Listen Up Phomboneus Jones.

Totally violent twee.

2012-01-23T11:20:00.002-05:00

How oxymoronic!

track list:

1. "You Killed A Boy For Me" // Henry's Dress

2. "Theme From Teenage Suicide" // My Teenage Stride

3. "You Should All Be Murdered" // Another Sunny Day

4. "Chainsaw" // Fat Tulips

5. "I Kicked A Boy" // The Sundays

6. "All The People I Like Are Those That Are Dead" // Felt

7. "Break Your Face" // Talulah Gosh

8. "Stabbed" // Boyracer

-Leah

Eating cheese doodles with Madonna.

2012-01-14T20:30:00.002-05:00

Wouldn't it be nice?

Tracks from Bleached, Sleater-Kinney, P.S. Eliot, Juilie Ruin, and more.

-Leah

Teen Blogging: The Anti-Drug

2012-01-04T16:32:00.006-05:00

“We exist because of suburbia. Suburbia is a freak’s dreamworld, a world of extra rooms upstairs and long, lazy afternoons with no interference. A place where you can listen to your LPs for hours on end. You can live in your room, your own rent-free corner of the universe, and create a world of pleasure and interest entirely centered on yourself and your interior aesthetic and logic.”

—Dana Spiotta, Stone Arabia

Look, I know, TOTAL white girl problems; a very wise decision on the filmmaker's part to give the main character epilepsy.

If there's one thing that my A in Writing the Essay has confirmed for me, it's that I'm really unnecessarily good at analyzing things. But while this skill can be helpful and therapeutic if learned early on in a high school setting where it's possible to decode social dynamics, it is actually totally crippling when applied in the real world. I'm 18 years old, and I hardly know anything. Nor should I expect myself to. And in a way this makes me worry that maybe I actually did peak in high school, but if the clarity I achieved during the end of my senior year was a "peak" of sorts, I only got there because I really struggled at first, having gone through this whole period of self-doubt over potentially wasting my adolescent years looking to grow up too fast. I don't want to make this mistake a second time in college, and this is precisely why I must retire from teen blogging (or as I like to call it, "blogging about my feelings"). Yes, I'm still a teenager, but I'm not in high school anymore, and while I am totally in love with going to school in New York City, doing so also means being totally stressed out each and every day by the sheer measure of power and wealth and raw talent that exists within it. It's not easy figuring out how to best live in the present, but to me it means taking my time, and not getting ahead of myself, no matter how tempting. I don't know exactly what I want to do with my life anymore, but I keep telling myself that's okay. It's fine to look to others' successes for inspiration, but there are no formulas to be followed, nor are there finish lines worth crossing in life. And I think I've come to realize that it's not so much the disillusionment that's worth romanticizing, but rather the fuck ups that remind us we're only human. As of now, I'm still holding on to illusion with all my heart.

-Leah

My year in lists (2k11) pt. 3

2011-12-30T18:25:00.002-05:00

So these were all the movies I was really psyched to see in 2011...

but I'm sorry to report that I didn't actually end up seeing any of them. Umm...my bad, I guess. I don't know. I love movies, but I don't love paying $13 to see them in New York City when I can experience live music for half of that and feel way more satisfied with the experience. Plus I'm majoring in Cinema Studies so I've sort of witnessed first-hand how lonely and pretentious excessively consuming cinema can potentially make a person. But that's another topic of discussion...

HOW GREAT was Bridesmaids, you guys?!

Breaking Dawn is technically the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life, but I'd still like to thank the film for inspiring me to write my most successful tweet yet! (statistically speaking, of course)

Whatever, movies. The world's probably gonna end in 2012 anyway, so everyone just chill out and watch these in preparation for the apocalypse:

Shivers (1975) // David Cronenberg

Brazil (1985) // Terry Gilliam

Last Night (1988) // Don McKellar

12 Monkeys (1995) // Terry Gilliam

-Leah

My year in lists (2k11) pt. 2

2011-12-30T18:20:00.002-05:00

I actually got to devote one of my radio shows to playing favorite tracks of 2011. (LINK TO THAT)

But here's an essential second list considering no respectable college radio station is ever gonna let a girl air Katy Perry, and I don't wanna try to act like I wasn't profoundly moved by these tracks. No frontin' necessary:

"Last Friday Night" // Katy Perry

"Gucci Gucci" // Kreayshawn

(For the record, I've never even heard another song by Kreayshawn, but HELLO--"I got the swag and it's pumpin' out my ovaries." Story of my life. Preach, girl.)

