the AC

check out animal collective's album art for their new (leaked) album, "Merriweather Post Pavilion." set it as your desktop background and look at the screen from left to right over and over again. it's boggling.

treasure trove

my room is cluttered, untidy and busy, but at the same time welcoming and exciting. have you ever realized how much shit you have in your room? besides necessities, which for me are books, hair things, makeup, ihome and perfume, there are all of the little things you've collected throughout your life. 

i have quite an accumulation of concert tickets, as well as the "souvenirs" i've received at the shows. i have the signed cd from peter bjorn and john, the skull maraca from whispertown2000, the plastic flowers from tilly and the wall, the drum stick from death cab for cutie, a couple photo/press passes from music festivals and random shows like rilo kiley at soma and sondre lerche at the troubador, the handwritten set list from jenny lewis and the watson twins...etc. 

i have a collection of books including used, new, coffee table, and collections of poems, essays and art, plus old text books, sat/act study books and 5 or 6 old diaries. none of them are filled completely. i tend to buy new ones when i think i'm gonna make a change in my life and i need a new journal in order to make my personal goals official. plus stacks of  magazines and The Vista.

i have about 5 different perfume bottles, most empty. some i had to stop using because they reminded me of certain events or people. the one i've stuck with is ralph lauren rocks. 

i have all kinds of posters from different concerts, drawings done by my sister, old pictures, old letters and records up on my walls. every single piece of art means something significant to me. my room is a visual haven.

tiny collectibles from grandparents, such as brooches, ceramic animals, a tiny carved giraffe...plus candles and their holders and little crystal bowls, new zealand money, a box of old awards and birthday cards, cds.

don't get me started on clothes, shoes or jewelry. one could get lost in the descriptions of such treasures.

being home and in my room has reminded me of better times, worse times and current times. but most of all it has reminded me of how lucky i am to be alive and happier and has made me grateful for all of the opportunities i've had. how many people get to say that they've met their favorite musician at their favorite concert venue? (jenny lewis at the troubadour.) 

if room raiders were a real show and i was on it, the entire world would know every little detail about my life, just from what i'm surrounded by when i sleep.

fashion pit

my heart used to belong to fashion. i would make my own jewelry, copying the styles i saw in Teen Vogue (remember those wooden bead necklaces? the big ones? i made 3 of those). i dog-eared countless pages in countless issues of Seventeen, Teen Vogue and Elle Girl (rest in peace). i would circle certain tops or dresses. months before homecoming or prom i knew the exact style of dress i wanted, but could never find it in any stores. i suppose you could say i was ahead of the trend. i always "settled" for betsey johnson because those dresses were the craziest and most unique that i could find. and then the next year, every macy*s would have the dress i wanted the year before in all kinds of colors. and then a bunch of girls would be wearing them at the dance, and i'd be wearing another crazy betsey johnson dress. 

now, thanks to stores like urban outfitters and forever 21 (and magazines like NYLON), the latest fashions ARE available to everyday people as soon as they appear on the runways (in less extravagant materials of course). while urban is expensive and forever 21 affordable, i get the feeling that anything i buy there will be looked down upon in a way. urban outfitters' peacock jewelry is cute, but i know that by wearing it i'm basically screaming URBAN at everyone that sees it gracing my collarbone or earlobes.

nevertheless i find myself overwhelmed by greed and lust every time i enter an urban outfitters. the jeans fit me perfectly, the tops are creative. but i'm not about to drop 40 on a top with a cute flower print. but on my first shopping trip in a real store (not a thrift store) with an intent to purchase rather than just look at all of the things i can't afford, i bought a somewhat overpriced top that i love love LOVE:

it's the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and it's adorable. since i pretty much only wear black leggings and jeans, the $28 shirt was a perfect way to bring some excitement to my little torso. 

