daniel Johnston

West Coast - Coconut Records

fire and possessions

On what was barely a Thursday morning this past week, the car parked next to my best friend's car was set on fire, causing her car to burn to the ground in a melty, plastic-y, junkyard mess. Luckily Chanti had insurance, but whatever she had in her car was permanently lost--meaning her entire CD collection. This might not sound so bad, but it's just funny to think how much time, emotional meaning, and memory we invest in material things like that. I can easily understand the loss of music records being an ouch-y one--the act of hearing music itself is often so preoccupied with ideas of flowing emotion and connection. But she, my other best friend Victoria and I just sat there for a while last night contemplating an alternative state of mind that wasn't so focused on things as much as what/who those things represent. 

If you had five minutes to grab your most valuable possessions, what would you take?

I want to say I would focus on old family photos, pictures, and written journals that could never be replaced or printed from a computer. Yet I'm sure if I were asked that same question seriously, if I were put in that actual situation, my mind would break down and I would be amiss in retaining any sort of sense about what I'd take. Memory is such a faulty, self-serving thing--I think that pictures and journals would substantiate the truth that my mind might involuntarily try to erase.

We kept talking, and Chanti brought up a strong counterpoint: this losing of common things would not stifle your being, but in fact free you from paltry possessions. Imagine--not having to be concerned about losing anything, because you have nothing to lose anymore. It is pathetic, but you can't sink any lower...is that positive insight or is it just really sucky? Being over analytical and deeply sensitive when it comes to matters of the heart, I am always one to find the imagery, metaphor and ridiculously far-fetched representation in any material thing. Driving by my local park has done strange things to me in the past. My heart will fill up with blood or empty itself. These feelings are not dependent on the park's existence in the least--the park is a symbolical vessel for what happened there. The times when I was the lone car in the lot by the eerily lit basketball courts, or the times when I was accompanied, sitting under the shade of a big mother tree. I feel uncomfortable driving by a former friend's neighborhood, not because it is unsafe, but because our friendship no longer exists. What was once a second home has become a foreign, darkened recollection. These places will continue to exist, as I don't think anyone will try arson around here. So I guess I'll just have to let go, and burn the mental bridges behind me instead.