"Countdown" // Beyonce

"Born This Way" // Lady Gaga

(Yes, I'm still totally into it. Yes, I'm sparing you the video.)

-Leah

My year in lists (2k11) pt. 1

2011-12-29T21:31:00.015-05:00

Here are 10 albums I really loved in 2011. I'm actually pretty impressed that I was able to choose 10 albums (ignore the fact that I strategically set up this list to look like I didn't choose half of them from Slumberland Records). Remember when I wrote the mission statement for Music That Matters To Me? (lol @ only writing about Weezer before going off to college and getting a life.) In writing that post I didn't think I was capable of genuinely caring about an abundance of new music. But basically it's like this: give girl radio show, girl listen to more new music. That's what's up.

Belong Share the Joy Cry About It 7" Veronica Falls

(The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Vivian Girls, Bad Banana, Veronica Falls)

The Babies Idle Labor In Love With Oblivion

(The Babies, Craft Spells, Crystal Stilts)

Eyes Wide Shut Romantic Comedy

(Manic Attracts, Big Troubles)

We Love You So Bad

(Kids On A Crime Spree)

-Leah

New York Minute

2011-11-26T01:06:00.013-05:00

So I realized about week ago that my roommate and I (who are mutually vegan/share the same b-day) are basically the Olsen twins.

It's uncanny.

And it's really helpful that we are because I LOVE the Olsen twins!

Now, if you read Thought Catalogue, perhaps you recall the post Ryan O'Connell wrote earlier this year: "True Life: I'm Obsessed With The Olsen Twins". I think Ryan and I definitely reside on an equal level of MK&A appreciation, but while he's always been into them as peers, I'm eternally into them because of how I viewed them as a child. They were impossibly cool big girls! Impossibly cool big girls who taught an entire generation of young females the following: the fun you will have in your teens will only be measured by the number of stellar unsupervised vacations you go on, and the success you have in finding cute boys on said vacays.

But hey, I'm out of high school now, and totally fascinated with their sick glamorization of teenhood. I'm also fascinated with the seven years worth of VHS tapes ('93-'00) that showcased the twins singing original songs despite having no discernible musical talent whatsoever (and I'm not just talkin' "Gimme Pizza"; there are MANY gems). MK&A were just so profoundly girlie! #1 set of famous NYU twins forever! (no, really though).

"Can you imagine reading a research paper written by Mary-Kate? 'i like art pretty ethereal art Basquiat Lauren Hutton cool bye.'"

- Ryan O'Connell

Plus, I'm a big fan of the soundtracks to all those direct-to-video movies. I think my ultimate dream would be getting paid to pick the music used in MK&A films. Seriously, they should make more and let me do that; it'll be my super helpful contribution to improving mainstream teen culture.

I made this 8track because I was capable of making this 8track:

1. "Roam" by The B-52's (When in Rome)

2. "Sugar" by Stretch Princess (Passport to Paris)

3. "Ready To Go" by Republica (Getting There)

4. "So Little Time" by Arkarna (So Little Time's theme song, duh)

5. "One Girl Revolution" by Superchick (Holiday in the Sun)

6. "Island in the Sun" by Weezer (Holiday in the Sun)

7. "Waterfall" by The Stone Roses (Getting There)

8. "Mz Popularity" by Moxy (Passport to Paris)

9. "Big Star Machine" by Superchick (this scene)

-Leah

Everyone but me was making out and eating cookies.

2011-11-22T01:20:00.005-05:00

Oh hey internet.

This blog is 3 years old as of tomorrow, and I almost completely forgot!

Basically I go to college now, and it is stressful, but good, and I need to start writing again because I have lots of ideas worth writing about. Also, I am debating deleting large chunks of archived posts on here because I've been ~*teen blogging*~ since I was 15 and, frankly, a lot of this site's content is super embarrassing. Part of me really wants to leave it up because it is sentimental, but I think, for the site's well-being, it's better off gone. And for those of you who actually care, I will soon write an highly reflective post on all the benefits of teen blogging as a consolation prize (i.e. Teen Blogging: The Anti-Drug).

Parker Posey in Kicking and Screaming (best college movie ever made, I'm pretty sure.)

