emlocke

Category: Lists

  • 2011 Faves: Music

    My eleven favorite 2011 releases

    Turning Tables, Adele
    Next time I’ll be braver / I’ll be my own savior / When the thunder calls for me

    Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes
    Yeah, I’m tongue-tied and dizzy and I can’t keep it to myself  / What good is it to sing helplessness blues; why should I wait for anyone else?

    Don’t Turn Out the Lights (D.T.O.T.L.), NKOTBSB
    I still got this fire for you, we can get it back again / If you don’t say that it’s the end (the end)


    Shake it Out, Florence and the Machine
    And I am done with my graceless heart / So tonight I’m gonna cut it out and then restart

    Sorry 4 the Wait, Lil Wayne
    Hello, goodbye, where are you Wayne? / I’m somewhere in between joy and pain

    ‘Til the World Ends, Britney Spears
    If you feel it, let it happen / Keep on dancing ’til the world ends

    Modern Love, Matt Nathanson
    So we stumble, we disconnect / Over and over again


    Otis, Kanye West and Jay-Z, featuring Otis Redding
    They say I’m crazy, but I’m about to go dumb again / They ain’t seen me cause I pulled up in my other Benz / Last week I was in my other other Benz

    Highway Unicorn (Road to Love), Lady Gaga
    And she’s got rainbow syrup in her heart that she bleeds

    Shock to My System, Gemma Hayes
    I felt safe walking straight lines / You were a shock to my system / Lighting up a fire so bright

    Make a New Dance Up, Hey Ocean
    You make me wanna dance / You make me wanna move / You make me wanna

    My eleven most-played in 2011

    The Shape I Found You In, Girlyman (2003)
    But my heart tried to cheat / Building safety nets under my feet / So if I fell I would fall right in / That’s the shape you found me in

    Changes, Tupac (1998)
    I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere / Unless we share with each other / We gotta start makin’ changes / Learn to see me as a brother ‘stead of two distant strangers.

    Touches You, MIKA (2009)
    When you’ve had enough and you need somebody to know / Well, you’re looking tough, but you need a way to let it go

    Come Out of the Shade, The Perishers (2007)
    Take a step and come out here in the sun / I can tell it’s already begun / I’m helpless without you, helpless without you / Helpless without your warming smile


    Digital Love, Daft Punk (2001)
    Don’t stop come a little closer / As we jam the rhythm gets stronger / There’s nothing wrong with just a little little fun

    In A Big Country, Big Country (1983)
    I’m not expecting to grow flowers in the desert / But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime

    Sour Cherry, The Kills (2008)
    I’m a penny in a diamond mine / We could be movers / We could be shakers / If we could just shake somethin’ out of the blue / And get off the ride

    I Tried to Rock You But You Only Can Roll, Leona Naess (2001)
    I’ve got a smile that’ll knock you down / I’ve got friends who will follow me / And I don’t own responsibility / And I know what I am / And I know that I’m right / Yeah, yeah, yeah

    Hell Yeah, Ani DiFranco (1994)
    But in the ‘he said, she said’ / Sometimes there’s some poetry / If you turn your back long enough / And let it happen naturally / Oh, yeah / Hell, yeah

    Well-Alright, Spoon (2009)
    Don’t mean nothing, just some common sense / Not so much is just the fact we met / Everything’s well-alright / Gonna be well-alright


    Young Blood, The Naked and Famous (2010)
    The bitter sweet between my teeth / Trying to find the in-betweens / Fall back in love eventually

  • 2009 Faves: Songs

    My nine favorite 2009 releases:

    Photo credit NYTimes.com

    Just Dance by Lady Gaga
    I love this record, baby, but I can’t see straight anymore.

    Dance Anthem of the 80s by Regina Spektor
    They want to be touched, to touch each other, / They want to sleep, they want to be slept, / They want to watch, to watch each other . . .

    Knocks You Down by Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
    Every mornin’ I look at you and smile, / ‘Cause boy you came around and you knocked me down, / Knocked me down.

    Young and Restless by Pains of Being Pure at Heart
    Between the stacks in the library / Not like anyone stopped to see / We came they went our bodies spent / Among the dust and the microfiche.

