December 2010
superqueerwonder asked: I LOVE Chris Garneau. I listened to his newest album on repeat last spring when my family was in Yosemite, and now I forever associate his music with redwood snowy forests... Swooooon.
music obsessions of the week
1. Chris Garneau - Over and Over - the sweetest little sad song about regret. Not my fault. You said so. You said it over and over.
2. John Mayer - City Love - maybe the first song I ever heard from him; it’s still perfect. Captures the mood of languid love in some dirty apartment. One of the few songs I can listen to dozens of times in one day & not get sick of it.
3. Peanuts -...
year-end survey for songwriters (which I will fill...
1. a) How many songs did you write in 2010?
b) How many of those do you feel are actually good?
2. What was your best/favorite song of the year? Why?
3. Worst/least favorite song of the year? Why?
4. What were your biggest inspirations this year?
5. Which artists most influenced your work this year?
6. What’s your favorite lyric you wrote?
7. Which song has your favorite music...
in a songwriter's brain...
every piece of text has lyrics buried in it & you come out of every dream with a melody knocking on your brain & you can never really shut it off but that’s okay.
November 2010
“I think you can do it however you want, really. There are no fucking rules —...”
– Amanda Palmer on meditation
1 tag
If you met some of your favorite musicians and got...
Oh wow, great question.
I think I would play some of my weirder songs for Regina Spektor (maybe Jellyfish, Eggshell, Morning In Chernobyl) & explain to her how she was my first major musical influence, the first artist who made me want to sit at the piano & write songs. Often, quite absurd songs, since that’s what she was doing back when I first started listening to her (the Soviet...
pssssst...
the code “eggshell” will give you 30% off anything from my online music shop for the next 2 days…!!
1 tag
how did the eggshell song come along?
My dad was driving me to the Celebration of Life we had for my grandma (basically a performance/party in lieu of a funeral) & I was thinking about how sad I was about her dying, & I thought, “Inside I’m as weak as an eggshell.” I thought it might make a good song but I didn’t have anywhere to write it down so I just let it go.
But generally, if an idea is good,...
if Justin Bieber can get famous, why can't this... →
I was going through a bunch of poems I wrote, trying to decide which piece of writing I’m MOST proud of, from ALL of 2010… and I concluded that it’s probably the essay I wrote as my final assignment for grade 12 english. The title of the essay is “Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged: Pedophilia and Other Stories.” IT’S SO GOOD. It makes me want to make out with myself...
the adorable Yes And Yes 2011 calendar →
1 tag
a few haikus
“i’m, uh, a poet,”
i mumble, blushing like i
care about money.
i am olympic;
my prowess: unparalleled
(at taking long naps).
unrequited love
bores the shit out of me now.
give me something REAL!
“1. Get enough food to eat, and eat it.
2. Find a place to sleep where it is...”
– “Karma Repair Kit: Items 1-4” by Richard Brautigan
this could be the start of something
summer always passes too quickly
& winter always lasts too long
i wish that i wasn’t so picky
i wish that you weren’t so wrong
my art always comes in a flurry
like i’m hearing the mind of the muse
you told me that i better hurry
i better hurry up & choose
but it’s a long long season
& there’s no reason to part ways
but i’m not really here...
“remember your lovers
but, especially, don’t forget them, while they are...”
– from Ravish your lover while you still love her by Tanya Davis
I have never owned anything by Lululemon
Memory: 5th grade. Age 10. I have been a member of the “popular girls” crowd for a few months but I’m still not fitting in very well. They know it & I certainly know it.
We’re having one of our typical bratty arguments. They’re all worried about having the latest, trendiest, most expensive clothes, & I say, “Why do you guys care so much about...
peruse: verb. read or examine thoroughly or carefully.
pursue: verb. 1. follow in order to catch or attack. 2. seek to attain (a goal). 3. proceed along (a path or route). 4. follow or continue with (a course of action). continue to investigate or discuss.
LEARN THE DIFFERENCE, EVERYONE.
“Receiving something exciting in the mail is one of life’s great joys. Seriously....”
– Gala Darling, “Sealed with a Kiss”
MORE/LESS
I made these lists while falling asleep last night, in an attempt to try to brainstorm further goals & resolutions for 2011…
I WANT MORE:
improv, sleep, energy/vitality, laughter, family, music, writing, theatre, getting dressed up, photography, blogging, reading, learning, water, vegetables & fruits, small parties, lipstick, gratitude, sensuality, social engagements, exercise,...
Thanksgiving Things I Love Thursday
-Dreams about nerdy things like being given Moleskines en masse, or critiquing someone’s improv in absurdly intricate detail
-The amazingly useful sociological insights in Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus - & the fact that I am studying this book in school!
-Impulsive bookstore shopping sprees, & the ensuing hours spent curled up with great novels
-Setting priorities...
“Your task is not to seek for love but merely to seek & find all the barriers...”
– Rumi (thanks Gala!)
Top 10 ways to be a feminist in 2010 →
People keep telling me to make a Tumblr ask box, even though I already have a Formspring, so I did.
Ask me anything!
I’m currently working on a rough draft of my goals for 2011.
Every year I make a list of goals & stick it up on my bedroom mirror, crossing things off as I make them happen.
In 2010 I had 18 goals, organized into 3 categories (professional, social, other). So far I have successfully achieved 12 of 18.
When I started making my 2011 list, I noticed that it was going to have to be...
“Don’t spray your perfume in the air at school. Some people are very...”
– Mr. Wei
dreamgirl
_____ wears briefs from the little boys’ section, emblazoned with trains & dogs & firemen.
she doesn’t need to wear a bra, so she doesn’t.
her hair is short & choppy & she secretly likes when i ruffle it, even when she protests.
she has arms which are thin but feel unbelievably safe to me when they’re holding me: in bed, standing up in the kitchen,...
“To some people, [the word “queer” is] derogatory. To me, and in many...”
– Sarah Dopp, who I adore & agree with on most things
From my journal: Nov. 17
Grief is such a strange creature, utterly unpredictable, completely manageable one moment & roaring like a lion the next. Every so often you realize that they really are gone & that you really do miss them - & that it isn’t the kind of missing that can be quelled as easily as a subway ride & a chat over tea. This is forever; this is permanent; & the concept of absolute...
Haiku of boredom, written on & published from my...
The guidance office:
Slow, cheerful hellhole, full of
Chirping counsellors
