Happy Anniversary, Nevermind
Ten years. Holy mackerel. Nevermind is ten years old this month. Rolling Stone's got a big, fancy retrospective, featuring a recreated album cover photo featuring the swimming baby, who is now an adorable ten year-old kid. I particularly like this interview with Dave Grohl, who strikes me as a decent guy.
Sunday, September 16, 2001 06:59 p.m.

Trivial? Or a Return to Civilized Life?
I've been going back and forth in my mind all week about the value or futility of keeping up with my more peripheral interests in pop culture. On the one hand, who gives a shit about what Britney's new album will be called with the grief surrounding us? On the other, leafing through the most recent issue of Rolling Stone and unleashing my inner fashion critic on all of Season 2 of Sex and the City is just what the doctor ordered, an antidote of frippery and silliness to the lump in my throat when I think about all those people, and all they left behind. I think there's no right way to do this. There's only doing it, and getting through it, and being glad we got to the next day.
Sunday, September 16, 2001 06:54 p.m.

Fall Movie Releases
At six pages, this annotated list is a bit overwhelming, but I definitely recommend reading it all, and not just the marked entries.
Sunday, September 16, 2001 06:52 p.m.

An Important Distinction
And one I was wholly unaware of: the Taliban doesn't really represent the people of Afghanistan. And all this talk of "bombing them back to the Stone Age" would be nothing if not cruelly redundant.
Sunday, September 16, 2001 06:50 p.m.

Royal Tenenbaums
I've been sitting on a long, loopy, hopelessly unrequited crush-ridden entry about the pure cinematic genius and loveableness of Wes Anderson for months. Almost a year, in fact. I'll probably never post it, because so much of it is about the feeling I get when I watch his movies, and that feeling is nearly inarticulable joy. The anticipation I harbour for his follow up to Rushmore borders on the delirious. So the good, and yes, somewhat frivolous, news is that the site for Anderson's new picture, The Royal Tenenbaums is excellent, and has new, Flash-y, stuff up for you to enjoy. And enjoy it you should.
Friday, September 14, 2001 10:12 p.m.

Thinking of Sara
And of Sara's friends. Her online journal has long been one of my favourites, and though she recently retired Perfect Way, I kept my subscription to her notify list, which is how I found out that two of her good friends are missing. I know there's an element of the grotesque in worrying over the safety of people I've never met, but this is the only way I can begin to think about it. Numbers in the thousands just don't compute. A smaller, more human scale is the only thing that works for me, even when it makes me feel like shit. Otherwise, it's just gruesome statistics.
Friday, September 14, 2001 10:00 p.m.

Arab American FAQ
Once I got my breath back on Tuesday, I thought, "oh, shit, how much is it going to suck to be an Arab American now?" And I realized that there is a world of stuff I don't know about Arab Americans, which is why I'm so glad that WriterGirl posted this link in her entry today. Her New Yorker-perspective entries about the disaster are uniformly excellent, btw.
Friday, September 14, 2001 09:56 p.m.

Well, the frivolity of this week came to a screeching halt Tuesday morning. I've gone back and forth among various sensations & emotions: nausea, grief, rage, shock, relief, horror. I even managed to forget about all the shittiness and sadness a few times, only to feel like someone had socked me in the gut when I remembered.

The good news is that I, personally, am a very lucky girl. Everyone I know in New York and Washington and Boston is fine. Everyone I know who was travelling that day is fine, too. My boyfriend, who was supposed to arrive on Wednesday, will now (we think & hope) arrive next Friday, but at he's perfectly safe and in one piece.

I found tremendous comfort in establishing my new routine for the semester, and in sitting on the sofa with my housemates, gorging ourselves on the entire second season of Sex & The City when we just couldn't stand to watch another minute of CNN.
Friday, September 14, 2001 09:46 p.m.

I`ve been gone, or only partially present, for a long damn time. Sorry about the interruption in linking fun, folks. Between sketchy Internet access and travel, oh, and having NO time at all, I was all neglectful. Happily, the semester has begun, and with it, near-daily trips to the supremely hooked-up faculty library. So updates should be more frequent & more substantive, at least Monday through Wednesday. Tonight, I`m updating on my francophone roommate`s French computer, which explains the weird apostrophes and other punctuation quirks.
Monday, September 10, 2001 10:45 p.m.

Just Like Reese Peanut Butter Cups!
Ever since I saw The Eyes of Tammy Faye, I`ve been suffering from a Tammy Faye soft spot. I really do believe that she tried to do good works, and that Jerry Falwell royally fucked over both her & Jim (though I much prefer her new husband, Roe Messner). Anyway, given my grudging affection for her and my abiding love for wacky album covers, I was bound to stumble onto this eventually. It's two great things going great together.
Monday, September 10, 2001 10:44 p.m.

Matt Hinrichs, My Brain Twin
How is it that on the very day that I think to myself that now might be a good time to start work on an Autumnal mix CD, Matt posts a link to his excellent-looking mix, Equinox: An Autumn Collection? How does that happen? I don`t think I can really ask for a copy, since I have yet to send him the Summer mix thingy I promised him yet. Oh, the shame and aggravation of not owning a CD burner!
Monday, September 10, 2001 10:43 p.m.

Wah!
At least the wonderful Rare Radio is still available. For now. Enjoy it while you can.
Monday, September 10, 2001 10:42 p.m.

File under: Who Comes Up With This Shit?
Bioluminescent pet fish. You heard it here first. Well, probably you heard it at boing boing first, but whatever.
Monday, September 10, 2001 10:40 p.m.