Satisfaction: What July is Like

Or Songs for Hard Times and Major Life Transitions.

I know there's like three people out in the world who have been majorly bummed that I haven't done a monthly playlist in a while. Two of those people happen to be related to me, but whatever, man. You don't let your public down, regardless. And I clearly have. Let me just say, by way of explanation, it has been a time of upheaval and major life transitions for me. I've been busy. You can hear all about it in these songs. They're all pretty cheesy, but it comes with the territory.

That's all you need to know, honey. Oh and also, I live in Brooklyn now, which is crazy. I dig it pretty well so far. More on that later.



1. Eyes on the Prize - M. Ward
2. Bala Com Bala - JoaoBosco
3. Only the Strong Survive - Elvis Presley
4. Black Mirror - Arcade Fire
5. You Don't Know - Ellie Greenwich
6. From Black to Blue - Yo La Tengo
7. The Needle Has Landed - Neko Case
8. America the Beautiful - Pete Seeger
9. I'll Keep it with Mine - Nico
10. Stronger - Kanye West
11. Let's Face the Music and Dance - Nat King Cole
12. Scoundrel Babes - The Constantines
13. This Protector - The White Stripes
14. Mon Amie La Rose - Francoise Hardy
15. Spiritual Healing - Toots Hibbert
16. A Summer Song - Chad and Jeremy
17. Cry Tough (Take Six) - Alton Ellis
18. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
19. I Got This Down - Simian Mobile Disco
20. Chickfactor - Belle & Sebastian
21. You're Stronger Than Me - Patsy Cline
22. Like a Rolling Pin - The Replacements
23. Baby, Baby, Baby - Aretha Franklin
24. Your Protector - Fleet Foxes
25. How We Do - The Game
26. While You Wait For the Others - Grizzly Beat
27. Come Over - Estelle
28. Here's Today - The Rose Garden
29. Lights Out - Santogold
30. Make It Hot - Lil Mama
31. Satisfaction - Otis Redding



By the way, as a bonus for those of you into this sort of thing, I'm making a playlist of songs that hold deep personal meaning to me, as based upon their relevance to relationships I have had. Prepare for the sappiest, lamest compilation you have ever heard, man. Give me a couple days. Get out your headphones so you can lay in the dark in your bed in your parents' house for the full experience.

Every Radio Show I Ever Did

This is crazy to look at, but probably just for me and no one else. Whatever. Can't believe I did so few shows in the end. Miss it a bit.

Every radio show I ever did, right here.





I have a May playlist, by the way. Have had for weeks. Just been lazy as can be. Don't worry about it. Maybe this weekend you'll get to listen.

Meal Planning is For Cool Kids

Y'all know I favor a small black moleskine for this sort of thing, but this here is pretty adorable. I just want that pencil, mostly. I am pretty into the idea of having a special pencil just for my recipe book, come to think of it. I should make that happen.

But, yeah, plan your meals! You'll cook more, eat more vegetable, and feel happier. And be one of the cool kids.

I'd Like to Trip YOU Up

A long time ago, when I liked to talk in even greater exaggerations and superlatives than I do now, I was pretty sure The Jesus and Mary Chain was my favorite band ever. I recall saying on multiple occasions that they were perfect because you could listen to them, regardless of your mood. That they were perfect when you were sad and perfect when you were happy.

Since then, I hope my range of emotions has increased and my musical tastes widened, but The Jesus and Mary Chain's music still sounds pretty brilliant. And in this particular video, they are so cool it hurts.

Also, its got a rather spring time feel to it, no? Go listen to April Skies, as well, for a seasonally appropriate Jesus and Mary Chain choice. No distortion there, for those of you that find that sort of thing off-putting. Probably should have included it on my playlist, come to think of it. Would have included it here, as well, but the only proper video has commercials, which is horrifying.

Opportunity: What April is Like

It just occurred to me that I totally forgot to make an April mix. I'm pretty bad at this blog thing, especially as the weather gets warmer, because it's like, "Hmm, should I talk into the void or go sit in the sun?" The sun tends to win every time, actually, regardless of what the alternative is. So it goes.

