Nothing in the world makes me feel older than looking back at a decade’s worth of music that tickled my fancy.
It would be close to impossible for me to rank these albums according to value, so they are ranked chronologically and alphabetically.

Elliott Smith – Figure 8 (2000)
Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica (2000)
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Bjork – Vespertine (2001)
The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)
Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)

Mirah – Advisory Committee (2002)
Mum – Finally We Are No One (2002)
Rilo Kiley – The Execution of All Things (2002)
Brand New – Deja Entendu (2003)
Cat Power – You Are Free (2003)
Damien Rice – O (2003)

Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism (2003)
Her Space Holiday – The Young Machines (2003)
M. Ward – The Transfiguration of Vincent (2003)
Mates of State – Team Boo (2003)
Murder By Death – Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left Of Them? (2003)
The Postal Service – Give Up (2003)
The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow (2003)

Sufjan Stevens – Greetings From Michigan (2003)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell (2003)
The Good Life – Album of the Year (2004)
Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004)
The Killers – Hot Fuss (2004)
Regina Spektor – Soviet Kitsch (2004)
Ryan Adams – Love Is Hell (2004)
Say Hi To Your Mom – Numbers & Mumbles (2004)
Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans (2004)

Tilly & The Wall – Wild Like Children (2004)
Antony & The Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now (2005)
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)
Death Cab For Cutie – Plans (2005)
Devendra Banhart – Cripple Crow (2005)
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine (2005)
Great Lake Swimmers – Great Lake Swimmers (2005)
Jens Lekman – Oh You’re So Silent, Jens (2005)

The Kills – No Wow (2005)
M.I.A. – Arular (2005)
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cold Roses (2005)
Spoon – Gimme Fiction (2005)
Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise (2005)
Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary (2005)
Beirut – Gulag Orkestar (2006)
Grizzly Bear – Yellow House (2006)
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat (2006)

Joanna Newsom – Ys (2006)
Justin Timberlake – FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006)
The National – Alligator (2006)
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (2006)
Ratatat – Classics (2006)
Regina Spektor – Begin To Hope (2006)
Rocky Votolato – Makers (2006)
TV On The Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (2007)
Feist – The Reminder (2007)
Fionn Regan – The End of History (2007)
The National – Boxer (2007)
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger (2007)
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky (2007)
Beach House – Devotion (2008)
Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
Emiliana Torrini – Me and Armini (2008)
Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)
Lady Gaga – The Fame (2008)
Lykke Li – Youth Novel (2008)

Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us (2008)
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (2008)
She & Him – Volume One (2008)
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008)
The Welcome Wagon – Welcome To The Welcome Wagon (2008)
Antony & The Johnsons – The Crying Light (2009)
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns (2009)

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (2009)
Jay-Z – The Blueprint III (2009)

As a preface to this list, I would just like to say that this is not your typical hipster year-end music list: I am not claiming to know anything about music beyond what is pleasing to my personal sensibilities. This list is entirely subjective. I am highlighting the albums, songs and videos that made the strongest impression on me, and detailing my opinions about them.
Read on!

TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2009

20. Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster
I don’t care what anyone says: I like Lady Gaga. She’s insanely talented (watch her perform a piano-only rendition of “Paparazzi”) and is bringing avante garde performance art to mainstream pop. Certainly she doesn’t write songs as profound as other musicians on this list, but she does create infectiously fun dance songs and she does it well. Sometimes a little musical hedonism is a welcome alternative. This album is the perfect yin to her 2008 album The Fame’s yang; where The Fame reveled in money and celebrity, The Fame Monster explores the internal ramifications of fame: fear, broken relationships, and self-consciousness, all over a dance beat. Go, Gaga.
Song: Dance In The Dark

19. Fever Ray, Fever Ray
I first came to know Karin Dreijer Andersson’s unique voice (which, stylistically, sounds almost like a female, Scandinavian Bob Dylan) through her singing with The Knife, but she creates a familiar yet distinct sound on Fever Ray. The beats and sounds are dark and eery, full of hollow paranoia-inducing echoes, and the lyrics are beautifully descriptive and nebulous at the same time; Andersson sings “I want to be a forester and run through the moss on high heels” with heart and conviction on “When I Grow Up.” I like The Knife, but I hope Fever Ray sticks around.
Song: When I Grow Up

