Best of 2010 Playlist

Look who hasn't posted in a year! And yeah, I probably won't start posting again with any regularity (I'd be shocked if it were before the end of 2011), but my love of list-making has temporarily brought me back. In the next few days, I'll throw together my Top 10 albums of the year, but for now, you'll have to tide yourself over with my playlist of my favorite songs of the year. (Streamable at the link!) 17 songs, 79 minutes, nothing but awesomeness. Only rule: One song per artist. Also, this isn't a ranking - it's just how these particular songs fit together best as a mix. Click through if you care about my rationale for my choices, but if you want to go straight to jamming out, I won't blame you.



1. Odessa by Caribou

Best dance song about a woman leaving her husband ever? Probably so. I love the way new elements are continually introduced, thus making what seems like a repetitive song anything but. Also, according to iTunes, this is my most listened-to song of the year! Exciting.

2. Alive by Goldfrapp

An example of a good-to-great song that's elevated by an awesome video.

3. Power by Kanye West

It was a tough choice between this and "Runaway," but this (a) flows a little better on a mix and (b) is probably the best example of the contrast between the arrogance and insecurity that makes My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy such an interesting album. Plus: that beat.

4. CMYK by James Blake

An electronic track that features warped samples from "Caught Out There" by Kelis and "Are You That Somebody?" by Aaliyah? Sign me up. James Blake released three excellent EPs this year, and I'm pumped for his first full album next year.

5. Got Nuffin by Spoon

"Got Nuffin" comes near the end of Transference, and it's as close as the album comes to releasing the tension that builds up throughout its runtime. Fortunately, it holds up out of context, with its chugging guitar line and Britt Daniel's impassioned vocal keeping things interesting.

6. Aminals by Baths

(sic.) A great little electronic ditty that wouldn't be out of place on a Boards of Canada album, if they were still making albums. Bonus points for a genuinely sweet (as opposed to creepy) use of children's vocals.

7. Pow Pow by LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy free associates about the compromises that come with getting older (and a whole lot more, like how we have a black president and you do not, so shut up), getting more riled up as the music builds and builds until it reaches a classic LCD Soundsystem release. It's probably not the best song on This is Happening, but it's the one I returned to the most.

8. Fuck You by Cee-Lo Green

What else can I add that hasn't already been said? SO FUN.

9. Dancing On My Own by Robyn

Proof that pop music can have a heart. This song should've been huuuuge, but Robyn is just a little too out there for the American pop scene. I still dance around every time I hear this, even if that's just a head bob on the Metro.

10. Take 'Em Up by Shit Robot

Nancy Whang, DFA's go-to female vocalist, delivers one of her best performances on this track, spouting non sequiturs over a great retro-but-not-too-retro beat. No deeper meaning here, but that's just fine when things come together this well.

11. Tightrope (feat. Big Boi) by Janelle Monae

It's hard to pick one track to represent Janelle, but this is the catchiest and the sassiest song she served up this year, and as an intro, it gives a nice window into the weird, wonderful world of The Archandroid. Also: classy brass.

12. I'm New Here by Gil Scott-Heron

Between the sample on Kanye's album and his own release, it looks like Gil! Scott! Heron! is back in a big way. A surprisingly touching song from an unexpected source.

13. Not in Love (feat. Robert Smith) by Crystal Castles

This remake of an solid-but-unremarkable song from Crystal Castles' second self-titled album shows the importance of a) lots of synths, and b) a killer vocal. Who knew Robert Smith could still sound so good? (Apparently Crystal Castles did.)

14. Only an Expert by Laurie Anderson

I'll probably lose some folks here, but I continue to love Laurie. Although this is a bit more direct than most of her work, I don't think it suffers for it; if anything, the urgency and immediacy make it stand out from her other output, and it shows off her unique brand of humor and delivery to great effect.

15. I Walked by Sufjan Stevens

So many artists resort to electronic glitchery when they're out of ideas, but Sufjan really knows how to use it to enhance a song. Here, the fuzzed out drum machines and bleeps and bloops really drive home the melancholic beauty of the song.

16. Decisions (feat. Yuksel Arslan) by How to Dress Well

Who would've thought some of the best R&B of 2010 would come from a German dude?

17. Take It In by Hot Chip

Best closing song of 2010. Best love song that mentions Wheel of Fortune. Most endearingly earnest chorus of the year. A perfect note to go out on.

