The Girly Trifecta

I've been in love with Leona Lewis since December 2006, and "Bleeding Love" is finally blowing up over here.

Sara Bareilles has had my heart since Bill played her for me in September 2007 - and now "Love Song" is all over Radio One.

But since my top two Sirius stations are the US and UK pop stations, my girls crisscrossing the Atlantic means it's getting a little samey.

And I heard my third favorite girl just this morning, so the writing's on the wall.



(So who's the latest love of your life?)

Weekly Roundup: Filthy Gorgeous

More cleaning out of the del.icio.us, two categories this time:

Kitcheny

• The Perfect Pantry
• The Cook's Thesaurus
  
• Pea soup from a Fug Girl
• Something to do with spaghetti squash
• Cookies for a cause
• Pretty
  

Techie

• Woot (now with Woot Wine!)
  
• Slickdeals
• A card reader that makes me go oooh

And a reminder: for getting back into yourself, sweat and endorphins help. Filthy feels gorgeous. And I am definitely filthy.



Lastly and very, very importantly, a stunningly happy birthday to Sac. Filthy/gorgeous indeed. I know you had a wonderful day.

Happy Summer: Soundtrack Edition

I don't think I've ever linked to a Myspace music profile, but I'm completely in love with a song El just sent me.

(It's from a Brooklyn reggae kid, it's on the French dance charts - it's weird, of course I like it!)

But really - go listen to Nicco's Destination and tell me you're not ready for summer.

Signs of the Apocalypse: Musical Edition

I am in love, this week, with two things that I NEVER thought I would be.

One: the latest Coldplay song. "Violet Hill" is amazing.



Two: a cover of "Beat It". By Fall Out Boy.



If these things come in threes, I can't wait to see what the third thing I fall for will be.

Classic Examples IV: Songs

There are a few pretty perfect songs. The ones that break your heart a little bit every time you hear them. And not because of what they remind you of... that's different. These are just so altogether right that it makes you believe a little bit in divine inspiration.

One is Etta James' "At Last."

Another is Rufus Wainwright's cover of "Hallelujah."

I'd put a few others on my list. Tony Bennett's "The Way You Look Tonight." Lennon's "Beautiful Boy." Jackson Browne's "The Pretender." Dire Straits' "Romeo and Juliet."

What's your perfect song?
(spark via)

Southern Comfort

Up way too late, floor shaking, hair sticking to the back of your neck, a little bit sore, hoarse and exhausted from screaming and laughing for two hours.

There are two things that do this.

One is a Cowboy Mouth show.

I'd forgotten. I'd thought I was over it. I thought they'd lost their touch.

Nope.

Their music is great - but the best thing you can say about listening to their albums is that they remind you of their live shows. So much energy. So much fun. Just unbelievable.

(And - for people who've known about them for a while: I miss Rob Savoy and Paul Sanchez, but Regina Zernay was amazing, and JP Pretus was a lot of fun. And - as always at their shows - I ran into friends who I haven't talked to in forever.)

So yeah. I'm exhausted, but my ears have stopped buzzing and my voice is coming back. And in a week where the R&B download charts are topped by Ashley Alexandra Dupre, and my Twitter feed this morning included

snoopdogg imma be on THE VIEW tomorrow mornin - checc it out

Yeah, sometimes it's nice to have the just plain good stuff.

New Music Tuesday: Dueling Titles

Tricked by my iPod.

I went looking for Mickey Factz "Heartbeat"... and got Scouting for Girls "Heartbeat" instead.

Which wasn't what I wanted, but was actually pretty good in its own way. Serendipity.

Neither's on iTunes, but here are some ghetto deep links.

• Mickey's
• SfG's
  

Which one do you like?

(Oh, and while I'm here? Apart from bands, MySpace is so 2005. Get a Facebook, would you?)

Can I Be Sarah Silverman?

Not only for the obvious reason here, of course. But also because I thought I loved Matt Damon plenty, till it became clear I wasn't loving him nearly enough. And for her part in that, I thank her.

Top Three

Brief thoughts on some chart toppers.

Zero redeeming value and an instant throwback to 1997. Therefore will immediately and irreversibly get stuck in your head.


The bluesy Brit phase continues; now with less drug paraphernalia!


My crush continues. Call me, Lupe.

Weekly Roundup: Sweet Things

Baby bears are irresistable cute. (And if you speak German you can name the baby.)

