Month: May 2011

The Dunce Cap: May 23, 2011

in: heavy rotation

My pup, my muse

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 34: Making time for ourselves and of ourselves isn’t love if we are selfishly prude. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “The Weekenders” – The Hold Steady
2. “My Body” – Young the Body
3. “C’mon” – The Soft Pack
4. “You Oughta Know” – Das Racist
5. “Take Off Your Sunglasses” – Ezra Furman and the Harpoons
6. “Miss Teen Wordpower” – The New Pornographers
7. “I’d Have It Just the Way We Were” – White Denim
8. “If I Keep On Loving You” – Let’s Wrestle
9. “Chasing Pavements” – Adele
10. “Things Are What You Make of Them” – Bishop Allen

Oh hai, guys. I’m back two days in a row! It’s a non-Christmas miracle! And, to top it all off, I’ve got an 8tracks up on a Monday! Guys. This is a momentous evening.

But anyway. Enough gushing about punctuality and keeping promises. I’ve made this truly delicious mix, starting with one of my top three favorite Hold Steady songs (“The Weekenders” has pretty incredible lyrics – “She said the theme of this party’s the Industrial Age/And you came in dressed like a train wreck” seems to describe me in fairly great detail) and ending with a delightful Bishop Allen tune (“Things Are What You Make of Them” is allegedly about a really sour relationship). The year is winding down here, so I’ve got to be listening to some jams to get me through Reading Week and finals, and I think this mix is chocked full of ’em.

Not a whole lot more to say. There will be more on the way soon, I think and I hope and I wish.

Happy listening.

P.S. This photo is of my dearest pup, Chaucer, provided by my mother. She’s been living sans television and Internet access since the fire, and she’s just had dear ol’ Buster Baxter for company. So, this photo’s accompanying text message?

“…and for this evening’s live entertainment, we have a golden retriever incessantly humping his bed.”

Classy as always.

About a Girl: New Shoes

on: the girl

“hello new shoes, bye bye blues.”
– paolo nutini, “new shoes”

So many exciting things to write about this week! There’s been a lot going on in my life – though the weather in Evanston is still pretty treacherous (if warm) – and a lot of joy and thrills, but I’m making an actual effort to regularly blog this time around.

Some tidbits on me/life in general:

  • Red Sox sweep their series against the Yankees earlier this week! And the Bravesare holding strong at just above .500, especially after a win tonight against the Phillies. Gotta love that sort of success, even if the Phillies are whooping us in the NL East.

    San Francisco, CA

  • I found out Wednesday I will be placed in beautiful San Francisco, California, for my JR this fall! I’ll be working at San Francisco magazine for three months beginning in mid-September, and I’m truly thrilled to begin. There’s so much to do in SF, and I’m hoping to hit up AT&T Park, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (y’know, the one at the Embarcadero), Haight, the sea lions, etc. It’s surely going to be a whirlwind experience, and I’ll be damned if I waste a single second of it.
  • I’ve become a serious fashionista in the last few weeks or so, cleaning my closet a bit (throwing out some still-gross pukey flats and donating some beloved and still fashionable Gap T-shirts) and repopulating it with some pretty exceptional (if secondhand) designer threads. I’ve picked up a little Vera Neumann, some Kate Spade and, of course, Marc Jacobs and Betsey Johnson. I’ve been doing a good bit of clearance rack diving at Anthropologie, Gap, J. Crew and even Macy’s, where I picked up a gorgeous pair of navy Marc Fisher pumps. I’ve given my wallet a brand new policy – I only purchase clothes which I will want to wear to the office in the future. That means no more Threadless tees, no matter how hilarious, and a depleted Converse collection, though I like to believe that I can still wear Chuck Taylors in the real world. All in all, I think I’m really becoming a clothes horse – and I love it.
  • I chopped off all of my hair. Reinvention. It hasn’t been this short since…well, ever.
  • It’s formal season here at Northwestern, and, though I’ve all but removed myself from my chapter to claim allegiance to a particular fraternity, I attended both my sorority formal and my favorite fraternity’s formal this weekend. The latter was at the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, the 66th floor, and it was a truly gorgeous venue. I had a blast, and the view was absolutely exceptional. I do love college, Asher.
  • Northwestern’s Dillo Day is next weekend. B.O.B. was announced as the night headliner months ago, while both the New Pornographers  and Chiddy Bang were announced last week as the early and late afternoon performers.

    The Mighty Ducks' Charlie Conway

  • And, finally, my brand new (birthday) bicycle is here and built and totally perfect. It’s a smokin’ hot Bianchi hybrid, and I just want to keep it in my bed and cherish it always. It’s got a built-in bike light in the seat and a sweet streamlined style. I’m calling in Charlie Conway after my reignited passion for the Mighty Ducks trilogy. I’m rewatching D2 as I type this, and I’d forgotten how great (slash terrible slash slightly racist slash totally jingoistic) this film is. But I seriously do love this movie. All of ’em. Even 3.

    The Bianchi Milano Citta, my brand new baby

  • I took my bike for a nice ride along the lake tonight. There was a storm a-brewin’, and it was a bit eerie. The waves were lapping, and there were birds flying really low at the shore. It was indescribably beautiful.

Okay, that was a heck of a lot. I’ll be back tomorrow with a new mix (I promise!), and some other fun stuff, so check back then. Happy living!

xoxococo

The Dunce Cap: May 09, 2011

in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 33: But a weekend in Utah won’t fix what’s wrong with us. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Boy” – Ra Ra Riot
2. “New Drink for the Old Drunk” – Crooked Fingers
3. “Rill Rill” – Sleigh Bells
4. “I Know I Know I Know” – Tegan & Sara
5. “Wake and Be Fine” – Okkervil River
6. “Barely Breathing” – The Hold Steady
7. “The Mess Inside” – The Mountain Goats
8. “Dreams” – The Morning Benders
9. “Rappin’ 2 U” – Das Racist
10. “Do You Mind?” – The XX

Happy spring, readers! It took long enough to get us here, but I am ridiculously excited for sunshine and warmth and sundresses to come my way. It has been, as I always apologize for, way too long since I last blogged. It seems like a lifetime has passed since I last made a fun li’l Dunce Cap, and, in some ways, it has been. I’ve been riding a crazy-fast wave of adventure in the last few weeks, and I haven’t felt this light and blithe in years. It’s hard to even begin to explain what I’ve been up to. There was the strip club debauchery, the familial daytime drinking, the lakeside fireworks, the Journey to the End of the Night and the Mud Olympics and post-event rock climbing and Lake Michigan rinse. Then there were the plans to rappel, the unbelievable sleep schedule, the hours and hours in cars with friends, the wind in my hair during day drives and the spring in my step, well, always. It’s amazing how shockingly different this quarter has been from the last, and I can’t say I’m sorry for the drastic change. Last quarter sucked.

This mix is just…a mix. There’s certainly a recurring theme throughout all of my previous mixes, and I think it’s surely something about love lost, but these are also just songs I really like. There’s something about “Barely Breathing,” off of The Hold Steady‘s Heaven is Whenever, and about “Rappin’ 2 U” by Das Racist which just remind me of, well, me (the latter pays homage to “Young cocoa butter,” my nickname in high school, and talks of Coca Cola and Conde Nast magazines). And I adore The Morning Benders‘ cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” which is just stellar. Seriously. This is a mix of songs I’ve just been digging, and I hope you’ll like it too.

Coming up (maybe even tonight!), details on my rising status as a fashion maven; my newfound obsession in television title cards; and much, much more.

Happy listening and hella happy times!