and then i went to the american apparel outlet in camarillo. now, as someone that greatly admires the wild looks of runways and magazine spreads, the innovative placement of zippers and buttons, as well as zany prints and crazy textures, it would seem that american apparel would not appeal to my taste. but there's something about its simplicity that makes it unique. it allows space to experiment. some of the shiny stuff is actually pretty wearable and obviously eye catching. they are well-known for their leggings (though i personally prefer some that can be found in a little ventura fashion store) and their v-neck tees. however, they are expanding their collection to include materials that can't be found used in attractive ways in other places. for example, velour! never have i ever been drawn to this material. velour track suits were a disgrace to women's bodies everywhere. they made asses look bigger and fashion senses look cheaper. but american apparel has changed that for me with this particular velour sweater:

the sweater i bought is not this particular color. it's way cooler. it's tri-colored: white, light mint green and dusty denim blue. the mint green is on the stretchy cotton wrist part and the stretchy cotton bottom band, the sleeves and the bottom half of the sweater are a dusty blue velour, and the top half is white velour. hard to describe but also very easy on the eyes. because it was at the outlet it only cost $28 (rather than $38). it was my favorite purchase of the day. it made me feel confident in fashion again, as well as excited to start putting together innovative outfits and experiment with different combos as the chilly weather permits. it may just be american apparel, typical "hipster" wear as some might say, but it's fun and cute. and for someone that HAD to shop at thrift stores all summer (i didn't have a job, couldn't get a job and therefore didn't have money), being able to purchase a brand new sweater was priceless.

le break(ing point)

i'm always excited to go home for break. i talk to my mom 20 times a day on the phone already so it's not like i'm going home to strangers as a stranger. i love animals more than anything and a chance to live with them for a month is priceless. the honeymoon phase (which lasts about three days) is always enjoyable. but after those three days, what happens? chaos. worse than chaos because you know exactly what's going to happen and how it's going to happen. predictable chaos is terrifying. 

so why do i still get excited to go home? why is it something i look forward to, something i consider a much needed month of relaxation, when nothing relaxing ever takes place? catching up with old friends is amazing. sleeping with my cat by my side is precious. sunning in the yard with my dogs is calming. singing to pretty songs with my sister in the car is cool. but are all of these happenings worth the fighting that precedes them? i've made my mom cry two days in a row (not by being mean, just by getting into an argument with my sister and also by not going to church). i know for a fact that she is happier when i am not home. she talks to me when i'm in-between classes or walking home from work and is happy to know that i still need her in my life, at least as someone to converse with between responsibilities. but when i'm home i think she feels a disconnection and knows as well as i that the chaos will soon be taking over. we like it better when things are organized by time, not by emotion. 

so a holiday break for me isn't necessarily a break. it's a change of pace and a change of dramatic incidents. no longer am i annoyed by dirty roommates. i am now annoyed by lack of alone time and cigarettes and a mom thats ready to get angry at any little thing. but it's okay. i love everyone in my family regardless of their anxiety levels, and i love hanging out with friends that stuck with me through the hellish year that was 2008. 

it was christmas day

christmas day was a day of wackness. i'll leave out the less enjoyable details involving tears (not mine) and comment on the sillz.

• my mom's "my bitches" photo album
• my dad saying that the sweater my mom got him was very "star trek"
• my dad having my mom's gifts gift-wrapped in hanukkah paper (accidentally). but they were the gifts from the cat and dogs, so it was okay...
• getting in a fight over whether or not we were seeing "marley and me" or "benjamin button." or should i say "benjamin mutton," as my dad refers to it. 
• downloading justice's "a cross the universe" for two hours only to watch it and realize it was the version without subtitles
• all of the penguin gifts. seriously. i pretty much only got penguin gifts
• not watching "a christmas story" for the first time ever. we usually watch it every christmas alllll day on tbs, but not this year, and i don't know why, and i'm sad about it
• watching "dogs 101" on animal planet until 9:30, when i went to bed. if you've somehow angered your mom (like i did very early on in the day), shows with puppies are a sure cure. 

while my christmas may have sucked, i still enjoyed it somewhat because i know the gifts i got people were much appreciated. finally that's the best part. i remember being 10 and hating that i had to go shopping for my parents. but this year i got them better things than they got me. and it felt kind of cool. kind of.

