…for 2004 – since this seems to be the “in” thing to do right now. and because i like to call cd’s “records” – yeah, i kick it old school.

here goes:

01. muse – absolution, origin of symmetry, and showbiz (this is one of my obsessive bands right now)

02. ours – precious, distorted lullabies (i would cut off my right arm to have jimmy gnecco’s voicebox)

03. prince – musicology (call, call my name)

04. U2 – how to dismantle an atomic bomb

05. the white stripes – elephant

06. diana krall – the girl in the other room (nice elvis costello vibe happening here)

07. the secret machines – now here is nowhere

08. ryan adams – love is hell part 1 & part 2

09. chris cornell – euphoria morning (another kick in my voice box)

10. butch walker – letters (yes, even though toned down – still great songs)

11. keith jarret – the kohn concert

12. the walkmen – bows + arrows (yeah, jared turned me on to this)

13. jamie cullum – twentysomething (great when the sheets are clean)

14. joey seales – songs i wrote for myself

so, that’s all i could think of for now. maybe not as hip as jared’s list, but why try to compete with that level of unattainable cool.

…have i just written these lists when joey is the only person who will read them?

good question.

not that anyone is posing it, beside the imaginary people/audience inside my head. but dont we always have an audience in our heads? aren’t we all filmed before a live studio audience, dancing around as if we were performing before some camera plugged into the collective conscious of the media and culture, disseminated through countless tubes and screens over airwaves, satellites and cables? television and the media is the new panopticon. and we are all in imprisoned in it.

yes. and if you, my ignorant fellow prisoner, dont understand those last two sentences, then google jeremy bentham.

i think that maybe someone will read this blog. maybe. sometime in the future. somebody will find us here. and maybe they will think that i am more hip because of my selective music taste. and references to 19th century philosphers. because thats the whole point right? for people to think we are hip. for people to think we got our crap together and know all about whats going on, when in reality its all about fighting to ride shotgun in a car crash. competing and competing for something thats all gonna burn.

so enjoy my list. and have a fantastic new year.

favorite vinyl records i discovered this year…

the cure – disentegration

louis armstrong – satchmo on stage

ray charles – the genius of ray charles

sinatra & dorsey – the stordahl sessions

the clash – combat rock

the pixies – doolittle

the black heart procession – amore del tropico

ella fitzgerald – like someone in love

…ok, maybe 14, that i listened to this year.

in no particular order, because i cant pick a favorite.

01. calla – televise

02. calla – scavengers

03. wilco – a ghost is born

04. the walkmen – bows + arrows

05. the walkmen – everyone who pretended to like me is gone.

06. the arcade fire – funeral

07. sufjan stevens – michigan

08. sufjan stevens – seven swans

09. death cab for cutie – transatlanticism

10. muse – absolution

11. spartan fidelity – spartan fidelity

12. m. ward – transfiguration of vincent

13. devendra banhart – rejoicing in the hands & nino rojo

…things about 2004.

10. getting rejected by every single girl i asked out this year. really.

09. teaching a whole semester in which no student ever took notes during any of my lectures.

08. spending a whole semester in an office but not really gaining any more weight.

07. the kick ass red vintage schwinn bicycle that kept me from gaining any more weight.

06. my kick ass imac g5 + ipod

05. music.

04. meeting and fallling head over heels in love with joey seales.

03. impregnating him and birthing the beautiful bouncing boy that is the MARVELOUS COLLECTIVE.

02. spending most of the year as a janitor on the night shift.

01. i cant decide what #01 should be.

this is my thought for the day… don’t worry, you won’t be pelted with these each and every day. just when i have something on my noggin i think worthy of passing along.

as i was watching the final episode of survivor (yes, i watch it like a madman – get over it – i’m a suspense junkie) that i conveniently tivo’d (yes, i tivo – get over it – i’m a convenience junkie) a good life, and spiritual lesson spewed forth from the old lesbian woman…

once a fault is found in someone, most of us become so self righteous. either by telling ourselves we would never do or say such a thing or wondering how someone else could. i would never swear on my son’s name. i can’t believe she did that, that’s horrible.

the irony surfaces when we realize that our human nature is inherently wrong most of the time. if we are so self-righteous above others, why don’t we act truely righteous and actually forgive?

that’s all.

…because i cant get enough of this, nor can i figure it out.

but who knows, maybe pink elephants cant figure us out, either.

for as many people that do this on a day to day, hour to hour basis, i really thought i would be able to pick it up quicker. however, ive had a lot of difficulty with figuring out just how this thing works. especially with the images. joey doesnt seem to have a problem at all. and maybe its technology coming back around to bite me in the butt, striking vengence for my all too often denial of its allure. but i own a microwave. a toaster. even a little hand held mini dvd player. and i am an avid computer user. in fact, i spend way too much time using my computer. what else could technology want? my blood? my tears? my first born? my soul? yes, thats it. my soul. and yours too. because not only is technology a bastard, but he is a melodramatic one at that. and if technology had a face, who do you think he would look like? you hear that satan is a beautiful being, and i cant help but think that technology has a pretty decent mugg, too. you need something really pretty to mask all that evil. i dunno. jeff goldbloom might play a good “technology” in a sunday afternoon movie. not that he is pretty. or even man-pretty. he just, ah, yes, ah, um, slipped, no, popped, into my, er, head, yes, cranial cav-i-ty? (thats my best jeff goldblum impression). hey, you didnt pay any admission for this show, so quiet complaining. you know where the door is. you dont have to see, or read, my goldblum impressions. or my charlie sheens. not that i am doing charlie sheen. or would even know where to begin. oh, i have one of those cool toaster ovens, too. a good friend gave it to me. i like making pillsbury straight from the freezer biscuits in it.

…made, discarded and found somewhere in south louisiana…

…of a sister who was and is yet to be…