This idea of a non-competitive nature that I’ve created for myself, however, is based in two things:  I do not like to play competitive physical sports, and I get very annoyed with people who get competitive in educational or work environments.  Rather, I hate the idea of being competitive against other people.  But! I can get pretty competitive with myself.  I’ll often challenge myself to a challenge; perhaps something like, “hey! self! I challenge you to watch all seven seasons of Buffy in 3 months.” Sometimes I stick with it, sometimes I don’t. Let’s go ahead and say that the Buffy example is not a hypothetical, and since I’m doing so swimmingly at it, I’ve decided to challenge myself to some other stuff as well. This new challenge will be a sports game for the mind played against the self, if you will.

Elizabeth posted this a few days ago, and I thought about how I’d recently  considered beginning some sort of regimented reading thing. The nice thing about 12 books in 12 months is that other people are doing it. And while I won’t be competing against these people to finish books, I will be (at least somewhat) held accountable by these people to Read Books. It’s also nice that I’ll be attempting to read books that have been sitting around my house waiting to be read (Okay, I do kind of want to buy/check out two books. We’ll see).

My 12 books shall be these, and I reserve the right to make changes. No one is going to stop me.

1. Tom Robbins – Half Asleep in Frog’s Pajamas (I’ve only read Still Life, and I loved it).
2. JD Salinger – Franny and Zooey
3. Neil deGrasse Tyson – Death by Black Hole (I love this guy every time I see him on the Daily Show. Such a fascinating man of Science!)
4. David Sedaris – Holidays on Ice (a present from a special lady that I’ve been meaning to get around to)
5. Gabriel Garcia Maquez – One Hundred Years of Solitude (probably ambitious)
6. Dossie and Easton – The Ethical Slut (this belongs to Doug, but I am reading it anyway because a lot of books in my house belong to Doug, especially the new age ones)
7. Neil Gaiman – Smoke and Mirrors (borrowed from Jennstar. I liked the Graveyard Book okay).
8. Carlos Casteneda – The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (new age stuff)
9. Neal Stephenson – Snow Crash (sci-fi stuff! borrowed from Adam)
10. Michael Pollan – Omnivore’s Dilemma (this is a book that a lot of people have read)
11. John Crowley – Little, Big (this was recommended by small friend, and I trust her tastes)
12. Katherine Dunn – Geek Love (this was borrowed from small friend and it’s been on my to read list for years. everyone’s gonna get some books returned to them in a year!)

Okay, I’ve now officially challenged myself. Let’s do this.

Their newest album, My Maudlin Career, came out earlier this year. It’s a breakup album. Tracy Anne Campbell presumably went through a breakup with someone named or not named James, and then she wrote some songs about it. Some really fucking good songs, including one called “James.” It’s no coincidence that this album solidified my devotion to Camera Obscura. I can’t remember, in the past, ever needing/relating to music so much to get me through difficult times as I have these past few months. Let’s face it: everything on My Maudlin Career pretty much resonated with me. I can’t stop listening to it. I’ve gone back to the older stuff as well and fallen in love with what I was previously merely in like with.

It feels kind of cosmic and amazing when someone like Tracy Anne Campbell writes a song called “James” that describes not only her experience with “James,” but also your own experience with a James…precisely and in just the right time and space. Sure, ” James” could be a placeholder, like how that guy from Counting Crows has a Maria? Tough to say since I don’t know Tracy Anne personally, but I’m glad she wrote the song. In my mind, she wrote it for me a little bit. She has a James and I have a James. Or we had some James’s. And, now we’ve got this connection, me and Tracy Anne.  This thing that binds us. Common experience provided a place for this love to grow.

My friend Stacey asked me once if it made me feel any better to know that someone as awesome as TAC, with her musical talent, bright blue eyes, and Blair Waldorf bows, was going through some crap break up with a dude. I don’t know. It’s certainly boggles the mind that someone could break the heart of this adorable lady, and yes, seeing that other people go through crap too can soften the blow and, I dunno, somehow boost the self-esteem? I’m not sure. Heartbreak sucks, and I wish it on no one. What I do know is that this person I don’t know, and will never know, went through something awful and out of that came art. Art that has helped me through my own experience. Thank you, Tracy Anne. You rock. I like your big bows.

