futurama

The Dunce Cap: Dec. 27, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image from Toothpaste for Dinner

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 30: The sun is up – I’m so fizzy, I could burst! (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks)

1. “Mint Car” – The Cure
2. “Sun in an Empty Room” – The Weakerthans
3. “Happiness Writes White” – Harvey Danger
4. “Graduate” – Third Eye Blind
5. “New York, New York” – Ryan Adams
6. “The Sweet Part of the City” – The Hold Steady
7. “Back in the Saddle” – Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
8. “All the Young Dudes” – Mott the Hoople
9. “Work” – Jimmy Eat World
10. “Kick Some Ass” – Stroke 9
11. “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly” – Weezer
12. “Some Fantastic” – Barenaked Ladies
13. “Popular Mechanics for Lovers” – Beulah
14. “Magic Boyfriend” – Matt Pond PA
15. “Let’s Dance” – David Bowie
16. “Star Bodies” – The New Pornographers
17. “Doing All the Things That Wouldn’t Make Your Parents Proud” – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
18. “Atlantis” – Donovan
19. “Sugar Daddy” – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Broadway OST)
20. “More Adventurous” – Rilo Kiley
21. “To Be Surprised” – Sondre Lerche

Well, it’s the 30th Dunce Cap of all time, and it’s the last of the year – I feel like this should be a celebratory moment! As I talked about rather extensively in my last post, this is AN EXCITING BRAND NEW YEAR, and I am ready for all of the excitement and thrall I anticipate it will bring. This mix is themed!, and it’s really a sister post to the Dunce Cap’s New Year’s Resolutions.

Basically, these are 21 songs that I hope will define my 2011. You should mostly be able to catch the gist from the title, but a few may require some explanation and commentary. Many of these songs are actually kind of sad – they’re not literal representations of what I want, but they each have special significance to me. There’s also a division of sorts among songs. An explanation after the jump.

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On Tap: New Year’s Resolutions

in: due time, on: tap

“Now we’re there
And we’ve only just begun
This will be our year
Took a long time to come…”
– The Zombies, “This Will Be Our Year”

This video really got me. YouTube user mitm2002 made a short video from his parents’ Super 8 footage and set it to one of my top three most beloved New Year-related songs, The Zombies’ “This Will Be Our Year.” So good.

Anyway. Today is December 29, 2010, which means I am just two and a half short days from saying good riddance to this – pardon the profanity – completely shittastic year. To be fair, 2010 wasn’t totally awful. There were certainly some ups, particularly in terms of my career, and I have some priceless memories with close friends. And, all in all, it looks like 2010 isn’t ending on a sour note (fingers crossed). But there was much heartache, stress, familial trouble, financial trouble, sleeplessness, et. al., and I’m hoping to close this chapter cleanly.

Regardless, I am incredibly excited for the new year. It’s, in so many ways, a fresh start, and, even more toe-curlingly thrilling, it’s one of those pivotal big years for me. There’s my dreamy winter internship, my 21st birthday, a potential big move, another unbelievable internship (perhaps two?!) and graduation! And I know that everyone says this, every year, but this year – This will be my year.

I’ve never made a list of New Year’s Resolutions before – and I’ve certainly never followed the unspoken ones I’ve made – but for 2011, I’ve composed a list of 21 things I aim to do to make my life happier, healthier and more successful. You really ought to see the physical list. I went all out. It’s colorful and covered with doodles and snide comments. I’ll hang that one on my wall and reproduce it (boringly) below.

Two quick notes – I made the list 21 items long in celebration of my big birthday, and I wrote it in third person. Sue me.

Happy 2011 to you and yours. I hope this year brings untold joy and success.

Love,
The Girl

After the jump, The Girl with the Dunce Cap’s 2011 New Year’s Resolutions.

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