A Life Less Ordinary

TK

These Days

I've been out walking
I don't do too much talking these days.
These days.
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
And all the times I had the chance to.

I've stopped my rambling,
I don't do too much gambling these days
These days.
These days I seem to think about
How all the changes came about my ways
And I wonder if I'll see another highway.

I had a lover,
I don't think I'll risk another these days
These days.
And if I seem to be afraid
To live the life that I have made in song
It's just that I've been losing so long.
La la la la la, la la.

I've stopped my dreaming,
I won't do too much scheming these days
These days.
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten.
Please don't confront me with my failures,
I had not forgotten them.

I first heard 10,000 Maniacs sing this song on several beloved mix tapes in high school. According to the Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack, it was originally sung by Nico.

Tonight I heard Mates of State perform it, during a show that gave me the latest in a chain reaction of little epiphanies. More to come soon, but These Days, my life is changing fast. If you blink, you might be left wondering where I went.

What I learned from TV

I'm going to see This American Life, live and in color, tonight!

A few points of order:

1. I'm getting tired of sending out e-mails to everyone, trying to get folks to do fun things with me. I do fabulous things, and I am excellent company, but I can have fun on my own. And Julie the Cruise Director has a thankless job. So I'm aiming for fewer e-mails, and in their stead I will post my plans here. If something interests you, leave a comment, or pop an e-mail.

2. I am an idiot. As the article didn't mention where to get tix, I googled, and I ended up at one of those reseller places. Only I didn't know it was a reseller, until my ticket arrived and it had someone else's name on it, and a way lower price...

Get schooled

As a former teacher in the Boston Public Schools, I can assure you that they need all the help they can get. So you should definitely get yourself over to this benefit tomorrow night, and enjoy the fine fine music. Maybe you'll also get to see me flirting with a cute musician, if the mood strikes.

Come on, do it for the kids.

(PS: Blogger ate this post as well, had to re-write. Does anyone know what's going on? I keep getting title fields with empty posts below them...)

Planet of the Apes

Chimps are making weapons, and it's the females who are taking this bold leap forward. Slate's take, and I like it (of course) is that "the same adversity that makes humans superior to other animals at innovation also makes females superior to males". Some of us might go so far as to say that is old news.

What JC needs

Oh, Jonathan.... we all need a monkey!

Bostonist: Breaking the Lenten Cannon

Bostonist: Breaking the Lenten Cannon

All about the Seth Cohen

A little bit of pop culture algebra:

I love Seth Cohen.

Matthew Gilbert loves Seth Cohen.

I love Matthew Gilbert.

(I hear he's gay, or maybe married -- or both! Yay, Massachusetts! -- but all my favorite men are, so what's the diff?)

Don't cry for me, Bahamanians!

The latest decision in the ever-more-complex Anna Nicole saga came down today, and I have two questions:

1. Why was the judge crying as he delivered the verdict?
2. Why is her body decomposing faster than expected?

This story just keeps giving and giving. It's got it all -- love, sex, money, death, intrigue, politics (she won before the Supreme Court, don't forget), international diplomacy. Man, if I were still in the newsroom, I would feel Like His Girl Friday right now...

Houston Livestock Show And Rodeo!

I'm off to see me some Beyonce on a flatbed!

Were You Caught in the Viacom Takedown?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is using YouTube to get back at Viacom!

If your videos or account got wiped out in the melee, which turns out to have been a first volley in Viacom's new partnership with a YouTube competitor, then talk to the EFF about your predicament.

(PS - while we're talking about free hosted platforms that eat your content, this post sucks because Blogger lost what I'd originally posted, which was way wittier, I assure you.)

Hook me up

No, of course it's not healthy. Unless you're a New Yorker, maybe.

But if you do somehow manage to have a relationship, here's a handy guide to breaking up in a Web 2.0 world. My only quibble? They tell you lots of ways to protect you from the other person, but only a few ways to protect you from yourself...

And if it gets really bad? You can always go over to the other side; it's better for the kids anyway.

Valentine never sent

I'm a jam tart, I'm a bargain basement,
I'm a work of art, I'm a magic casement,
A coal cellar, an umbrella, a sewing machine,
A radio, a hymn book, an old french bean,
I don't know what I am,
You've put a spell on me.

