Michael Jackson

So far 12 people have attempted or committed suicide over Michael Jackson's death. I find it hard to believe that those suicides are actually due to MJ. I mean, someone's life has to be pretty miserable and their mental health can't be too stellar for them to use MJ's death as a reason to kill themselves. So add some of the crazy "I want to be with him" through death sorts of thoughts to already miserable lives.

There was also supposedly a crisis team at UCLA to help counsel mourning fans. If my internship had started a week earlier, who knows whether that would be one of my assignments...

Of Montreal

Have I mentioned that I love Of Montreal? I am currently listening to Hissing Fauna... It seriously makes me want to go to another concert. And, of course, they are playing this month in LA. But at the freaking Hollywood Bowl where I would need to spend a fortune to even be able to see them. Since I've already seen them twice in the last 12 months, this seems a bit unnecessary.

But seriously. "There's the girl that left me bitter. Want to pay some other girl to just walk up and hit her. But I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't!" Ok, maybe that lyric needs the music with it...

Music

I'm finally having time to listen to music again! Not that I had a bad last month or so - Sasquatch Music Festival, goodbye parties, vacation, unpacking all of my stuff into my new apartment... Ok, maybe that last one hasn't been the most fun - and it's not over - but I now have time to play catch up on music that I have still been accumulating despite being too busy to listen to it.

So without further ado:

Regina Spektor - Far: I am definitely biased on this one. I have loved her music for quite a while now - went to a concert 2 hours away by myself because it was a Wednesday night and no one would go with me. This album is definitely more smooth and mellow than Soviet Kitcsh, but more similar to Begin to Hope. Sometimes almost too similar - Machine off the new album sounds just like Apres Moi from the last album. I guess if you have a good thing going, you don't want to change too much. Honestly, I enjoyed the last one, so I guess it makes sense that I enjoy this one, too.

Southern Reminders

I lived in the south for 4 years during college. I knew that I had no desire to live there again, but sometimes I missed various aspects of it and thought, "oh, maybe..." But I was reminded as soon as I got off the plane last weekend in Savannah, Georgia of one of the biggest reasons for not living in the south. I was suddenly swimming through the air in 95 degree heat with 80+% humidity. I do not miss humidity.

One-by-one each of my college friends who had moved north since graduating, but who were returning together for this one-week vacation in Hilton Head lamented the same thing. "Oh gross...I forgot about humidity." And then the next day when walking outside of the pleasant air conditioning: "Gross...again...I'm already dripping wet in the '85, but feels like 97' degree weather." How do people live like this? Seriously...

Damned if you do... Damned if you don't.

I'm selling a lot of stuff tomorrow. I realize that I have so many things that I have never even touched in the 4 years I have lived in Oregon, so clearly they would be better off in someone else's hands. Plus the hand-me-down furniture from my mom, while super-cute, has never really been my taste. So I'm taking this as a good opportunity to lighten my load a bit before the move down I-5.

I have listed a few things on Craigslist in anticipation of the garage sale tomorrow, and I am stumped as to how I should be pricing things. I decided to price dirt-cheap because I need things to be gone and I didn't want to scare anyone away with too-high prices. I figure: people will see a really great deal and jump on it. Better scenario than: people think it costs too much do not bother following up on it. But what has happened? I have people wanting to haggle me down even lower. I want to say, "Dude, I'm selling this 9' x 6' wool rug that originally cost $150 for $25. You're ALREADY getting a deal..." So maybe I should have priced higher so that people can THINK they're getting a better deal when I drop it lower for them? That is why I hate car salesmen, though. I don't really want to be like that.

In other news, I went to get some shoes resoled only to find out that they are pretty much a loss (I should have gone in sooner, but I wore them down too much). BUT the shoe guy suggested this to me. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm excited to see if it works. Wow, my life is sad if I'm getting excited about a product called "Shoe Goo." Note to my sister: this seems like something George could be into...