Put all your music on shuffle, list and explain the first 15 songs with a memory attached.
okay, most of my memories are either from live shows or they're memories of an entire album. whatever.
1. badly drawn boy-a peak you reach in may of 2002 my parents and i flew up to grand rapids for my sister's graduation from calvin college. about a boy was coming out in theaters that weekend and i had just finished reading the book. my sister's friend dan burned me a copy of the soundtrack while i was there and i listened to it on my disc man as i was falling asleep each night. later in the weekend cecily, sarah and i went to see the movie. the whole weekend was really nice and every time i hear any song from that soundtrack, my mind is taken back to that time.
2. the redwalls-falling down in july 2005 i went to lollapalooza in chicago with my sister and her husband. it was the first year they they produced it as a festival and it was only 2 days. on the first day we walked in and stopped at the first stage we came to. the redwalls were playing and none of us had ever heard of them before. i was hooked instantly. later that same year i saw them play at emo's with hot hot heat. it was a fantastic night!
3. modest mouse-trailer trash in may of 2007 i went to see modest mouse at the backyard. that show ended up getting shutdown early because of rain (even though the tickets said rain or shine!) but before they shut 'er down, modest mouse played trailer trash and it was incredible. dancing to that song in the rain is one of my most favorite concert memories.
4. liz phair-only son i bought whitechocolatespaceegg at a used cd store at 620 and 183 the summer after i turned 16. this song just reminds me of driving around in my red 2-door honda civic that summer
5. brendan hines-parcel post last february my friend dani suggested i buy his album, good for you know who. so i did. that night i went out with some friends and had a particularly crappy night but listening to brendan hines on the drive home really cheered me up.
6. jimmy durante-make someone happy when i was 10 my dad worked for a homebuilder who also owned some video rental stores. they used to get all kinds of movie related stuff in the office and one of the things they got was a cassette tape of the sleepless in seattle soundtrack. the songs that really stand out in my memory are make someone happy and bye bye blackbird.
7. the yeah yeah yeahs-y control my only real memory of this song is singing it at lori and robin's old apartment.
8. david garza-disco ball world high school high school high school high school! seriously, if i could pick one song that i associate the most with high school, it's probably this one.
9. bob dylan and willie nelson-heartland this song is off an album that we used to listen to on our summer roadtrips. it reminds me of being cramped in a mini-van for hours upon hours, sleeping in a hot tent, and taking in all sorts of beautiful scenery in the western united states.
10. the vapors-turning japanese one of my only real memories from seeing ian ball at cafe du nord in october 2007 is repeatedly requesting this song (apparently at a loud volume). i still think ian would sound great covering it!
11. the band-theme from the last waltz in february 2006 kelly and i drove to houston to see coldplay. we stayed at the magnolia hotel, which was very nice. the morning after the concert was rough, to say the least. i turned on the tv and flipped channels for 5 or 10 minutes. as i landed on ifc for probably the 10th time, the last waltz was starting up. rather then getting up and heading back to austin right away like we had planned, we stayed in bed and watched the whole movie. whenever i think back on that day, i'm filled with happiness and comfort.
12. calvin harris-acceptable in the 80s a few months ago dana and i were chatting while watching law and order: svu. here is an excerpt from that chat:
Stefanie: good god, marital rape was legal until the 80s??
Dana: haha oh man
Dana: i listened to this song today "acceptable in the 80s"
Dana: maybe it was about that
Stefanie: oh calvin harris?
Dana: haha yes
Stefanie: that's a catchy tune
Dana: yeah i like it
Dana: esp since i was born in the 80s
Stefanie: you were?
Dana: nope
so after that, acceptable in the 80s made me think of marital rape. not a great thing to think of but it's a funny story.
13. death cab for cutie-brothers on a hotel bed i honestly cannot remember how or why this got into my head but every time i hear this song, or even read/think about it, i think about my name is earl because earl and randy share a bed in a hotel room.
14. the decemberists-o new england i downloaded all of the songs from the bridesmaid series or whatever the hell they're called from an illegal leak. yeah, i said it. anyway, carlos and i went to see the d's at southwestern shortly after that and they played this song. so now this song reminds me of sitting in the bleachers in a gym that looked remarkably like my high's school gym. yes, we had to sit in the bleachers because grandpa had torn his acl the day before.
15. ryan adams-come pick me up in october of 2007 i went to san francisco to visit my california homies and see ian ball. meghan, matt, and dani were sleeping on air mattresses in the office so i took the couch. after the show, everyone else went to bed except for kerry and me. we turned on the tv and ended up watching part of elizabethtown. the only thing i really remember before falling asleep was hearing this song. it always reminds me of kerry.
for several days i've driven past an airstream trailer with the hey cupcake! logo on it. it's parked by thundercloud at 4 points (620&2222). i couldn't figure out if they were opening a location there or what! i searched all over the internet and couldn't find any information about it. well, last night when i turned onto 620 from 2222 i saw a cupcake on top of the trailer! and lights! and an "open" sign! and lots of people in line! so i guess there is a hey cupcake! by my house now. i am stoked. i found it a little odd that they opened one up there but i guess since it's practically summer and lots of people drive that stretch of highway coming and going from the lake, they figured it could be a lucrative spot. i hope it is. i know i'll be spending money there!
just the other day i was complaining how i never win anything. i enter the austinist free ticket contests pretty much every time they have one and i've never won. a couple of weeks ago dana won the black joe lewis ticket giveaway. then on monday, alicia won the elvis perkins giveaway. not fair! but today, my "never winning anything" came to an end. 
i love tito's vodka. it is my liquor of choice. and i don't just like it because it's cheap, i actually prefer the taste to pretty much any other vodka. my favorite ways to enjoy it are mixed with cranberry juice, tonic, or blood orange italian soda. 
wilco has a new album coming out in june! it leaked on tuesday night and in response to that, the band has put a stream of it up on their website. i am in love with this album. i think i might like it better than sky blue sky. immediate favorites are "you and i" (duet with feist) and "i'll fight". i also cannot wait to hear "bull black nova" live because i can tell it's going to be one of those epic live songs like spiders. 
check out this interview with fil krohnengold about operation aloha. also, a few days ago i wrote that operation aloha would be on carson daly tonight. that has been changed and their performance will now be airing thursday night. 
this is a collage of the first 25 days of my project 365. yes, i'm still at it! so far so good. yay! it's not terribly exciting but neither is my day-to-day life so i guess it all makes sense. you can click on it to view it larger.
if you're in the austin area you should check out this photography exhibit next friday, may 15th. an extremely talented friend of mine will have an image included in the exhibit. it should be a good time!
a few years ago christopher wray-mccann hatched a plan to get his favorite musician friends to gather in hawaii and record some music. somehow, the stars aligned and they were all able to take off to hawaii for a month and thus, operation aloha was born. operation aloha consists of the following artists:
