department of "they're so cute!": Passion Pit

imeem it up

You Belong to Me - Jason Wade

for a long time my first dance at my wedding song was "at last" by etta james. i think i might switch it to this. maybe the version by carla bruni, though.

what Hurt Locker taught me about men

After seeing the trailer for 'Hurt Locker' on apple trailers, I've been wanting to see it. Most of my guy friends who would see it with me are dealing with some form of PTSD and watched the trailer and immediately said no. None of my female friends I asked seemed interested. So I went to my stand-by action movie companion: my dad.

The movie was everything I'd hoped it would be. So horrible, beautiful, interesting, deep. It opened with the quote (what's the word for a quote that starts off a novel or movie?) - "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug." - Chris Hedges

I want to read Hedges' book War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

I have a word document going with evidence and ideas about men and war. Although I think about it quite frequently, I only have one other quote written down, by Ted Turner (found on that quote thingy above my gmail): "Sports is like a war without the killing."

I think that there is something intrinsic in men - something that enables them to go to war. Something in them that finds it desirable. I've seen the joy of the rush of battle many times with men, from middle school boys up to old men.

This observation is to be contrasted with the horrible emotional wrecks that the army spits out after a couple tours of duty.

Is there a good way to wage war?

At the end of 'Hurt Locker' (spoiler alert), it shows the main character (his job in Iraq was dismantling bombs - extreme adrenaline) coming back to his ex-wife and child and being told to clean out the gutter and chop mushrooms. The next scene shows him walking off the plane in Iraq with a big smile on his face.

What can be made of this? Does the army brainwash and condition these men in such a way that makes them unable to reenter society? Is this necessary? Is there any way a person could be good at a job that constantly puts them in a position of certain death, while also comfortable with the mundane pleasantries of life?

from studio mela @ etsy

In Stitches - David Bazan

"I might as well admit it
Like I've even got a choice
The crew have killed the captain
But they still can hear his voice
A shadow on the water
A whisper in the wind
On long walks my with daughter
Who is lately full of questions
About you
About you"

- David Bazan "In Stitches"

Chicago Reader: "The Passion of David Bazan" - July 2009

Thanks to Chris for this.

"The death of any familiar person - the death, even, of a dog or cat - whether loved or not leaves an emptiness. The great tree goes down and leaves an empty space against the sky. If the person is deeply loved and deeply familiar the void seems greater than all the world remaining. Under the surface of the visible world, there is an echoing hollowness, an aching void - and it cuts one off from the beloved. She is as remote as the stars. But grief is a form of love - the longing for the dear face, the warm hand. It is the remembered reality of the beloved that calls it forth. For an instant she is there, and the void denied."

- A Severe Mercy

My uncle read this poem at the funeral of his wife a couple years ago:

W.H. Auden "Funeral Blues"

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Missions in East St. Louis

Catholic Urban Programs

Holy Angels Homeless Shelter

 I am possibly starting a job at my church in May where a portion of my work would be organizing missions around the city and world.  North and East St. Louis are extremely depressed sections of the city that need help.  And I love how uncomfortably close they are to Chesterfield. 

pre-game: matt & kim

Fix Up, Look Sharp (Radio Edit) - Dizzee Rascal

Daylight - Matt & Kim

youth in revolt trailer

awesome. thanks to claire for this.

thanks to caroline for this:

Good Arms, Bad Arms - Frightened Rabbit

i want that: the polaroid for my generation

department of what the what:

"The advancements in plastics and similar materials during the past 20 years have made it possible not only to mold a shoe to the foot, but to make shoes odor-resistant or perfume-scented. They are also better able to handle friction and sweat, which were a problem in the plastic shoes of the past. Pictured here is a limited edition boot designed by Zaha Hadid for Lacoste."

nytimes: "the reincarnation of the jelly shoe"

Critical Shopper: Hollister in NYC

"THERE are so many beautiful people now. Long ago, there was just one or two of them, like Cleopatra or John F. Kennedy Jr. They were worshiped, commemorated on coins and plates, but always far away, untouchable.