I went to see Camera Obscura when they came through DC a few months ago. I went with Stacey, and I cried in the 9:30 club when they played “James.” Whatever. As seen in my previous post, I am good at crying in public. Don’t worry, though, I’m good at laughing, smiling, getting angry, basically the whole spectrum of human emotion whether in public or private. I’m a feeler, I suppose. Anyway, it was a great show. Stacey and I danced. I didn’t take any photos, because that’s almost an impossible thing to do at the 9:30 club. Luckily, some other humans in the world have taken some pretty good pictures of Camera Obscura, and I’m going to show one right now, right here. You can’t stop me.

Camera Obscura at Leicester Summer Sundae, originally uploaded by ‘Chris’.

One of the best things about My Maudlin Career is that it’s not just sad. It’s happy too. Some of the songs are even upbeat and dancey. It’s not just about breaking up. It’s about falling in and out of love and getting over it and not getting over it and everything else that goes with the territory. In May, the song that resonated was “James,” and it’s still a song that has a special place in my heart. But, I’m moving on and hanging out with other songs like “My Maudlin Career.”

If you have not listened to Camera Obscura, you should do it. Now.  Take it slow or take it fast.  They are just the most adorable band ever.

My first taste of New York was in SuperAwesomeLady’s apartment building while waiting on the elevator.  Oh, and I should say that SuperAwesomeLady has been out of town now for over a month and was letting us stay in her apartment while she’s away.  Anyway, as we waited a mailman was doing what a mailman does in an apartment building when he suddenly started yelling at me, repeating the number of SuperAwesomeLady’s apartment.  “Too much mail! Too much mail!”  It was true; there was a lot of mail in her mailbox, and I was going to check it for her later anyway, so I went over and emptied weeks worth of mail from the box.  As I did so, I realized the mailman had no clue that I was not the permanent resident of this apartment which was getting Too Much Mail.  He was just so happy to finally be able to tell someone that there was Too Much Mail that I finally stopped trying to explain that I was only a visitor.  Anyway, mail checked, onto our first adventure: walk across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan and get as tired as possible as early in the trip as possible.

I think walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was my favorite activity of the trip.  This photo is not actually from our jaunt across the bridge, but from the following day when we walked down to DUMBO and the Brooklyn Bridge park for brunch and photographing.  Don’t you like how I’m playing with time and space here?! So yeah, Friday we walked to Manhattan, wandered around the Village ISO of beer (there is never any beer to be found in the Village when you want beer), saw the famous line that is apparently always present at Magnolia Bakery, saw some dudes filming some sort of breakdancing thing in Washington Square Park, gave up our search for beer, found beer in a BBQ restaurant, and finally headed to the MoMA for Free Friday.  MoMA was neat, overwhelming, and I lost my Metrocard which later sent me into a crying spell in the subway station after I purchased a second one for $25.

Saturday, like I said there was brunch at a place called Bubby’s in DUMBO where couples eat brunch in silence and they serve cold coffee and waffles you can cry into.  Then we went into Manhattan where we met up with H&M, the New York Public Library, and my until now internet-only friend Dan Stern.  James bought some shirts, but no green hipster pants at H&M because it’s more fun to buy things at H&M in cities you don’t live in.  I spent some time just waiting in H&M.  Waiting on James to try on hipster pants and waiting on Dan to arrive from New Jersey.  Dan arrived, and let me say that Dan Stern was the best possible Dan Stern I could have imagined after a year of talking to him online, but never having met him in person.  Witty, intelligent, handsome, and warm-hearted.  We all went to the library together, Bryant Park, and then walked around looking for beer.  I think everyone should know by now that when you go looking for beer, there is NO BEER TO BE FOUND.  We even selected a specific drinking destination called FUBAR.  Well, you can guess what happened when we went looking for a place called FUBAR…

…FUBAR was totally FUBAR in that it DID NOT EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO EXIST, so we sort of sat on the street for a few minutes feeling our fail deeply before moving on to the next leg of Walking Around In Search of Unspecified Beer.  The good thing that came out of looking for FUBAR was finding out that James once met Rick Steve’s in Europe!  Rick Steve’s, y’all!  We eventually found beer in an Irish place that was having an 80s day. Yep. We then sat in Times Square at sunset. We dropped off that Dan Stern guy, or rather, he dropped us at the slimslam station, and the night ended with dinner in Little Italy and a really difficult time traveling back to Brooklyn.  And, every night in New York ended with us back at the apartment, watching Gossip Girl and then waking up late the next day. What.  Also, I took what was probably my favorite photo.

Sunday, I began approaching the realization that it’s impossible to do everything you want to do in New York in three days.  We went to Central Park and just sat in the grass at sunset drinking wine from a broken mug.  Then to Veniero’s for two kinds of cheesecake.  Then back to Brooklyn for getting lost in a Jewish neighborhood and walking about two miles back to the apartment.

Monday, I don’t even want to talk about it.  We ate tasty, tasty pizza near Penn Station at Not-Sbarro and drank really big Heiniken’s before getting on the bus.  I just talked about that a little it seems.

I loved New York.  I want to go back to there soon.  Hopefully, I can go up and visit SuperAwesomeLady when she is actually there and not in another state.  If I sound at all like I did not have fun on this trip, I want to set that record straight right here and now.  Fun was had.  A while ago I realized that all I usually want out of a vacation is to simply be there in the place I’m visiting.  To experience it via food, beer, people-watching, taking photos, walking around, and enjoying the company of the people I’m traveling with. Museums and landmarks get pretty boring after a while, and I just want to experience what it’s like to live and be in this place that is not my home.  Oh, and to relax and put reality out of mind.  I think I did a good job of all of this with New York.  The past month has been unbelievably difficult and sad.  It was impossible to completely leave reality behind since the reality of my current life/pain was sort of all bundled up in my travel partner, but I’m glad I went with him.  For all of the moments of crying in restaurants, not wanting to get out of bed for fear that the trip would be over soon, etc. etc. there were also moments of happiness.  And, yes these moments of happiness were wrapped up in an overall sadness, but I’m glad we had them.  I’m glad we sat in Central Park drinking wine from that crappy, leaky mug.  I’m glad we watched Gossip Girl and laughed about how utterly ridiculous it was that that creepy guy was taking fake photos of teenage girls in bras (AND WITH FLASH).  I loved New York and I loved you.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t really do ny resolutions

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
God, no. ew

4. Did anyone close to you die?
no

5. What countries did you visit?
america! france, the netherlands, italy

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
a flat panel tv? I dunno, I have most everything I want

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nov 1 I fell in the woods and broke my ankle and this all led to my knee surgery.
Dec 12 I went to the Galaxy Hut & Whitlows and found out that downtown Arlington is a scary place on Friday nights.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Moving alone to a new city and starting a new job

9. What was your biggest failure?
Harper

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Broken ankle, knee dislocation (you know, the usual)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Blue summer dress from Anthropologie

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Barack Obama’s

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
John McCain’s

14. Where did most of your money go?
RENT in Northern Virginia. Ick

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Europe vaca with Jennifer and Anne; Jenn coming to visit on Halloween (didn’t happen though :/), Minneapolis trip, tomorrow (12/28)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
- i. happier or sadder? About the same.
- ii. thinner or fatter? About the same, a bit puffier maybe
- iii. richer or poorer? Richer, I guess.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercise! Jazzercise! Also, crafting

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Killing time on the internets

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
In my apartamento with Walter Spies

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
With my best friend, Allison.  We are engaged to be married!

23. How many one-night stands?
Just the one with Basil Beers

24. What was your favorite TV program?
A tie between MAD MEN and FARSCAPE

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No

26. What was the best book you read?
Time Traveler’s Wife

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
There were many! Okkervil River, Band of Horses, Bonnie Prince Billy, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, Tegan and Sara, John Legend, I could go on…

28. What did you want and get?
A robot t-shirt

29. What did you want and not get?
Camera lenses

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
?! Dark Knight, I guess?

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
27, some awesome people threw me an awesome party that included my favorite Indian dish and carrot cake cream cheese cupcakes

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A TARDIS for visiting friendos

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Stuff that I can wear to work but also wear other places

34. What kept you sane?
All the meth

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
David Tennant, Noel Fielding, Christina Hendricks, Ben Browder and Claudia Black

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The election

37. Who did you miss?
My friendos (Allyson, Jenn, Jennifer, Anne, Stef, Lara, Blake)

38. Who was the best new person you met?
This is a tie among three people who make me very happy in different ways   I call them Shane, Lucy, and James

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
If something isn’t making you happy, quit it

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: i’ve been on the ride before / it never stops at all

This will be the blog where I don’t complain about school.

This blog will be everything my livejournal is not (I promise)!