18. Mountain Man, Mountain Man
One of the most beautiful albums I’ve heard in a long time. I love that a trio of New England females decided to dub themselves Mountain Man. Humor aside, this album is so honest and raw: the instrumentation is minimal, the harmonies are gorgeous, and the voices teeter back and forth between whisper and shrieking, which makes both the silence and the sound equally penetrating.
Song: Animal Tracks

17. Beirut, March of the Zapotec / Realpeople Holland
I enjoyed this album a lot even though it isn’t my favorite from Beirut. The album as a whole is a little perplexing, with such short songs and even shorter wordless musical interludes; the overt European sound of previous albums melds with electronic beats on a few songs, but the sound is still distinctly Beirut. I can appreciate when any musician steps outside the box and tries something new, and even more so when it works well.
Song: La Llorona

16. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
If I could have a legitimate 80’s flashback, I think this album could easily induce it. The scratchy feedback of the guitars and the simple chord progressions scream new wave, but it’s the vocals that give it something extra: male and female voices play off of each other and give the songs life, and the lyrics are incredibly upbeat and optimistic. This is just a feel-good album in its purest form.
Song: Young Adult Friction

15. jj, N° 2
I am always of the mindset that Scandinavians can do no wrong in the music world, and I think jj’s debut album reinforces that. The Swedish dj’s have created a really chill sound that incorporates so many disparate elements, from world music influences to accordians, but does so with seeming ease. Listening to this album makes me want to smoke weed, and music rarely (and by ‘rarely’, i mean ‘never’) has that effect on me. I also think it’s really cool that they can maintain a certain level of mystery despite all the hype they’ve gotten this year; they made it onto Pitchfork’s top albums of the year, and no one really knows anything about them. I’m excited to see how they evolve, and am super-stoked for N° 3 in March.
Song: Ecstasy

14. Coconut Records, Davy
I’ve had a crush on Jason Schwartzman ever since I saw him in Rushmore, but this album has elevated him to a new level of attractiveness in my eyes. Schwartzman has dabbled in music (playing drums for Phantom Planet in the early 00’s) but he solidifies his prowess on this album: the songs are light and compressed, but each is quirky and distinct, and many of the songs have a Beatles-esque quality to them. Maybe this is just because he’s been in so many of them, but listening to this album makes me feel like I’m walking through a Wes Anderson movie. And I like that feeling.
Song: Any Fun

13. The XX, XX
This album is like the really cool kid in high school that smokes a cigarette behind the gym and doesn’t speak even when spoken to. That kid wasn’t out to impress anyone, and this album has the same aura. The XX combine shared boy-girl vocals, stand-out melodies and a simultaneous fusion of self-assurance and sadness, and it all seems effortless. I also like the way a lot of their songs are structured: with stanzas in which the music fades almost until silence, and then builds back up slowly or makes its reappearance with an easy and understated power.
Song: Infinity

12. David Bazan, Curse Your Branches
My boyfriend and his best friend are obsessed with David Bazan, and before Curse Your Branches was released in August, they managed to get their hands on a bootleg cassette of the album. I was forced to listen to it (a lot) against my will when I was with them, and with time I learned to appreciate and even like it. Bazan has issues with religion and the idea of God, but his is a distinctly respectful brand of contemplative questioning, as opposed to combative and blatant hatred a la Isaac Brock. Musically, Bazan is no frills, which underscores his existential ponderings; the album concludes as an open-ended and unanswered question, reinforcing Bazan’s assertion in the opening track that “it’s hard to be a decent human being.”
Song: Hard To Be

11. St. Vincent, Actor
Annie Clark has come a long way since her last album: she’s ditched the cutesy softness that made her a novelty, and embraced a fuller and more diverse sound that has turned her into an artist. I find it amazing that this album began as a songwriting exercise in which Clark watched her favorite films and tried to score certain scenes, and that it took on an identity of its own. Clark’s lilting and liquid voice is a brilliant contrast to the pairing of gnarly guitars and woodwinds, with some synthesizers thrown in for good measure.
Song: Actor Out Of Work

