cliff hasn't been 'all right' since the lunar war.

thanks to tom @bostontweet for reminding us to never forget.

la la la you sang to me.

when I was 12 years old I got my very first cd player for christmas.  i became obsessed with buying cd's. and very soon after that, something huge happened: clueless came out. i loved and still love that movie.  i could forever praise whoever styled that movie but this is about something else: the soundtrack.  as i write this, i'm listening to it and i can picture 13 year old me listening to that soundtrack on repeat in my bedroom.  the early to mid-nineties was obviously an amazing time for music and the movie soundtrack was no exception... here's some highlights:

 //kids in america - the muffs //the ghost in you - counting crows//mullet head - beastie boys//where'd you go - the mighty might bosstones //rollin' with my homies - coolio // alright - supergrass//supermodel - jill sobule

now try and tell me you can't see cher (alicia silverstone) ranting about boys in baggy pants while world party "all the young dudes" is playing, or brittany murphy tumbling down the stairs at the mighty might bosstones show, or cher and paul rudd falling in love in the car over radiohead "fake plastic trees."  i love how music can bring you right back to very specific moments. and ps - look at paul rudd now... from vanity fair:

another soundtrack I have to mention is from the movie angus.  It's certainly a less-known movie but it is nineties perfection and i suggest you get it in your netflix queue right now. before you forget.  angus gave us green day "J.A.R" and my favorite weezer "you gave your love to me softly." what more can you really ask for?

soundtracks became less important for awhile (although one of my al-time favorite songs came from meet the deedles soundtrack: rivers cuomo side project homie - "american girls.") 

but then came garden state.  people lost their minds over that film and soundtrack. which i get. it's really good. check it out here .  I'm so happy soundstracks are back.  i remember cameron crowe saying how much consideration he put into the soundtrack of elizabethtown - and it was a great soundtrack, but maybe he should have put equal consideration into making a better movie. just sayin'. here's a sampling of my recent favorites:

karen o and the kids: all is love (where the wild things are) yikes. i'm crying. please listen below. it's a beaut.

arcade fire: wake up (where the wild things are) sniffle

bright eyes: we are nowhere and it's now (knocked up)

and of course, {500} days of summer.  regina spektor, the smiths, doves, hall&oates - here just have yourself a listen.

images via google images

he wears his heart safety pinned to his backpack.

here it is... the "what's in my bag" post that all girl blogs do and i always love. so here goes:

the bag itself is this really awesome dark brown leather that's so soft and old-looking i want to wrap my non-existant baby up in it. and the lining's pretty sweet too, right?!

so on the inside:

mini sewing kit
green faux croc skin wallet
advil for those bitchy hangovers
Stride forever fruit gum (it is so good. trust)
the necklace i wore to work today
gold leaf necklace that was hanging out in the bottom of my bag
spectacles
ipod nano - playing bright eyes -"waste of paint". warning: do not listen to bright eyes if you are anything but happy. your eyes will leak in public if not. (testimonial? perhaps)cherry chapstick - i prefer original but the white hen only had cherry. it's katy perry's fault.
mac lipstick in syrup
mac dazzleglass in a59

baby holga camera
random hair clips/elastics
LeSportsac robot cosmetics case - totally, awesome right?
hologram happy birthday postcard from my brother.
h&m fingerless mittens
dansko spray hand sanitizer - it is the best - get some. it can double as pepper spray for those creeps you meet in the bar
little monster key chain that hangs on my bag - a gift from my favorite little british monster ;)
oh yeah. and my totally beat up, no internet, taped together phone.

a handful of sunshine.

winter and i have a bit of a love-hate relationship. on the day of the first snow fall, it's like magic and a fairy tale as i listen to a snowflake fell (and it felt like a kiss) by glasvegas and i am in love. somehow, inexplicably in love, and dancing and twirling and getting caught up in the snow globe moment. then, i remember i don't own a scraper for my car or practical boots. and every time i want to go do something, it's disgusting out and i want to punch someone. okay, i will be the first to admit i have a bit of seasonal affective disorder.

but not anymore. why? because i walked into cvs one day and an array of the brightest and prettiest and most amazing nail polishes called my name. i was like a moth to the highly flammable bottles of  fluorescent candy colored lacquer.

