But first, this is what I did on Christmas Day, 2007: woke up slightly before noon; ate while listening to Four Tet's Pause; put cider ingredients in the pot; went to explore, while still listening to Four Tet, the ravine off the west of campus, which holds memories from freshman year, and sophomore summer soccer, and the Trippy Buddha Man last December, who told me, "you don't know how to let it go," as if I needed telling; returned home and collected the finished cider (yum); watched Love Actually, which I had downloaded last night; cooked more mashed sweet potatoes and string beans, and ate; finished writing/recording the song for Maria's Christmas present; and that about brings us up to speed. Oh, and the Nagans called, which was nice of them; it was the first real speaking conversation I'd had since Thursday (ordering beer at the Talking Head didn't count). I am feeling increasingly like the third wheel, though in a tricycle sense. Actually, Jess, if you're reading this, go find Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. It's an interesting take on a similar concept, though filtered through the slightly desperate lens of early Murakami.
About the film: I don't care what anybody says, it's a good film, cynicism be damned. The character interactions are not as simple as the concept of the plot would have you believe. Besides, it's easier for me to wax romantic about the world at large when nobody's around, so I thought I'd seize the opportunity. After all, I'll be seeing people again soon enough, and then I'll be all cranky again, and nobody likes that.
On a related note, I noticed how ambidextrous I can suddenly become in the kitchen. Often I'll be stirring or scooping something in the pan with my right hand, while with my left hand I will grab the knife and chopping board, chuck them in the sink, turn on the faucet to rinse them off, and turn off the faucet. I say this is related to the point about the film because the same people who will likely scoff at my infrequent enjoyment of select rom-coms would probably denounce my adept domesticity (yes, you). To which I respond: my mother always liked to say I tend to become good at anything I do long enough; I'm not so much domestic as just really, really proficient at being a bachelor.
Anyhow. Here are some pictures from the woods.
This is, I believe, the remnant of a rope swing someone tied from a branch a little upstream from the bridge.
This is a cover-less storm drain hatch. While the second picture shows a ladder descending into its not-so-deep depths, I don't think the drain at the bottom is of standing height. Who feels adventurous?
This is where the water goes at the end of the ravine, under the road leading into Hampden. The descent from the top of the ravine to this position was especially treacherous, as the geology that so conveniently shunts rainwater down the hills and into the creek threatened to send me careening over the ridge as well (a substantial fall at certain points), especially given all the slick fallen leaves. I had to do a lot of grasping for roots and kicking in footholds in the mud; I wished I'd have worn my boots. Once I got there, though, the stone steps seen in the first photo made a nice vantage point for taking the second.
Possible scene from a postapocalyptic film, part 1.
Possible scene from a postapocalyptic film, part 2.
But sometimes one must look at the small things...
Finally, the arboreal gate to the south end of the trail.
--
And now...the annual tradition. This is a fairly comprehensive survey I have done each year since...I can't even recall. 2004 at the latest, possibly 2003. Last year I started the sub-tradition of comparing the previous year's results to the current year's (in boldface). Let us begin, shall we?
1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
(2006) Gigged! Crazy, I know, but there were two, not counting open mics (also two). Playing venues is much different from playing half-assed school functions. Tried hookah. I suppose technically I tried weed, once, but it didn't do anything but make me cough for two weeks, so I don't suppose it counts. Moved off of school-owned property. It doesn't seem 2006 was the healthiest year, or the most revolutionary; I'll forgive myself this time.
(2007) Took the GRE; wrote a research paper; applied to graduate school; recorded electronic music. Hey, not too bad! OK, so that was mostly nerdy.
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
(2006) Did I learn to deal with other people, and myself? To a large extent, I think I was successful. Only from the second half onward, though. The first half was still a wreck. For 2007, let's try: exercise more! Learn double thumb! Learn how to make music in Live! Learn how to use Pd! Maybe get something published/presented by the end of the year? Apply to grad school! Well, if I don't, I'm forfeit anyway.
(2007) Exercise more: a little. Double thumb: can sort of do it now. Learn Live: check! Learn Pd: to be done (though Audiomulch is similar). Publishing: pending... Apply to grad school: check!