it's christmas eve right now

as i progressively gain weight this week, i decided to do something productive and write while i continue to sit and wait for hors d'oeuvres. so far i've had an amazing week back. i went last minute shopping with my sister without ever feeling angry despite the crazies that surrounded me at the mall. i finished 280-something paged book in a day. i (along with my sister) made my mom a photo album with pictures of us and our (evil) cat. we decided we needed to put his paw print next to one of his pictures. and that was the worst idea. ever. my sister's carpet is covered in little green paw prints. she stated it best: "it looks like a leprechaun was running around in here!"

what's made my holiday most enjoyable is Fleet Foxes. their song "white winter hymnal" got me in the winteriest of moods without being overly santa-y or jesus-y. check it:

wo woah whoa

this has to be one of the coolest late night performances i've ever seen. it reminds me of chuck e. cheese (for obvious reasons)

on dreams

(Henri Rousseau's "To Dream")

i wrote my last column for The Vista about dreams and how weird mine have been ever since i went home. as an avid dream analyzer (i reference either glamour.com's dream dictionary or my own physical one that my creepy neighbor gave me), i have made an interesting and disturbing discovery. i will first begin with a description of the two dreams i've had that apply to this theory:

i had a dream that a guy i liked was taking candid pictures of me on a digital camera and that i was looking at the pictures and deleting the ones i didn't like and praising others. we were then laying in a barren field as thunder rolled all around us. we decided to wait till the thunder ended and then go to a party we apparently had planned to make an appearance at. an overall enjoyable dream.

the other dream consisted of me watching tv with my sister. we put on the news and heard screaming. it was a live shot of a mudslide happening at la conchita again. the mud knocked over a cement truck which then spilled a never-ending supply of cement. the news crew's helicopter cam zoomed in on the people being overtaken by the cement and then getting stuck and suffocating. it was absolutely terrible and resulted in me waking up terrified.

now here's the discovery. the first dream's meaning was extremely negative. dreaming of a camera is a warning dream signifying insincere friends around you and deception. to dream of thunder signifies that your suspicions of false friends are well-founded and portends great loss and disappointment. to dream of a field indicates dreary prospects for the future. as you could imagine, i was a little freaked out and mad that my cute dream had lost all levels of cuteness.

the second dream's meaning was extremely positive. to dream of mud predicts "glorious good luck" and to dream of cement signifies a rise in status/income. WTF

underestimation

i feel completely underestimated as a person. not in what people think i can accomplish. i think people have a pretty good idea of how motivated i am. i am definitely a dreamer and definitely set super high goals for myself personally and professionally. but there is much more to me than high hopes and cuteness. sure, i talk about cute animals ALL THE TIME. but it's because they make me happy. why not surround yourself with something like that? i know that i come across as a silly, giggley girl that will try everything once and do what she feels like. but seriously? why would you ever think that's all i do and think about? 

• music is my soul. the weirder it is and the more sounds it incorporates, the more i can connect to it. that's why bands like why? and dntel are always on my many playlists (i make a new one every day).
  
