From Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway

The above quotation comes from Mrs. Dalloway. As a sidenote, I just finished Orlando. Can't wait to watch the movie. In a lot of ways, this book felt different from her others, or at least the ones I've read. It's more action-driven, more affectionate towards its main character, and though Woolf's signature close psychologising was certainly in effect, she seemed to stand farther back from Orlando than usual, giving us a chance to see him from both outside and in. This contributes to a feeling of fun - we're always laughing at Orlando, just a little, even when we want her to succeed. Earlier this summer I read some of Woolf's letters to Vita Sackville-West, her lover and the woman on whom Orlando is based. This is highly recommended, as it brought a depth and sympathy to my reading that might not otherwise have been present.

2010: a good year for words

these were my favorites!

The (Diblos) Notebook, James Merrill

A friend lent me this book and made me promise to return it when I was done. Instead, I moved to Chicago. hahahaha take THAT, friend! Merrill is first and foremost a poet. It shows. Done in the style of a novelist's notebook, Merrill uses telegraphic jottings, real-life reminiscences, crossed-out paragraphs, lists and fragments to create his story. Together, these impressions create a tale all the more complete for its shattered telling.

Travels in Siberia, Ian Frazier

Maybe it's cheating to include this one since I'm not finished with it yet. But so far it's really good!! Frazier shares his obsession with, and travels in, the Russian continent. He also remixes a fair amount of Siberian history without coming across too droney. I'm confused, though. Why is it taking me so long to finish this book? I've seriously been at it for weeks. Maybe Frazier wants to replicate the experience of traveling in Siberia through his prose?? If so: I'm onto you, you sneaky fuck.

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

Sometimes, halfway through a book, you realize you're reading too quickly. You don't want it to end, so you start to slooowwwww dooowwwnnn. Lingering on every word. Pausing between sentences to stare out the window. Setting the book aside for hours. Wandering around your house. Resisting its gravitational pull. This was like that for me.

Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D.

Some notes from my envelope bookmark: "Alkaloids in plants manifest as bitterness. This astringency clues people in to a compound's medicinal and poisonous properties." "Often the only difference between a medicine and a poison is dosage." "Medieval witches used broomsticks to apply alkaloid-rich substances to body parts with high concentrations of nerve endings and blood vessels. People who said that witches 'flew' were probably referring obliquely to them tripping." "A Tirio shaman: 'At night I slept underwater and made love to the spirit of the river.'" You probably already know if this shit sounds cool to you.

And How Are We Feeling Today?

WeFeelFine.org was developed by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar to monitor the emotions of internet users in realtime. The result of this ambitious plan is the single most beautiful website I've ever used.

We Feel Fine harvests bloggers' emotions by searching thousands of blogs for the keywords "I feel" or "I am feeling". The website then pulls whole sentences containing those keywords from their original posts and sends them to a central location. The feelings gleaned are categorized ('happy,' 'bad', 'better', etc.), then tagged with a number of other variables, including the writer's gender, age, location, and weather at the time of posting. That's a buttload of information (buttload=technical term).

The information gathered on the site can be accessed in six different movements, but my favorite, 'Madness', is pictured below:


Each of the colored dots represent a different feeling. The longer the sentence, the bigger the dot. They're colored-coded according to type, but in Madness mode it's almost impossible to control what kind of feeling you're clicking on. The tiny dots zoom and carom around the screen. Some of them are curious, clustering by your cursor or in the bottom corner. Once you manage to corral a feeling, they're usually pretty emo, as in the feeling above. Still, the ability to listen in on the emotions of thousands people who have no idea anyone's paying attention is a pretty powerful thing.

Take some time to play around with this website, to change the settings, filter the responses, click on pictures and try different movements. You'll feel glad that you did.

DJ Hero

DJ Hero is the best new party game I've played in a while. If you've got an XBox, a few dollars to burn and space for yet another fake plastic instrument in your living room, buy this game tonight. I've been playing near-constantly since my roommate brought it home yesterday and I fall more in love with every mix.

For starters, the game play is fantastic, intuitive for those who've tackled the other ___ Hero games but by no means easily mastered. DJ Hero is one of few games in which the tutorials provided by the game's designers actually enhance my understanding of what's going on as opposed to wasting my time with superfluous information.

In terms of game progression, players test themselves against progressively harder setlists, earning stars which then allow them to unlock new characters, songs, and venues. Even without these bonus gifts, however, I'd find myself coming back again and again. Getting a chance to play Paula Abdul's 'Straight Up' mixed with Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby' is worth the cost of admission alone.