 [note: the polishes above are not the same ones that i saw in my second favorite drug store, but the colors were similar so i went for it.]

let me backtrack for a moment. months ago (probably almost a year ago), i coveted a very particular o.p.i spring green varnish that i stumbled upon on my way out of a nail salon. i searched for it everywhere and anywhere and found many imitators, but not "the one." a girl obsessed, i purchased every bottle of green nail polish i could get my hands on and like a mad cosmetologist, i mixed a shimmery chartreuse with a dark pine and layered sheer asparagus glosses over matte hunter greens... alas, nothing i tried gave me the effect that i sought. until now.

you might think that wearing bright yellow or leafy green on your nails in the dead of  icy winter is silly, but i am here to tell you that you are wrong. please, please, please, discard your inky black, indigo blue, and eggplant polishes and replace them with the oranges, pinks, yellows, and greens of spring and summer. something about the contrast and pop of mellow yellow against the bleak gray sky makes me smile on the inside.

it's primitive and tribal... if you look you can find it.

on a recent trip to nyc, i was lucky enough to see the off-broadway production: altar boyz. altar boyz is the story of 5 friends: matthew, mark, luke, juan and abraham (sounds familiar for some reason?) who form a catholic boy band. with songs like, “girl, you make me wanna wait,” “church rulez” and “jesus called me on my cell phone” i don’t know why i was expecting anything less than to laugh til my tummy hurt. one review called the show “a perfect musical – no questions asked.” i couldn’t agree more. the cast has changed throughout the show’s 5 year run. cheyenne jackson who i’m sure know from 30 rock (robot street performer! swoon…) was part of the original cast of altar boyz.

at the performance i attended – you may recognize this adorable dude…

but the real standout was this man: who plays a gay, catholic altar boy… his solo “epiphany,” was my favorite of the entire performance.

after 5 years, altar boyz closed just 18 days ago on january 10, 2010. if it ever comes back and you enjoy fun, do not miss it! for now, check out some silly youtube clips or visit the official website here.

images found here

the good, the bad, the ugly. the smiles, the laughs, the funny.

nevershoutnever (cutiepie above... and that's me on the far left) is christofer drew - a pretty badass almost 19 year old vegan from missouri.  his album is being produced by butch walker and he just won an mtvU woodie award.  mostly the teen girls love him but i can't resist the latest song "what is love?".  watch the video below... it was filmed in just about 45 minutes in a park in connecticut.  and if you look reallyclose at 1:46 you will see my brother who manages chris!

and from a lover of love... what is love to you?

our aspirations, are wrapped up in books.

one of my bad habits (in addition to: not washing my retainer, eating cookies in my bed {mint milanos!}, and pulling at my split ends) is reading 3 or more books at a time.  here’s what (and when) i’m reading:

downtown owl, a novel by chuck klosterman. this book is perfect for reading on a lazy sunday, while eating chicken noodle soup on the couch in my jammies. 


bloodsucking fiends, by christopher moore. i'm reading this during my lunch break at work. it’s about vampires but nothing at all like twilight. the next in the series is called you suck. i’m mostly excited to flash it at my co-workers when they ask what i’m reading. it’s the small pleasures in life.


the art of scandal: the life and times of isabella stewart gardner by douglas shand-tucci. i love the isabella stewart gardner museum in boston - it's so pretty, i feel like i'm inside of great expectations when i'm there... i picked this book up at the library... it's big and has a crinkly plastic cover on it - who could resist that?
 
images via weheartit and google images

i told you to be kind.

bon iver  i discovered bon iver on a trip to my parents house in whitman last year.  bon iver? Parent’s house? i realize this sentence is somewhat confusing – who discovers amazing music at their parent’s house in a 55+ community in whitman? i do! the simple answer here is that on holidays and random other trips home both my brother and i use our parents mac mini and frequently upload music in the itunes there.    mostly i brush past my brother’s lookatthatfinghipster music but sometimes there is reason enough to have a listen and possibly even add to my ipod.  it’s hard for me to describe bon iver, except to say it is pure love! bon iver is the concept of one man – justin vernon – who recorded all the tracks on his own. after battling mono and much worse – heartbreak, vernon moved into his family’s cabin in the woods of wisconsin .  he planned to just spend the time recovering and being alone.  he never intended for the album to even be produced, but thank goodness it was!  as any of my friends can tell you – i am a true romantic who wears my heart on my sleeve – so the story of the making of for emma, forever ago – the title of bon iver’s album, is so beautiful, i had no choice but to love it.  my favorite tracks are creature fear and skinny love.  If you’re thirsty (word!) for more bon iver, check out the song “roslyn” he recorded with st. vincent for the new moon soundtrack.  ooo vampires! ooo robert pattinson! here's skinny love.  it reminds me of a new love. one that just can't take off.  a little sad. a little hopeful.

for the love of robots.