10. Kings of Convenience, Declaration of Dependence
The beauty of this album is in its simplicity. The Norwegian duo has perfected their brand of whispery harmonies and subtle finger-picking, and this album proves their consistency in creating calm, understated music. I have always been a fan of the way they propose contradictions with earnest sincerity; look at their previous album titles (Quiet Is The New Loud, Riot on An Empty Street). But somehow they generally manage to make it profound: in “Freedom And Its Owner,” they sing “Freedom, freedom never greater than its owner / freedom is the mastery of the known.” And that feels like truth.
Song: Me In You

9. El Perro Del Mar, Love Is Not Pop
With only seven songs, this album could more easily be classified as a mini-album, but I loved it enough to give it full-album status on this list. Sarah Assbring’s voice is at once beautiful (it reminds me of another of my favorite Swedes, Lykke Li), heartbreaking and despondent. All of these songs pack a melancholy punch, layering subtle piano, mechanical drum beats and ethereal vocals to create a lovely seven-song portrait of longing and hopeful despondence.
Song: Change of Heart

8. Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
Neko Case is an amazing lyricist: she is so incredibly descriptive, and somehow manages to combine profundity and cunning wit in the same song. Her alt-country instrumentals play second fiddle to Case’s voice, a tender and robust entity in its own right, and one that knows no bounds. A woman I used to nanny for described Case’s sound as “Patsy Cline on heroin,” which I always thought was a very apt assessment; her voice lilts and undulates delicately like Cline’s, but she also has an edge that makes her mysterious and slightly menacing. And I mean that as a compliment.
Song: I’m An Animal

7. The Fiery Furnaces, I’m Going Away
I was never really impressed by the Fiery Furnaces before this album, but the scratchy guitars and straightforward piano and rollicking melodies on this album are irresistible. There is so much frenetic energy between the instruments and vocals, and Eleanor Friedberger’s fast-talk-singing gives the Fiery Furnaces’ songs an almost jazzy quality, often verging on scatting. The lyrics are pretty linear, and provide a perfect balance to the frantic sounds and disparate energies at play within the songs.
Song: Charmaine Champagne

6. Bat For Lashes, Two Suns
Natasha Khan is an anachronism if ever I saw one: her whispery yet powerful voice sounds almost mythical, and the subjects of her songs (knights, battles, wizardry) harken back to centuries of yore. The combination of tribal drums, synthesizers and piano is hypnotic, and somehow manages to sound antiquated and modern simultaneously. It’s rare to be able to say that I’ve never heard anything that sounds like the music in question, but I can say it without hesitation about Bat For Lashes. Theirs is one of the most unique sounds around: powerful, vulnerable, a folklore frozen in song.
Song: Glass

5. Wilco, The Album
I’ve heard mixed reviews about this album, but I loved it. Yes, it’s different from Wilco’s previous albums, but I think that indicates a doffing of expectations more than a lack of effort. I imagine Jeff Tweedy sitting all the guys down and saying “Okay, here’s what I’m thinking: we should hang up our serious hats and just have fun making this album.” And I think that sentiment comes through in their songs; “Wilco (The Song)” is incredibly clever, assuring the listener that when everything is going bad, they will be “a sonic shoulder for you to cry/ Wilco will love you, baby.” And even amid the fun, there are still profoundly beautiful songs like “One Wing” and “Country Disappeared.”
Song: One Wing

4. Jay-Z, The Blueprint III
The reason I love Jay-Z, aside from his mad skills on the mic, is because he’s smart, and I think this is his smartest album yet. This album is revolutionary for mainstream rap music: Hova is politically and culturally aware; he is gracious in response to the support of his fans; he wants to preserve the sanctity of rap by killing auto-tone; instead of dissing his fellow rappers, he praises them, and encourages them to commit to raising the standards of rap. With beats from Timbaland and Kanye, and features from established artists (Alicia Keys, Rihanna) and newcomers (Kid Cudi, Drake) alike, this album is a treasure-trove of the best that rap has to offer, and with a fresh ideology to boot.
Song: On To The Next One (featuring Swizz Beats)

3. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
By far my most anticipated album of the year and, for what it’s worth, the only album that I actually paid for in 2009. In a year of great music, Grizzly Bear did not disappoint: they delivered a bulkier and more structured sound whilst still maintaining their airy and organic jam-sesh sound a la Yellow House. But beyond making genuinely enjoyable music that is pleasing to indie sensibilities, the members of Grizzly Bear are just incredibly gifted musicians; their richly gorgeous songs are not a fluke or a flash in the pan, and I think this album solidifies that. And not to brag, but they’re also really amazing live.
Song: Ready, Able

2. Antony & The Johnsons, The Crying Light
This album is just beautiful. For me, it’s not one of those albums that I can put on while I’m studying or cleaning that can serve as background noise; it captivates, to where I can focus on nothing else. Antony has such a soulful voice, and each song rises from simple piano and voice to operatic with full orchestral sounds, and falls back down to a murmur. It’s just an emotional listening experience, in a good way.
Song: Aeon

1. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
Merriweather Post Pavilion was one of the first albums released in 2009, and it set the tone for the rest of the excellent music made throughout the year. In comparison with Animal Collective’s previous albums that embody a disjointed and intentionally strange experimental vibe, Merriweather Post Pavilion assaults the ears with a plethora of sounds that are wholly listenable, and pleasant at that; and maybe it’s just me, but I hear traces of Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys in their intricate harmonies and thumping drums. Aside from being my favorite album of the year, Merriweather Post Pavilion is one of my favorite albums of all time: something I look forward to listening to for years to come, something that will be good and constant in my ever-evolving life, something that I can’t wait to play for my children someday.
Song: Lion in a Coma

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Florence + The Machine, Lungs
If there could have been a 21st spot on my list, Florence + The Machine would have been it. I fell in love with them over a year ago when I heard their raw, stripped down cover of Cold War Kids’ “Hospital Beds”; Florence has a powerhouse voice. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Iron & Wine, Around The Well
Iron & Wine never disappoints; predictably, this 2-disc album is full of musical gems. And hearing the gorgeous Postal Service cover “Such Great Heights” at the end of disc 1 took me right back to my junior year of high school (in a good way).

Passion Pit, Manners
While Passion Pit has done as much as (if not more than) Bon Iver to sensationalize male falsetto, and their electronically-engineered music is infectiously danceable, they lose points for nonsensical lyrics that aim to sound deep, but mostly just come off as pretentious.

Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
The Frenchies that comprise Phoenix undeniably had a runaway indie hit album, and I definitely enjoyed it, but I was obsessed with it like my hipster queen former roommate who blasted it in our living room EVERY SINGLE DAY during the summer.

M. Ward, Hold Time
After a banner 2008 with She & Him, M. Ward returns to his solo work with songs that are characteristically tender and meditative, and uncharacteristically romantic and full of Biblical imagery. The title track may very well end up being the song I dance to at my wedding.

MOST DISAPPOINTING

Regina Spektor, Far
I was so excited for Regina Spektor’s new album, and so disappointed when I finally heard it. Spektor’s quirkiness is what initially made me a fan of her music: her lyrics, piano-playing and vocal mannerisms were all so beautifully idiosyncratic, and it made her stand out. All of Spektor’s quirkiness has been groomed and smoothed over on Far, her first album on a big label, so that her songs resemble the radio-friendly dribble of a pop automaton who doesn’t write her own songs or music, but just does as she’s told. This is album is completely uninspired, and sounds nothing like the Spektor I know.

Rihanna, Rated R
Poor Rihanna had a rough year, but if Rated R is any indication of what 2010 will hold for, she doesn’t have much to look forward to. I read an article in which Rihanna said something along the lines of “anyone can make a hit, but it takes an artist to make an album”; I think she might have it backward. I don’t hear a single hit on this album, just songs that are musically dark and a girl who is trying to project an image of bad-assery and hardness (as evidenced in the song “Hard”) that doesn’t suit her. Hopefully this is just a phase induced by public sympathy over the fact that she was beaten unconscious by her then-boyfriend, and she will return to what she does so well: making infinitely catchy pop songs with an edge.