Everyone from DJ Shadow to DJs Yoda and AM put their spin (heh) on the game by contributing one of their dream setlists. In some instances you can play an entire concert from their point of view. Daft Punk's set is deceptively hard. Even as you break your wrist trying to keep up with them, however, you find yourself nodding your head and dancing in your seat.

The cleverest part of this game has nothing to do with game play. The makers of DJ Hero invented a new feature known as 'Party Play'. At any point during the game you can choose to go hands-free. The music keeps playing as usual. The only difference? Your hands are freed to hold a drink or pump your fists. My guess is that this feature alone will make DJ Hero an indispensible part of hundreds of gamers' social lives.

Now if only I could figure out this crossfader ish...

Busdriver + Dizzee Rascal + El-P at First Unitarian

It's been a long time since I've seen live music. I didn't realize how much I missed it.

Busdriver got this party started. I'd never heard (of) him before, but was pleasantly surprised. His flow sampled a bunch of styles and cadences, which was occasionally refreshing. Every song different from the last, and energy stayed high. Other times, I wished he'd developed a tighter, more consistent style. Some songs sounded derivative, disappointing for such an innovative rapper. When Busdriver shined was when he did his own thing, delivering lyrics in staccato-scat rapid fire, sounding more like gun claps than words. Busdriver also does his own DJing, to which I can only give mad respect. Omnivorous beats, adventurous and sometimes creepy--carnival stuff and bubblegum twisted to sound insidiously threatening.

Then! Surprise guests Kidz in the Hall!! Well, they were a surprise to me. I've seen them live once before, opening for GZA at the Troc. It was a disappointing show, not due to them, but to the audience. A bunch of drugged-out wannabe thugs impatient for the Wu. They didn't even give Kidz a chance to win them over. Their loss. This group is fresh, and I don't just say that cuz I'm from the Chi.

They came out rocking a prep-to-death look, 2 musicians, 1 MC, and tore it up for 5 - 6 songs. Delivered a couple old hits and a few new. Most notable for me was their last, 'Driving Down the Block'. A little dirtier and cockier than previous stuff, and Double-O even got to rap! As usual, here's Kidz in the Hall treating traditional hip-hop themes in clever ways, managing to make a song about cruising in your car sound smarter and sharper than most. Naledge ended the set with a brief speech about supporting up-and-coming artists, not giant pop stars, and doing that by buying albums from people you respect. God, Na, I want to support you guys, but how can I do that when I already shelled out all my dough for my ticket?

Then Aaron LaCrate comes out, another surprise for me. He's a gutter DJ from Bodymore who came to my college a couple years ago. I had a good time dancing to his stuff back then, but a half-empty freezing room at Swarthmore was not his place to shine. This man has worked with Spank Rock, Amanda Blank and Diplo, for crying out loud! He gets up and starts playing 'Know How' with Young MC, which I hadn't realized was his stuff, then Spank Rock's 'Blow.' Two awesome songs. After seeing Kidz and knowing their work (which many in the crowd seemed unfamiliar with), recognizing Aaron and the songs he was spinning made me feel super up on the Philly hip-hop scene. Finally, reading podunk Philly music blogs pays off! Sweet!

Finally (for me) Dizzee Rascal. First off, I'd like to thank the anonymous dude at US Immigrations who processed his visa, cuz you just made my week. Dizzee delivered a tight, driving show. His flow was non-stop and professional as on his albums. He never got out of breath despite constant dancing (I love a rapper who can groove to his own shit), and almost non-existent pauses between songs. He kept the energy high, telling us that hip-hop should be fun. Word. Up. Dizzee talked to people in the audience, organized shout-offs and even created a circle in the crowd for people to break-dance. Few stepped up to the plate, but it was great to watch a rapper confident and swagger as they come still creating space for the crowd to shine. Not acting like he's on TV, but making sure we recognize the live nature of the experience, making sure we stay in the moment.

That doesn't mean Dizzee ignored his celebrity status: at one point, he had the whole crowd chanting his name. I can only imagine that to be the best feeling in the world. He set up a good mix of old and new material, only touching on 2 - 3 songs from 'Boy in da Corner.' Of course people went crazy for 'Jus a Rascal' and 'Fix Up.' But they were equally enthusiastic for newer stuff, including 'Flex,' his encore song, a booty-shaker for the ladies. Have to admit, when this song came on I had an (almost) uncontrollable urge to get on stage. I held back. Unfortunately.

After that, I left. Call me old, but I just couldn't stand around any more. Achy back and all that. Plus, I wasn't too worried about missing El-P. I don't know any of his stuff, but more importantly, I always find myself wishing he were Aesop. I know that's not fair, but I'd rather rock to Ian than to pretty much anyone else on his label.