Hinge

So...we're here now. The last day of aught-eight and not a minute too soon. I've been ridiculously busy this month and have kept reminding myself that all I have to do is push through til today. I'm working today and part of tomorrow then I'm off to my first residency at Warren Wilson. I could drive the whole thing in one day, but I decided to break the trip up just for my own sake.

~*~

If I were a different person, I'd launch off onto something about new beginnings, opportunities blah-de-blah-de-blah...and half-way through I'd want to throttle myself. Let me just take a minute to wish you a lovely evening with friends and loved ones and my best wishes for your coming year.

~*~

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Three Inches is Perfect

It's 60 degrees today and rainy. Yesterday it was 70. No white christmas at all...not that I'm complaining. For me, the perfect amount of snow is about 3 inches. Just enough to cover the worst dreary bits of ground so that I'm not trapped between muddy ground and dead grasses and sky that's the color of hangover.

~*~

Christmas was really delightful, pressie wise. Aaron, Tommy, Eric, Ashley & I did our gift exchange last Monday night and it was fun. Some of the pressies will be making the pilgrimage to Warren-Wilson with me: the Go-Go, Kill Bill action figure that Aaron got me along with the ceramic bride and decapitated groom he found at Dollar Tree (really, it's fantastic...I was more than delighted); the pop-up of book of Celebrity Meltdowns (thanks shlee!); the collected letters of Bishop and Lowell (which I'm holding off reading while I'm finishing my homework...but god it's just sitting on the table taunting me...) and a plug in heated coffee mug that Santa left for me at Tommy's house.

~*~

This week is going to be a lot of crazy: getting as much work stuff squared away as I can so I can leave without feeling guilty; car service, hair cut, little last minute things to buy that I might need while I'm gone. Last week I was all twitterpated...wishing for more time before going for residency, feeling various free-floating anxieties...but now I'm ready to go. I'm excited.

When Themes Collide: Xmas Tack-O-Rama 2008, Day 12 + IDQotM

Cyndi Lauper & The Hives, "A Christmas Duel." Big h/t to Eduardo.

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama, Day 11

William Hung sings Mariah Carey...my dog peed when she heard this...it's just that good. h/t to failblog

X-Mas, Tack-O-Rama 2008, Day 10

David Bowie & Bing Crosby "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth"

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama 2008, Day 9

The Killers, "Big Sled"

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama 2008, Day 8

Pee Wee's Christmas Special--Intro and Grace Jones' version of "Little Drummer Boy."

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama 2008--Day 7

Christmas Dance Carol (크리스마스 댄스 캐롤)

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama 2008, Day 6

Los Del Rio, "Macarena Christmas"

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama 2008, Day 5

Macy Gray, "Winter Wonderland"

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama: Day 4

From the Sonny & Cher Christmas Special (1976 I believe)--the only one they did after their divorce. A special so strained and uncomfortable that it's been described as being "like Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe with music. Here's a medley featuring performances by Bernadette Peters, Shields and Yarnell, and Captain Kangaroo, Chastity and Elijah Blue.

X-Mas 2008 Tack-O-Rama Day 3

Furthering the theme of Holiday Dysfunction, the Ramones "Merry Christmas Baby (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)"

X-Mas 2008 Tack-O-Rama Day 2

John Denver's execrable "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)"

X-Mas Tack-O-Rama 2008 Starts Now

Last year I did a rundown of my essential off-kilter, whacky, and just plain fun christmas songs. Since it's that time, let's start with Heidi Klum's "Wonderland," a video that just defies description.

Prosody

My episode of Prosody is (if I remember correctly) broadcasting on WYEP 93.1 FM tomorrow in Pittsburgh. You can listen to the live stream here. The show broadcasts at 6:00 am tomorrow, but then repeats at 7pm next Tuesday. Once the podcast is up I'll post a link to that.

And A Thousand Gay Boys' Heads Exploded

An IDQotM bonus for Vivica Smith: Cher & Cyndi Lauper "If I Could Turn Back Time"

Please

This just can't be right....

IDQotM: She Bop (acoustic)

Sounds of the 70s

I'm getting ready to tackle a project and thought I'd cast out a wider net to get input. So here's a question for the poetry folk: who do you think are the essential poets of the 1970s?

I've got my personal list, influenced by what I like and have been able to find and read readily--but I know it's only a smattering of what's out there. So I'm just floating this.

IDQotM: $$$ Changes Everything

This is in a dead heat with "When You Were Mine" as my favorite Cyndi Lauper song.

Sweet Hell

Eric sent me this. It's my favorite thing right now (besides the Bollywood Thriller clip with transliterated subtitles...yes, Aaron, I'm still watching it.) OH and I should mention NSFW.

More funny videos like the "Cooking by the Book" at Heavy.com

IDQotM: "Change of Heart" Live

Prezzies

I got to work yesterday morning and found a gift bag on the office counter with my name on it. Friends of mine had bought me a Warren Wilson hoodie (their son's an alum.) It didn't strike me until later in the day that it was only a month until my first residency...I think I have everything squared away and taken care of in terms of paperwork and all that jazz...now I just have to finish my homework assignment.

It's going to be a crazy month, so I think by the time I'm about to hit the road for North Carolina I'll be more than ready to go. I decided to go ahead and accept a promotion, it's nothing too major, just formalizing some things I've already been doing for the owners. We're still hammering out some details regarding hours, but they're determined to make sure I have time for my course work.

IDQotM: Cyndi Lauper, "Carey"