I'm a dog's nose, I'm Sir Humphrey Davy,
I'm a Christmas rose, I'm the British Navy,
A motor, a bloater, a charcoal grill,
An octopus, a towpath, Hindenburg's will,
A villiage fair, a maiden's prayer, the BBC, a pram –
I don't know what I am,
You've put a spell on me.

I'm a salmon, I'm a starting pistol,
I'm backgammon, I'm the Port of Bristol.
A Times leader, a child's feeder, an aspirin,
The Ritz Hotel, a boy scout, the wages of sin,
A shaving brush, a schoolgirl's crush, the letter B, a ham –
I don't know what I am,
You've put a spell on me.

I'm an off–break, I'm a clump of beeches,
I'm a tummy ache, I'm Mussolini's speeches,
I'm Balmoral, I'm a sorrel mare, I'm a tug
A cigarette, an organ, a big bed–bug
A traffic sign, a rubber mine, a coffee tree, O damn –
I don't know what I am,
You've put a spell on me.

-- W.H. Auden

Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet found

"Archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace and buried outside Mantua, just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the tale of Romeo and Juliet. Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, according to Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig."

Lovesick Monkey Valentine!

Remember how I said I was going to buy me some art?

I did! I did! Wanna see?

Also, Haneway sent me a most excellent monkey-themed valentine card, complete with monkey bookmark/paperclips inside! I swear, this is going to be the best VDay ever!

Even though no one loves me and I am going to grow old alone and sad. But I'll always have my friends. And monkeys! Monkeys, I say!

Approaching the Golden Boar

This weekend is the Lunar New Year. We are entering the Year of the Golden Boar (a special kind of Year of the Boar that happens every 60 years -- thanks for the info, TK!) Apparently this is a particularly fortuitous year in which to be born, so if you're not currently pregnant, get cracking! You've got only two more months to plant a seed! (Will this affect my vacation scheduling? Hard to say...)

Poking around Wikipedia (love Wikipedia!) I looked up my Chinese horoscope, and found out that I am a Metal Dog:

Metal is one of the five elements of Chinese alchemy. The archetypal metal is silver. Metal is associated with the west and autumn, the planet Venus and the colour white. It is believed to govern the lungs. It is associated with organization and stability. Other qualities associated with metal are unyieldingness, persistence, strength and determination. The metal person is forceful and set in their ways as metal is very strong, but they are self-reliant and enjoy the good things in life. The element metal plays an important role in Chinese Astrology and feng shui, the Chinese form of geomancy.

Like his animal namesake, [the dog] is Loyal with a capital "L". He is the one who people are most likely to turn to when they need help. The dog person will come through every time. That is because he/she is sensitive to others and empathizes with them, particularly if someone has suffered an injustice; he/she reacts quickly with the same feeling as though he/she had been personally offended. Friends know that they can rely upon their Dog friend to keep a promise or remain cool in a crisis.

Dog types are honest, intelligent and straightforward. They will take on any responsibility that is given to them and you can be sure that they will do their job well.

People born in this year tend to be difficult, upset and shocked more often than the other signs.

The dog is loyal, unselfish, and idealistic. They can sometimes be worriers and overly critical. Dogs go best with tigers and horses. Their friends are other dogs, tigers (also Von), horses and rabbits (Haneway). Dogs get along worst with Dragons, whom they perceive as arrogant and all flash with no substance.

Dogs have a yang polarity. Bill Clinton and David Bowie are dogs! (but we knew that, right?)

You Won't Be Single For Long

Thanks, Rachael Ray, for trying to solve our love woes with pasta. Why didn't I think of that sooner?

So long, Anna Nicole Smith

Holy crap! Anna Nicole Smith dies after collapsing at South Florida hotel.

Well, that's one way to get the astronaut love triangle off the front page.

Store to send lobsters gently into that good pot - The Boston Globe

See, this is why I love being back in Boston. We write literary headlines about grocery stores.

Spanking the kitty

And I thought Siena was strange with her nursing-on-cashmere obsession....