Yes, tons of postage comin' your way, so get pumped! (You don't actually have to, though.)

ALSO, I managed to get an indiepop radio show at NYU (college radio rules, literally everyone knows this!). But it kinda sucks at the moment because I always seem to forget that I actually like the music I play and end up saying nothing cool/of any value at all during my mic breaks. I realize it's an issue; I'm totally workin' on it. If you wanna be nice and listen anyway, I am live on-air every Saturday morning from 10am-12noon!

(Pink Lemonade @ WNYU.org)

-Leah

Dorm tunes.

2011-10-06T22:22:00.005-04:00

Jason Biggs in the movie Loser. Jason Biggs gettin' with Mena Suvari in the movie Loser. Mena Suvari stealing lotsa honey packets from the dining hall in the movie Loser.

(8 songs that soundtracked my first month of college.)

-Leah

Music That Matters To Me: Weezer's first 2 albums.

2011-08-27T15:00:00.009-04:00

It really just wouldn't feel right for the first installment of "Music That Matters To Me" to cover any band besides Weezer. Truly, they were first band I ever fell in love with. And this is fascinating to me because I was 12 when I discovered Weezer, which may seem perfectly normal, but consider the fact that I was 12 in the year 2005. The year Make Believe came out. So while thousands of longtime Weezer fans were sobbing under their bed covers, I was just a 6th grader with an iPod mini. And do you want to know how I found out about Weezer? Do you really want to know? I found out about Weezer because "Island in the Sun" was featured in the Mary Kate & Ashley home video Holiday in the Sun. I've never admitted this to anyone! But I've done so now to prove a point. Unlike Pavement or Built to Spill or Sebadoh, I didn't come across Weezer because I was looking for an instrumental 90's alt band. The only reason I discovered Weezer at such an early age was because I was partaking in the extremely normal tween girl activity of watching MK&A movies. And this makes for a slightly embarrassing story, but "embarrassing" only at face value or in a "totally laughing at myself" sort of way. I'm glad that I discovered Weezer in a profoundly uncool way because Weezer has forever and always been a profoundly uncool band. And this is why they are never going to put out another good album. Rivers Cuomo now has a wife, a child, a Harvard degree, and no pressing medical issues (that I know of). You really think he's gonna write another Pinkerton? He's not. And why would you want him to? He finally seems happy in his life, and I think music is still a big part of that happiness, even if none of "us" are necessarily feelin' it. Besides, maybe some kid is listening to "Magic" by B.o.B. right now and thinking to himself, "Wow, I really like this Rivers guy's vocals, I'm gonna go download his band's first album!" I'm telling you, there will always be 12-year-olds who will find a way to fall in love with Weezer. It's one of the world's few certainties.

"Undone (The Sweater Song)" // Weezer

Because I bought Weezer's music off of iTunes, track by track, it's hard for me to talk about Blue without Pinkerton and vice versa. My favorite album ever is Pinkerton 50% of the time, and the other 50% it's Blue. If Pinkerton and Blue were released in deluxe edition combo packaging, I would just call that my all time favorite music and I'd be set. For the record, I do also enjoy Green and Maladroit, but even in middle school I knew that the tracks off the first two albums were the ones that really "mattered." Yet, acquiring these albums song by song through iTunes meant that I didn't actually possess them in their entirety until I reached high school. Which seems strange now because never again am I going to spend four years getting into a record, but with Weezer I think it worked out because caring about music hard was so new to me. No use having "Tired of Sex" on my radar at 12, but at 15 I understood where Rivers was coming from. Not because the song was about sex, but because the song was about feeling empty. And I'm sure the whole sexual frustration element to Pinkerton would have spoken to me much differently if I were a boy, but as a girl, the most important track to me by far was "Across the Sea." And I never had a crush on Rivers or anything, but it was still incredibly exciting for me to think that if I had been a Weezer fan ten years earlier, maybe I could've written the fan letter that inspired the song (probs not though cause I'm not Japanese). Now, if I'd gotten into "Across the Sea" a couple of years later, it might not have been such a big deal to me considering I can now pretty much email any current band I'm into, but I didn't know how to maximize my internet usage at the time, so I felt pretty isolated in my interests. Last year I read this Pitchfork interview with Titus Andronicus' frontman:

"I think that for a lot of people my age, Weezer was the first indie rock band, kind of like the indie rock gateway drug. Weezer certainly became the band, the rock on which me and all of my buddies built our church, so to speak. Pretty much any band that our friends were in in high school probably covered at least two Blue Album songs at some point." - Patrick Stickles

He goes on to call Weezer a "tribal identifier," which I could never relate to in a tangible sense, and I assume this will continue to be a problem for many of the aforementioned future 12-year-old Weezer fans, but I definitely feel like Weezer shaped me for a good part of my early adolescence. And I can identify with the tribe he's referring to, even if it's never been a tribe of my own, per se. I think, in a big way, falling in love with Weezer and then coming to fall in love with so many bands on top of them, made me prefer to make up my own tribe. When you have things to love, it's a lot easier to stop caring about what other people think of you in the context of school. I mean, I'd have been way more upset if someone told me they thought Pinkerton was a lame album than I would've been if they'd told me I was a friendless loser. Maybe this all sounds incredible hokey because obviously no one actually said either of those things to me, and being called a "friendless loser" would definitely still suck, even outside of grade school, but I feel like Rivers has been extremely consistent in weaving trivial aspects of his life into his music. Yeah, it's a little cringe-worthy now when he sings about Rogaine and his skepticism toward Timbaland (see Red Album), but how is this any less legitimate than when he sang about Green Day concerts ("El Scorcho") and Dungeons and Dragons ("In the Garage") in his twenties? Funny thing about "In the Garage"...it's probably the most important song on Blue to me in terms of strongly relating to Rivers' sentiments, but the lyric "I've got Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler, too" I used to think was "I've got Kitty Pryde and I color, too." I was like, "Wow, Rivers likes Kiss, comics, Dungeons and Dragons, AND coloring!" It was a misinterpretation, clearly, but I feel like it put him on my 12-year-old level a little bit. And the more you listen to that song, the more you realize that the garage, while undeniably a sacred space, is also where Rivers is hiding from the world. So even though there's no such lyric about coloring, the entire song is extremely teen-girl-bedroom of him.

I guess, at the end of the day, Weezer being at its best on these two albums has a lot to do with Matt Sharp (he's the one major exception to Weezer being "profoundly uncool"), but even more so, I think it has to do with this brilliant balance between infectious pop songs, songs that are Heavy with a capital H, and songs that blend the two. "Surf Wax America" is an awesome track, but can you honestly picture Rivers on a surf board? It's just pop music. "The Good Life" is also super pop-y though, and it's about Rivers having a metal pole through his leg to extend the bone. Ouch, right? "Mykel and Carli" is also a great example of this blend. Mykel and Carli were some of the first Weezer fans ever, and they headed the Weezer fan club, but they died in a car crash on their way to a show in '97. "Mykel and Carli" was written years before, however, and this is why the "school bus came and took my friends away" lyric is especially haunting. But even so, I think the song is just Rivers imagining what it'd be like if Mykel and Carli were his childhood friends. Which really goes to show how genuinely sweet he is. As for the Heavy tracks, "Say It Ain't So" is about a moment in which Rivers feared his stepdad may have be an alcoholic, and "No Other One" is basically a song about being scared of your own girlfriend. There's something for everyone.

-Leah

Music about music!

2011-08-24T18:35:00.002-04:00

“I have a lot of songs about other songs, basically. Robert Christgau dismissed Holiday [The Magnetic Fields’ third album] with what I thought was a perfectly fair review: ‘More songs about songs and songs.’ That’s the most concise and true review that I think I’ve ever gotten. I don’t see it as a dismissal. What I care about most in the world is popular music, actually. More than love, I think I care about popular music. I would rather be disfigured than go deaf.”

- Stephin Merritt

-Leah

Music That Matters To Me.

2011-08-21T15:32:00.010-04:00

I am going to start a new series on this blog called "Music That Matters To Me" because I am a big fan of music journalism, but I also have a bit of hard time understanding it. Granted, I'm probably not as talented of a music listener as most of the people who are actually able to write rock criticism, but I think the main reason why I have difficulty grasping "how to write a music review" is because I'm only 18 years old. And for a while I sort of upheld this belief that adolescents shouldn't even bother listening to new music until they're in their twenties, and I truly thought that my teenage years needed to be spent obtaining a sense of music history. But this was a stupid concept, and I really like what Simon Reynolds wrote in the introduction of his post-punk book Rip It Up and Start Again:

“Young people have a biological right to be excited about the times they’re living through. If you are very lucky, that hormonal urgency is matched by the insurgency of the era, and your built-in adolescent need for amazement and belief coincides with a period of objective abundance.”