Monsters of Folk, Monsters of Folk
This album is okay. It’s disappointing in the sense that Yim Yames (of My Morning Jacket), Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes) and M. Ward failed to create a new sound that is unique to Monsters of Folk, but simply recycled their own individual sounds to create an amalgamation of songs that have no coherent thread as an album. “Man Named Truth” sounds like a Bright Eyes song that Ward and Yames happen to sing on; “Goodway” sounds like an M. Ward song that Oberst and Yames happen to sing on; and so on.

MOST OVERRATED

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz!
In my opinion, YYY just didn’t live up to the hype. Adding disco elements to one’s music is nothing new or innovative, and while I do admit that “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” are truly fantastic songs, the rest of the album was very mediocre. Where is the fire of Fever To Tell? Nowhere in my line of sight. SPIN ranked It’s Blitz! #2 on their year-end list, which confirms what I have long suspected: that they are no longer a reputable music magazine.

BEST SOUNDTRACK

Karen O and The Kids, “Where The Wild Things Are” Soundtrack
This was Karen O’s best effort of 2009. I think it was a perfect undertaking for an artist of her sensibilities: she got to be wild and shriek like only she can do, but she also got to collaborate with The Kids to bring a tender childlike quality to the songs. The soundtrack fit perfectly with the film and, in my mind, outshone the film.
Song: All is Love

BEST COMPILATION

Dark Was The Night
I can’t even describe how much I love this compilation. It says a lot, I think, that Sufjan was willing to come out of the cave he’s been hiding in to write a new song specifically for this compilation. And the duets are to die for: Feist and Ben Gibbard! Dirty Projectors and David Byrne! Conor Oberst and Gillian Welsh! Ahhh, the pure unadulterated beauty.
Songs: Sufjan Stevens – You Are The Blood, Feist & Ben Gibbard – Train Song

SONG OF THE YEAR
Dirty Projectors – Stillness Is The Move

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
The Dead Weather, “Treat Me Like Your Mother”

MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2010:
Beach House, Teen Dreams
Vampire Weekend, Contra
She & Him, Volume Two
jj, N° 3
Charlotte Gainsbourg & Beck, IRM
MGMT, Congratulations
Joanna Newsom
The National
Interpol

i went and saw the new sherlock holmes movie a couple days ago, and i have been thinking a lot about it ever since. not because the story was so amazing or the acting so fantastic… i’ve just been pondering the ways in which translating words into images is so difficult.

i have more knowledge than the average joe about sherlock holmes as a character because i’ve actually read a few the books, as opposed to passively absorbing the myth like the general public. it’s one of those things, like the character of scrooge from a christmas carol, that permeates the culture and doesn’t require a firsthand knowledge or experience to understand its meaning. so i think that i was naturally inclined to be more critical of this film because of that, and also because it’s a movie that’s based on a book, which are generally not very good.

why is it so difficult to translate a story made of words into a story made of images? probably because words can stretch so much further than images can. and there is so much that images can’t express when it comes to thought and the subconscious, topics that can be expounded on with infinite number of words. and a book doesn’t need to be crammed into a two-hour time limit so as to be viewed in one sitting with enjoyment. so much of the essence of sherlock holmes was left out of the movie, and so much was created to keep viewers interested. for one, the movie was a lot more about physical action and fighting than the books (sherlock was a thinker, not a cage fighter!); for another, sherlock’s relentless addiction to opium, which added dimensions to his character in the books, was left completely out of the film’s plot. sherlock’s misanthropic attitude was toned waaaaaay down in the film, because audiences don’t like a character who hates everyone else. and there had to be a female romantic interest thrown in there, even though sherlock had no interest in women because he believed that emotions were detrimental to reason, because audience wouldn’t be able to understand the depth and complexity of a relationship between two men (sherlock and his partner in crime, dr. watson) unless there was a female to counterbalance it. and i won’t even go into how odd i thought the casting was, except to say ‘really? jude law?’

i was talking to my sixteen-year-old brother about it, and he told me (wise child that he is) that instead of seeing it as a film based on a book, i should view it as a separate entity and judge it by its own merits. but that’s really hard for me to do, because i’m a book person. i guess i could say that the film was an interesting interpretation of the story of sherlock holmes, modernized and adrenalized through guy ritchie’s highly-stylized filmmaking; but i think that ultimately, this film is an attempt at creating a franchise that will rake in millions of dollars from pseudo-intellectuals and teenage boys who dig the action sequences. it’s always about the money.