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Best of 09!

Is it too late to post my "Best of 2009" playlist? No? Good! I realize I'm a bit behind, but it's a small miracle for me to even post these days, so I'm going to give myself a pass on this.

Instead of doing a Top Songs or Top Albums list this year, I've chosen to create a playlist that I feel is pretty representative of what I've listened to and enjoyed in 2009. Lists seem to imply that I've listened to and judged all of the musical output of the last year, which unfortunately couldn't be further from the truth. Instead, I've stuck with a lot of stuff that's already in my wheelhouse (about 2/3 of the songs are pretty synth-heavy - what can I say, I love keyboards) while taking in the stuff that couldn't be avoided (Phoenix, Animal Collective). Some of the songs are pretty obvious choices, while I'd like to think that at least a few are somewhat unexpected.

Just to reiterate: These are not my 17 favorite songs from 2009. Instead, they are a reasonably coherent mix that I will be content to listen to in years to come and think, "Ah, 2009. I guess that was a decent music year." I've put together a streamable playlist of the songs here:
Best of 2009! by Brian (I had to sign up for MySpace to make this happen. UGH.) I hope you'll enjoy it; I still do, even though I've listened to it about 20 times as I've been putting it together.

For more thoughts on my song selection, click through:


Zero by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I've never been a huge YYYs fan, but as I blogged about earlier in the year, It's Blitz won me over. "Zero" probably should've been at least a minor hit, with it's surging chorus and catchy hooks, but alas, Karen O is too scary or something.

I Will Come Back by Holy Ghost!
These people need to put out more music so I can proclaim them my new favorite band on the basis of more than a couple songs. If New Order hadn't started sucking in the mid-90s, maybe this is how they'd sound today.

Summer Song by YACHT
This song makes me jump around whenever I hear it. I especially love the mid-song breakdown. Also, the video is awesome. I guess this came out in mid-2008, but the album came out this year, so I'm calling it fair game. (Unfortunately, I couldn't find a streamable version on MySpace, so on that list, I replaced "Summer Song" with "Psychic City," which is also by YACHT and is quite enjoyable.)

Danse Mes Reves by Desire
This latest group from Johnny Jewel, the man behind Glass Candy and Chromatics, Desire treads a middle ground between the two, offering wispy vocals and a chilled-out vibe without being boring.

Skeleton Boy by Friendly Fires
This was my early pick for song of the year - it's no longer quite that high in my book, but I still think it's pretty great. That chorus kills me every time.

Bye Bye Bayou by LCD Soundsystem
At first, I was disappointed in this, our sneak peek for the upcoming LCD Soundsystem album. But, as it always seems to happen with LCD Soundsystem, it wormed its way into my head, and I reveled in its repetition and slow burn. I think it's surprisingly subtle for James Murphy, and hopefully is a harbinger of great things in 2010.

Crystalised by The XX
I'm still torn on whether or not I really think The XX's debut album is as great as everyone's saying (I'm leaning toward no, although I enjoy it) but if it all sounded as urgent and interesting as "Crystalised," I might be more inclined in their favor. The first time the guitars prominently come in at the chorus is still a fairly thrilling moment for me.

Laughing with a Mouth of Blood by St. Vincent
St. Vincent's Actor would be my pick for album of the year if I had to choose; it's fascinating, catchy, and reveals something new on each listen. This song is a perfect example; although it initially didn't make much of a mark for me, I've come to love it. It glides in and out in just over 3 minutes, but quite convincingly shows off St. Vincent's gift for clever lyrics and soaring melodies without overstaying its welcome.

My Girls by Animal Collective
Yes, yes, Animal Collective is a super-obvious choice. There's a reason they, and this song in particular, have received so much praise this year, and it's because they deserve it.

Raindrops by Basement Jaxx
Autotune that doesn't suck!

1901 by Phoenix
It could be credibly argued that pretty much every Phoenix song sounds more or less the same; I don't necessarily agree, but I don't think Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is that different than their past work (and I actually preferred It's Never Been Like That on the whole.) I think the difference is that "1901" and "Lisztomania" are just that undeniable - even if Phoenix wasn't doing it for you before, it's hard to not love these two tracks. "1901" gets the slight edge from me.

