I had a dental appointment today, for a regular cleaning, but we also talked about the broken-and-filled molar that’s still bothering me. The verdict: root canal. Ugh! Aside from all kinds of No Fun, it’s going to be expensive. Even more so because a root canal also means getting a crown on that tooth.
But I don’t care, because I have Joanna Newsom tickets! That’s all that matters.
I stumbled across this years ago, back in the early heyday of Napster. It’s all kinds of awesome.
And that’s pretty much all I’ve got today. It’s been a completely useless weekend. I did make trailer park chili (there was salsa and Velveeta involved, heaven help me), but that’s not very interesting. Baked bread yesterday, but that was more out of necessity than any desire to be productive. Tomorrow’s another day, though (and no work!), so I suppose I could still become motivated. We shall see! At the very least, I need to go over to Goodwill, to drop off the carload of stuff that I’ve been carting around since last May. Yes, May. I’d probably be happy letting it sit for another nine months, but I’m supposed to go to my mom’s next weekend, and it would be nice if I had room in my car to pack my things. Like, say, the dog.
Harriet was named after a song on their long out of printEarly Recordings album. That’s how much I love them. I had no idea that there was an Early Recordings volume 2.
More Joanna Newsom. This one is sad and beautiful and everything I could ever hope for in a song. There’s an interview with Newsom that explains what the song is about (yes, her dog, but also “death, love, putting things off…”).
I posted this to Facebook, but I’ve been listening to a lot of Joanna Newsom lately, so I’ll post it here, too. I adore this song, and the first video is an especially nice live performance of it. The second is the Decemberists’ cover, which I also love.
We sailed away on a winter’s day
With fate as malleable as clay
But ships are fallible, I say
And the nautical, like all things, fades and I
Can recall our caravel:
A little wicker beetle shell
With four fine maste and lateen sails
Its bearings on Cair Paravel
Oh my love
Oh it was a funny little thing
To be the ones to’ve seen
The sight of bridges and balloons
Makes calm canaries irritable
They caw and claw all afternoon “Catenaries and dirigibles
Brace and buoy the living-room
A loom of metal, warp woof wimble”
And a thimblesworth of milky moon
Can touch hearts larger than a thimble
Oh my love
Oh it was a funny little thing
To be the ones to’ve seen
I didn’t get anything accomplished today except dealing (again!) with the cable company. I finally got fed up enough with how high my bill was that I called and complained. Apparently, doing so while wearing your crankypants is an effective way to get your monthly bill lowered. It’s still kind of outrageous, but it’s $40 less outrageous than it used to be. Huzzah!
Other than that, the only exciting thing I did was to drive all over town in pea soup fog this morning. Oh, and I actually found a few cute shirts at Target. I probably would have bought a new bag, too, except they all had hellish velcro. Why the hell do manufacturers have to ruin perfectly adorable bags by putting velcro on them?
I’ve been listening to The Decemberists in the car, so this song has been stuck in my head for days and days and days.
Andy sent me a link to this video, and I finally had time to go watch it. I have to admit that seeing “Bobby McFerrin” in the URL made me a little apprehensive (Oh noes! Not another horrible ear worm!), but my fears were for naught. I promise, it won’t hurt, and in fact, it’s pretty damn cool.
I woke up this morning to the sad news that Mary Travers had died. Like millions of others, I grew up with Peter, Paul and Mary’s music, and Puff the Magic Dragon was a staple. I have always thought of it as a sad song, and it still makes me weepy whenever I listen to it.
Goodbye, Mary, and thanks for the wonderful music.
red paper boat 