the hypothetical wren

Entries in here will be light to nonexistent for the next week or so, as I attempt to do the following things before Friday:

• grade the rest of the papers
• read one 500-page and one 300-page book, and write a six-page comparative review for them
• hold a review session
• research and write a ten-page paper
• and, also, the normal reading for class
• fill out and turn in my program of study so I can take comps next fall

Some of these I put off until the last minute to concentrate instead on thesis research. Others were last-minute additions to the schedule. Either way, that’s a lot of work. I think I can get it done I’m fairly organized about it, but I will be very glad when next Wednesday (the 11th) rolls around, since that’s my last day of official school activity for the semester.

Even though I had a lot to do today, I still went to go see a movie today. I saw The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill at the Guild, since I couldn’t think of another opportunity I would have to see it this week. I don’t really have time to give a detailed review at the moment (brain hurts), but I liked it a lot. I like documentaries, I like birds, and I like San Francisco, so if you like any of those things, you should go see it, as well.

Google Print is up and working! You can search through hillions and skillions of books right from bed, from the bathroom, or wherever it is that you spend your special Internet time. I spent some time searching for important search terms for various things I’m working on, and it brought up all sorts of books that I hadn’t heard of before. With Google Print open in one window, and Libros open in the other, I can be in lazy-researcher heaven.

It’s 6:30 a.m., and I’m trying to get ready to drive back to ABQ (coffee is helping only mildly at the moment) in time to go to class this morning (perhaps a lost cause), but the thing that I’m spending the most time thinkng about this morning (to the detriment of actual productive work) is whether or not I should buy another pair of the sandals I bought a few weeks ago, this time in turquoise.

Shoes are an important thing, though. If you don’t have comfortable feet, your brain (or at least my brain) doesn’t work right, and you (read: me) start slacking off or staring into space. Chaos ensues. So, I believe that it is crucial to my professional future that I get turquoise sandals. There. I talked myself into them. Now, to see if any local stores carry them (Terra Firma only had other colors, the last time I checked.)

I’m still in Roswell. I intended to leave this afternoon, but there’s still some things wrong with my car, enough things wrong that my stepdad has ceded responsibility for the repairs to the local Toyota dealership. Depending on when they finish, I’ll leave either tonight or early tomorrow morning.

I should have brought more schoolwork with me, since I’ve been here longer than I thought, but oh well. It’s been a nice break from my usual school-schoolwork-sleep-coffee-repeat-repeat-repeat thing. I’ve spent most of my time watching TV and downloading music off of the internet.

Here’s a good listing of various mp3 blogs: London Leben’s 268 Splendid mp3 Blogs; which is a decent replacement for/accompaniment to the mp3 Blogs Aggregator.

I also like The Thirties Jukejoint, a site where you can download the top songs in the United States during the 1930s. Everyone’s iPod needs copies of “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” or “The NRA Blues.” (That’s NRA as in National Recovery Administration, instead of what you might normally associate that acronym with.)

I just noticed that there’s a “Most Played Songs” setting on my iPod. I looked at its list, and what surprises me is that while I like the songs that appear on this list, I wouldn’t identify any of them as my most favorite songs ever, or even songs that I listen to a lot. I’m not sure how the machine calculates this list, but it’s an odd one. Does it know more about me that I know about myself?

A Big Excerpt from the Most-Played List:

1. “Witch Doctor,” by David Seville. The guy who did the voices of Alvin and the Chipmunks. This is a good song for walking to and from class with, but it seems wrong for it to be the most played song on my iPod…
2. “Somewhere in the Night,” by Smog, off of The Doctor Came At Dawn. Again, another good (albeit creepy) song, but hardly a favorite. Off of the only Smog album I like.
3. “Palmcorder Yajna,” by The Mountain Goats. I like this song a lot, so it’s not surprising that it’s on this list. It mentions both soda and a TraveLodge, so you know that it’s not your ordinary song. Unfortunately, I didn’t like that many other songs on We Shall All Be Healed. This seems to be a pattern in my long experience with John Darnielle’s work. Each album has at least one great song (the best of all being “The Best Death-Metal Band in Denton” off All Hail West Texas), and a lot that are just merely okay. Anyway, you can hear “Palmcorder Yajna” here.
4. “Milking,” by Deerhoof. Another song I like a lot, although I don’t like anything else that they’ve done all that much. Loud guitars and singing about saving preadolescent royalty. Just like the above song, you can hear this song here.
5. “More Than A Feeling,” Boston. I like this song, but if you actually came out and asked me in person if I liked this song, I would deny it adamantly.
6. “Something Else Again,” by Roy Montgomery. I love Roy, but I don’t even remember the last time I heard this on the iPod, and there are many other songs of his I like more. There has to be some sort of calculation error here.

I’m trying to grade papers, but I don’t really want to, so I’m amenable to any sort of distraction at the moment. Like this: a comprehensive set of mp3s for every song, jingle, weird end-credit music, or other themes that have appeared on The Simpsons. My iPod — and, by extension, your iPod or iPod wannabe — would not be complete without the Stonecutters song, “Monorail!”, the Sonic Youth version of the end credits or other songs I always remember when I’m trying to recall something else. Minutes of fun to be found here, or hours if you have a slow connection.