Should Have Taken Acid With You by Neon Indian
I've never felt so much like a band was targeting me with an album as I did with Neon Indian and Psychic Chasms. Burbling synths, murmured vocals, drum machines... I'd probably make this album if I were capable of artistic ventures such as this. I could probably listen to "Should Have Taken Acid With You" ten times in a row and not tire of it.

I Feel Cream by Peaches
I will passionately argue that Peaches made a big leap forward this year with I Feel Cream, her fourth album. The title track is especially emblematic of the musical maturity she achieved on this record: she sings (and it's good!), the production doesn't sound like it swam in a sea of syringes, and she still retains her trademark attitude without retreading old ground.

Monster by Lady GaGa
It was Lady GaGa's year, and it was well-deserved. This song better be a big hit in 2010.

The Girl and the Robot by Royksopp (feat. Robyn)
I was fairly disappointed in Royksopp's album this year. I had high hopes, but only this track really reached greatness, mainly thanks to Robyn delivering an astonishing lead vocal that just avoids being overstated. (Or maybe it's overstated in a good way?)

Get Older by Dan Deacon
Six and a half minutes of raucous, noise-filled joy, and it doesn't care whether you like it or not.

Gimme Sympathy by Metric
Although I realize that this is a somewhat silly and cliched song, no song was there for me more this year, and if I had to rank my favorite songs of 2009, this would be at the top. I've said to people on multiple occasions that this song got me through the end of grad school, and while that's probably an exaggeration, it certainly played its part. I can't satisfactorily explain why I love this song as much as I do, but from the opening notes, I'm caught up in it, and I'm bobbing my head and I swell up and I sing along, and I'm feeling great. Every time.

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Diagramming Won't Help This Situation

It's been over 3 months since I last posted, and I know a poem barely counts as a post, but I really really liked it and identified with it and maybe it'll get me back on the blogging bandwagon. Here you go:

Diagramming Won’t Help This Situation
by Kevin Brown

Grammatical rules have always baffled
me, leaving me wondering whether my
life is transitive or intransitive, if I am the
subject or object of my life, and no one
has been able to provide words to describe
my actions, even if they do end in –ly.

But now the problem seems to be with
pronouns: I am unwilling to be him
and you are unable to be her, so we
will never be them~the ones talking
about what they need from the grocery

store because the Rogers are coming for
dinner tonight; the couple saving for a
vacation, perhaps a cruise to Alaska or a
museum tour of Europe; the two who meet
with a financial advisor to plan their children's

college fund while still managing to set enough
aside for their retirement~and so we will
continue to be nothing more than sentence
fragments, perfectly fine for effect,
but forever looking for the missing
part of speech we can never seem to find.

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Skating Rap Babies Love Bottled Water

Watch this:



Am I the only one who's a little creeped out by this? I think I'm in the uncanny valley here. (Yes, I only know what that is because of 30 Rock.) Also, bottled water is evil.

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When Going To Church Isn't Enough

Did you hear? God's on Facebook!



The person who created that page sure has some hubris. Also, "Become a fan of God" is just too silly of a sentence.

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I Have Something In Common With A Sick Pug

We each puked on the NYC L Train between Bedford and First! However, the police didn't threaten to put me down when I did it, nor did they arrest my friend who provided me a bag in which to vom. Also, he probably had more right to do it; I was just hungover.

(Okay, so that's not the pug in question, but ain't he cute?)

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Surprise! Your Food System is Unsustainable

"Food, Inc." is a very well-done, well-intentioned, informative film, and if you've done any sort of reading about the American food system over the past five years, you don't need to see it.

The movie functions as sort of a "greatest hits" of food issues; the film is composed of several segments, each one detailing a different problem. (America is run by corn! Monsanto is evil! Animals are treated badly!) This scattered approach is both its strength and weakness; it'd be an excellent first exposure to these matters for anyone who isn't aware of these issues, but it's much more likely that those who are seeing it are already quite into this stuff and won't get much more out of it. About half of it is pretty much just The Omnivore's Dilemma in movie form, complete with Michael Pollan interviews and a visit to Polyface Farm, and the other half covers the intellectual property issues that were already covered in more detail in The Future of Food. There's also some stuff about how terrible fast food is, featuring Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. To its credit, the film does conclude with steps you can take to help solve the problem, but it basically boils down to "Buy organic" and "Shop at a farmer's market."

Despite this seemingly negative review, I think Food, Inc. would be a great introduction to these matters for the unaware, but if you've seen/read any of the above materials, it's probably not worth your money to run out and see it. However, if you need a refresher on how fucked up things are, by all means, check it out.

