Within the Last Hour:

(via Last.Fm)

The White Stripes – My Doorbell
The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldier
The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
Kings of Leon – Wasted Time
Kings of Leon – Sex On Fire
The White Stripes – My Doorbell
The White Stripes – Take, Take, Take
The Raconteurs – Store Bought Bones
The Raconteurs – Level
The Raconteurs – Together
The Raconteurs – Steady As She Goes
Buddy Holly – Everyday
The Cleftones – Heart And Soul
The Platters – The Great Pretender
The Del-Vikings – Come Go With Me
Buffalo Springfield – For What It's Worth
The Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin'

Do you see a pattern developing?

~~J

On the Road Again.

twins...
doubles...
doppelgängers...

Now add music.

What?

This is an explanation of just one way I keep myself sane whilst driving to and fro Memphis & Milledgeville (reverse it).

"Twin songs"

ACTIVATE!


Since I pass/travel/occupy four states on my trip, I like to see how many times I can hear the SAME song on a local radio station albeit in a different state.

What? If a song is playing on a random radio station in Georgia, am I going to hear it later in Alabama?

Boring? or Why am I listening to the radio in the first place?

It's fun and interesting. It really keeps me entertained (especially when I land on overly religious or conservative talk radio). Wooo Jesus.

But I have rules (as all games should):

It can't be a contemporary song or a recent Top 40.
It has to be during the same trip.
& be on a DIFFERENT radio station entirely.

If you cross the state line, listening to the same station with the same song playing--it does not count. If you call in to request a song--it does not count. Understood?

Gems from my own trip(s):

"Another One Bites the Dust" (Queen) Mississippi then Alabama
"Brass in Pocket" (The Pretenders) Georgia then Alabama
"Just What I Needed" (The Cars) Alabama then Mississippi
"Hotel California" (The Eagles) Tennessee then Mississippi
"Sweet Home Alabama" (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Georgia then Alabama

It's a rare occurrence, and I've yet to get a triple or quadruple song. Also, I've considered expanding my game to "twin artists." This past trip I heard the Rolling Stones in two states (Georgia and Alabama) but they were different songs (Paint it Black and Honky Tonk Woman).

I guess "classic rock" is the most prevalent choice for this game in the South.

~~J

Ironically, I haven't heard Willy Nelson on any of my trips...

Clang! Clang! Clang!

went the Trolley...

Ding! Ding! Ding! went the bell...

Zing! Zing! Zing! went my heartstrings...

What decent person doesn't love an onomatopoeia in lyrical form?

You know I do!

(enough with the exclamation points already)

This past weekend I took a little trip downtown, complete with dinner, a trolley ride, a late night stop at the Peabody Hotel lobby, and a wee early morning stop for donuts.

I may have been 100 degrees outside, despite the absence of the sun. The humid, sticky air was stagnant. Hundreds of people were out and about. There was a line to get ONTO Beale Street even.

Any good Memphian should know WHAT exactly is going on in the above photo. I took it on a moving Trolley (Riverfront Loop)...does THAT parenthetical aside help you out any?

"Old Man River will be the backdrop when you ride the Riverfront Loop. Ride in an authentic vintage trolley car along a breathtaking stretch of the mighty Mississippi River, connecting with the Main Street Trolley and Madison Avenue. There's no better way to get a nostalgic glimpse of Memphis!" (MATA website)

I was thinking about my Saturday night on Sunday afternoon and couldn't help but recall the episode of Sex and the City when Carrie finds out Big is moving to Napa. He's the "Chrysler Building," leaving New York.

Of course, Big is "tired" of New York and I am NOT tired of Memphis. But the feelings are similar and palpable as far as the episode (and 10 minute clip I linked you to) are concerned.

Moon River + Ol' Man River = Me

~~J

To Listen:

Somehow I got into a rhythm. A pattern. Can't stop now!

(DiFranco, Amos, Mayer, Weepies, Jaymay, Spektor, Cutie, Yama)

I never really imagined music being categorized. Wrong word. I guess I never really imagined music being charted. Wrong, again. I guess I never really imagined the music that I listen to (while alone) being charted so I could answer those ever-burning questions:

What do you listen to?
Who is your favorite singer?
And your favorite song?