But I do feel sort of obligated to maintain my commitment to a monthly playlist, because I know a few people who dig it at least. Plus I think it'll make a nice record of my year if I keep up with it. I thought about making this a shorter playlist, since April is half over at this point, but that just didn't seem fair.

Anyway. As for April: If I were going to introduce it on stage or something, I'd be all like, "This month requires no introduction." So I won't fuss too much introducing it here, either. April is new flowers and days of sunshine and days of rain. If you're like me, and your happiness is pretty dependent on the whims of the weather, April can be kind of a roller-coaster.  But its also a welcome light at the end of Boston's Winter Tunnel, and so April's lowest lows are still pretty rad. Like, if its going to rain all day, its almost cool, because you get to put on your matching sky blue trench coat and rain boots, and rock your leopard print umbrella.

With this thought, I also wonder, what do dudes do to make themselves feel better? I'm so sorry for them sometimes, living a life without accessories. I guess that's why there's sports or something.

I'm joking, of course. Here's the music:



1. Cotton Fields - The Beach Boys
2. A Blossom Fell - Nat King Cole
3. This Flight Tonight - Joni Mitchell
4. Mysteries - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5. Sweatshop - Brazilian Girls
6. Master and Everyone - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
7. Music Talk - Stevie Wonder
8. I Wanna Live - Glen Campbell
9. Women Make A Fool Out Of Me - Merle Haggard
10. Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s) - Los Campesinos
11. Labrynthian Pomp - Of Montreal
12. Rally - Phoenix
13. What You Know -T.I.
14. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 - Bob Dylan
15. Dream Wanderer's Tune - Deerhoof
16. I Can't Wait - The White Stripes
17. Banho de Lua - Os Mutantes
18. Invitango - Brigitte Bardot
19. I Got You - James Brown
20. So Fresh, So Clean - Outkast
21. Bottle Rocket - The Go! Team
22. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
23. Somebody Have Mercy - Sam Cooke
24. We Are Nowhere and It's Now - Bright Eyes
25. On Se Quitte Toujours - Francoise Hardy
26. I Better Be Quiet Now - Elliott Smith
27. Laugh - The Monkees
28. My Girls - Animal Collective
29. Sunday in Savannah - Nina Simone
30. Opportunity - The Jewels

Can I also just say how awesome it is to be a grown up and not care two figs what other people think about your musical tastes? I feel so liberated to be able to say, you know, I still absolutely love this Bright Eyes song and I'm going to put it on my playlist, damn it. Go ahead and judge me. I thumb my nose at you, sir. I decide what's cool now.

Maps of Where Things Come From

Usually, I'm pretty militant about keeping your consumer goods American and as local as possible, but I'm somehow ok with these products' sources.





Saltwater crocodile skin has got to come from somewhere and all.

In all seriousness, though, Sourcemap is a nice tool to occasionally evaluate your purchases. This week, I totally stumped some of my first graders by asking how fruit gets to the grocery store. And since they're six-ish, and I'm here to teach them things, that's pretty reasonable. You're not six.  Know where your stuff comes from and how it gets to you.

My serious buying American speech is forthcoming, no worries.

So Worth a Blog Post

The cheese stands alone.

I'll say something real soon, I promise.

Or, You Could Just Have Stacks of Books On The Floor, Like Me

The Old Sweet Roll: What March is Like

I don't care if its still looks like winter outside.  I turned the calendar today and was delighted to find that March's image was of a nest of robin's eggs. (Like, really delighted. Called loudly out to Nic from the other room and everything.) Because, despite what New England would have us believe, March is spring. As I like to say to pretty much anybody who will listen, "If we were in my home state, it would be nice weather from here on out! It would be spring for real!"
Listen, wherever you live, don't let the weather spoil what your heart knows.  It is springtime, damn it. And spring means new life and happy songs and high hopes. And for some reason, spring also means oldies for me.  You know, when you're out and about on those first days of wet smelling earth and bird sounds and spots of color in the mud, there's nothing like songs from the fifties and sixties to match the youthful naivety you feel. Like, I'll always feel this way! Nothing will ever be wrong again! You know? You know.  This mix is like that.  Not all oldies, because sometimes Phoenix or The Strokes or Wolfmother can feel that way too. Especially in that, I'll-always-be-young-and-full-of-life-and-brilliance sort of way. You just want to pinch all of their cheeks and sigh, don't you?

