Music God, why must you smite me? / July 12, 2007 by vanessa

Alright Music God, this is NOT funny. Maybe you thought giving me Interpol was throwin' me a bone. It was not. May I remind you, that while I like Interpol (and in particular There's no I in Threesome), Interpol is not Spoon. I do not have a 9 year history with Interpol. You *know* that. I did not ~~stalk~~ coincidentally run into the lead singer of Interpol for many years. I do not know every single Interpol song. Okay well, I do, but they only have three albums.

In case you think I should just go out to iTunes and purchase another one, no. If you were any kind of god, and I'm beginning to doubt that you are, you'd know that the budget that's going to take me on an around-the-world trip does not include provisions for buying the same album twice. More importantly, I shouldn't have to! Just send me my stupid Spoon album like a good little god, and we'll be cool.

Look, I want to believe in you. Remember a couple of years ago when Pitchfork Media dogged SoundTeam so hard? Color me agnostic. In the two years since then I've seen some redeeming songs, a great show here and there, and capped off by the early streaming Spoon's of album. Yeah, you reeled me back in. I felt showered in your brilliant, harmonious love. Now? Look, I don't want to be a fence-walker, Music God, but come on, you mock me. I know you're going to tell me this isn't your fault, but you *know* I chose not to over-listen to it specifically because I wanted the anticipation of a new cd. You totally know how much I love that feeling of listening again and again and again in my car, cultivating that intoxicating and unique bond that one can only build with an album while in one's car. So I waited, and now I'm waiting. Looooong past when I should have been. The album was released ON TUESDAY. You know what day it is? That's right. It's THURSDAY. That means it's three motherscratchin days late. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I. am. pissed.

Please can I have my cd by tomorrow? PLEASE? I'll like be nice and stuff and I'll stop bagging on people for liking Cold War Kids and Linkin Park and I'll show up early to a concert and pay attention to the first opening band and I'll pretend to not mind that I'm begging here, even though you know I have a long-standing personal policy against begging.

Most importantly, Music God, I really need my cd because I've exceeded my own threshold for whiney blogs. I actually like being shiny, happy Vanessa. And I know you like me better too when I'm that way. So whaddya say... you send me my cd and I'll release my forlorn grip on the blog readers of America.

P.S. Thank you, sincerely, for Interpol. I'm saddened that my sorrow over my delayed Spoon cd has cast a pallid light on the (albeit, tardy) arrival of Interpol's album. In truth it hasn't nor can it, in the way that if your waiter dropped your molten chocolate souffle on the ground, it wouldn't have made the mushroom risotto taste any less yummy.

Whhhhaaat? Yeaaahyehhhh. / July 10, 2007 by vanessa

Every once in a great while, a website comes along so epic, it bears a special mention. Either that or I'm totally desperate for content.

After a seven month hiatus, she's back. Supposedly this is a kinder, gentler, April but I started out that way too when I took over the administration of my company's time and expense system. All rosie-cheeked and aww shucks-like. So we'll see. (Actually, I fully support her in this new effort. You know how I like a happy ending.)

***

I'm finally reading this book I've had for a few years now about thinking like Da Vinci. One of the things it notes about the artist extraordinaire is that he always examined his work with a mirror so that he could see it from a different perspective. He felt that seeing your own work in reverse would reveal flaws or new dimensions that the eye just wouldn't see. Naturally I love this for its literal and metaphorical value.

***

Lastly, my luck in music continues on the downturn. The new Spoon cd was released today, which I pre-ordered, and I still haven't received it. Sigh.

shuck n jive / June 19, 2007 by vanessa

You'll be happy to know that I am indeed pleased with the new Spoon album. Although, I gotta say, I have mixed feelings about the band I used to go ga ga ga ga ga over. Have you ever had someone break up with you only to move on to someone way better looking? No? Oh. Me either. But boy that must really suck. Anyway, the days of the quaint BD solo gigs and the sold-out-at-500 Spoon shows have given way to festival concerts and packed shows with fans who think that "Lafitte Don't Fail Me Now" was always on Series of Sneaks. Bitter much? Okay, guilty. It's just that (*whine*) it's no fun seeing bands I love along w/ thousands of others. You can call me a hater but that'd be wrong. See, I'm happy for their success and all, I mean, I WANT them to succeed - god knows they've worked hard enough -- but isn't there a way we can find a win-win here? Like Spoon stays my boyfriend forever and I turn a blind eye to that hottie 30k crowd they're hookin up w/?