This is why I now refer to The Pains of Being Pure at heart as "my favorite band," as opposed to "my favorite active band" or "my favorite band of the last 5 years." It's my "right" to have a favorite band that I can actually go see live provide the soundtrack for my most essential teenage years.

But at the same time, this gets me nowhere! Because my definition of "band loyalty" is completely different from the blogosphere's definition. Yeah, the whole buzzband thing is cool because there are so many choices when lots of little bands are each being exposed, but feeling flawed as a new music connoisseur for only having the capacity to fall in love with maybe 5 new albums a year instead of the standard 50 is kind of really depressing.

And I'm not doubting that music reviewers really can pick 50 favorite albums each year, it's just that I'm 18 years old, and I love music, and there was a period in my life when I did refresh the Pitchfork homepage at 1:00 AM every night, and I do still watch The Needle Drop sometimes, but I honestly just never listen to music and think in terms of "wow this is some real crushingly atmospherical ambient-esque garage rock." I just don't!

I'm NOT supporting the manic pixie dream girl image, but you get the sentiment, right?

I do cry to albums in my car, though. And I did sit through classes in high school where all I could think about was how badly I wanted to go home and continue listening to [insert band of the month here]. And I can't help but feel like Simon Reynolds would sympathize with these reactions more so than if I was able to pick my 50 favorite albums of the year. So "Music That Matters To Me" will just be an outlet for me to articulate why certain albums have meant as much to me as they have thus far in my young life. Plus, I think it'll be really meaningful for me to look back on these when I finally do reach the average Pitchfork writer age or however old Simon Reynolds was when he first started working for Melody Maker (23, actually. I looked it up.) because by then I might appreciate music in completely different ways, but I don't want to value how I appreciated it at 18 any less.

Yep, the internet rules.

-Leah

Childhood Elevator Music.

2011-08-17T00:09:00.002-04:00

The 90's is now my favorite decade for music, but I paid no attention to what was going on at the time. I guess I was just too busy being an infant + stuff.

-Leah

Too edgy for suburbia.

2011-08-15T18:40:00.016-04:00

Every summer since I turned 14, I've worked at bakery/coffee shop type places, going through the whole teenage-minimum-wage-right-of-passage-yadda-yadda phase of my life. And every day I deal with frazzled moms who can't decide if they want regular or low-fat veggie cream cheese, and old men who think they can tease me for being a teen girl, and lots people who just generally do not know how to conduct themselves in public places. (Ray Romano comes in sometimes too, but OTHER THAN THAT, I swear, it sucks.) Today was tops, however, for I had the shit scared out of me at 7:15 a.m. upon helping a dude in a Metallica shirt who looked a little like this!!!!

And my mind was fucking blown! Rightfully so. Because here I was thinking I was way too edgy to stick around suburbia. Here I was, a girl who dyed her hair green while taking classes at Pratt in Brooklyn last summer, only to have my emerald locks hastily dyed back to brown within 12 hours of my return to suburbia. Why? Because the idea of witnessing my ~*crazy hair*~ being the most exciting part of someone's day made me feel nauseous. I loved my hair, but I truly wasn't seeking the extra attention. And knowing that people where assuming that I wanted the extra attention was enough to for me to just call the whole thing off. But what about Face Tats??? I'm allowed to question this guy's appearance, right? It's not like he had leprosy. I mean, this guy was totally normal otherwise, but at some point in his life he totally decided that he wanted to look that way. Which is why it was amazing to me that it took him so long to decide what he wanted to order this morning. And that he had to ask me what I'd recommend getting on his bagel. WHERE WAS I WHEN YOU WERE TRYING TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO DO THAT TO YOUR FACE?

I got over the initial shock soon enough, though. Then I started to think about the children. I mean, thank god there were no children, right? I'm 18, and I nearly peed myself. I started to think about it being 7:15, and I started to wonder if this guy had to plan his day around when it would be safest for him to show his tatted face in public. BUT THEN HE CAME BACK IN THE AFTERNOON! And the store was entirely filled with families! And I almost peed myself a second time! But, again, the guy chose to look this way. It's not leprosy, and he's not treating it like leprosy. I can only think of treating it like leprosy because I'm incapable of understanding why someone would willingly choose to tattoo his entire body with no exceptions, not even the facial region. I can only guess that if looked like that, I'd hide in my room all day. Oh wait...