But here, in the shadowy, mazelike, extremely loud interior of the new Hollister store on Broadway, beautiful people are everywhere and even talk to you. Many of them are half-naked with bodies as hard as credit cards.

In this four-floor space, gorgeous youth are in every room, behind every doorway, on every stairway landing, saying hello to you, gazing at you, confusing your grasp of reality."

NYTimes, Critical Shopper: Hollister "A long, lusty walk on a short pier"

OMG: "Out of This World"

I've spent so long searching for you!!!! In TV reminiscing conversations I would often try in vain to describe this show..."you know, the one where there are aliens but they're people and I think they can shoot lightening between their index fingers..." fail. now...success! On a random 'Go Fug Yourself' post they mentioned the show and it all came back to me now. Enjoy! Maybe it'll answer the same eternal question for you, as it did for me.

Wiki: 'Out of This World'

this is nice, but...

belle maison

...well, I actually would never want exactly this because, well, you know. it's gross. but the idea behind this is quite cute. I recently cleared a section of my wall in my bedroom for a huge family tree, including all cousins and second cousins...all I can fit. Thankfully my family is quite protestant and there aren't really that many of us. Just four or five kids for each of my parents' families of origin and a couple kids for each of the aunts and uncles.

I don't know why but having a family tree always there seems very important to me in this stage of my life. This is strange because it was only a year ago that I was demanding answers as to why family had to be involved in holidays at all.

I saw some of these sticker-frames the one time I've been in an IKEA (in chicago - completely overwhelming, my friend Rachel had to tap out mid-way through and sit down). And the ones they had (quite similar to the ones in the pic, actually) looked like they were trying too hard and would be obnoxious after 6 months, both for the way they look and for their unwillingness to leave the wall.

About a year ago I took a super-thick sharpie to the wall in my and Sharon's bathroom wall to draw some birdies on a wire. I think I will do the same, this time with small frames for each of my relatives on my wall. Poor suckers who have to repaint these rooms. Actually, it will probably be me.

I didn't know how devastatingly handsome Marc Jacobs was

nymag: the Cut

this song and video are so right now, philosophically, culturally

I wish I could articulate all the ways in which this is true. I dig the song, it's catchy. I'm trying to put together a talk on postmodernism (which was basically my major in college) for the youth group leaders and parents at my church. For the "what's happening now" section of the talk, I want to play this.

The lyrics to Miike Snow's "Animal" (here)

Imogen Heap + Es Devlin

Spinner.com article on the video

"The name Es Devlin is not well-known to music fans, but the British set designer is a rising star in the scene, having collaborated with Kanye West on his 'Touch the Sky' tour. "

"According to Heap, having a woman director made some things easier. "She's an amazing woman and I felt very at ease around her, I felt I could talk to her on the level of even my body and making sure I was happy with the way I looked and just being able to be very open with her," Heap says. "But if you talk to a man about any kind of woman-y thing they slightly twist around awkwardly." In fairness, Heap gets that. "I'm equally awkward when a man talks to me around man things." Enjoy the exclusive premiere of 'First Train Home' below."

mypyramid.gov

Essential Vitamins for Women at Every Age - article at WebMD

* they're easier to trust because they're not selling me something

from Hedi Slimane Diary

my pile of junk

this is my desk where i work, read, surf facebook, etc. this is my loveable pile of junk. everything means something, everything has a purpose for being there. my new ridiculously red nail polish, my church history text book, my postcard from seville, my ever-constant glass of water, my ice cube tray which is actually an emotionally-charged metaphor (not kidding), old allergy medication --> everything is here. and i'm terriby fond of it all.

Goo! Department of Ugly Evangelists:George Whitefield

wiki: George Whitefield

Apparently he was cross-eyed so when he was preaching you never knew if he was staring you down whilest raining condemnation upon the congregation.

"I have my faults, but I also have courage."

-Therese of Lisieux

i like the way this looks.

if i were a bald man, i would be ALL ABOUT this song

Cleanhead Blues - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

hey everyone i found the theme song of my life

History Repeating - Propellerheads

would you fall in love with him?