***

Met Kristin at spin tonight. I'm not sure which is harder: strapping an anvil to my back and running the Boston Marathon, or taking Colin's spin class.

Placing undue importance on the weather / June 6, 2007 by vanessa

Check out songs on the upcoming Spoon album here. I'm liking the first song.

***

My friend F is in town from Austin and last night Dre and I met him and two of his co-workers out at Asia de Cuba for dinner. A couple of noteworthy things. First, I'll tell you about the conversation: F has a theory that with any committed relationship - marriage or otherwise - settling has occurred. That is, the act of committing is essentially agreeing that you're okay with not getting every thing you need/want from a single person. Here's his logic (and btw, he's married to my friend, I): Everyone has a list of things they desire in a partner. Say for simplicity's sake your list is ten items long (e.g. must have brown hair, must be clean, and so on). There is no one person that will meet all ten of your items, but what you will find is someone who meets like 60 or 70% of them and then that becomes enough. The people who are happy, he posits, are the ones that actually recognize this as "settling" and consider the agreement reasonable. (He made a point to say that it is indeed settling and not compromise, but I don't remember the explanation.) Conversely, the people who are unhappy are the ones who are always thinking the grass is greener b/c they haven't figured out that no one has everything, so they jump from person to person, or even fantasy to fantasy, always feeling like they don't have enough.

I'm not sure what I think about that yet -- I mean, I don't believe in the single soulmate thing -- but I also think the theory fails to consider things like weighted preferences. For example, maybe having brown hair is more important to me than him making his bed. So, whereas I might be able to live with a messy bed, it turns out that the green hair is a no go. Nor does it answer the messed up folk who would rather stay in a bad relationship than be alone. But what I do like about his theory is that it places the responsibility of one's own happiness in the mirror. And it was fun to discuss.

Second, so we're having a good time, and three bottles of wine later, the bill comes, which was good since it sobered us right up. F ordered a $70 bottle of wine but the waitress had brought a $220 bottle. When she showed it to him he didn't notice, since the wine was from the same house (but a different castle). He explained it to the waitress (another waitress had made the mistake) who couldn't do anything about it so the manager came. I have to say F handled it like a pro. He was completely reasonable and fair as they negotiated back and forth. He admitted that mistakes were made on both sides -- he should have noticed that the label wasn't what he asked for and she should have clarified which version of the wine he wanted since there were two from that house (even though he pointed at the cheaper one). It started out with them saying there was nothing they could do, and ended with them comping our food which meant the wine became something like $110 instead of $220. That's still a lot in my book, but it was better.

***

My lesson for this week has been that old Zen saying: the obstacle in your path, IS your path. I can't say I like it.

don't playa boo / May 29, 2007 by vanessa

New Dear Brutal Truth posting! Check it.

***

So much to write, so little attention span. I'll be quick then. On Friday flew to Portland. Saw Spoon. They played at the Doug Fir which is a super cool place because it looks like a space age cavern inside. Congrats to the band... it's cool to see them making it. Plus I like Jim Eno's shaggy hair.

On Saturday we drove to Seattle to hang out w/ my mom. We met her neighbor, (a peach of a Texan), chatted, then went to asian. Good times. My mom looks good; most importantly her hearing seems to have improved. That's remarkable since I've spent much of my life repeating everything (either comical or frustrating depending on my mood). Did I mention that Seattle was insanely cold? Jeez -- it's like almost June for godsakes. I had to wear my granny sweater constantly which turned my look from chic LA to chic granoLA. Which is to say, not. Anyway, we went to the Seattle Public Library where the third floor, probably my favorite floor in all the world so far, is entirely red. 'Member the halls in The Shining? It was like that but a) not scary; b) not blood; and c) cool. I wanted to write.

And then back to Portland where we finished off the holiday w/ some frisbee and another fine dining experience. Oh and I showed up to the airport last night hoping I was just in time for my flight only to learn that I had booked my return on Sunday, not Monday. It's true, I went to college. The super cool ladies at Alaska let me get on anyway w/out paying extra and then I finally got home. Weekend Summary: 15 lattes, 2 yoga classes (went to Lisa's studio in Seattle), 6 episodes of Entourage, and all the relaxation I needed.

***

Tonight we skipped SoundTeam (rats!) b/c tired and tomorrow we have Arcade Fire (goody). I got the cutest dress at Olivine in Seattle which has nothing to do with either band except that I'm wearing it as I type this and thought it really important to share.