    Don’t Upset the Rhythm by Noisettes
    So let me show you / Something super beautiful.

    Under the Milky Way by Sia
    And it’s something quite peculiar, / Something shimmering and white, / Leads you here despite your destination

    This Tornado Loves You by Neko Case
    Your rails have always outrun mine, / So I pick them up and crash them down / In a moment close to now.

    Evacuate the Dancefloor by Cascada
    I’m infected by the sound.

    Kings and Queens by 30 Seconds to Mars
    We stole our new lives, / Through blood and pain, / In defense of our dreams.

    My nine most-played of the year:

    Black or White by Michael Jackson
    Now I believe in miracles, / And a miracle has happened tonight.

    Desire by Ryan Adams
    This time I’m speeding with no direction. / Without a reason. What is this fire? / Burning slowly. My one and only.

    I’m Burning for You by Blue Oyster Cult
    Burn out the day, / Burn out the night, / I can’t see no reason to put up a fight. / I’m living for giving the devil his due

    Any Day Now by Missy Higgins
    Say you’ve kept some fire away / To set light to me some surprising day.

    Battlefield by Jordin Sparks
    I guess you better go and get your armor.

    I’m Yours by Jason Mraz
    Listen to the music of the moment, maybe sing with me / A la peaceful melodies / It’s your God-forsaken right to be love, love, loved.

    Gardener by Rebecca Riots
    I have got to be more conscious / Of the things I do and don’t do . . . / It’s about perceiving what’s happening / In this very moment / And deliberately choosing to extend love.

    Friends and Family by Trik Turner
    ‘Cause alls I need / Is the air that I breathe / And my friends and family / To believe in me.

    Divorce Song by Liz Phair
    I would have stayed in your bed / For the rest of my life / Just to prove I was right.

  • You wanted me to write something

    So, I wrote down (and photographed) the contents of my bag!

    inmybag

    Last week’s New Yorker
    Violet sunglasses
    A few Equal packets
    LG Plum cell phone
    Card case for business cards and coupons
    Make-up bag (its contents could be a-whole-nother photo)
    iPod Classic
    Notebook, two pens, Chapstick, and C.G. Bigelow Menthe Lip Shine
    Sephora by OPI nail polish in Caffeine Fix
    Purple wallet
    Inside a royal blue hobo

    Happy now?

  • Notable Events: February 2009

    • Made a get well card for a Greyhound whose tail accidentally got lopped off in a slamming door (rrrouch!)
    • Solved a URL redirection glitch that stumped six IT guys
    • Ordered my Maid of Honor dress for Jill’s wedding
    • Met a camp friend, who I hadn’t seen in more than five years, for a drink; it was the first time he’d seen me in the winter coat and the first time I’d seen him in a business suit
    • Brought my pillow on a mattress shopping trip to Macy’s

  • Observed today while waiting for traffic lights to change

    A Jeep with my dad’s initials in the license plate

    A cat crouching under the Jeep

    A child with a bagel around his pointer finger like a ring

    A cab driver pouring a cup of coffee out the window

    The “not going out of business/losing our lease/becoming a Chase Bank or a Duane Reade” signs in the windows at Fish’s Eddy

    Soggy papers in a leaking AMNY box

    A girl sprinting to beat the light (she didn’t make it)

  • Yeer Inn Rev-yoo: 2008

    1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
    Flew first class.  Missed a plane.  (Different trips.)  Got a raise for more than fifty cents.

    2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
    My New Year’s resolutions were to try more new foods and to stop kissing random boys for sport.  Trying new foods (and wines) was not easy on my stomach so I cut myself a break there, but I think I cut my random boy-kissing down by about eighty-eight percent.  I’m resolving again in 2009.

    3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
    No.  Nobody gave birth while close to me either, which is an even greater relief.

    4. Did anyone close to you die?
    No, not this year.

    5. What countries did you visit?
    Texas, USA.

    6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
    Whatever it is that some people have that allows things to roll of their backs. New lightbulbs in the hallway.