Here it is, then:


1. Tecnicolor - Os Mutantes
2. And The Grass Wont Pay No Mind - Elvis Presley
3. I'm Into Something Good - Earl Jean
4. You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes
5. Let There Be Love - Nat King Cole and George Shearing Quintet
6. Mind's Eye - Wolfmother
7. Madame George - Van Morrison
8. Blue - Joni Mitchell
9. Whaddit I Done - Animal Collective
10. Umbrella - Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z
11. Alex Chilton - The Replacements
12. Something About You - The Four Tops
13. My Big Nurse - Brian Eno & David Byrne
14. Post-War - M. Ward
15. Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha - Sam Cooke
16. On The Way Home - Buffalo Springfield
17. Pave Your Way Into Tomorrow - Glen Campbell
18. Never You Change - Toots & The Maytals
19. Right or Wrong - Merle Haggard
20. Slip Away - Clarence Carter
21. Some of Your Lovin' - The Bees and The Honey
22. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) - The Decemberists
23. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - Nina Simone
24. Lion's Mane - Iron & Wine
25. It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones
26. Rome - Phoenix
27. Bob Dylan's Blues - Bob Dylan
28. May This Be Love - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
29. 12:51 - The Strokes
30. Any Ole Way - Otis Redding
31. The Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) - Dusty Springfield

By the way, I think those merino wool, navy blue paillette shorts pretty much exactly sum up my feelings on spring.  I want them something terrible.

And on another note, I had headphones on while I made this mix, and I'd almost forgotten how wonderful they are. Not earbuds, dummy, proper headphones. I got a little nerdily shaky blissful with them on. There's something really crazy mood altering and excellent about blocking everything else out and being in a private cushiony world of music every once in a while.

Wherever You Are

Le sigh. I love this. See, friends, plaid pajamas = totally sexy.

Be Proud of Being Literate

Ok, sorry, another post about an online shop. Isn't it always the way that when you shouldn't be spending any money, you find the best things to buy?

All of these can be found at Out of Print Clothing, which not only has a great concept of relishing in your literature to the point of wearing it, but also donates a book to a community in need for each item they sell. And every shirt is either a copy of the book's cover at one point in its history, or designed by someone brilliant. All good things. Generally, I'm not one for novelty t- shirts, but I will accept any or all of the choices above.  I'm especially into the sweatshirts, because, as I'm discovering more and more, every now and then you do in fact need this piece of clothing. Like, for lounging around the house or going to yoga. And cute sweatshirts are like, madly difficult to find. But these, I would wear with pride and flourish.

(I'm still not going to recognize the sweatshirt as a legitimate article of clothing for going out into the world, beyond trips to and from the gym. But these would be almost acceptable for informal occasions.  Just so long as you don't pair them with sweat pants. Lord. Even if you're just going to class. Geez.)

Stripes for All

So recently I found this brilliant shop: Chance.  Not only do I want pretty much every single thing on the site  (especially the Chance Essentials! The beach towels! The day tote! And the pajamas! I swoon) but they also have a really splendid blog of sorts with a nice collection of music, art, design and so forth.  Initially, I was going to say, who are these people? And then I researched for a minute and discovered the line is by former creative director of Kate Spade, Julia Leach, so then I was like, oh well, of COURSE.

