(Check out their site, and you’ll be treated to a free listen of ‘It’s a Hit.’)

I can’t stop listening to this disc. Jenny Lewis’ vocals are crisp but sweet, with a clarity and sincerity I haven’t heard in a long, long time. She can belt and whisper and simply tell the truth in songs like ‘Portions For Foxes’ that surprise with their wry and wide-eyed lyrics.

And the range of the group is astounding. They take us from sweeping pop epic (’Does He Love You’) to post-modern Croce (’Absence of God’) to cheerful techno-pop (’Accidental Deth’) without losing one ounce of their incredible stamina and integrity. Listening to them, I’m taken back to the best of the early 90s indie scene, before it was all co-opted by the big labels. I can’t recommend it more. It’s the tightest, most refreshing album I’ve come across in years. Give it a try.

As I sit here, several things are making me crazy. The bubbling of the fountain on my desk, a welcome sound all day, now makes me want to throw it out the window onto Michigan Avenue below. The whirring of the HVAC system constantly reminds me of how unseasonably cold it is in here. And my pants. Don’t get me started on those.

This is what my three full-time jobs (work for pay, school, and looking for better work for pay) have reduced me to: a whining, ugly-pants wearing, buzz kill.

Honestly, I think what’s truly making me crazy it is that I managed to schedule about forty minutes off from my jobs to write a little for myself, and in the absence of ringing phones and meeting chatter and trains, the silence of these few minutes of calm is really, really loud.

I’ve been going full on since classes began in the last week of March. Almost every moment of every night and weekend day is devoted to studying, writing assignments, reading, classes, or traveling to and fro. And I’m doing it, so far. I’m handling it all, getting my work done, writing good papers, and learning so much - about women’s health and art history, sure - but also about being a student again, and human nature and submitting assignments through email. Crazy stuff. I like it.

There’s a woman at work who has such a perfect look that it’s almost painful for me to see her everyday. She has great style - excellent po-mo skirts and vintage look boots that aren’t too pointy and that whole upscale thirft store thing that I love.

I guess what pains me is not that I resent her for being who she is - on the contrary, I love her expressiveness and originality. I just really, really envy her. I think that about 10 years ago, I was her. Before everyone bought all the great stuff at Goodwill and started re-selling it at boutiques downtown for way too much; before my size put me out of almost all of the stores at the mall; before all of those stores shifted their sizes down, so that last decade’s 14 is now a 12. I don’t know what all this means, except I miss feeling like myself in my clothes. Superficial? Sort of. But it is important, in its way, and something to think about.

But! But! Have you all read this?

I quote:
April 19, 2005, 2:58PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated today that packing on too many pounds accounts for 25,814 deaths a year in the United States. As recently as January, the CDC came up with an estimate 14 times higher: 365,000 deaths…

And this is the second time the CDC has corrected itself on this issue. Their first estimate was 400,000 “obesity related” deaths, but when experts began to question the CDCs methods in computing it, they changed it to 365,000. Now, 25,814. That’s an overstatement of 1400% Jesus!

As my friend Paul said, the CDC is SO busted. That erroneous, bogus, crazy 365,000 figure has been used in the government’s big war on obesity to scare the public into throwing their money down into more and more diets, and has been used to ramp up the hate and derision of fat people (Super Size Me, much?). Now I guess the public will have to be honest with themselves, and go back to hating us because of the way we look.

And my forty minutes are up. That was really fast.

So.

I was interviewed by a Japanese new agency last weekend.

It went down like this:
(more…)

Featured in my iPod’s ‘On The Go’ playlist this week:

Happy Phantom - Tori Amos
Crucify - Tori Amos
Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
Dizzy - Tommy Roe
Reminiscing - Little River Band
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Today - Smashing Pumpkins
Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins
Spaceboy - Smashing Pumpkins
Feel Like Makin’ Love - Bad Company
Wishing Well - Terrence Trent D’Arby
Tear Me Down - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Angry Inch - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Wicked Little Town - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Midnight Radio - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
I Won’t Be The Same Without Her - The Monkees
Tear Drop City - The Monkees
Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again - The Monkees
Smells Like Cartoon Planet - The Cartoon Planet Band
Un-American - Ian Rhett
The Things We Do For Love - 10CC
All Those Years Ago - George Harrison
Innocence - Kirsty MacColl
The Longest Time - Billy Joel
Too Shy - Kajagoogoo
The Ugly Truth - Matthew Sweet
The Promise - When In Rome

It’s a terrifically fun list. As I walked from the office to the train station last night, I found myself fighting the urge to dance. This was especially difficult when “Dizzy” came on. It has this great opening tom-tom thing, and I could picture my Dad rocking out to it, as he is wont to do. So, I stood there at the northeast corner of Franklin and Madison, surreptitiously tapping my toes and rocking my hips and cursing myself for being such a square. Maybe next time, I won’t fight so much.

I could not stop staring at a woman on my train today. First, it was her spiky-short haircut - the kind of style I always admire with awe but could never imagine myself having - and then, I noticed she had on two different earrings. Very different earrings. One was a big gold hoop, and the other a much smaller silver lever-back type. I had to wonder, was this intentional? Or did she put them on in a hurry this morning, running out of the house to catch the last rush-hour train? I’ve done that, and later pretended I was making a statement.

Then, on my bus, I caught myself staring at a man below in a car. Inching along in the morning traffic, my bus and his Civic met up at a light, where I glanced down at him. I found him attractive, so let my glance linger a bit. My eyes strayed to check out his car sound system when I noticed smoke rising from his right hand. For some reason, the realization that he was smoking with all of his windows up utterly fascinated me. It’s a fairly mild day here in Chicago, a perfect day for driving with the windows down, so why not open up and let the smoke out? As I pondered this, the man starting shifting nervously in his seat. Then, he flipped down his visor mirror and began fussing with his very short hair. And it hit me that he was trying not to look to his left, at the bus, and that I’d been openly watching him for quite a few long moments. I looked away, and smiled.

Added a few snaps to the photoblog and messed with the galleries option a little bit. Also, I’ve enabled anonymous comments, so you no longer need to be a member of Buzznet to participate. So stop by and tell me how you feel about my cleavage.

I was wary at first, but now I love the Oy Oy Oy Show segment of Al Franken’s radio show. Also, very sad to note the passing of Unfiltered with Rachel Maddow, Lizz Winstead, and Chuck D. I’m glad AAR has added Jerry Springer, but did they have to take off one of the freshest shows in their lineup? Poo.

I could not have looked more Urban Professional this morning. Picture this: pretty round girl walking south on Michigan Avenue with purple messenger back slung across chest, lipstick matching her wine-colored velvet jeans, carrying women’s health text in right hand, decaf latte (with shot of almond) in left hand, and pink iPod mini in left pocket. If only my destination was a DePaul campus, rather than my piss-ass job. Ah well. That time will come.