This is Philip II of Spain. When Bloody Mary saw this painting, she fell in love.

" Mary rejected Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon, as a prospect when her cousin Charles V suggested she marry his only son, the Spanish Prince Philip, later Philip II of Spain. It is said that upon viewing the Titian full-length portrait of Philip now in the Prado,^[5] which had been sent to her, Mary declared herself to be in love with him." (wiki: "Mary I of England" - Bloody Mary)

anecdotes

I went to Trader Joes yesterday and the cashier had me laughing through the whole $30 transaction. She burned through three anecdotes with me, one about women with huge purses, one about gardening. I suppose they expect this from you, working at TJ's. I would expect for this to get tiresome after awhile. I can only be entertaining for a certain amount of time, especially if I'm not enjoying it.

I read an article in The New Yorker about Leslie Mann going on Letterman and reviewing her anecdotes beforehand, seeing which stories dragged on and which were light and funny. This makes sense.

One of my uncles is hilarious, but almost only when he's telling anecdotes. The short stories need a little bit of time to get out and if the conversation is moving too quickly he cannot play his cards.

I think women are generally socialized to be a good audience, not good comediennes. I have to know FOR SURE that my story is amazing to take a breath and jump into telling it. It requires a lot of nerve in less than safe environments.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Novum Organum Scientarium: "Man by the Fall fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his dominion over nature. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by the arts and sciences."

- from Schaeffer's Escape from Reason

Just Impolite

I was just going to post this song from imeem but they don't have it on there and the video is surprisingly cool. Brittany Snow and Juno Temple are in it. Surprise!

How To Like It

These are the first days of fall. The wind
at evening smells of roads still to be traveled,
while the sound of leaves blowing across the lawns
is like an unsettled feeling in the blood,
the desire to get in a car and just keep driving.
A man and a dog descend their front steps.
The dog says, Let’s go downtown and get crazy drunk.
Let’s tip over all the trash cans we can find.
This is how dogs deal with the prospect of change.
But in his sense of the season, the man is struck
by the oppressiveness of his past, how his memories
which were shifting and fluid have grown more solid
until it seems he can see remembered faces
caught up among the dark places in the trees.
The dog says, Let’s pick up some girls and just
rip off their clothes. Let’s dig holes everywhere.
Above his house, the man notices wisps of cloud
crossing the face of the moon. Like in a movie,
he says to himself, a movie about a person
leaving on a journey. He looks down the street
to the hills outside of town and finds the cut
where the road heads north. He thinks of driving
on that road and the dusty smell of the car
heater, which hasn’t been used since last winter.
The dog says, Let’s go down to the diner and sniff
people’s legs. Let’s stuff ourselves on burgers.
In the man’s mind, the road is empty and dark.
Pine trees press down to the edge of the shoulder,
where the eyes of animals, fixed in his headlights,
shine like small cautions against the night.
Sometimes a passing truck makes his whole car shake.
The dog says, Let’s go to sleep. Let’s lie down
by the fire and put our tails over our noses.
But the man wants to drive all night, crossing
one state line after another, and never stop
until the sun creeps into his rearview mirror.
Then he’ll pull over and rest awhile before
starting again, and at dusk he’ll crest a hill
and there, filling a valley, will be the lights
of a city entirely new to him.
But the dog says, Let’s just go back inside.
Let’s not do anything tonight. So they
walk back up the sidewalk to the front steps.
How is it possible to want so many things
and still want nothing. The man wants to sleep
and wants to hit his head again and again
against a wall. Why is it all so difficult?
But the dog says, Let’s go make a sandwich.
Let’s make the tallest sandwich anyone’s ever seen.
And that’s what they do and that’s where the man’s
wife finds him, staring into the refrigerator
as if into the place where the answers are kept-
the ones telling why you get up in the morning
and how it is possible to sleep at night,
answers to what comes next and how to like it.

-Stephen Dobyns

it was nice to meet your door handle

from likecool via kanye