Next year's resolutions: I'll think about this more during the next week. Certainly there ought to be some.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
(2006) Nope!
(2007) My postdoc colleague Mikhail and his wife had another kid...their fourth. Seriously, guys.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
(2006) Someone died at my school again--an art history teacher, meningitis again. I swear, someone dies at Johns Hopkins every year. Closer, my uncle died of liver cancer less than a week ago. See earlier entry.
(2007) No. It's remarkable what an exception it's become to go an entire year without anyone I know dying.
5. What countries did you visit?
(2006) Same. Not much money or time for traveling anymore. I need a new location, soon.
(2007) TW + USA...Europe someday? Please?
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
(2006) I actually got most of the things from last year's list. A bass that's fully functional. An ID that says I'm 21 (I'll have a real one in August). Having someone I could be alone with would be nice, but I'll hang.
(2007) A graduate school acceptance letter, a car, a fretless bass, a Macbook Pro, a Nord Modular synthesizer, and the one thing I wanted this time last year that I didn't get.
7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
(2006) October 17. Debut Trafalgar gig at the 8x10 + the encounter with Sarah; pretty memorable, I think. November 17. Second Trafalgar gig at the Charm City Art Space.
(2007) The fact I don't know how to answer this question probably says most everything. Memorable moments: firing Lisa from the band on Valentine's Day (ouch); second to last gig with Monica at the Ottobar; being fired from the band myself; Pitchfork Music Festival; Radiohead album release; second encounter with Sarah.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
(2006) Gigged! Got into another lab--and managed to stick with it. Fall 2006 saw my highest GPA since I got into college. A fairly pragmatic year, as far as years with me go.
(2007) Independent research, paper, applied to graduate school, and all that. The academicism continues...
9. What was your biggest failure?
(2006) Still not too happy with the pants thing. I must've passed up 4 different lab position offers before I got into Dr. Hristova's lab; bad timing on my part.
(2007) I actually don't know. I feel like everything I did, I tried my best at. Of course, that just makes the lack of results seem all the more fatalistic.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
(2006) Might've had a cold back in the beginning of the year. But I got by relatively unscathed.
(2007) Wrecked my right ankle at the Deacon/Girl Talk show in September. It still feels iffy if I bend it too much.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
(2006) The Avatar 410. The Gallien-Krueger 800RB. They'll stick around for a long time. My iRiver. My Thinkpad...it was a good year for consumerism. I'm sorry to say.
(2007) Pitchfork Fest tickets; my mixer; Audiomulch license. As usual, I only spent money on music gear. Except my green faux-military jacket, that was pretty cool too.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
(2006) Lindsay was there for me quite a few times when I had meltdowns. Thank you. Yuli , many times, kept me awake and talking way too long after I was supposed to have slept and stopped knowing what I was talking about. Sterling still helped me and the band out way more than we deserved.
(2007) Jess and Thom's. Thanks for helping me out on many occasions.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
(2006) I was somewhat distressed when P. started leaving me out of her life, but I deserved it. That aside, we all know which people messed with my head at the most inconvenient times. So let's not name them. They might be listening in. As a final addendum, few things are more traumatizing than finding porn on your little brother's (14) computer.
(2007) Sarah definitely made me depressed for much of fall semester, though I don't suppose I could ever fault her for anything. I was somewhat bitter when I began to realize John's support of my music-making only went as far as I fit into his established plans, and when I deviated from that, he stopped talking to me about music. In addition, while I regard him as a generally good guy, I cannot see him as such with respect to certain more recent events.
14. Where did most of your money go?
(2006) Bass Rig MK II. (GK800RB + Avatar 410NEO) Hey, it works now!
(2007) Making the Chicago trip during the summer.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
(2006) For the third time--gigging. Not as many awesome shows, but I was psyched for Mission of Burma and Radiohead. Really psyched.
(2007) Pitchfork Festival and the new Radiohead album.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
(2006) These lists just keep getting better and better. Peter, Bjorn & John, "Young Folks" (and the rest of Writer's Block, really); Squarepusher, "Iambic 5 Poetry"; Aphex Twin, "Girlboy Song"; Venetian Snares, "Hajnal"; "Mission of Burma, "Careening with Conviction" (and the rest of The Obliterati); Slowdive, "Alison"; Bloc Party, "Two More Years"; Autolux, "Turnstile Blues"; The Hold Steady, (choose one) "Cattle and the Creeping Things" "Chillout Tent"; TV on the Radio, "Wolf Like Me"; The Knife, "Forest Families"; Jose Gonzales, "Heartbeats" (Knife cover); Mew, (choose one) "Apocalypso" "She Came Home for Christmas"; Joy Division, "New Dawn Fades"; Forget Cassettes, "Quiero, Quieres"; Mogwai, "Travel is Dangerous"
(2007) Stars of Track and Field - "Centuries"; Four Tet - "She Moves She," "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth"; Dinosaur Jr - "We're Not Alone"; Thrushes - "Heartbeats"; Monarch - "Family Glue"; The Twilight Sad - "Cold Days From the Birdhouse," "And She Would Darken the Memory of Youth"; Electrelane - "To the East"; Radiohead - "All I Need," "Nude"; Jesu - "Star"; Burial - "Near Dark"; Fennesz - "Endless Summer"; Brief Candles - "So Long"; The Smiths - "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish"; Boris - "A Bao A Qu"; Guitar - "House Full of Time"; Slowdive - "Sleep"; I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - "Lights"; Bloc Party - "Secrets"; Mojave 3 - "Love Songs On the Radio," "Tomorrow's Taken"; Airiel - "Firefly"; Beach House - "Childhood"; The Field - "Over the Ice"
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
(2006) First of all, a revision to last year's response: the Sophomore Slump of 2004-05 was definitively one of the most miserable periods of my life. December 2004 couldn't even compare. That said, I'm fairly confident right now that, whatever the specifics, I'm in a better place than I was in a year ago.
(2007) On and up. I'm alright.
ii. thinner or fatter?
(2006) I weigh the exact same as I did last year.
(2007) Not much has changed.
iii. richer or poorer?
(2006) Richer. I saved up a bit.
(2007) I don't know.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
(2006) Exercise. Gig (can't get enough of that). Study and study. Write entries (serious dereliction of duty after the fall semester started). Lab work.
(2007) Connecting with people.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
(2006) Drink, sulk, sit and do nothing.
(2007) Be emotionally quarantined.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
(2006) Ditto. Got a couple nice jackets.
(2007) Alone, in the woods, with self-made treats, and recording music. See above.
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
(2006) No. I'm simply no longer able to just fall in love with people I don't know will love me back. I wanted to, though, and almost did, once.
(2007) Yeah. Jess was right: the best part was the hope. It was all downhill from there.
23. How many one-night stands?
(2006) Katelyn doesn't count. We didn't do anything.
(2007) Zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program?
(2006) CNN News during the one week that I didn't have a computer. Then it was back to Google News for me.
(2007) I still dislike TV.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
(2006) Amazingly, I can deal with both of them now, and even share an apartment with the latter. I still don't hate anyone, because I don't think it's worth my time, but there's a certain person I wouldn't mind never associating with again. Again, they might be listening in.
(2007) No. Hatred is a waste of time.
26. What was the best book you read?
(2006) Kazuo Ichiguro, Never Let Me Go. Mark Z. Danielewski, Only Revolutions (I liked it because it confused me). Haruki Murakami, Kafka On the Shore. Theodor Adorno/Max Horkheimer, The Dialectic of Enlightenment.
(2007) Kay Ryan - Say Uncle; Ron Currie Jr., God is Dead; J. G. Ballard, Super-Cannes
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
(2006) Mew, The Knife, Peter Bjorn & John, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Board of Canada, and the other IDM stuff I listen to, The Hold Steady, William Basinski, Fennesz, Slowdive, Pinback, Boris, Gyorgy Ligeti, Bela Bartok, various dub and D'n'B stuff (as genres, not artist-specific yet).
(2007) I've fallen off the bandwagon. Since Tim Hecker wasn't on last year's list, I'll put him here. Also: Four Tet, Electrelane, The Twilight Sad, Stars of Track and Field, Thrushes, Monarch (now Wye Oak), Apparat, The Field, Marissa Nadler
28. What did you want and get?
(2006) Working bass rig! A paying job(s). MP3 player. Laptop. A new lab position. Uni West apartment (ideal residence since freshman year). A halfway decent GPA (3.48--best GPA and first A- in a science course since freshman spring). Year of
down-to-earth achievements?
(2007) All the music gear that I planned on getting. I didn't plan on getting a 4.0 last spring, but I did anyway.
29. What did you want and not get?
(2006) Laid, but there's only so much you can do. New bass on which everything doesn't break on me.
(2007) Sarah? Or do people not count?
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
(2006) The Science of Sleep, hands down. Babel a close second. A History of Violence a close second if you count DVDs. Sorry Snakes On a Plane, none for you.
(2007) Didn't watch any particularly memorable films this year. Is that bad?
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
(2006) 20. Got kicked out for underage drinking of the Ted Leo show at the Ottobar that ended up being the awesome power-out fiesta that got coverage on Pitchforkmedia!
Fucking go me.
(2007) Went to dinner with Jess and Granger, and then One World for drinks with them two and some others.
32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
(2006) Going steady. Everything else has been pretty hard to complain about.
(2007) I don't know why I bother to answer this question anymore.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
(2006) Pretty much the exact same thing, plus a pair of Doc Martens from time to time. Better jeans though.
(2007) Warm: t-shirt, black or blue jeans, black Converse. Cool: t-shirt and black hoodie or army green jacket, jeans, Converse or New Balance. Cold: collared shirt under black cashmere sweater, long black coat with black scarf, jeans (notice a trend?), New Balance or Doc Martens. Somewhat long hair, but on average shorter than last year's.
34. What kept you sane?
(2006) Self-restraint of perverse magnitude. Except, you know, those days when I wasn't quite so sane.
(2007) Solitude.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
(2006) Beth Cameron, singer-guitarist of Forget Cassettes. And how.
(2007) Why don't we just change this question to "beautiful girls I wish I knew in bands that make beautiful music" and be done with it?
This is Ros Murray, from Electrelane:
Really, I would date anyone if it meant I got to play with a Rickenbacker bass regularly. But especially if she is thin, brunette, with a slight girl-next-door aura (remind you of anyone?). Ros Murray also makes acoustic music as Ray Rumours. I recommend "Max Dugan Returns."
Alexandra Maria Lara gets honorable mention too. Although I think that's mostly because she played Ian Curtis' girlfriend in a film.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
(2006) The war between Israel and Palestine. Also, I believe my general outrage against capitalist domination has reached a new peak after my Marx, Freud and Modern Critical Theory class.
(2007) I really don't know. I've let myself slip...have to start being aware again. OK, resolution #1.
37. Who did you miss?
(2006) I missed myself as I used to be (more naive). Patrice, in a figurative way. Maura and Steph...they'll be back though, soon enough.
(2007) The people who left college, though then I got too busy to think about them. As usual. Jess and Thom for the first half of the year. Granger after he bailed for California. I miss a lot of people, don't I?
38. Who was the best new person you met?
(2006) Lindsay and Yuli. Edit: Sarah K. Credit where credit is due.
(2007) I don't think I met anyone particularly worth mentioning. That's bad.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
(2006) Love drains you and shouldn't be as freely given as it used to be for me.
(2007) I don't know if I can answer this in a blurb at 4:37AM. I'll try to sum it up later and then maybe come back to edit this entry.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
(2006) This is still hard, and would be better answered by a medley of song lyrics, but it's the last question, so I'll try not to cheat: "We cannot wait for much longer. We want happiness back. We want control of our bodies, everything we've lacked." (The Knife, "From Off to On")
(2007) Don't get any big ideas. They're not gonna happen. (Radiohead - "Nude")
1 comment:
Please to be letting me borrow Norwegian Wood when we meet again. Oh, and that poetry book. Oh, after I finish Rilke and read one of my Alice McDermotts. Oh, there are too many books in the world.
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