- - -


Was Ashton Kutcher always hiding those triceps under his ironic t-shirts?

- - -


I've loved "Elvis Ain't Dead" for a couple of months - and it finally occurred to me to see what else Scouting for Girls had. All their songs are adorable.

- - -

A melancholy little article about how we struggle to find someplace to call home, and to give that to others.

- - -

Looking for something extra sweet? Check out Two Smart Cookies. You know you want some.

Here Come the Girls

Love this song. (Via Popbitch.)

Weekly Roundup: Multiple Personality Edition

Idle Curiosity asks...

• How much does it hurt after you get kneed in the quad by someone almost a foot bigger than you? Sub-question: is it weird to find it comforting that your leg hurt his knee, too?
  
• How elderly are you when someone who was in kindergarten when you were in college now has a college boyfriend of her own?
• For serious, do there need to be American Girl history dolls devoted to the far-off era of the 1970s?
  

Voice of Experience answers...

• Even more than you'd have thought. Also, no it isn't.
  
• Very. But that's okay.
• No. But perhaps this is additional proof of the elderly-ness.
  

Music Snob notes that...

• There may be a great big junior-high-style crush on Lupe Fiasco going on right now.
  
• The JXL remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" remains pretty fantastic.
• Fort Minor is fun (but as a Linkin Park side project it's not shocking).
  

Serious Note points out...

• That if you donate $3 to DarfurFast, you can protect a Darfuri civilian for a year. It's a guard for a mother to collect cooking firewood without being raped or killed by militia. On December 5, give up one of your little luxuries and send the money here.

Amateur Psychologist decides...

• Sarah will now get back to decking her halls, and will try not to be too topsy-turvy and happy-sad because it's been a long weekend full of quite a lot of stuff.

Weekly Roundup: Playlist Edition

I'm alone, which means I'm singing. Here's some of what's on my "songs of the week" playlist....

You maybe have noticed that I have a thing for pop (see also Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love"). Really more of a shameless, flagrant, head-over-heels adoration. Therefore:

• Ashley Tisdale, "He Said She Said." YouTube.
• Colbie Caillat, "Bubbly." YouTube.
• Rooney, "When Did Your Heart Go Missing." YouTube.
  

But I'm not usually a massive fan of covers or live versions. However, you maybe also have noticed that if I make a statement I am generally going to cross it at some point. Therefore:

• Lemar and Jamelia, "Addicted to Love," from the 2005 Brits. Download.
• Plain White T's, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow." Download.
  

I have always, however, been a huge fan of the throwback. Therefore:

• L.L. Cool J, "Around the Way Girl." YouTube.
• Run DMC, "Run's House." YouTube.

If you're looking for longer distractions, I just added Mickey Factz "Heaven's Fallout" to "albums of the week". I mostly can't be bothered with the unsigned-artist thing, but it's growing on me enough to give it a chance.

And before that, the "Across the Universe" soundtrack. I didn't like it much till I saw the movie. Now... it's another of those flagrant head-over-heels things. I like those.

Try To Not Get This Stuck in Your Head

Happy Friday Videos

If these don't make you smile, you may not have a soul.


(I have a new grudging respect for James Blunt. Also maybe a little crush.)


(Snowball's story is here.)

(Both via popbitch)

Spam Subject Line of the Day

Moby Wants You To Be a Degenerate

Currently on Repeat: I Like It

Weekly Roundup: Supersized, with Extra Editorializing

The Definitive 1,000 Songs of All Time, 1955-2005. I don't know why you'd go to the bother of sorting and counting. Frankly, I wouldn't go to the bother of reading it. But the sheer size of the project is pretty impressive. (Seems to have pop-ups, though, even on Firefox. Yuck.)

Vazaar. Social photography, sort of? Like Flickr, but with critiques, and members-only. Mike might like it. Not one of my new favorites, but again, I can see how people might get into it.

Relatedly, let me know if you find a photography class. Something that would teach you how to use all the manual controls on a prosumer digital SLR. I've been looking and calling and finding nothing.

"I Got a Crush... on Obama". (I, too, kinda have a crush on him.) Fascinating to see how user-created media will affect the election. Because they will. Blogs, Youtube, Facebook - they will shape the under-30 voter opinion. Because we trust each other more than mainstream media. (And candidates are catching on.) The question is, will we actually vote? I hope so. As that article says, by 2015 Gen Y (1977-1994) will be 1/3 of the electorate. Wouldn't it be cool if we used all that power?