• i like more than electro music. my favorite genres are experimental hip hop and folk and some swedish pop. i also like dark rock music (not hard/metal/pop/punk rock). in every single band i listen to, the lead singer has an extremely unique and different voice. no one voice in my itunes library sounds alike.
• i'm attracted to bright colors and sparkles because they are exciting.
• i try very hard to never wear the same outfit twice. not because i'm obsessed with appearance but because i like experimentation.
• i, like many people my age, have been conditioned to hate being alone. if i'm by myself i'll get online and chat away until i know it's absolutely necessary for me to go to sleep. but because i am an insomniac that usually takes hours anyway.
• i love buying gifts for people. no matter how much i hate someone, if i see something i know they will like i will always contemplate getting it for them (but if i hate them i won't). it's more like ex-boyfriends. that's why i share music. i have a good sense for what people will like (even though some will never admit that they do, but their play count says otherwise).
• when i'm stressed or just feel out of sorts i will immerse myself in a john steinbeck book. his is the only writing i can completely connect to. he writes eloquently and honestly.
• my comfort channel is bravo. intelligent reality tv was made for me. i've never really been a cartoon person (minus rugrats and the like). that's probably why i love pixar movies. they're the smart versions of cartoons.
• after all of the terrible things i've been through in my life (trust me, you have no idea), it is absolutley impossible for me to trust anyone. if you think i trust you, i don't. it's like a character trait that disappeared.
• on that note, i'm the most trustworthy person you will ever meet. i'm the best at keeping secrets and even better at helping create them. 
• i always have to have my nails polished.
• i have had countless hairstyles because i get bored with them after a few months. my hair will be long again soon.
• my favorite thing to do is drive (yes, more than any other thing i could do). long drives are the best. i get to listen to my favorite music for hours. i made a playlist of my favorite songs ever and it contains over 1500 songs from all different kinds of artists and genres. i think that's pretty cool. i also like falling asleep in the passenger seat after shows in l.a.
• why do i like penguins? it honestly stemmed from simply liking the word. how do you come up with a word like that?
• my favorite movies are wes anderson movies because i love the "futura" font and the smoothness of the colors. i greatly admire symmetry. but i also like amelie because it has no symmetry whatsoever.
• while i like writing articles and fun columns, serious writing is my favorite. i have a novel in the works (for real) but it's all in my head as of late. 
• try thinking about things without using words.
• i smoke cigarettes because it's an excuse to move around.
• i have a blog because it makes me feel productive. i think it's important to be exposed to different points of view because it further reaffirms your own. 
• i shop in thrift stores because it's all i can afford, not because it's the indie thing to do. and it's all i can afford because i spend too much money on shoes (when i have money and don't have to buy groceries).
• i trip all the time, in all possible meanings of the word. 
• i write down every single quote that means something to me and when i go back and read over them it's an indescribable feeling.

a john steinbeck quote that perfectly describes me and most likely many other people:

"i have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. i've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment. i did not want to surreneder fierceness for a small gain in yardage."

what i like about his writing is that it takes some cliche ideas and strips them down to pure honesty with no embellishments. how many times have we read about people not sleeping and they make it sound so utterly terrible and depressing and artsy? when john steinbeck writes about it, you're not afraid to say "yeah, me too."

christmaschristmaschristmas

i'm so so so excited for christmas this year. for once i don't hate my mom and i get to hang out with my puppies and my kitten. and of course, i'm super close to the SB zoo, at which otters and penguins swim (and that sweet lion puts his face against the glass and looks at me). here are the top 5 things on my christmas list this year, besides the usual Urban/AA gift cards (american apparel, not alcoholics anonymous) my hip mom gives me. and i hear some planned parenthoods have gift cards now. that might be cool to have.

WALL E DVD (or WALL E himself)

Hymie's Basement CD (with Yoni from WHY?)

CuteOverload Page a Day calendar

subscription to Under the Radar magazine

Justice "A Cross the Universe" live DVD/Album

And here's a Christmas gift from me to you ♥

my interview with Yo La Tengo

i did this interview last year but Yo La Tengo has been brought up to me a few times this week soooo i'm re-releasing it to the public. 

     Yo La Tengo, one of the most well-known and respected names in the underground alternative rock world, graced San Diego with their presence this past Sunday, and were kind enough to give an interview to The Vista. 

     The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo Tour brought the band to San Diego’s Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla, at which they held an exclusive engagement that brought together fans of all ages. Children, teenagers, middle-agers and elders sat in anticipation as they waited to see such an influential group take the stage. And once they took the stage, the music took hold of every single person in the room. All sat in silence as Georgia Hubley’s soothing voice covered the room like a blanket, and the guitar skills of Ira Kaplan kept all eyes centered on the strings.

     Standouts of the show, besides the very funny comments of the band members, were crowd-pleasers “Autumn Sweater” and “You Can Have It All,” of course, as well as “Stockholm Syndrome,” “Alyda” and the purely instrumental songs that induced chills.

     What makes this tour unique, according to Yo La Tengo’s bassist James McNew, is that “not a single thing is planned, it’s very spontaneous.”

     The way the Freewheeling tour works is unlike anything most young adults have experienced in the concert scene of today. The band welcomes questions from their audience and tells stories about how they came up with song titles or about projects they have worked on (think VH1’s Storytellers) and then choose the next song they play according to what fits with the discussion that was just held. There is no set list, no agenda; just a show that, as McNew puts it, consists of the band “flying by the seats of [their] collective pants.”