Enter: Last.FM about 4 years ago. I created a profile and started listening.

It's a cool (free) music site. You can listen to "stations" and discover "new" music based on the music preferences you list...or type. You can't download these song, the "station" is streamed to you via the site.

You don't have to create a profile. BUT if you do, you can "scrobble" songs (by downloading applications) that you're listening to on your computer and create all sorts of data charts.

I've listened to 1,319 artists in the last four years. You can see my "top" eight pictured up there....and that makes sense, because I've probably seen those first three at least 15 times in concert.

You can see what song I've listened to 67 times...oops! Make that 68 times, because my laptop just started it up again...one of us is obsessed.

Song? The City by Joe Purdy

You can "love" tracks, you can block tracks. You can find similar artists (as previously mentioned). It's pretty much awesome.

Some examples from the "bottom" of the "loved" list:

Yael Naïm – New Soul
Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
John Mayer – Assassin
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Page France – Ceiling
Patty Griffin – Let Him Fly
John Mayer – Who Did You Think I Was
Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Possess Your Heart
Fionn Regan – Bunker Or Basement
Belinda Carlisle – Heaven Is A Place On Earth

After I've "discovered" new music here, I am free (pun intended) to move over to a more famous program and download (not for free, hence the pun) the music I have "fallen" in love with...a vicious cycle.

~~J

Devil Woman--

She`s just a devil woman
with evil on her mind
Beware the devil woman
she`s gonna get you...

(1976 hit for Cliff Richard)

Lately I've been listening to all sorts of music. Well, I always listen to all sorts of music.

And just so you know, I'm that (former) girl who wins (won) things via the radio on a regular basis.

CDs, DVDs, casino packages, breakfast, tickets to concerts, a trip to New Orleans...How?

Usually it was my ability to know the artist, song, and year it was a hit faster than anyone else. There was no "cheating" involved. My secret was my "army brat" childhood and the ability to remember WHERE I was living, which gave me the "time" element quickly...

What was the point of telling you that? I have no idea.

I really wanted to talk about the "current" music I've had on repeat via iTunes. Specifically three songs that pre-date me, but I listen to backtobacktoback anyway:

"Witchy Woman" by The Eagles (1972)

"Evil Woman" by ELO (1975)

"Devil Woman" by Cliff Richard (1976)

It started as a joke by my boss. He played "Devil Woman" one day and told me the song was about me. Wow! Have you heard the lyrics? I'm damn powerful if it's "about" me. I'm gonna get you (from behind), even!

I took it all in stride, of course. Then I really started thinking about it, jumped on iTunes and downloaded the three aforementioned songs. In other words, "academic" Janet has a hard time separating herself from "regular" Janet.

I took a class last semester (outside of my major) because I needed a few more credits to finish my undergraduate degree. Women In Music seemed to be right up my alley and fit into my schedule nicely.

These three songs would've been perfect to examine for the final project. They span four years, during the turbulent 1970s--smack dab during the Second Wave of Feminism in the United States.

I've warped into a history lesson. (Somewhere out there one of my professors is smiling):

---The women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s was the largest social movement in the history of the United States. Its impact has been felt in every home, school, and business, in every form of entertainment and sport, in all aspects of personal and public life. Like a river overflowing its banks and seeking a new course, it permanently altered the American landscape.The “second-wave” US women's movement emerged in the late 1960s in two separate streams, with two distinct sets of roots.---

Woman + Knowledge = Witch (or) Woman + Power = Bitch

The biggest irony of this is the power given to the woman in each song. She's high flying and nothing by trouble (mainly sexual trouble, of course). But for all the power she possesses she is still disrespected politically (especially during the time of the songs, but even today).

But at least she makes a good song?

Honestly, I think the best way to go is to "flaunt" it...or "own" it...use, flip, and reverse it! A nice night out complete with howling at the moon is in order. As long as there is good music playing.

~~J

Fuel

Down beneath the impossible pain of our history

Beneath unknown bones

Beneath the bedrock of the mystery

Beneath the sewage systems and the PATH train...