One Hour No Power. Speaking of power and campaign issues. Noon on July 1. It's so little. But it makes you think.

Tickle. If you need to fill your day. (Karen.) Lots, and lots, and lots, of quizzes. (I'm a "Cultural Traveler," it's "Puppy Love," and my true talent is "Verbal Ability.")

The Impossible Quiz. If you really need to fill your day. Thanks to Tracy, I got to 40 before my brain started to melt out my ears. (Damn. Now I'm sucked in again. This time I got to 63.)

Where Daft Punk Got Their Samples From. Fun. If you like them.

Unazukin. I want one. It's a Magic 8 Ball and a Russian nesting doll all in one.

Nabaztag . Similar, but I don't get it at all. Peter? Can you explain?

Facebook. Seems to be becoming the new Myspace like Myspace became the new Friendster? At what point will I tip and move over? And where do Orkut or Bebo fit in?

Trojan "Evolve" ad. Love it. And because I'll get whined at if I don't, here.

Groove Armada feat. Mutya Buena, "Out of Control (Song for Mutya)." Love it.

I Have Got to Get Me One of These

Oh my goodness, I'm a big sniffly mess.

Weekly Roundup: Spring Cleaning Edition

The only thing left dirty in this house is me.

So in keeping with the theme, let's see how much random deli.cio.us clutter I can clean out.

• Etsy (via finslippy I think) all manner of gorgeous handmade shoppery, and also for "I could totally do that why don't I already" inspiration. Honestly it's mostly a little craftsy for my taste, but even so it's really beautiful stuff. And I could play with the geolocator and the color sorter forever.
  
• SpaceSavers (via Karen) if you, like her, need stuff for your stuff.
• Distilled (via Jilly) because her friend Sep did this as well as last Sunday's LoveLines. I really like his style. (Although some of the clothes look a little too consciously downmarket. I'm not going to Fred Segal to buy a stripey polo, you know? But I love the turtle. And that hoodie with a satin Asian-print trim makes me go oooh.)
  
• You know by now I'm a sucker for "Whose Line." So this clip cracks my shit up.
• I've been totally addicted to Angela Kinsey's blog for months. The other Office blogs are sometimes funny too, but hers is the best.
  
• I got spammed with the link to these Bill Richardson ads, so I dislike that I'm passing it on because I'm making spam work. But the thing is, I really like them.
• I totally want a ladybug mouse.
• Also, these droplet-shaped waterproof iPod holders/speakers are pretty adorable. But I don't know if I'd really bring my iPod into the bathroom.
• I guess nobody needs to have an iPod at dinner either, but the idea is cool. It reminds me of that dinner in the dark concept - a multisensory way to heighten the experience of eating. Weird as hell and totally impractical, but interesting.
  
• I finally got on the Twitter bandwagon. See the widget at right. I'm not totally into it, but I'll play around for a while. If you are too, let me know.
• Also at right is the VisualDNA widget from Imagini (via Amber). It's gorgeous fun and best if you don't read too much but just go and do it. And when you do, I want to see!
• I saw Henry V this week at the Shakespeare Theatre, and as always it was totally amazing. I've got a season package again, so if you want to go, let me know. (And if you think I'm insufferable and weird, don't.)
• Seems kids who text are losing their ability to write complex thoughts well. Sad. But I question causality. Is it the fault of texting, or is it the fault of schools and parents who provide kids technology - like slapping them in front of the TV all day long - without also reading to them and teaching them grammar?
• According to this we learn mostly by teaching and doing and conversing. But it doesn't mention how I learn best, which is by writing. Am I weird? (...don't answer that.)
  

Wow, that was a lot. Good, because I'll be all over the place for the next couple of weeks and now I won't feel guilty if I don't blog. There you go. Have fun this week. And don't forget to donate for Tracy!

....Oops, almost forgot.

Being a mama looks like an awful hard job, and I know a lot of people who make it look easy.

I've learned something from every mom I know, including mine.

Happy Mother's Day.

(And, one last link if you're a shopping mama. Or even if not, actually. I think I need this shirt. Also possibly this bag.)

Oops, one more. Because he felt left out, this is a link just for Brian.

Oh damn. Last one, I swear. Please send getting-better wishes to poor Tommy!

Edited to add: I don't know why I've had to use "totally" so many times. Why am I so 80s?