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What Else is in the Teaches of Peaches?

Last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to see Peaches perform at the 9:30 Club here in DC (an excellent venue, I must say.) It was awesome. Click through for my review (containing NSFW language, but hey, no one's looking at your screen that closely.)

As the lights dimmed around midnight, a song began playing over the loudspeakers - it was Peaches singing "I Touch Myself," which while extremely obvious, was still highly amusing. She then ran out and performed two songs from her excellent new album, "I Feel Cream," and asked the crowd, "Are you ready to get fucked in the ass by Peaches?!" The crowd responded enthusiastically. This set the tone for the night, and if you're more uncomfortable than amused, then this probably wasn't the show for you. BUT I LOVED IT. Here are some other awesome things that happened:

- While singing "Operate" (the one from Mean Girls!) she crowd-surfed while holding a digital camera, even standing up on the hands of audience members.
- During "Mud," she ran around the balcony of the club, periodically stopping to straddle the railing.
- At the start of "Talk to Me," her latest single, she announced she had cousins in DC. Two ladies in bikinis and Cousin Itt wigs came out and performed a disinterested dance while Peaches shouted, "Why don't you talk to me?" at them. It was awesome.
- "Fuck the Pain Away" was the last song of her main set, naturally, and she started it by standing on the bass drum of the drum set and saying "I want you all to look at the peach!" A light in the vaginal area of her bodysuit then began to blink rapidly. She then deep-throated a drumstick before angrily banging on a cymbal during the song.
- Oh yeah, there were like, 4 encores too. She expressed how "hardcore" the audience was before telling us it was the longest show she had played all tour. Holler.

So yeah, it was a pretty fantastic show. She played material from every album, and even songs like "Rock and Roll" which didn't impress me much in their studio incarnations were good fun live. She's definitely not for everyone, but if you can handle over-the-top and over-sexualized, get thee to a Peaches show.

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Old Jews Telling Jokes

A friend recently turned me on to a website/podcast called "Old Jews Telling Jokes," which is exactly what it sounds like. I have yet to encounter a joke that wasn't absolutely charming, and most they're never longer than a couple minutes. Highly recommended. Here's a recent favorite of mine:

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In It For the Eggs

I just listened to a fascinating interview of Woody Allen conducted by Terry Gross on Fresh Air. As a huge Woody fan, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it; he goes out of his way to insist that he's just a regular guy who drinks beer and watches sports, but then at the end of the interview, identifies two artsy Ingmar Bergman movies (The Seventh Seal and Shame) as some of the movies he's watched the most. He also says he was always the first kid picked for a team and was never poor, but then talks about how his father held several jobs and his mother always had to work as well. He's probably just making shit up, but if you're into him, it's an entertaining, enigmatic perspective of the man that I certainly haven't considered before. Give it a listen!

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Drag Bingo!

If you're reading this, you're probably already my friend and probably know that I recently moved to Washington, DC. Well, I recently did something fantastic that I could not have done in my previous homes; I attended drag bingo! Yes, on Tuesday night, I went with some friends to Drag Bingo at Nellie's, our local gay sports bar. It was hosted by these two fabulous ladies:



Shi-Queeta-Lee, and...



Akasha S. Cassadine!

Now at it's core, this event is just bingo being conducted by drag queens, but the following things greatly elevated the event:

- Shi-Queeta-Lee was on something, thus causing her to be even more insane than usual. She made a few references to giving out pot as a prize, but I think it was something stronger, based on her behavior.

- It was some girl's birthday; Shi-Queeta-Lee first called her Ugly Betty and then convinced her to flash her boobs to the bar. In return, the girl was given a bucket of beers.

- Shi-Queeta-Lee also removed the shirt from a straight guy who was silly enough to admit to being straight. He was a great sport about it, though, and I question his proclaimed heterosexuality; when he bumped into my roommate while trying to sit down, he said, "Sorry honey, I have a fat ass."

-And most importantly, my roommate won a waffle iron! Drag queen-supplied waffle brunch is totally on this weekend.

So yeah, it was a great time. If you're in DC on a Tuesday, you should go. Yay city life.