But enough about Face Tats. Although I'd love to know what he does for a living. Or maybe not. ANYWAY, here are my top picks for "most realistic depictions of stressful suburban teenage hair-dying sessions":

4. Bliss' blue-haired beauty pageant debut in Whip It (2009).

3. Lane spent her single afternoon with neon purple hair at Rory's house on Gilmore Girls.

2. Enid's green hair was not understood as a "1977 original punk rock look" in Ghost World (2001).

1. Angela's Crimson Glow may seem like no big deal compared to the others on the list, but she gets first place for sticking with her color despite everyone's initial shock on My So-Called Life.

-Leah

RIP "teen crisis" 2k11!

2011-08-09T03:32:00.014-04:00

So I sort of spent the past six months of my life undergoing this so-called teen identity crisis of mine, during which I found myself unable to obsess over anything else. I penned two editorials on the issue, devoted four weeks to intense teen movie watching, and did a ton of moaning on tumblr, but only now do the answers to my teen identity seem so simple and obvious. Only now can I see that living in suburbia, and feeling unfulfilled with living in suburbia, actually made ~*being a teenager*~ stupid easy. I was miserable the whole time! Except for when I wasn't. Except for when I was on a 1st string teenage high!

"1st String Teenage High" // Tullycraft

This Tullycraft song might actually be my first full-on life anthem. Never before have I felt so heavily attached to a song's lyrics and how they manage to completely relay my own sentiments. (It's not that I've never viewed other songs as my anthem before, it's just that this song makes me realize that those songs didn't even come close. I mean, there's definitely something endearing about being a 15-year-old who thinks VU's "Stephanie Says" totally gets her isolation and inability to carry on simple phone conversations, but looking back, I kind of want to barf at how melodramatic that was.)

I've been meaning to write about "1st String Teenage High" for the past week or so, but after yesterday my affections for the song have doubled. Last night I took the train into New York with my friend Katie to go see The Pains of Being Pure at Heart open for The Kills at Terminal 5. Now, I've been making this hour-long trek into the city to see indie rock shows ever since my parents started allowing me to at 15, and it still is the most rewarding ritual I have. There's been nothing in the world more fun for me than being able to do this during all four years of high school, but last night may have been the final "1st String Teenage High"-esque episode of my young life. I'm not sad or anything. Just highly reflective about this end to an era. I move to New York City and into my dorm at NYU in less than three weeks. Oh. My. God. For all we know I might be a jaded asshole with clavicle piercings and an Altoids box full of adderall in a few months. I mean, I sincerely doubt it, but who am I to be so sure? I'm excited beyond belief to live in a city with access to so many things I love, but expectations are dangerous so I usually try to keep mine to a minimum while also finding ways to romanticize disillusionment.

Still, it's pretty hard to doubt the fact that going to indie rock shows ("indie rock shows" really just meaning non-Top 40 bands playing gigs that aren't at MSG) will be significantly easier. No more single-ride metrocards. No more admitting to being under 21. No more rushing back to Penn Station to make the last NJ Transit line. No more eating strawberry Poptarts in my parents' kitchen at 3:00 am.

I think I've earned it, though.

-Leah

Girl's guide to successfully talking about poop.

2011-08-04T21:22:00.027-04:00

There's one celebrity news story that has managed to stick with me week after week this summer, and it's Kim Kardashian denying her own bowel movements in the July issue of Cosmo. Now I don't usually care much at all for celebrity gossip (I think it's super boring, actually), but to say that I am obsessed with Kim K's claim would definitely not be an overstatement. I just keep analyzing and analyzing how on earth she managed to come up with the stupidest possible answer to the completely unassuming inquiry, "what's something we might not know about you?..."

I mean, she's a moron. This confirms it. But my obsession with her answer does not rest on me being amazed with her stupidity. Oh no. My obsession stems from the fact that I normally adore girls who unabashedly discuss bodily functions. And my twitter recalls an important revelation I had back in May:

If you're a pretty girl who can tell a poop joke without over-thinking the

effect that said joke might have on your "image" or some shit, you KNOW that you've arrived at confident. I have a super hard time believing that any girl who can tell a good poop joke has any sort of manic pixie dream girl agenda at all. And I'm not saying that all girls need to start telling poop jokes (I don't even tell poop jokes), but girls who are ballsy enough to tell poop jokes totally rule 99% of the time:

Jenny Slate:

Kristen Wiig and the cast of Bridesmaids:

Tina Fey's Liz Lemon:

SO YEAH, as you can see, taking the leap to talk about poop is a scary thing for a female. It means sacrificing all future comparisons anyone was planning on making between you and Zooey Deschanel. But if you still care about stuff like that, it's a sign that you shouldn't take the leap yet. The ability to tell poop jokes is reserved for the uber confident female. Most of us simply avoid the subject of poop at all costs. WHICH IS WHY I'M SO FASCINATED WITH KIM KARDASHIAN'S STATEMENT. She managed to talk about her bodily functions in a way that completely contradicted everything I believed talking about them was supposed to indicate. And she was clearly lying so 1.) she seems like an idiot for even thinking her response was at all plausible, 2.) she seems like a weirdo for bringing up poop in an interview without being prompted at all, and 3.) this might actually be the most depth she's ever shown considering how much reflecting she's caused me to do based on her answer.

But it's sad actually. Let's forget the fact that she was dumb enough to bring up poop in the least humorous way possible for a minute. Imagine being in a position of such raw, excessive glamour that you'd actually try to deny your own bodily functions. Magazines can make some girls feel bad about their appearances, but have you ever heard of being pressured to live up to a standard as crazy as denying your own bowel movements? I seriously think I could have written my college essay on this topic.

-Leah

"mainly just for the cafe-type image."

2011-08-01T09:44:00.004-04:00

I love this a lot, even though its context isn't entirely clear, because it's undeniably true that we will forget more than half of the things we've studied in an academic setting. But I still really love learning, and I will even go as far as to say that I am a fan of academia. What?! It's true though. I can sit at home and immerse myself in all of the things I'm already interested in learning about OR I can sit in a classroom and be forced to learn about things I otherwise may have never covered. And of course it's always a magical moment when mundane classroom learning and personal interests collide, and you find your instructor referencing Simon and Garfunkel lyrics or a Coen Brothers movie, but I suppose what I'm getting at is the fact that I can't imagine myself ever being completely satisfied with my knowledge of anything. I can't imagine ever claiming to have a "complete knowledge" of a subject without seeming ridiculously naive. I like that Wes admits here that he's forgotten almost everything he studied pertaining to his philosophy degree because it just goes to show that his investment in higher education was better spent on personal development. I hope to get that out of my own degree. I mean, I'm going to school to study film in theory, history, and context, and I'm so eager to learn, but at the end of the day, only a small fraction of the things I learn about will truly mean anything to me. And Rushmore will always be my favorite movie.

-Leah

Items.

2011-07-29T18:08:00.010-04:00

I was lucky enough to travel to Europe this month, so here are the many objects I found in Paris and Rome. 1. Une femme est une femme, La Strada, Pierrot le Fou, and A Clockwork Orange postcards (musee de cinema gift shop)
2. Magnets of famous Italian films: Amarcord, 8 1/2, Cinema Paradiso, and La Strada (Rome street vendors)
3. A Keith Haring yo-yo (art gallery in Rome)
4. Marie Antoinette pins and magnet (Versailles gift shop)
5. Statue of Liberty iPhone cover (Pylon store in Paris)
6. Lolita sunglasses and La Cinémathèque Française magnets (musee de cinema gift shop)
-Leah

Notes on starting out as a teen feminist.

2011-07-19T20:21:00.005-04:00

"Barbie Eat A Sandwich" // Care Bears on Fire

I'm very much interested in this 2009 music video by the band Care Bears on Fire because it is a perfect example of teen feminism at its finest done WRONG. Indeed, the message of this song isn't really 100% positive considering some girls simply are blonde and like to wear pink, and there's really no need to criticize them for that (Elle Woods, hello!). But I like that the members of this band are young girls (their lead singer is still in braces here) who are angry about societal standards of beauty. It’s rough going through the initial anger that sets in during tween years for girls who do stray from those standards, and it's actually awesome that this song exists when we take into account how incredibly emblematic the phrase “Barbie eat a sandwich” is of that phase. But if these girls were a bit years older (they are now, actually, check out their new band Claire's Diary!), the message of this song should have really been this:

“Barbie, you should eat a sandwich if you want to, but it’s your call. I’m not assuming that you have an eating disorder just because you are thin, but I, for one, fucking love sandwiches, so we can still go shopping, just let me finish this first.”

