A Poem for Thursday: "Late Fragment" - Raymond Carver

And did you get what

you wanted from this life, even so?

I did.

And what did you want?

To call myself beloved, to feel myself 

beloved on the earth.

Music for your Midweek: Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield

Here's a heartbreak: 

The fastest way to my heart is through Elliott Smith.

A Poem for Thursday: XXVII from In Memorium A.H.H. - Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I envy not in any moods
     The captive void of noble rage,
     the linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the summer woods:

I envy not the beast that takes
     His license in the field of time,
     Unfetter'd by the sense of crime,
To whom a conscience never wakes;

Nor, what may count itself as blest,
     The heart that never plighted troth
     But stagnates in the weeds of sloth,
Nor any want-begotten rest.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
     I feel it when I sorrow most;
     'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

Music For Your Midweek: Journey and George Michael

Bet you didn't expect Journey and George Michael, did ya?!?!

Well this Journey cover is a beauty. Clem Snide elevates it to a new level: 

and here's a bonus cause I've been negligent lately, and I love you. 

Again, Iron and Wine totally transform this song: 

Check out all the AV club covers. There are some hidden gems. 

Some post-valentines day lovin'

All my Valentine's are fictional, but that doesn't mean our love isn't real. 

My dad sent me a Valentine as a text this morning:

The following aren't technically Valentines, they're b-day wishes sent via Katie. 

But they're so great, I just had to include them:

I might be a total plonker on tv, but in real life, I just want you to have a  happy birthday.

I wish I could serve you up a steaming platter of happy birthday.

Parabens, meu bem.

They say I'm more than just a man, but I'm nothing without you.

My heart is lost without you.

You're the black to my white stripes.

A Poem for Thursday: "Having a Coke with You..."

"Having a Coke with You"

is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irun, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne

or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona

partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian

partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt

partly because of the fluorescent orange tulips around the birches

partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary

it is hard to believe when I'm with you that there can be anything as still

as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it

in the warm New York 4 o'clock light we are drifting back and forth

between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles

and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint

you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them

I look

at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world

except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it's in the Frick

which thank heavens you haven't gone to yet so we can go together the first time

and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism

just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase

   or

at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me

and what does all the research of the Impressionists do them

when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank

or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn't pick the rider as carefully

as the horse

it seems they were all cheated of some marvelous experience

which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I'm telling you about it

love

happy valentines day, loves.

Music for your Midweek: Babyshambles

This song; what a mess.
I love it.
Pete Doherty; what a mess.
I love him.

Happy Valentines Day tomorrow.

A Poem for Thursday: "From a Letter to His Daughter" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities
no doubt have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely
and with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

This day is all that is
good and fair.
It is too dear,
with its hopes and invitation,
to wast a moment on yesterdays.

Music for your Midweek: Alt-J

I've been watching on a Tiny Desk Concert binge that you guys get to benefit from. 

Here are some of my greatest loves. Alt-J:

Fun fact. The last song, "Matilda" references Johnny Flynn and one of his songs. 

(The breath I've taken and the one I must)

Johnny Flynn is friends with those Mumford and Sons folks.

I love it when the music world is connected.

What EVERYONE has been asking me...

"Gretchen, what can we get you for your birthday?!?!?!"

Well don't you fret, my loves. Here's a little list to get you started:

1. You can move me to Brooklyn so that I can can get home-delivered seltzer water from this guy. Or I guess you can get me one of those fancy SodaStreams. OOOOHHHH look; this one's shaped like a PENGUIN!

2. An El Camino

Gosh. I can't even explain. I want one so bad. And look at that lovely color. The perfect get-away car.

3. A gigantic bottle of Juicy Couture perfume. 

I mean HUGE. 

Like this: 

I'm a simple girl really, with simple needs.

February Mix: There's a million reasons to leave

Her ya go fellas. Les celebrate ma birf.

1. All My Friends - Stephen Francis
2. Tonight, Tonight - Passion Pit
3. Beauty And A Beat - Justin Bieber Featuring Nicki Minag
4. Left & Right In The Dark - Julian Casablancas
5. The Way We Move - Langhorne Slim
6. No Diggity (Blackstreet cover) - The Klaxons
7. Serpents - Sharon Van Etten
8. Wonder Woman, Wonder Me - Kishi Bashi
9. Itchin' On a Photograph - Grouplove
10. Kids (MGMT Cover) - The Kooks
11. I don't know - Lisa Hannigan
12. I think I Need a New Heart - The Magnetic Fields
13. One Way Trigger - The Strokes
14. Naive (The Kooks) - Lily Allen
15. Feel to Follow - The Maccabees
16. You're Going Back - The Tallest Man
17. Van Helsing Boombox - Man Man

NOTES:
1. This was going to be an all cover mix, but I wanted to include other songs so... We just have Stephen Francis covering LCD Soundsystem, Passion Pit covering Smashing Pumkins, The Klaxons covering Blackstreet, The Kooks covering MGMT, and Lily Allen covering The Kooks. We're all over the place this month, I think it's going to be a theme.
3. aaaaaaaa watch this video and you'll know why i love this soooonnnnnnggggg. We've been practicing these moves regularly, and we actually got a couple down! We're great.
4. Kara is a super bad influence and all we do is talk about how dreamy Julian is. I mean really:

5. I always love a good falsetto. I'm so excited for the new album.

Kids with Guns Pt. 3

While the discussion on guns and regulation is alive and well, it has also mellowed. Everyone has shouted out their statistics and quotes. All of which are bent to benefit whichever side they are trying to defend. Here are some of my favorite articles that have come out on guns. I like them because they come from "regular" people, who are drawing from personal experience. Check them out, and let me know what you think:

"...I am that young woman again, sitting in her truck in a parking lot, alone except for a 911 operator."

Note: There is strong language in this one.

"... political and corporate interests aim at nothing less than 'individualization,' since is is far easier to manipulate a collection of discrete and increasingly independent individuals than a community"

This one mentions Foucoult, so of course, I love it

"I believe that people are basically good, but not all of them all of the time." 

I could see myself becoming like this guy 20 years into the future... or not.

"Gun laws should be somehow created in a way that makes it harder for bad guys to get guns, and easier for law abiding citizens to have them"
Honestly, I don't know if that is possible. What I love/hate about this video, is they keep talking about how it happened in an "ideal" community, a good neighborhood. Almost as though shootings in bad parts of town are not as tragic. Why are we comfortable in making one murder more horrific than another?

"Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important... too many children are dying. Too many children.We must do something"
I'm impressed by Gabrielle Giffords

For other thoughts on guns, check out

Kids with Guns Pt. 1

Kids with Guns Pt. 2