Beneath the cobblestones and the water mains

Beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals

Beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels

Beneath everything I can think of to think about...

Beneath it all, beneath all get out

Beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel

There's a fire just waiting for fuel...

There's a fire just waiting for fuel

There's a fire just waiting for fuel

There's a fire just waiting for fuel

Ani DiFranco

April 13, 2010
New Daisy Theatre
Memphis, Tennessee

A Righteous Babe--

"She is trying to evolve."
I remember the first time I heard Ani DiFranco, clearly as if it were yesterday.

(what a horrible cliche')

January 1999, picture it--Knoxville--and every time I ran past a certain room in my dorm I heard music...

Some of it I knew, some of it I didn't know...and some of it I knew I was supposed to know based on what I was listening to at the time...

"She's just trying to evolve."

I remember the girl who lived in that tiny dorm room. The blonde hair. The nose ring. She's one of my "oldest" friends now (hiya Sarah).

I remember my first album (Little Plastic Castle) and then my second (Up x6) and buying the next one when it was released at midnight at a little record shop (To The Teeth)...

You get the picture. I was obsessed. "I am trying to evolve."

There was the show in Knoxville, followed by the summer tour in Memphis. Add a couple more shows in Memphis followed by the "next day" trip to Nashville. She doesn't make the rounds here too frequently.

So I am beyond joyous to know we'll have the "lil' folksinger" (what she calls herself) downtown tonight.

"I'm just trying to evolve."

People ask me to describe her music, and I can't. Twenty albums in twenty years on your very own record label (RBR)...and you say what you feel and you sing your own words--while playing your own instruments as loud or as soft as you want.

"I got more and more to do, I got less and less to prove."

She is Ani DiFranco. She sounds like..."Ani DiFranco." She plays like..."Ani DiFranco." "You just have to see her live." That's how I answer the questions.

Or you can listen to one of her albums--with so many to chose from it's easy to find a song or two or 240 that move(s) you.

Her politics may scare you. Her openess may make you uncomfortable. The lyrical poetry may wrap around your heart and not let go. It is what it is. She is what she is.

Origami, multi-faceted and complex.

Expect pictures tomorrow.

~~J

An Assassin--

Oh! That JOHN MAYER...last night...

No, I'm not alone...

I'm an assassin and I had a job to do...

Suddenly I'm in over my head

and I can hardly breathe...

And I feel everything...

I know exactly what I've done

and what it's gonna mean to me...

I was a killer, was the best they'd ever seen...

I'd steal your heart before you ever heard a thing...

Little did I know,

that girl was an assassin too.

(It) Will Possess Your Heart

You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart.

I came up with my favorite analogy when it comes to my Graduate school "game" while in the shower.

This wisdom is all after my first "rejection" (got that under my belt--from my "safety net" school even). The one rejection I wasn't counting on. Waiting to hear from the other nine programs may drive me insane (really) now.

Analogy:

It's like breaking up with someone after a year--right when you were about to move in. After you've made all those plans, and decisions. Dishes? Which couch to use in the extra room. Maybe you even have a dog together.

It's that severe, BECAUSE typically one has been eye-ing a program for at least a year before the rejection comes.

You've looked over their classes, professors...the location. Everything.

You imagine yourself there, together. Hand-in-hand. It's love. And then you're stabbed in the back and kicked in the face in one motion.

*insert appropriate sound/face here*

I have nine programs remaining on my list...

1. A 2. A 3. F 4. G 5. G 6. H 7. M 8. W 9. V 10. V

The great romance is waiting...just waiting...still waiting...

There are days when outside your window, I see my reflection as I slowly pass. And I long for this mirrored perspective--when we'll be lovers, lovers at last.

~~J

Graduated, now what?

(toothpastefordinner)

I wait. I wait. I wait. It's the first full week of February and I have...ten (?) weeks of waiting to go:

Reading books (so my mind doesn't atrophy)
Knitting wearables (so my hands don't deteriorate)
Working full-time (so my bank account doesn't...shrivel up and die)
.
.
.
Watching movies (so my mind doesn't give way)
Yoga-practicing (so my body doesn't decline)
Working full-time (see the section above)


I'm pretty sure I just wanted to use the Thesaurus today because I can't tell you the first or last time I ever used "atrophy" in a written sentence.