Anyway, the whole feel is terribly unseasonal. These are clothes for summer, for vacations, for beaches, for sunny skies. Which is fine with me. I know I should still be concentrating on woolens and boots and furry things because we in Boston won't see the glimmer of spring for many months yet. But I can't help it. All the resort collections have gotten to me. I'm beyond done with the snow.  All I want is the beach.

In the (also beautifully put together) about section, Chance has this to say:"The striped t-shirt is the paper clip of personal style. There's at least one in every drawer, and it's coveted and collected thanks to its simplicity and timeless appeal. The espadrille, canvas tote, and button down shirt join this item as the cornerstones of of the Chance concept." You know that simplicity is not my favorite word, but, especially in the summer months (which more and more appeal to me as a year round state) I can fully back these pieces as staples of any good wardrobe. In homage, and with warm weather thoughts in mind, I've put together some classic striped looks, as inspired by my new favorite line. Plus a few of me and Nic on a perfect summer day, for good measure.

Champagne and Ballet Flats

In the abundance of wintery weather, I've been trying to make some art. It hasn't been terribly successful, because cold weather just sort of stifles me inside and makes me incapable of doing anything besides cooking, pretend online shopping, watching movies, and listening to This American Life or BBC Newshour.  But occasionally I remind myself that doing something creative and productive will make me feel like a real human being, and so I've made myself an Etsy page, and am painting here and there.

What can I say? I feel a little more likely to make things if I have a venue for showing them off. Bully for all you intrinsically motivated individuals, but I'm not so good at working in a vacuum.  Positive reinforcement has always done it for me, you know?

If you feel so inclined, you can look here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChampagneBalletFlats

Turn Into: What February Is Like

Here's my February mix.  It's mostly inside music for cold and icy days. There's a lot of love, but its love that doesn't come out right. We get enough of that in movies. It's a lot of country, because who does complicated love better?

You can listen here:



1. Reckoner - Radiohead
2. Cut-Out Witch - Guided By Voices
3. The Same Boy You've Always Known - The White Stripes
4. Rock Me Baby - Otis Redding
5. Lead Me On - Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
6. Please Let Me Wonder - The Beach Boys
7. The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin
8. Combinations - The Olivia Tremor Control
9. Dans Le Monde Entier - Francoise Hardy
10. Hate That I Love You - Rihanna and Ne-Yo
11. Procissao - Gilberto Gil
12. Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan
13. Meadowlarks - Fleet Foxes
14. It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad ) - Merle Haggard
15. In The Cold I'm Standing - M83
16. Lost and Found - Phoenix
17. Hey Porter - Johnny Cash
18. You're Still On My Mind - The Byrds
19. He's A Bad Boy - Carole King
20. Promise Her Anything - Tom Jones
21. I'll Come Running Back To You - Sam Cooke
22. Jesus, Etc. - Wilco
23. Homecoming - Kanye West and Chris Martin
24.  Burning of The Midnight Lamp - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
25. E.M.P.T.Y. - The Clientele
26.  I'm Your Villain - Franz Ferdinand
27. Our Time Is Running Out - Yellow Payges
28. Turn Into - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I Will Never Love You More Than My Boyfriend When I Was 14

Even if he's now an asshole, I will never love you more.


Teaser post. More to come later. With more words and more pictures and more music. Don't sit on the edge on your seat, because its easy to fall off that way.

Brookline Booksmith: New Books Will Heal Your Wounds

Because I'm a list making, future-gazing weirdo, one of my favorite things about a new year is getting a brand new planner and having a lengthy sit down where I write in all the old planner stuff into the new planner and make all kinds of notes to myself about what I should be doing on this day or what kinds of things I want to plan for this far off week in the future. Like I said, a weirdo.


But I look forward to this, really and truly. And it also requires another one of my favorite things: buying a new planner.  I'm not sure why this is still an exciting event, since for the past two years I have owned this red Moleskine weekly planner, with the "week's appointments on the left and a ruled page for notes and ideas on the right". 


(Excuse the bummer image stolen from Moleskine's website.)

And for I think,for three to four years before that, I had the exact same thing, but in black.  