i will say, though, that the musical score was fantastic. gotta love hans zimmer.

it’s been two weeks since i saw the season finale of dexter, but i’ve only just now gotten to the point where i don’t want to cry when i think about dexter’s wife, rita, being dead. she was murdered in the final episode by dexter’s nemesis, the trinity killer, and the whole thing was so tragically ironic and and entirely unexpected. i know that i’m talking about a fictional character, but rita was just so sweet, and she really brought out the best in dexter. and now her poor kids don’t have a mom, and their biological dad is already dead (thanks to dexter), so they’re basically orphans. so sad.

but seeing julie benz, who played rita, on the soup helped take some of the sting out of my loss.

and i may be biased because i love dexter, but the opening sequence is the greatest opening sequence that i’ve ever seen. even better than six feet under, which is saying a lot. the cinematography is fantastic, and i think that, like the show, it does so much to humanize dexter as a serial killer. i read someone’s description of the opening sequence as a morning routine with dexter’s dark spin on it, but i think it’s the complete opposite: i think it depicts nebulous images of what we immediately want to perceive as violence, when in actuality, it is just dexter’s routine and there’s nothing violent about it except what we trick ourselves into seeing. we see dexter slicing through flesh with a knife, only to realize it’s ham that he’s putting on the stove to cook for breakfast; we see dexter pulling strings tightly in his hands to resemble strangulation, when in fact is he only pulling his shoelaces tight as he ties his shoes; we see cloth cover a human face so that it appears the person is being smothered, but dexter is just pulling his shirt on over his head; and so on. it’s absolutely brilliant.

and sometimes watching this opening sequence makes me really hungry.

in preparation for my upcoming ‘year in music 2009′ post, i looked back at my year-end music post from last year. reading it now, a year after writing it, i would go back and change so many things: lykke li would have been waaaaaay higher on the list; tv on the radio and lil wayne would have made it in the top ten instead of an honorable mention; jenny lewis would have been waaaaaay lower on the list; tilly & the wall may have been taken off the list completely; and emiliana torrini, the welcome wagon and damien jurado would have definitely been on the list.

isn’t it amazing how situational music can be? i have never felt that more truly than in my rollercoaster relationship with jenny lewis and/or rilo kiley. i think the only reason that i thought i loved acid tongues (“thought” being the operative word) was because i had so many memories and emotions tied up in jenny lewis as an entity; i was going through a breakup, ending a relationship that rilo kiley had been a semi-integral part of, and i needed the kind of comfort that only jenny lewis could provide. she served her purpose, and now when i listen to that album from a more objective place, it really doesn’t do much for me. there isn’t room for it to be important in my life because i don’t need it anymore. and truth be told, i just feel like rilo kiley kind of epitomizes this old version of myself that i don’t care to revisit, and that’s why i don’t really listen to them anymore. i’ve outgrown them. isn’t it strange to think that you can outgrow something like music, as if it were a pair of pants or shoes?

because that means i can buy her a kickass barbie for christmas that is both a princess and a fairy.

+ christmas shopping
+ catching up on big love with my parents
+ going to the beach
+ not sleeping in
+ going out for cocktails with my parents
+ climbing up 160 or so steps to the top of a historic lighthouse
+ listening intently to music

things that my break will consist of in the two weeks:
+ telecommuting
+ christmas shopping
+ getting a cavity filled
+ writing a scholarly article on the blueprint III
+ skyping with josh
+ assembling my ‘year in music’ list
+ turning 22
+ reading, reading, reading

6:21 am (pst): josh and i made it to the airport with barely a minute to spare before our flight started boarding. neither of us wanted to leave the warmth of our beds at 4:30 this morning. and it didn’t help that drew drove us to the airport in his car that has no heat. all the employees at the airport were nice to us because we dressed up. there was a man working the security checkpoint who looked like the dad from fresh prince of bel-air. i got scolded for putting my carry-on bag on top of my laptop when I put it through the machine…. there are so many rules, i can never get it right. the flight attendant has informed us that it is -2 degrees in minneapolis. wonderful.

