No Clean Underwear

I downloaded Silent Hill yesterday from The Pirate Bay torrents. Someone took the time to make a PC version and give me a reason to play again. The first time I attempted the game on the PSX was back when I was nine. Nine years old. I couldn’t go to sleep for about two weeks after that. One of my summer resolutions is to finally conquer my fear of Silent Hill, but I don’t know if I’m going to follow through. I played for a minute today and closed it right away. Creepily, however, the sound kept playing even after I x’ed everything out. Apparently, I closed the game but not the emulator. I guess it’s a sign of things to come. If you haven’t heard of Silent Hill, it’s basically the scariest game ever. I guess I’m glad I have it on the PC, since it’s about $50 for the PSX now. Do I really want to play? Only in the daytime.

I think I’ll go back to watching Mets/Phillies now. Unless there are crazy Pyramid Heads attacking there as well, in which case, I shall duck behind that little garbage car. The Giants game is on KTVU tonight. Eric Byrnes is secretly my hero. Ahem.

Sometimes, You Have To Be The Boss Of Dancing!

Things that crapped on my day:

• bratty little childrens
• NO LUNCH

Things that made it better:

• John Krasinski (and his cutouts) hosting The Office marathon
• Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve for $15 at Best Buy
• paying for the aforementioned DVD’s with a $20 gift card
• The Format’s “If Work Permits” on repeat

Things that didn’t happen today but which still deserve an honorable mention:

• Episode commentary on The Office Season One DVD (“What does DVD stand for?” “Digital Video Dave.”)
• The birth of Rainn Wilson

Alcohol and Coffee Beans

The Format is offering their album Dog Problems free for download. Yeah, you’d better get excited. News like this deserves three exclamation points. Maybe even four. !!!! I’ve gotten hooked on these guys ever since I heard “Your New Name.” (Thank you, Hype Machine.) I love music for the some of the same reasons as I love shoes — there are so many different shapes and sizes and colors and styles, and you just want all of them. Plus, I need both of them to live. Or to not be a sad, barefoot person roaming the streets at night. So, go download Dog Problems before killer robots destroy this machine you’re on. DO IT NOW.

It’s Nice To Be Alone (Sometimes)

Have you wondered whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable? Well, my friend, you are not alone. The Supreme Court actually doled out the legislation and classified the tomato as a vegetable for tariff purposes. Botanically, however, tomatoes are fruits.

I like walking around downtown with not much to do. I went to Virgin to get Rocky Votolato’s Suicide Medicine for $14.99. The case is broken. I would be annoyed, but it’s Rocky Votolato. Unless the CD’s messed up, too, in which case, there shall be hell to pay. I went to Borders to see if they sell Harp magazine, and they do! The June issue has a little article about the aforementioned Votolato. Too bad I only had three dollars left. You know what you should try? Hot and Spicy Cheezits. Wonderfully addictive. Not just a party in your mouth — a par-tay. If you don’t know the difference, you have all the more reason to try those little cracker capsules of cheesy goodness. Also, Swedish Fish are fantastic. If I had to make a list of my favorite candy snacks of all time, Swedish Fish would rank high. Let’s make that list now:

1. Sour Patch Kids
2. Sour Straws
3. Swedish Fish
4. Anything with chocolate and marshmallow and perhaps caramel
5. SBLOUNSKCHED! Bars

I’m suddenly craving everything I just mentioned. I haven’t been to Sweet Factory in a while. When I was a wee lass, we would go to Costco and get gigantic tubs of candy. Now, I have high blood sugar. It was all worth it. As I write this entry, I am eating a salad from Trader Joe’s without the dressing. The only dressing I can bear to eat is the one that comes with the garden salad. Not that I’m not a big dressing fan. I just don’t like all the sat fats. But then again, I can down a handful of those Lindt truffles, so I guess it balances it out. Life is too short not to stuff your face with chocolate. I want some Cherry Garcia.

Yeah, I guess I’ll go back to my humble little salad now.

Never Lonely Alone Mix

1 SHINY MAGAZINE by Jet
am i hiding again?
am i hiding again?
tell me how to live my life

2 HEARTBEATS by Jose Gonzalez
to call for hands of above
to lean on
wouldn’t be good enough
for me, no

3 ARMS OF A WOMAN by Amos Lee
a thousand miles from the place i was born
when she wakes me
she takes me back home

4 YOUR NEW NAME by The Format
because these bones have grown tiresome
and i can’t seem to hold my soul
my whole heart, it’s a joke

5 TREADMILL by Carmichael
there’s no pleasing some people
most of the time
but if i can please, then what of me?
i don’t choose to abuse a sense of decency

6 GONE FOR GOOD by The Shins
you want to fight for this love
but honey, you cannot wrestle a dove

7 SOME YOU GIVE AWAY by La Rocca
maybe we’ll pass through l.a. again
older and bitter with all the charm of friends
it’s unlikely if the truth be told

8 VENA CAVA by ps
you don’t need me
until you take me out

9 HAPPY HEARTS by Okkervil River
why must happy hearts break so hard?
leave you staring in the mirror of a bar
leave you talking to yourself
’cause you can’t talk to anybody else

10 LILLY WHITE by Rocky Votolato
i can’t hear anything and all i can see
is a memory of your smile, your necklace
pistol locket on a silver chain
hold on too tight, you’ll lose everything

11 NEVER LONELY ALONE by Space Needle
you always answer the phone
you never go out alone
but i … never lonely alone

Download ZIP (61 MB) Let me know what you think if you give it a good old college listen.

Rocky Votolato at Bottom of the Hill, 7/13

So, I am really upset that I can’t make it to the aforementioned concert. Why? Because doors open 8:30, and the show starts at 10. You might ask, “Well, what’s wrong with that?” I live with a mother who won’t even let me take BART by myself. To Colma. To anywhere. And it’s all pretty sad. I don’t know when Rocky Votolato is coming back to the Bay Area again. What if it’s in one million years? I’ll probably be frozen with my brain in a jar by then. Which means I wouldn’t be able to enjoy his beautiful, tear-inducing music. I should write him. If I can’t be there to support him live by buying a ticket, then I guess that’s the only way I can let him know how much I appreciate songs like “Lilly White” and “Suicide Medicine.” I can’t find his CD’s anywhere but the internets, which is apparently a forbidden zone for me. I would say, “I can’t wait till I’m in college.” but I’m scared. Free, free at last. Free at last. Oh, oh free. Free at last. Thank God almighty. We are free, free at last.

This is unfolding to be a pretty mediocre birthday. Shit on a stick.