Obviously, this is a product I do not like to get versatile with.


But, nevertheless, Planner Buying Day is a time for excitement, and today was to be the day. Made even better because I usually celebrate this annual event by going to Brookline Booksmith to purchase it, which in and of itself, is a cause for great excitement.  At one time, Brookline Booksmith was a weekly stopping place for me. When I lived in Brighton and Allston, getting to Coolidge Corner was usually a matter of a long walk or a short T ride, and no matter the day I was having, this book store (coupled with a Nutella latte from the Creperie or an iced tea from Peets, depending on the season) could make everything better. 

Not that there is anything crazily spectacular for me to say about this place.  Its a fairly standard independent book store with the benefit of some frequently excellent bargain book selections and a whole lower level worth of remarkably well- curated used books.  Its the sort of place every neighborhood should have, but doesn't. Its the book store we are desperately lacking in Jamaica Plain, but will probably never have. Books don't make anyone any money. Which is very sad indeed.


So, back to the point, Brookline Booksmith is a special treat for me these days. And I was looking forward to a new planner. But! Brookline Booksmith did not have my planner. To be sure, they had every other Moleskine planner available. All styles, colors, sizes. And, they had clearly had mine available at one time. There was even a sample copy of mine, not for sale, taunting me.  I was totally bummed.  I considered every other planner. Perhaps I could go bigger, smaller. Perhaps I didn't need the notebook feature. Perhaps I could buy a small planner and a small notebook to use in tandem. But all this was foolish. Once you have found something that works, it is important to stick with it.  This is an important tip to living well. Don't settle for less than you are looking for. You won't be happy and will be wasting money. Planner Buying Day would have to be postponed.


To console myself, obviously I had to go downstairs and look at the used books.  As someone who has mostly inhaled books since I was a kid, I've been feeling particularly literature deprived since the school year started, and that needed to be fixed.  While I'm a major proponent of the library, something about buying a book makes me even more eager to read it. A lot of people will talk about how silly it is to own a bunch of books, what a waste of space, and so forth. Some people will even tell you that a Kindle or some sort of nonsense is a good replacement for having a library worth of books in your home. You can imagine what I think about those sort of people. The mark of a good person is full bookshelves in their home, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.


I meant to buy just one book, walked around for about twenty minutes with four, then settled on two.

I had to buy both these books because, just look at them! They are delightful to behold.

They put all the other books to shame. The things you see pass for cover design these days, geez. Apparently, these were part of some limited release of Faber firsts in 2009 to celebrate Faber's eightieth birthday. But don't they just look like how books should be? I'm already regretting not buying the copy of the Bell Jar they had from this series as well.

So, not a totally unsuccessful trip, after all. 

Getting Back to Real Food

I feel like its been a really long time since I've cooked anything real. I did a sort of dashed together pasta dish tonight, I made some really simple canapes for our new years party, and I roasted some asparagus for Christmas dinner. Other than that, I haven't looked at a recipe or sat down to my own planned cooking since probably mid December.

This sounds outrageous, but its true.  I didn't want to buy a lot of groceries to be left to rot while we were out of town, so the week before Christmas I tried to cobble together some things out of csa ingredients, but mostly we picked on things, ordered in, and ate out.  While I was home, my parents cooked.  They eat less vegetables than I like to pack in, but make some amazing meals. Maybe some too amazing meals, because by the time Molly and I flew back to Boston, we were pretty food-ed out.  Planning a meal was unthinkable. We were basically content to survive on a few fried eggs, popcorn, apples, and peanut butter until Nic returned.

By New Years Day, I was ready to ease back into food with the healing powers of pho, but still not ready to cook. And then today, two pieces of cold pizza and some leftover cupcakes made a fine breakfast and lunch.

And then, all at once, I was reallllly ready to eat and cook some real food.  I made a little pasta with roasted eggplant and tomatoes and some assorted small bits of assorted pasta I dug out of the cabinet, and realized how desperately I needed to go grocery shopping.

