Sunday, January 09, 2011

Singin' in gingham


Not really, I mean I wore this outfit yesterday while working on my previous posts about my favorite music from 2010 but I didn't do that much singing, but once I thought of this title I thought it was too good to let go even if it's not true.

Friday I went clothes shopping for the first time in awhile and I walked away with the shirt and sweater from Old Navy. It was great because I actually went with the hope of finding a gingham shirt and a grey sweater and they were both on sale!

I really love button up collar shirts and I've been wearing them a lot more recently, mainly because they are the only long sleeve shirts that I own. But I always wonder; to tuck or not tuck?


I like how they both look, and when I was watching a lot of Dexter I was tucking like crazy because I love Deb and she always tucks. But lately I've been leaning towards not tucking. It's definitely more comfy and yesterday I did wear this untucked all day. It's my relaxed weekend look, It's Saturday and I don't need to tuck anything.* Yeah I really go crazy on the weekends.

*I realize today is Sunday but this is a simulation of what I would have thought yesterday when wearing this outfit.

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Favorite songs not from Favorite albums

So I thought it would be fun to put a list together of my favorite songs from albums that weren't on my top ten (see previous post). So here it goes.

Robyn: Don't Fucking Tell Me What To Do


Caribou: Odessa
I've been listening to this song over and over again for months, so much so that it prevents me from listening to the rest of the album, but until I saw the video I didn't realize it was about domestic violence. I should play it at presentations I give for work!


Cee-lo: Fuck you
Sooooo,soo, so catchy! I have to be careful when I get this song stuck in my head, which is pretty much all the time.


The Books: I Didn't Know That


Local Natives: Sun Hands


Girl Talk: Jump on Stage
Big Boi, Skee-lo, ODB and Radiohead? Girl Talk have you been reading my music diary?

Top Ten of 20 ten.

So I know I'm late getting my list together but it was really tough this year! This was a good year for me musically, for awhile after I stopped working at CD Warehouse I felt really out of the music loop but I finally feel like I'm back in it this year. I bought a lot of new releases this year, I went to California for the Coachella music festival, and I also listened to the radio more this year then any other since like middle school. It was also taking me a long time to put this post together because I wanted to write something out for every album I picked but that was just becoming impossible and it was causing me to keep putting this off so I decided to just write about my first and second choices but I did pick out my favorite songs for each album and I tried to find some good videos for each one too! I also mentioned which bands I got to see live this year!

10. Best Coast: Crazy for You
Favorite songs: Boyfriend, Goodbye, When I'm With You, When the Sun Don't Shine


9. Yeasayer: Odd Blood (I sort "saw" them live at Coachella but really I just heard them and stood outside of the tent because it was so packed!)
Favorite Songs: Ambling Alp, Madder Red, O.N.E., I Remember, Rome


8. Liars: Sisterworld
Favorite songs: Scarecrows on a Killer Slant, The Overachievers, Proud Evolution, Here Comes All the People


7. Beach House: Teen Dream (saw them live and it was amazing!! They rocked out way more then I thought they would and Victoria, the singer was wearing a blazer which instantly made me love her.)
Favorite songs: Zebra, Norway, Real Love, Lover of Mine


6. Wavves: King of the Beach
Favorite songs: King of the Beach, Convertible Balloon, Post Acid, Baby Say Goodbye


5. No Age: Everything in Between (Saw them just last month and hopefully I'll get to see them again this month!)
Favorite songs: LIfe Prowler, Skinned, Chem Trails, Valley Hump Crash


4. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: Before Today
Favorite songs: Little Wig, Can't Hear My Eyes, Round and Round


3. Janelle Monae: The Archandroid
Favorite songs: Tightrope, Faster, Cold War, Come Alive
So this might also be my favorite video of the year. I LOVE the way she dances and I also love her whole look, I just think she's really cool.


1&2: Joanna Newsom Have One On Me and Big Boi Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty.

So I know it’s kind of a cheat but I really had a hard time deciding between the two of these so I’m leaving them both at the top with equal placement. I’ve listened to both of these albums more than anything else this year and yet when I heard about both these albums I was extremely hesitant and nervous to listen to them because I was afraid I would be terribly disappointed.

With the Joanna Newsom I remember hearing that her new album was going to be a three disc, 2 hour + release and I thought it would definitely be over the top and waaaay to much Joanna Newsom. I was also sort of expecting some kind of insane concept album just because most albums released like that have a big concept or some gimmick to them. But happily it was just an abundance of really well constructed songs that didn’t ever veer into showiness or too highly conceptual. And I barely noticed the 2hr+ listening time, in fact when this album finishes I always want more and end up listening to it a few times in a row.

My favorite songs are, 81, Good Intentions Paving Company, You and Me Bess, Soft as Chalk, Esme, Kingfisher.




With the Big Boi album, I was really excited to hear it but a little hesitant because Andre3000 has always been my favorite of Outkast and I wasn’t sure if I would like a whole album with Big Boi esp. because I wasn’t all that into Speakerboxx/The Love Below. I thought I would only like Big Boi and Andre together but this album is so awesome. I listen to it constantly in my car and almost everyone I’ve played it for has also loved it. I love it because it doesn’t sound like other hip hop albums that are popular right now, I love that the beats are really exciting and complicated and build with the song instead of just repeating on a loop. I love how Big Boi raps, I find that a lot of rappers right now rap sooooo sllloowly, it just doesn’t excite me or make me want to listen but with Big Boi the songs are always moving and flowing. There’s also very little Autotune on the album, in fact I can only think of one instance of it being used and I like that too because I think a lot of songs really over use it and it makes so many songs just sound the same even if they are by different artists.

My favorite songs are Shutterbug, Tangerine, Fo Yo Sorrows, Shine Blockas, Back Up Plan, You Ain't No DJ




I'm also going to put together a list of favorite songs that weren't from these albums.
Leave comments and let me know what you thought! What were your favorite albums?

Monday, January 03, 2011

Friendship!

My friend was visiting from St. Pete this weekend and when I was showing her around my neighborhood we found this cool building! We quickly dubbed it the friendship building because all the designs on the building are different phrases and pictures about friendship. I think it must have been used for Art Basel because it doesn't seem that it will be opening again which is sad.





I was really excited to have my friend visit for New Years, she was my first houseguest! We went to lots of thrift stores and played board games and watched weird/funny christian movies on TBN. And ate delicious food! Last night I made a soup with purple potatoes and red cabbage! It's hard to tell in this picture but the color is a really nice purple.


Then today it was back to the office. We just moved to a new location so last week was pretty hectic and I have a feeling this week will also be pretty hectic.


I also start school again this week and I'm half excited and half not excited. It's been nice having a break and not stressing about school but my classes sound pretty neat so I'm looking forward to them.