    7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
    February 24: A randomly recalled brunch with Rachel
    July 5: Jill called to tell me that Kevin had officially proposed and I was officially her maid of honor
    July 28: First day back at work after my family vacation
    November 5: Barack Obama Day
    December 3: Black Wednesday in the book publishing business

    8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
    Every time I made someone laugh.

    9. What was your biggest failure?
    Dropping the ball on a lot of social engagements (missed opportunities to make someone laugh!)

    10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
    A slipped disc which triggered sciatic pain which triggered depression.

    11. What was the best thing you bought?
    The tree print I got at IKEA. It may be vague, mass-produced art, but it’s my art.

    12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
    The members of the ASPCA and other organizations who lobbied to protect, shelter, and rehabilitate the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick’s property in 2007 when not even PETA thought the dogs would stand a chance.

    13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
    People who abuse the little red “urgent” exclamation mark on their e-mails.

    14. Where did most of your money go?
    Rent.

    15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
    Election night.  My cousin moving to New York.

    16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
    Say by John Mayer and Bleeding Love.  And I guess Paper Planes because I think M.I.A.’s licensors wanted it to be the song that always reminds everybody of 2008.

    17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
    a) happier or sadder?     Happier.
    b) thinner or fatter? Thinner but not by much.
    c) richer or poorer? Richer but not by much.

    18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
    Weight training. Writing.  Picture-taking.

    19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
    I wish I hadn’t spent so many Saturdays and Sundays pacing in my apartment because I couldn’t  decide where I’d go or what I’d do once I left it.

    20. How did you spend Christmas?
    At home with my parents, my brother, and my dog.  I slept until my mom woke me up with breakfast and I think I finally got used to the fact that my brother and I are the last ones downstairs on Christmas morning instead of the first.

    21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
    For me, falling in love is both a masochistic hobby and a guilty pleasure.  Just like falling out of love.  I did both.

    22. What was your favorite TV program?
    Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

    23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
    No; I think I hate pretty much the same cast of characters this year as I did last year.

    24. What was the best book you read?
    The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso.

    25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
    I heard a lot of new music on So You Think You Can Dance over the summer, like Charlotte Martin’s cover of Just Like Heaven.

    26. What did you want and get?
    A new digital camera.  A bottle of Jo Malone’s Blue Agava and Cacao perfume.  To visit Camp Jewell with the Liftman sisters.  To see the rainbow in San Antonio.  To meet Mariska Hargitay.

    27. What did you want and not get?
    Peace of mind.  Aviator sunglasses with purple lenses.

    28. What was your favorite film of this year?
    WALL·E.

    29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
    Cupcakes. To celebrate turning twenty-four, I invited friends of all genres to Clandestino for drinks on the Thursday before my birthday and ate more cupcakes than I drank beer.

    30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
    A private turn-down service at my apartment.  Firefox compatibility on my PC at work.

    31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
    “I bought this without trying it on because I can’t tolerate waiting in line for a fitting room” chic or “Wouldn’t this look awesome with a scarf or a pin or a necklace?  Too bad I never leave enough time to accessorize in the AM” chic.

    32. What kept you sane?
    Flavored carbonated water. Talia. My iPod.  My roommate. My scale.

    33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
    Clearly, Mariska Hargitay.  ‘Fancy’ is a neat way to describe my unabashed adoration.

    34. What political issue stirred you the most?
    The fact that as the war in Iraq goes on and on and the economy continues to suffer, I may never get to see the environment become a campaign priority.

    35. Who did you miss?
    Rachel, after she dashed off to light up the lives of young leaders all over the world.  My dog.

    36. Who was the best new person you met?
    Amy, who I still believe is meant to be my friend even though extenuating circumstances keep postponing it.

    37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
    One in four women think they sweat more than the general population and I am one of those women.

    38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
    “I don’t necessarily buy any key to the future or happiness, / But I need a little place in the sun sometimes.”—Moses, Patty Griffin

  • 2008 Faves: Songs

    My eight favorite 2008 (or late 2007) releases


    Circus by Britney Spears
    I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins. / Spotlight on me and I’m ready to break.

    As long as you’ve got my crazy, Britney, I’ve got your back!