So, weekly menu planning time. Shopping tomorrow.

This is what we're going to have, in an as-yet-undetermined order:

- Udon noodles with bok choy and poached egg

- Squash, bacon, and goat cheese pasta with basil

- Quinoa tabbouleh with a fried egg

- Roasted beet salad with goat cheese and crusty bread

- Creamy saffron mussel and spinach pasta

- Patatas Riojanas (This one is unfortunately contingent on whether or not I can find chorizo Nic will eat at this time of year.  Now that there is snow all over the parking lot, I'm fairly sure I'll have to wait until spring to visit Stillmans at the farmer's market.)

Two meals already with eggs, you say? Two pasta dishes? Another noodle related meal? Listen, eggs are cheap and delicious and full of protein, ok? Pasta is cheap and filling and always feels like a proper meal. Its post-Christmas belt tightening times.  Eggs and pasta are my best friends.

So ready to properly get back in the kitchen.

New Year's Eve!

On an entirely different note, here are some (pre-party!) pictures from our New Years, which turned out to be a really pleasant evening.

Cupcakes made by Molly. Frosting piped with her Christmas present from Nic.

Decorations and grapes on skewers. Because, I don't know, they're lucky for the new year and look cool.

Champagne! The plastic glasses are kind of a bummer, but seeing as two glass ones got broken during the course of the night, probably a safer choice.

More snacks.

I don't look like a real person here.

Molly!

So many sequins. So necessary.

Going Out of My Mind: What January is Like

I know that New Years day is meant to be a time of new beginnings.  Fresh starts, clean slates, high hopes, resolutions and all that.  But I'm sort of a sad sack, and a new year tends to make me feel a little heavy.  I hang on to the past, and change makes me uncomfortable, no matter how welcome it might be. I over think things, maybe.  I worry too much.  I can't let stuff go. 


And so maybe its the heavy emphasis on change, or the cold, darkness of Boston, or the excess of free time to sit with my own thoughts, but this time of year makes me melancholy. And I'm sorry to say, but my monthly playlist reflects that. What a bummer, right? But don't worry, because as the month goes on, it picks up.    


I've gotten into making these playlists and seeing themselves as some sort of daily predictor for how each day is going to go down. Instead of a horoscope, I can look at the corresponding song for the day and somehow it ends up being a pretty accurate summary of my mood.  Obviously this means I have clairvoyant powers.  But no big deal. I feel comfortable skewing the songs toward a happier feel for guaranteed happier times ahead.


Here it is:


(Listen here - http://8tracks.com/maddhall/going-out-of-my-mind-what-january-is-like)


1. Lady Sings the Blues - Billie Holiday
2. I Am...I Said - Neil Diamond
3. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - The Silkie
4. Good Song - Blur
5. He's My Guy - Irma Thomas
6. Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane
7. You Know Who - T.I. 
8. Flugufrelsarinn - Sigur Ros
9. Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan
10. You're So Fine - Dorothy Berry
11. Elegie - Patti Smith
12. Storm Coming - Gnarls Barkley
13. Someone To Share My Life With - Jens Lekman
14. What's In It For Me - The Walkmen
15. I Feel My Stuff - Brian Eno & David Byrne
16. Guess I'm Doing Fine - Beck
17. Learning to Hunt - Guided By Voices
18. I Got Ants in My Pants - James Brown
19. Panis et Circenses - Os Mutantes
20. He War - Cat Power
21. Just One Thing - My Morning Jacket
22. Pull Up The Roots - Talking Heads
23. Lady Scarface - Lydia Lunch
24. 1901 - Phoenix
25. Comfy in Nautica - Panda Bear
26. Here Should Be My Home - No Age
27. Everybody's Had the Blues - Merle Haggard
28. My Boy Says - Talulah Gosh
29. I Need All The Friends I Can Get - Camera Obscura
30. I Go To The Barn Because I Like The - Band of Horses
31. Goin' Out of My Mind - The Easybeats