I had a friend stop by a month or so ago and tell me about her new career as a teacher. We took a class together in the Fall of 2008. She told me that her school was probably going to be looking for a 10th grade English teacher soon...

*insert fantasies about being a 10th grade English teacher here*

There was a conversation about "applying" to local newspapers (the S is a bit misleading, because our print media market isn't gigantic--but it isn't lacking either). Not really sure about the want to apply though...

I know how that business works.

Conversations about what exactly I want to do or see myself doing or what in the world is an MFA have been had with all types of people.

Blah.

The Australian Open was a great distraction--Federer Reigns and Serena Swings!

Back to waiting for the rejection letters to come (psyching myself out)...
Back to downloading music on iTunes...
Back to ordering birthday gifts waaaay in advance...

The dripping, melting snow may as well represent my sanity.

~~J

If you need me--

I'll be here:

<---

<---

Surrounded by highliters & Sharpie pens, stacks of books & binders filled with information.

Vessels of coffee shall be consumed.
The Internet shall be surfed.

There will may be tears.
There will may be screaming.

Caution--this is a frequent four-letter word zone.

I am beginning my "busiest" undergraduate week--because so much is at stake. Construction and completion of two large-ish papers (upper division classes, NOT in my major field of study) is underway.

Get out the orange cones & hard hats.

One paper contains sections with THESE five subheadings:

Me and my daughter… / Where are you going? / Words like violence / It doesn’t mean that much to me / She’s not a girl who misses much

The other comes directly from the book Unbending Gender by Joan Williams (maybe I'll throw in some philosophers for good measure, too).

Light a candle. Whisper some words of encouragement. I need it.

~~J

Give Me a Beat:

Now that I've titled this post, all that is going through my head is...

the beginning of Nasty Boys by Janet Jackson...

I owned the cassette tape, yes, the CASSETTE TAPE circa 1987.

There is a picture of me with a Walkman listening to it. I was nine years old.

Hunting down aforementioned picture would be a lovely way to spend the next few hours.

I don't have time though (or the software installed to scan the photo--maybe one day).

Cost to Apply to Graduate School:
*GRE: $150 + $100 to send scores to appropriate schools
*Application Fees (10 schools): $365
*Transcripts: $112.50

and I haven't even printed out all of my work for the accompanying portfolios--then there is the mailing cost. Oy Vey.

Am I complaining? Not exactly. I will come April if I don't get any good news in the mail--but I'm not even going to think about that. I'm just writing (typing) it down and keeping a record.

You spin me right round, baby right round like a record, baby right round round round --Dead or Alive

WOW! Such a musical day. And it's all thanks to my marching band girls (majorettes) up there--picture from Square America.

Now you know I have work to do, tons of it. BUT I can say that I finally finished a short story I've been working on since May. A first draft of it, but now it can be workshopped. Whew! So technically my work is done for one class.

I have three to worry about. Just three. ARRRGGGHHH!

~~J

Color Confused:

"Whisper me something
any sound will do
I want some secrets
just between me and you
The sky is gray my clouds are blue
very blue
The sun is the strangest hue..."

(Jaymay)

the Urge to Blog--

...becomes extremely strong when I have another assignment due (or I should be working on aforementioned assignment because it is due really soon instead of blogging)...

Lucky you (that one reader).

So begins the first week of November. So begins the rush to Graduation. Of course, one must pass her classes in order to graduate--so let's keep that in mind.

I have been a busy girl. I nearly have a personal statement ready to go (it's just like workshopping a fiction piece, although it's nonfiction & almost as important as the fiction pieces included in my portfolio).

Halloween 2009 aka Lenny Kravitz rocks my world!!!

it's blurry*
it's Lenny from the third row.

Give me a break--
He. Is. Scrumptious.

Great friends
+ HIM
= a night not soon forgotten.



Back from Lenny dreamland. *snap snap* FOCUS!