    This Town by O.A.R.
    It’s better that we keep this close, / Keep you close to me. / Walking under every sky, / Over every sea. / You can be my modern girl, / And I can be the one you found.

    But, Honestly by Foo Fighters
    And all the words I gave to you, / Something borrowed, something blue, / If you want them back, / I’ll give it to you.

    Many The Miles by Sara Bareilles (Live at The Fillmore)
    I do what I can, wherever I end up, / To keep giving my good love.

    Setting Forth by Eddie Vedder
    This I will recall, / Every time I fall.

    Live Your Life by T.I. (featuring Rhianna)
    Some move away to make a way / not move away cause they afraid.

    Mercy by Duffy
    You got to understand that I need a man / Who can take my hand, yes I do.

    She’s Like A Star by Taio Cruz
    She’s my star, my light, starry night. / Aviator shades, ’cause she shine so bright.

    My eight most-played of the year

    Red by Sara Bareilles
    I am fading in and out, / What are you gonna do save me now, / From all of this danger, you don’t know how, / And I’ll find my way out.


    Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap
    Oily marks appear on walls / Where pleasure moments hung before / The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity / Of this still life.

    And So It Goes by Billy Joel
    And this is why my eyes are closed, / It’s just as well for all I’ve seen. / And so it goes, and so it goes, / And you’re the only one who knows.

    Running by Evermore
    You don’t need a broken heart / To know a heart can be broken, / You just need to open your eyes. / We don’t need to be deceived / To know a lie can be spoken, / We don’t have to learn everything twice.

    Always Midnight by Pat Monahan
    A way to get back to you, / A way to get outta here. / I don’t want to be alone / At midnight anymore.

    This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race by Fall Out Boy (featuring Kanye West)
    And I don’t really care which side wins / As long as the room keeps singing.

    Just Like Heaven by Charlotte Martin (The Cure cover)
    Spinning on that dizzy edge / I kissed his face, I kissed his head, / And dreamed of all the different ways / I had to make him glow. / “Why are you so far away?” he said, / “Oh, won’t you ever know that I’m in love with you?”

    Party Generation by Dar Williams
    It was the kind of party that you hope never ends / . . . There was a lot that you could learn if you lay near them, / Like if you listened you could hear them and he could hear them.

  • 2008 Faves: People

    Mariska Hargitay

    Barack and Michelle Obama

    Tina Fey as herself

    And, Alrick Nelson

  • Britney hasn’t done a Christmas album so I’m mixing up the tunes

    Last night I sat on the train next to a guy studying the pages of what must be the “textbook” for a taxi driving school.  It was a bound book of pages and pages of hotel, hospital, and museum addresses and mnemonics for figuring out where a particular street address falls between avenues.

    Here I am, thinking I’m such a genius with the “traffic travels east on the even-numbered streets and west on the odd-numbered streets in Manhattan” rule (with seven exceptions, I think).  And I’m all impressed with myself when I inform my father that Penn Station and Grand Central are not, in fact, directly across the island from one another.  Haughty amateur!

    I scored 66% on this Hack License NYC Taxi Test, and only because most of the questions concerned the geography of city parks.

    This is what I’ve been listening to at my desk and not in my cab this week:
    Circus by Britney Spears
    Circus by Britney Spears
    Circus by Britney Spears
    O Little Town of Bethlehem by Sarah McLachlan
    Oh, Holy Night by Tracy Chapman

  • Highly Notable Events in November 2008

    • Traveled to the land of my birth
    • Celebrated Election Night with my mom, my dad, and The New York Times
    • Went to the mall on Black Friday
    • Met a friend from the internet in real life
    • Became an Ugg-wearer

    I scheduled the last of my vacation days for 2008 today.  Yes, today.  On the first day of the last month of the year.

    There are thirty-one days in December.  Eight of those days are weekends.  Five of them are company holidays.  Major seasonal meetings take up most of four of them.  Our department bonding activity is scheduled on another day.  That left twelve days eligible for the Vacation Day stamp.  Oh, and I was already in the office by the time I tried to sort this all out, so forget about December 1.

    I have to take five of those eleven days off.  Am I going to get any actual work done before the end of the year?