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Phoenix Down

So I realize it's been over a month since I last blogged, but I'M BACK YA'LL and I've got a great video of a kitten hiding in a couch:

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These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It's been a while since I last posted. As it turns out, finishing up the last weeks of grad school takes up a lot of time, but now in addition to intermittent blogger, I can add Master of Science to my resume. Holler. I may write more about this and I may not.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, look at this picture:



That's right, Michelle Obama just got more fabulous. She's making an appearance on Sesame Street, and from the looks of that basket of anthropomorphized food, will be discussing eating healthy things that grow in gardens! God I love this woman. LOVE.

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Forty Days of Foliage: Conclusion

It's 12:18 on Easter morning, which means two things: Jesus is back and I can eat meat again. So far, I have celebrated by eating a couple leftover chicken nachos from my brother's fridge. Yum. Yes, I'm going back to meat (at least in limited capacity), but I think I've gained some new perspective:

- I no longer fear cooking tofu. (And I'll buy it because I like it, not because I see it as a substitute.)
- I've learned that I can get pretty inventive with the same three or four vegetables.
- I will no longer feel weird about ordering non-meat dishes in restaurants.
- I'm probably not going to cook meat very often. And when I do, I'm going to try to get it from local/more sustainable sources.
- I'm going to hold myself to a loose "Meat Only Once a Week" diet, making exceptions for dinner parties (I feel bad inconveniencing others) and cravings. (This will not hold this week - I will be presenting my master's project on Thursday and taking great comfort in burgers and such until then.)
- On a broader level, I have willpower! I held out for 40+ days, and it wasn't even that hard.

And so the experiment ends. I applaud myself.

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She Crazy

I've mentioned before my love for Lady GaGa. I just found another reason to love her more:



My Thoughts:
1.) Electric piano does not equal acoustic.
2.) Foot on piano does equal awesome.
3.) I want to be her best friend.

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A Study in Contrasts

There are two big stories about the gays in the New York Times today. The first, which you're probably more aware of, is about the possibility of more victories on the gay marriage front due to the recent excitement in Iowa, Vermont, and to a lesser extent, DC. Here's a key portion, although the entire article is definitely worth reading:

New York, New Jersey, Maine and New Hampshire are among the states where such proposals have gained legislative support in recent months.

“This is a reminder to those legislatures that they should finish the job,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, a national advocacy group based in New York. “Contrary to the claims made by the opponents of equality, it’s not just judges, it’s not just the coasts, and it’s not just going away.”

This is truly very exciting, and even though it's all very Northeast-based at the moment (Iowa excluded, natch), it's still very heartening to see this all happening (and so quickly!). However, I then flipped over to this article about how openly gay men in Iraq are being systematically murdered:

In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word “pervert” in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.

...

“I don’t care about the militias anymore, because they’re going to kill me anyway — today, tomorrow or the day after,” said a man named Sa’ad, who has been taking estrogen and has developed small breasts. “I hate my community and my relatives. If they had their way, the result would be one gunshot.”

I suddenly felt really guilty for caring about getting married. I know I shouldn't, but it's hard to get excited about my theoretical husband when there are people in similar situations getting killed for their openness. I don't mean this as a buzzkill, though; by all means, let's all get gay married! Let's just not forget what's going on elsewhere.

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Off With Your Head

I was not really a Yeah Yeah Yeahs (YYYs hereafter for brevity's sake) fan upon hearing "Date with the Night," the band's first single. In fact, I kind of hated it. I can handle screamy and abrasive, but to me, it was, "Look at how screamy and abrasive we are!" without anything interesting about it. I had written the band off when I heard "Maps," which went a long way toward rehabilitating them for me, but I considered it mostly a fluke and continued to mostly ignore their output.



This began to change, however, when I heard a review of the new YYYs album, It's Blitz!, on the NPR show Sound Opinions, in which the hosts each gave it a "Buy It" ranking (their highest mark). The song clips intrigued me, so I sought out the album, and whoa do I love it.

It's Blitz! shows a dancier, calmer, more vulnerable side to the band that is instantly becoming after the borderline obnoxious swagger of their past output. There are a number of surprisingly affecting ballads, in which Karen O. shows off the yearning and likability we first saw in "Maps." The best of these is "Hysteric," which is so successful in winning you over that you don't really notice the cliched nature of lines such as "You suddenly complete me." (Close second: "Runaway," which is propelled by an aching piano line and moody synth strings.)