2nd philosophy paper about Men doing Feminism is due in 48hrs
I have two project proposals due in seven days
I have another abnormal psychology exam coming up
In less than TWO weeks I take the GRE...

Each of these is enough to make a lesser person hyperventilate. WHO AM I KIDDING? I need a brown paper bag, STAT!

Oh yeah! And this is my second day off "soda." NOT water (dressed in brown), just "pop."

~~J

*proof I need A with me at all times--at least to capture events on film.

The Sound of Silence:

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again...

But not really. It's just been an emotionally-idiotic few days coupled with midterm week. Although technically I only have ONE midterm (tomorrow). How awesome is that?

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone...

I've spent the week sloshing around campus under a Memphis umbrella, wearing a Memphis t-shirt. This is my new "smartie college girl" attire.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more...

Smartie College Girl finally scheduled her GRE (Nov. 16). Look for her to be jumping off a tall object either the evening before or the day after. Giving oneself a nickname and then writing about oneself in the third person while using that nickname is really weird.

People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening...

















Last night, just for the hell of it--I went to the movies (for free).
I saw All about Steve with Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper.

(who are both so adorable there should be photos of them everywhere, always--the world would be a happier place--or maybe they just have that effect on me?)

Being a lover of words and one who saw Wordplay...okay, and being an "odd individual" myself--I thought it was cuuute!

Now I need red rain boots so that my toes always feel like ten friends on a camping trip. (I do have my birkenstocks, same thing)

Or I need to stream my obsessive personality into make crossword puzzles about people I'm obsessed with! (although really that's my short story material)

Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you...

I'm going to eat you like a mountain lion now!!!

~~J

My Blueberry Nights:

(song currently stuck in my head)



The Greatest -- Cat Power -- from the film.

...Once I wanted to be the greatest
No wind or water fall could STALL me
And then came the rush of the flood
The stars at night turned DEEP to dust...

~~J

P.S. I had Sweet Potato Pancakes at the Arcade Restaurant downtown this summer in honor of the film (Norah Jones loved them while they were in town filming).

First Week is...

(in the books, yuk yuk yuk, even though I am still lacking ONE!)

Women & (in) Music:

• Very light-hearted professor. She knows her stuff, cracks great jokes, and has the ability to break into song at the drop of a hat.
• There are more graduate students than undergrads...I didn't know this was a combo course.
• The work seems fair, we have "seminar" days in which we have to lead the class (should be interesting, I like the group).
• The final paper is fifteen pages long. 15. We get to chose the topic, BUT it has to be in Chicago style. She apologized to me (the English major) because it wasn't MLA.

Feminist Theory:

• On Day One, I sat there internally fretting away. What was I thinking--taking upper division Philosophy considering I dropped Logic after one class (circa 1998).
• The professor is beyond brilliant. She knows the topic, she has written articles and helped translate books and she is hosting the big Spindel Conference later this month.
• I printed out my first packet of material even though I was fearful and found myself completely enthralled.
• After our first lecture--I am confident. This will be a very challenging class, but I can handle it. Ask me about Aristotle and his "dualities"...I can halfway explain it!

Fiction Writing Workshop II

• I admit to being nervous about this one. A workshop being led by a successful writer? Someone who typically teaches graduate (MFA) students and I was going to be in his class?
• Then I got there. Then I saw familiar faces. Then he showed up. Then I was happy.
• I was so happy that I volunteered to have a story ready in two weeks. Clearly I am crazy. And this was before he quoted my absolute favorite lines by Whitman even!
• I have to harness this happiness (and respect) into one hell-of-a-story. Of course, like he said, they are just words on a page. (Sound familiar? Read the second paragraph.)

Abnormal Psychology:

• The scientific study of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders is known as psychopathology.
• Insanity is A LEGAL TERM and is not the same as abnormal behavior.
• Trephining was the process of making a hole is the skull to relieve pressure and release evil spirits during the Stone Age.
• And I have a "discussion" due in less than 24 hours. A discussion about THE BRAIN. Obviously I need to get to WORK!

