Your day breaks, your mind aches

I've been making a little headway on my iTunes domination. So far, I've made it through the "A"s and am into the "B"s, which is by far my most extensive letter due to the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Bob Marley...

I've gotten through the B-52s, the Band, Band of Horses, the Beach Boys, and 14 out of my 21 Beatles albums. On another note, B*Witched and Backstreet Boys have set my roommates and I into a whirlwind 90s revival/nostalgia trip.

Crazy little woman in a one man show

I have begun a venture of the iTunes variety; turns out it is a great undertaking indeed:

I will not only be listening to each and every one of the currently 6,603 songs on my iTunes in alphabetical order (which would take 16.5 days as is if I listened non-stop), but I will also be verifying that their title/artist/album artwork information is correct, adding the years they were recorded, and deleting songs that shouldn't be there (ie bad iTunes freebees).

So far, I am almost done with the "A" section. I started three days ago. Highlights included the Aggrolites, America, Andrew Bird, and the Aquabats. Here is what I've discovered:

1. Andrew Bird is kind of weird, and hard to classify genre-wise on my iTunes (I think I put Alternative? or Adult Contemporary?)

2. Vs. The Floating Eye Of Death is my least favorite Aquabats album

3. I like America a lot more than I remembered

4. I don't like it when the Aggrolites use too much organ in their instrumental stuff... too calypso-y

5. I LOVE the Arcade Fire a lot more than I thought I did

6. Architecture in Helsinki is kind of sucky

And that is all for now :)

She comes in colors everywhere, she combs her hair, she's like a rainbow

Love this picture; I would be thrilled if anyone would venture to try and name these "moods."

Nothing ever slows down and a mess is not allowed

I'm obsessed with terrariums. I need to make some, stat!

I went lickety-splickly out to my old '55

(click the pic to see the business on the right)

I love L.A. and car chases that distract me from studying Chemistry!

update: his MySpace says it wasn't him in the Bentley, but w/e. Who shoots themselves in a Bentley?

Tripped upon the land 'til enough was enough

There's been this psychedelic resurgence in music in recent years, in particular; since Rolling Stone announced it, I guess it's no secret that Laurel Canyon and Topanga Canyon are "happening places" once again - and fairly big players in this musical movement, but I never thought they lost it. The best Southern California excursions take place in the canyons; the scenery, people, shopping, and music are all beautiful. To stray from this topic for a second, over the summer, my best friend and I saw Rilo Kiley perform at the Greek. Now, for a little six degrees of separation, the first opening act (Benji Hughes not Lavender Diamond) featured guitarist Jonathan Wilson, who was in a band with Benji Hughes called Muscadine. I'm not sure if that band is defunct, but Jonathan Wilson does a lot of solo stuff now. Jonathan Wilson holds these ridiculous jam sessions at his house (in L. Cyn.) with Chris Robinson which have drawn Wilco, other members of the Black Crowes, Gary Louris/the Jayhawks (one of my favorite bands), Whispertown2000 (who also have connections with Blake Sennett of Rilo Kiley), Jonathan Rice, and Jenny Lewis (and my aunt, but that's a story for another day).

Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice collaborated on a rendition of Little Boxes for Season 2 (I believe) of Weeds. They collaborated very closely on Acid Tongue/are now a couple. At last year's Topanga Days festival, Jonathan Wilson, Jonathan Rice, and Gary Louris all performed together. These are some pictures I took at Topanga Days:

the crowd

Jonathan Wilson

Gary Louris of the Jayhawks (I was SO star-struck when I saw him!)

Jonathan Wilson with Jonathan Rice (I don't remember the bassist's name on the right)

All of these people are amazing, yet somewhat underrated, musicians. Anyway, here's a great Jonathan Wilson video. It's a little long, but I recommend watching the whole thing: 

I really like this video's Dionysus thing that starts around four minutes, really interesting. I definitely recommend checking out Jonathan Wilson's website, in addition to Whispertown2000 (I've been listening to their newest album Swim, which is pretty good), the Entrance Band, Golden Animals, and Spindrift. Not all from Laurel Canyon necessarily, but all good bands in the nouveau-psychedelia vein.

Don't you realize that I wouldn’t pause, that I would cut him down with my claws

Inspiration:

Where my girls at, from the front to back

This was a really good weekend! Of course, I didn't really get any homework done, but hopefully I will remedy that in a couple of minutes. Here's the play-by-play:

Thursday, the roomie and I stayed home and played Guitar Hero and watched Weeds and didn't do homework. Friday, after I got home form work, we went to the Beverly Center and went shopping. I got some tights from H&M and a drape-y sweater vest kind of thing from Forever 21. This is the closest picture I can find, but it doesn't have a belt or look that cheap in real life: 

Also, my new boots came in the mail! Saturday, we went to Santa Monica to hit up Urban Outfitters. I don't exactly have money to be spending, but I found a really cute Grey Antics jacket on sale 

and a sweater I couldn't live without. I can't find a picture of the sweater, but here's what the back looks like: 

We went to Yummy Cupcakes for lunch (we got a red velvet and a vanilla blackberry). For dinner, the roomie and I went to Wartung Cafe in the fashion district with a couple friends and then to the basketball game against Cal. Sunday, I got breakfast with my Grandma at Alcove Cafe. I got the brioche french toast, which was quite yummy, but not my favorite thing there. 

That is all. :)