There's still some edge to the sound, lest ye be concerned the YYYs have lost their edge. "Dull Life" is yelping and energetic without being grating, and lead single "Zero" is probably the most instantly exciting song on the album. The best track on the album is of this vein: "Heads Will Roll" features Karen declaring "Off with your head/dance 'til your dead" over a thumping disco beat and it's awesome. (This may have to be my new life motto.)

How you feel about this album will probably have a lot to do with what you thought of prior YYYs work. If you're one of those "Date with the Night" fans, you might see this as a cop-out from the band, or even worse, a mellowing with age. However, for me, It's Blitz! is just a refinement of their earlier sound to something more interesting, engaging, and ultimately, more satisfying.

You should probably get it.

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You are the Blood

You may have heard of the excellent new compilation "Dark Was The Night," put out by Red Hot to raise funds for AIDS research. It's not amazing from start to finish, but there are a ton of great bands on here (Arcade Fire, Spoon, Grizzly Bear), some pleasant surprises (My Brightest Diamond's cover of "Feeling Good" - I thought I was too attached to the Nina version, but I guess I was wrong), and only a minimal amount of Feist and Ben Gibbard to sit through. It's pretty much a white person's wet dream. The highlight for me, though, is Sufjan Stevens's epic contribution "You are the Blood."



I've been a Sufjan fan since Michigan came out; although the initial draw was "omg someone made an album about my state," I've stuck with him over the years and can even admit that Illinois was better than Michigan. I got sort of Sufjan-ed out for a while, though, as he became more ubiquitous (I blame Little Miss Sunshine) and then seemed to disappear. But with this new track, I'm ready to hop back on board.

"You are the Blood," at just over ten minutes long, is possibly the strangest song of Sufjan's career. I just tried to type out a description of it, but it doesn't really do the song justice; one can't get a sense of this without giving it a listen. (Multiple times. The first is sort of overwhelming.) It encapsulates pretty much every phase of Sufjan's career: meandering Michigan-esque moments, the dense electronic blasts of Enjoy Your Rabbit, and the bombastically orchestrated Illinois are all showcased to great effect. If this is where Sufjan is heading, I think we all have reason to get excited about him again.

(PS: I've uploaded the mp3 for you! It looks like it can only be downloaded ten times, but go here to download it. Run! Don't walk!)

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Forty Days of Foliage: Day 34

Sorry for the lack of updates, folks; it turns out things get busy as you near the end of your graduate education. I realized, though, that I haven't updated ya'll on the status of my vegetarianism for a while. I have accomplished the following vegetarian feats since my last post:

- I made a dish with tofu! Yes, it was a stir fry and basically impossible to screw up, but it tasted good and therefore represented a major coup for me. Next, I intend to try this dish that Nanc TWoP recommended/commented on. (On a side note, someone from TWoP found my blog and felt the urge to comment? Awesome.)
- I also made a cabbage and potato soup, representing the second time in my life I've made a soup from scratch. Unfortunately, I only had chicken bouillon cubes, so I had to cheat a little bit when making it (I didn't even have other veggies with which I could have made stock), but I'm not going to count it as a major failure on my part. It was quite good and fed me for several days.
- However, my biggest adventure recently was when I made kale chips. Yes, I had an abundance of kale and needed creative ways to use it beyond things like "kale rice," so I gave this a go. I used balsamic vinegar instead of the apple cider vinegar the recipe calls for, but I have to say, they turned out very well. They have a very potato chip-like texture, but with a greener flavor, obviously. It's worth a go if you have more kale than you can handle.

I've realized my self-imposed vegetarianism is soon coming to a close (Easter is two weeks from this last Sunday), and honestly, it hasn't been that difficult. Yes, there have been times I've really craved meat, but the occasional fish tends to ward that sensation off quite handily. Also, I'm pretty sure I've lost some weight; now, those of you who know me know that I have no need to lose weight, but I also don't mind the thought of losing unnecessary meat pockets. Now I just need to develop some muscle. Next Lent: giving up sedentary-ness.

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Inch by Inch, Row by Row

In case you haven't heard, Michelle Obama has given us yet another reason to love her: she's planting a vegetable garden at the White House! Some choice quotes from the NYT article:

“A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest things that you’ll ever eat,” she said. “And my children know the difference, and that’s how I’ve been able to get them to try different things.

“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House?”

“You can begin in your own cupboard,” she said, “by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.”

LOVE YOU MICHELLE.

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