Soundtracks:

Since the beginning of time of (not silent) cinema, there have been scores...soundtracks...songs either written specifically for the film or just used in the film to garner a desired effect from the movie-watcher.

Somehow the good ones (scores, soundtracks, songs) become ingrained in our psyche.

I hummed the Jaws theme as a child in the pool while playing "sharks." I have to strut like John Travolta when the Bee Gees come on the radio. Sometimes I want to twirl on mountain tops like Julie Andrews, just because.

There have been a few "modern" soundtracks that completely move me--which is why I started writing this entry in the first place. To talk about them, especially since I saw a movie last night and promptly bought the soundtrack today.

Several movies have a great song or two, but these entire albums are fantastical!

My favorite "modern" soundtracks:
Romeo + Juliet (1996 was a good year!)
Garden State (bought the day after seeing the film)
The Last Kiss (see above)
500 Days of Summer (see above)

It's hard to pick just ONE song off of either of these to highlight or mention, but I am going to do it...okay, I am going to pick FIVE songs off of each of these...which means you need to find these five songs ASAP!

R+J: #1 Crush - Garbage, Local God - Everclear, To You I Bestow - Mundy, Lovefool - The Cardigans, You and Me Song - The Wannadies

GS: Let Go - Frou Frou, Fair - Remy Zero, Such Great Heights - Love & Wine, Caring is Creepy - The Shins, Don't Panic - Coldplay

tLS: Chocolate - Snow Patrol, Star Mile - Joshua Radin, Ride - Cary Brothers, Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap, Prophecy - Remy Zero

500: Here Comes Your Man- Meaghan Smith, Us - Regina Spektor, Hero - Regina Spektor, Bookends - Simon & Garfunkel, You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates

~~J

Swampy Delta Good Times:

("I think we’re about to have an exorcism!"<---said by me!)

(all photos courtesy of Allison)

Counting Crows + Augustana + 5th Row + Free Drinks = AMAZING!

Notice Adam Durtiz sporting a cane--he had a knee injury (which cancelled the previous night's show)--thank goodness he was ON for us!

Dan Layus (Augustana)
I’ll be witness…it was full up on vocals, convulsions, and such.

Adam looking like a certain other man

(imagine long hair, a robe, maybe a crown of thorns)…

Jesus Christ, superstar!

^^

(Which I actually shouted every time the two drunkards in matching black polo shirts and muscles in front of us came back from making a beer run)

Story: I discussed beating them about the head with the aluminum beer bottles; clearly, I was filled with the spirit—and all of this after telling strangers I loved them!

& some of the band(s)...the show was mostly played together. Big collaboration--and they had great timing and chemistry!

See the drummer there? When we were bargaining off band members, Allison "got" him...I had to relent.

Strummin' my soul--as my guitar gently sweats! Yes. I finally had a crush on a "guitar"...isn't it purdy? Even though I'd like to see the Counting Crows [alone]...think "unplugged" it was a magical night. My favorite song was probably their cover of CECELIA (my fave Simon & Garfunkel tune)...it was a hand clappin' and feet stompin' good time...

REVIVAL!

~~J

Autumn Fallin'

Although this album was released LAST November, I wasn't introduced to Jaymay until this year.

You can hear some of her songs on her Myspace (follow the link above). The album is available via iTunes, Amazon, etc etc etc.

Track listing:
gray or blue
sycamore down
blue skies
sea green, see blue
autumn fallin'
you'd rather run
hard to say
big ben
ill willed person
you are the only one i love


I wish I could put into words the greatness of this album. It's folksy and poetic. It's emotional and raw. It is definitely one of my favorites and is in heavy rotation in my life!

All Hail Last.FM for introducing me to Jaymay!

Last.FM is quite an amazing website. I recommend checking it out...I dare you to create a profile--I bet you'll be blown away by all the new tunes and artists you'll discover!It has led me to several "new" artists (mostly independent)...and I must say this is a GOOD THING!

Jaymay is currently part of a list of rotating artists featured as part of The Hotel Cafe Tour 2008. If she drops by a venue by you, check her out. (I'll be completely jealous!)

And I'm winning you with words because I have no other way...

~~J