Bye-bye, Tumblr...

I've had a weird on-off relationship with Tumblr for about a year now. There are times I really like it (the new dashboard) and times I hate it (wow, the f***yeah pages for my favorite people are badly run!). Atop that, much like YouTube, it took the deleting of certain content (in this case, a website dedicated to old magazine pictures [e.g, some never-before-seen Talking Heads ones]) to make me depart for good.

I will never delete it, but if you want updates, forget about it. Plus, it is an honest time-waster and I rather do things like crochet or make sketchbooks with twine and cardstock.

Anyway, I do recommend libraryland and postpunk, two of my favorite Tumblrs that I will miss. Also, f***yeahchickmusicians and stfusexists were great. I followed a ton of great ones. Go check them out, especially if you are a Tumblr user.

I've been doing this for six years and been just fine with Blogger. Twitter? Yeah, I update that every so often. Tumblr isn't for me. And that's okay. It works for other people, like my former classmates and a co-worker.

Thanks for the fun times, Tumblr. But it was never meant to be.

September 29th

A Thursday. Penultimate day of September. A day with... rain? Sun and clouds? (Ahem, anyway.) A day with unknown weather. But it is...

The day I take the GRE. Studying begins July 1st.

*big ol' sigh*

Get it, New York!

Same-sex marriage in the Empire State was legalized tonight.

This is a joyous occasion. May all those now that can get hitched have beautiful weddings and happy marriages!

Go New York! May all the other states soon follow. It's about f***ing time.

Full of hope?

*This post is brought to you by a KFC Famous Bowl and Wild Nothing's song "Golden Haze"*

It's been an odd week, so far. I had decided to attempt a Julia Cameron program (in this case Finding Water). What it is all about is perseverance when "the artist's well has run dry". Lord knows I need a little help with that. The only thing is part of the program is doing a weekly walk and Artist's Date. Look, I'm trying to save money and atop that, I'm not exactly in a pedestrian-friendly city. There's gotta be a way to work around that. I'll figure it out. I hope... 

~

And hoo-ha, the troops are coming home! Well, some of them, but at least it's gonna end soon! I hope.

Going cruelty-free...

Recently, I have gotten interested in purchasing beauty products that are cruelty-free (i.e. not tested on animals). After doing some research, I found a few places that are cruelty-free and went there earlier today. One stop was at The Body Shop. I managed to get some shampoo, conditioner, tea tree facial wash, and hair product. Can't wait to see the results of the facial wash. I also found cruelty-free deos (Jason) at Whole Foods later on. I'm going to go around and try other products and see what I can find.

One thing I learned is that, yes, going cruelty-free is more expensive. The deos weren't as expensive as the ones I used to use, but The Body Shop is a little pricey. We'll see if it's worth it. Thankfully, Physician's Formula is also cruelty-free, so no big switches there. The makeup is a cheaper Bare Minerals (about half the price, believe it or not).

If you want to find out how to go cruelty-free yourself, check out The Leaping Bunny and order a shopping guide! (I'm expecting mine in the mail soon.) Or you can read on the site what companies offer cruelty-free products. (Note: if you are vegan, you may have to double-check if the products use animal byproducts, e.g. beeswax.)

A great blog I stumbled across is Living Cruelty-Free. The blogmistress writes reviews on various products and answers all your burning questions. Tons of information. Go check it out!

I'll update on this periodically, spread the word on great products. As I look at my beautiful gray tabby sitting on my windowsill, I owe it to her, my other pets (of course), and all other living creatures love and respect for them. If that means switching products to save animals' lives and save the environment, then so be it.

ETA: I do have plans to extend going cruelty-free pretty far, from laundry detergent to toothpaste. Whatever can be replaced with products that don't test on animals, I'll go for it.

Greenbacks and black vinyl

The other night, I enjoyed a concert out of town, where I ended up getting the musician's autograph. It was a major plus to an already-splendid day. But as my sister and I killed time before the show, first sitting in the city park eating gyros and later chilling on the stage at the venue, we got to talking about current personal issues. She is currently on the lookout for employment, while I am realizing some very adult things. That day, I spent all my on-hand cash to buy records and CDs. I love music and will continue to buy it, but these sprees have to come to an end. As I get older, money is becoming a high priority. I'm responsible for a lot of purchases now, even though I still live with my parents. It is a reality for a lot of people my age, having to make some serious choices. Since I have plans to pursue graduate school and I have plans to take the GRE in a few months, it is time to become my age.

I wasn't lying to myself when I realized this was going to be a tough year. All I'm glad about is that I got the last Talking Heads album on vinyl when I realized it. Guess, in a strange way, it was meant to happen this way.

~

This entry was brought to you by Radiohead's new single "Supercollider" and its B-side "The Butcher". On vinyl, no less.

Something more of substance

I have to maintain discipline and update this blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; even if I find myself at a loss for words. Most of the time, as the last entry shows, my mind would be occupied on other matters. Right now, I'm going through my CD collection and deciding which ones should go away. I can save the money for other things, or just save it anyway.

It turns out that my second job has come to an end, which makes sense. Things happened, both good and bad, and it made sense for it to come to a close. I doubt they will need me when the fall season arrives, I have a sneaking feeling. By then, I'm hoping, that I have a new job somewhere else. A full-time one with benefits and good pay, or better than what I'm getting right now. Leave the bookstore behind and move on, become one of those professionals I read about in the Brat Pack novels (sans cocaine, of course).

I'm sure that this is not unique. Maybe in presentation of words. The spirit is prevalent.