12:35 pm (cst): i slept for half of the flight, despite the fact that i can never find a comfortable position on an airplane and my head is constantly and sleepily bobbing up and down. apparently, someone on our flight was experiencing an undisclosed medical emergency that required the flight crew to ask over the intercom if there were any doctors on the plane. so this woman, who was apparently a doctor, kept going back and forth between her seat and the back of the plane (where the afflicted person was, no doubt) with doctor’s gloves on. once we landed, an emt crew came on the plane and we had to wait for them to do their business before we could leave. hopefully the afflicted person is okay. once we got off the plane, it took us fifteen minutes and a lot of walking to find a reader board with the flight schedules… and then there were two of them like twenty feet away from each other. come on, minneapolis: make it a little easier for us. for an airport in minnesota of all places, there were a lot of ritzy airport stores, and even a minnesota-themed store with a giant wooden moose emerging from the storefront. there was a lot of snow on the ground outside, and everyone was wearing big long coats a la fargo.

4:22 pm (est): the flight from minneapolis to detroit was just barely an hour long. josh and i didn’t have seats next to each other: he sat next to a gorgeous blonde four-year-old, and i sat next to what I assumed was a disgruntled ex-serviceman. he didn’t acknowledge me the entire plane ride; he did, however, listen to incredibly loud metal on his ipod and ordered two jack daniels and a coke when the beverage cart came around. yikes. apparently he was not interested in being conscious. the detroit airport was really nice and they have an elevated monorail that runs inside the airport. we walked around for a long time trying to find food before josh admitted that he wasn’t actually hungry (much to my chagrin), so we just got coffee and waited for the flight to board, whilst listening to two talkative high school kids tell a creepy older man about travelling to europe. i got restless, so I went to the magazine stand, and upon seeing lady gaga on the cover of elle, could not resist a purchase.

8:55 pm (est): our flight got a late start because the pilots decided to wait for people connecting from seattle, whose flight was running late also. i have never heard of a pilot doing that, and i’m certain that no pilot has ever thought of doing that for me when i was in danger of missing my connecting flight. i was happily reading my elle until josh complained that I wasn’t paying attention to him, so I quickly leafed through the mag only to find that he was asleep by the time i was done. figures. then i fell asleep for an hour or so, experiencing extreme neck pain upon waking up due to the head bobbing again. we had a rocky landing, but made it to jacksonville alive. my mom, brother and uncle picked us up and we stopped at chick-fil-a (since josh and i hadn’t eaten all day during our travels) for dinner, and then drove two hours home. and now we are in savannah, and very sleepy but happy, and watching identity on the syfy channel. the end.

finals: done. i am one quarter away from graduating, and the thought of it makes me want to dance for joy while simultaneously sticking my head in a garbage disposal.

i went to my english department’s christmas party last friday, and it was a mixed bag. i tried to get my english major bestie to accompany me as my wingman, but he bailed at the last minute, so i flew solo. it was incredibly depressing in the sense that it made me realize that, even though i’ve made a lot of progress in the past couple years, i still have a long way to go in overcoming my shyness and social anxiety. most of the students i didn’t know really well, and it seemed like everyone came in a group and they all clung together… and there were so many damn people in a small small room that it got so hot and sweaty and uncomfortable. i had to keep escaping to the kitchen for air and it was kind of awkward. i just hung on the side wall and acted as the silent observer (a role i have perfected). eventually i started talking to some of the professors, and stopped hating my life. i had some really good conversations with different professors about new award-winning books, the amanda knox trial, gender roles in vampire narratives, racial tensions in the south, and women in my age group who perceive children as life-ruiners. i love my professors: they are equal parts brilliant and hilarious and profoundly kind. somehow i know how to talk to them without feeling extreme discomfort, just not my peers. i am abnormal. i hate it.

on a completely different note, all upper-middle class homes in seattle look exactly the same… same squeaky hardwood floors, same room setups, same crown molding. just an observation.

this video is what ignited my love for jay-z… the cinematography is fantastically beautiful. and i love that jay-z is just hanging out with rick rubin throughout the video… what an odd couple.