     Yo La Tengo has been around since 1984, the year their first album came out, though the three current members, husband and wife Kaplan (guitar/vocals) and Hubley (drums/vocals), and McNew (bass/vocals), have been together since 1991.  The chemistry between the threesome is intriguing. It’s a perfect combination of talent, emotion, and comedy; it’s no surprise their music is so affecting and has become a staple of varying generations.

     Yo La Tengo doesn’t just put out records either. They do movie scores too. Their compositions can be heard in “Shortbus,” “Old Joy,” and “Junebug” among many many others, as well as the surrealist undersea documentary shorts of French filmmaker Jean Painleve. 

     The band will soon be kicking off their eight-day set of Hanukkah shows in their hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey.  They started doing the Hanukkah shows back in 2001, very soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.

     “It was a weird time to be an entertainer in New York,” said McNew. “People were kinda going out and getting together again.”

     This year’s Hanukkah commemoration will be the fifth in the last seven years. The shows consist of an opening act, which the band books on their own, a little bit of comedy and then a set by Yo La Tengo.  The shows are very intimate and fun and proceeds benefit charities yet to be named.

     Here are some fun facts about Yo La Tengo, many of which were shared with the audience at Sunday’s show. The band portrayed the Velvet Underground in ‘96’s “I Shot Andy Warhol.”  They got a lot of their song titles from messed up sentences that Kaplan and Hubley would come across when proofreading soft porn books (see “Mushroom Cloud of Hiss” off the album “May I Sing With Me” and ponder what it was supposed to be). Kaplan’s favorite color is green while McNew’s is orange. Their song arrangements are not set in stone, which makes them all favorites to perform. McNew is “bummed out by the second season of ‘Heroes’” and considers Nashville to be the “unsung hero of American cities.” Their favorite venue is Maxwell’s in Hoboken. Kaplan has been referred to as the Jewish Jimi Hendrix.

     Yo La Tengo’s most recent album, “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass” came out in September of 2006 and is the springboard for the ongoing Freewheeling Yo La Tengo Tour. If you already have that, check out “Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics,” which is accompanied by an “order at your own risk” warning from the band, or “The Sounds of the Sounds of Science,” which is made up of the scores of those aforementioned undersea shorts.

     Yo La Tengo is a band that has already made great waves in the music world, and will go down in history for their bravery in experimentation and their true talent. All 500 people that were able to attend the show at the Museum of Contemporary Art were very lucky, and if you are ever presented with the opportunity to see Yo La Tengo, do not let it pass you by.

            

nationally enjoyably good

i love The National.

i listened to "Boxer" about 5 times in a row as i put together my Vista pages (which are stunning, by the way) because it makes me feel warm and cozy. the hazelnut latte that boss lady (liz biz) bought me certainly aided. but seriously, this band is classic. not in the way that means they are super good, but in the way that means their sound is timeless. with the help of Sufjan, the album is beautiful and has an amazing flow and vibe. songs to check out: "ada" (my top choice), "racing like a pro," and "start a war." i know that the album came out in oh seven, but i just gave it a good listen on a hazy day and it fit my comfy mood perfectly. 

#40.4 - THE NATIONAL -Ada
by lablogotheque

speaking of which, isn't it annoying when you get a bunch of new music but you just don't have the patience or time or energy to give it a genuinely interested listen? it makes me so sad because i love to add to my wealth of music knowledge, but i know i have a ways to go. sure, my iPod has over 8000 songs on it, but how much of it have i really listened to? i'm almost embarrassed to say. but at least i know all of the names and at least one song per artist. 

;asdjf fuck

i am drunk. or at least buzzed. and had the most difficult time writing my articles for The Vista this week. as i slowly type this to avoid misspellings, i begin to think about the lyrics that WHY? is singing to me at this exact moment. something about "fucking grooving?" god damn i want to dance. i miss justice live. they're my friends (they told me). i miss listening to girl talk and playing beer pong with black mugs and glass cups. i miss ecstasy. i miss my big bed at home. i miss stability. i obviously miss being drunk without being depressing. i miss lewis, most of all. i miss being able to write sober, because until i had those glasses of champagne i was experiencing major writer's block, and it was shitty. but for real, i'm gonna start a magazine for USD solely about arts & culture. help a girl out.