Love to those searching for better employment, like me. May it come soon.

Nothing much to say...

Just trying to get the Rolling Stone: Cover to Cover thing to work again while catching up with my music (right now, on The Police). Finishing a few library books and taking a breather from three straight closing shifts at the bookstore. Maybe gonna try out the gym tomorrow (I can get a free three-day pass). Not really sure, gonna play it all by ear. Right now, just tired and thinking about things.

Man, I wish I had something of substance to say. Sorry, y'all.

It's time to kick ass and eat jerky... and I don't have any jerky.

Since seeing a counselor, I have gotten a grasp on things and ready to take some action to get things moving again on this blog. Of course, that and my life. But I'm gonna assume you already knew that.

Anyway! First off, I will finish my all my review plans, and of course, the Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge. After that, for 2012, I'm going to do "The Year of Revisits". I'm going to review my top 12 favorite books of all time, one book a month. If I want to review anything new or old, I will, but that will be about it. This will be my last year of those "end-of-the-year" lists. If I happen to read enough to constitute those kinds of lists, awesome! But it has worn down on me in recent days, so it's no longer gonna be a big priority.

As for these initial plans, I'm scrapping the Charlotte Hatherly album and replacing it with Murakami's new book 1Q84. I will get a move-along on everything listed here. They're severely overdue.

I'm off for a road trip and a concert in the evening. See y'all later!

Silly post ahoy!

• I got a brand-new fountain pen. Pictured below:

Gorgeous thing, isn't it? It is a Pelikan M620 Piccadilly Circus with an extra-fine tip. It writes like a fluffy-cloud dream.

• My sister, being the awesome person she is, bought me this as a surprise gift:

Yep, that's a monolith. The same one from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Yes, you can buy one for yourself.

...oh my God, it's full of stars. /lulz

Nutter meme thingy time!

I listened to a recent podcast for NPR's All Songs Considered and loved it. The topic: bands that you broke up with. Lordy, it got me to thinking. It got listeners to thinking too. And I couldn't help it, it had to be done. So come along with me on a magical journey down my music collection and complete this fun list.

Don't hesitate to join in! Post your stories below or (even better) on the blog that started it all.

~~

1. Band You Really Thought You Had Something With — They Said They'd Call But You Never Heard From Them Again

They Might Be Giants might be one. I loved a ton of their songs, but didn't latch onto Flood as much as I hoped. They suffer from what I call "The Steely Dan Syndrome" (where a band has tons of great songs, but no albums I can fully enjoy). Perhaps there is hope, after all, "Particle Man" and "Birdhouse in Your Soul" are works of genius...

2. Your Best Friend's Girlfriend Or Boyfriend You Secretly Want To Hook Up With
Honestly, I can't answer this one. This is a testament to the fact that (a) I have no friends or (b) my friends either have the same music tastes as me or (c) I never found a band that hooked me like that yet.


3. The Rebound: Bands You Start To Date After Everyone Else Is Through With Them
Radiohead, likely. I pretty much refuse to touch Pablo Honey (though its reckoning with me is coming...), and I own practically all their albums. Personally, they're getting much better. In Rainbows was aaaammaazzzzing. The King of Limbs is also great. Yes, I do love OK Computer, but I find myself revisiting Rainbows more often.

4. Band You Broke Up With, Then Got Back Together
Fleetwood Mac. Man, Say You Will was a major letdown. No Christine McVie in sight and so much faffing about with the songs (I mean, did it really need to be 18 songs long?... I mean damn.). It also didn't help that I was a member (at the time) of a Fleetwood Mac message board and it turned out most of the posters were big Lindsey/Stevie shippers. Talk about major creepy. After getting away from the message board (I still lurk it) and wrote off much of Say You Will... I rediscovered their blues-rock era (mostly the Bob Welch era) and fell in love again. I cannot stop listening to Mystery to Me on vinyl. I will venture into their other things again. For now, I'll play it safe with Bob Welch and Christine McVie.

5. Band That Broke Up With You
Death Cab for Cutie. Man, I loved Transatlanticism and Plans; but the deal-breaker was Narrow Stairs. I wish I can say I was excited by the new album, but I can't incite enough emotion for it. That and them doing a song for that blasted New Moon movie didn't help either. I'll still keep their albums, but damn y'all... ouch.

6. Bands I Stick By To No Matter What
Genesis, Editors, The Police, Rush, and Steely Dan. I've been through so much with these bands, but I love them still in the end. Though I enjoy Joy Division so much more than Editors, I still love the latter (not just from introducing me to Ian Curtis and friends). Genesis has been with me for a long time and we're like old friends now. I can say the same for The Police and Steely Dan. Rush may follow suit.

My own creation:
Band That You Ended Up Liking Than the Person Who Recommended Said Band

CAKE. My sister owns two of their CDs: B-Sides and Rarities and Prolonging the Magic. She recommended them for "Sheep Go to Heaven" (from the latter). I never listened to them, though. One day, I happened upon "The Distance" and fell in love. I then bought Fashion Nugget and loved it to itty bitty pieces. My sister, upon hearing this, was surprised. She loved "Sheep Go to Heaven", but the band and her never clicked. I still haven't gotten into the other CDs my sister had lent to me, but I get the feeling that it's gonna be great.

~~

My sister has a great track record of recommending people that I end up loving: Beirut, Sigur Rós, Björk, Voxtrot, and Ra Ra Riot.

Me, however... I only succeeded in getting her to enjoy Florence + the Machine and Talking Heads.

~~

That's about it for this. It was enjoyable, will do again. May create a literature variation of this...