Hey, it all comes together -
I just read that with 2006 being the year of the dog in Chinese zodiac, I was bound to have a rough year, since I am a dog. Evidently, when your year comes up, you’re in conflict with the god of ominous, so you have an unlucky year unless you take precautions in the first 15 days of the year. So, watch out every 12 years for your unlucky year…
Actually, the year went well overall for me, despite the rough patch this last semester. After all, I had a fantastic time in Vermont, got into grad school, drove safely across the country, settled into life in a new part of the world, and made lots of new friends. This time of the year you remember how many good old friends you have, too. Last night Ryan called, and I’ve recently talked to Hans, Joe, Stefan, and Tad. The list of folks to call is even longer, but I can’t help but feel warm and happy about getting a bit of time to catch up with friends. I guess it’s my fault for not being on MySpace, but I feel a bit old fashioned about that whole thing with the unreality aspect of it all, plus I think I’m a bit squeamish about being too accessible.
Which leads me to a recent two-part revelation: 1) I just want everyone to love me. Therefore, when boys ask me out or make a move, I get nervous that if I go out with them, other people won’t be able to love me as much (an irrational fear, I know). 2) I just really like to spend time by myself and not be accountable to anyone else for that time. That means that when boys ask me out or make a move, I get nervous that they are the type of person who will want to spend significant amounts of time with me and have me think about how I ought to spend time with them.
These two qualities lie at the base of my perpetual singledom, and they’re in my power to change. What a nice Christmas present to self. Yay for overanalysing situations. We’ll see what this revelation means for my future love life…
Ok, and the other topic I wanted to cover today: the rough draft of my playlist.
- Wayside (Back in Time) – Gillian Welch – Soul Journey
- Passing Afternoon – Iron and Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days
- Pink and Blue – The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas
- Swansea – Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender
- The Stranger Song – Leonard Cohen – Field Commander Cohen Tour 1979
- Girl in the War – Josh Ritter – The Animal Years
- Ship out on the Sea – The Be Good Tanyas – Chinatown
- Homesick – Kings of Convenience – Riot on an Empty Street
- Bed is for Sleeping – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Superwolf
- Whiskey in the Jar – Belle and Sebastian –
- Santa Claus (Instrumental) – Bill Monroe – Bluegrass 1959-1969
- Train, Train – Dolly Parton – The Grass is Blue
- Just to See You Smile – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – More Reverie
- Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show – O.C.M.S
It’s my Countrified playlist, and I’m in the process of cutting down my Citified playlist, which is more ambient/indie. I was going for a mix of traditional and indie folk, but it’s got a bit of tweaking before it’s ready to run – particularly whether I’ll keep “Just to See You Smile” or trade it out for another Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy song.
Coming soon: the final cut of the two volume set of musics that I like very much, plus, reflections on the last semester, and maybe even the whole year.