-Leah

Covers of great quality: Volume 3.

2011-07-07T16:28:00.002-04:00

-Leah

Peace out, high school.

2011-05-28T23:27:00.008-04:00

Happy, sunny pop tunes to serve as the soundtrack of my busting out.

p.s. It still seems like just yesterday I was a 15-year-old with this blog and basically no real friends (~*memoriezzz*~). It's been swell, adolescence. And by swell I mean numbingly weird, but ultimately not that bad.
-Leah

Why would the most popular girl in school wear a mask?

2011-05-20T20:44:00.005-04:00

Sugar and Spice (2001)

"He was a bar of chocolate and the whole school was on the rag...everybody wanted a piece."

-Leah

Suburban angst.

2011-05-17T20:53:00.003-04:00

Teen is a 4-letter word, ya'll.
-Leah

New Jersey, land of privileged teenage losers.

2011-05-17T18:43:00.007-04:00

Todd Solondz's Storytelling (2001)

-Leah

Lifestyles of the bored and dysenfranchised.

2011-05-13T16:50:00.009-04:00

Gregg Araki's Teen Apocalypse Trilogy:

Totally Fucked Up (1994)

The Doom Generation (1995)

Nowhere (1997)

-Leah

The incorrigible Corinne Burns.

2011-05-10T22:50:00.007-04:00

"I'm perfect! But nobody in this shithole gets me, because I don't put out!"
-- Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains (1982)

-Leah

Sooze wants to get into art school.

2011-05-08T20:00:00.010-04:00

Note: My blog is going to serve as a teen movie scrapbook of sorts for the rest of this month. Seniors at my school are finished with classes after AP exams, and the rest of May is used to complete a capstone project. The proposal I submitted a few months ago was to do an independent study of teenagers depicted on film, and, miraculously, it got approved. So here I am!

I literally cannot stop watching the following fine example of angsty teen girl performance art:

Richard Linklater's SubUrbia (1996)
"Burger Manifesto: Part 1 -- The Dialectical Exposition of Testosterone"

-Leah

Don't wanna lay here without you.

2011-05-07T22:15:00.006-04:00

I really love The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I realize you might not know this from reading Phomboneus, but over on tumblr, I find myself posting about them nonstop. So much so that I recently started http://fyeahthepainsofbeing.tumblr.com/ with a fellow Pains lover.

You should definitely follow. No matter what. Even if you don't know anything about pobpah. You will fall in love soon enough. This is a guarantee, my friend.

"Heaven's Gonna Happen Now" // The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

-Leah

Tina Fey responds to internet slams.

2011-04-22T12:14:00.007-04:00

You really need to pick up a copy of Bossypants.
Really, really.jerkstore: “In my opinion Tina Fey completely ruined SNL. The only reason she’s celebrated is because she’s a woman and an outspoken liberal. She has not a single funny bone in her body.”

Tina: "Dear jerkstore,

Huzzah for the Truth Teller! Women in this country have been over-celebrated for too long. Just last night there was a story on my local news about a 'missing girl,' and they must have dedicated seven or eight minutes to 'where she was last seen' and 'how she might have been abducted by a close family friend,' and I thought, 'What is this, the News for Chicks?' Then there was some story about Hillary Clinton flying to some country because she’s secretary of state. Why do we keep talking about these dumdums? We are a society that constantly celebrates no one but women and it must stop! I want to hear what the men of the world have been up to. What fun new guns have they invented? What are they raping these days? What’s Michael Bay’s next film going to be?

When I first set out to ruin SNL, I didn’t think anyone would notice, but I persevered because—like you trying to do a nine-piece jigsaw puzzle—it was a labor of love.

I’m not one to toot my own horn, but I feel safe with you, jerkstore, so I’ll say it. Everything you ever hated on SNL was by me, and anything you ever liked was by someone else who did it against my will.

Sincerely,

Tina Fey

P.S. You know who does have a funny bone in her body? Your mom every night for a dollar.

(read some more here)
-Leah

I am girl, hear me squeal.

2011-04-21T17:22:00.002-04:00

Bossy girls being noisy.
-Leah

Kind.

2011-04-07T17:24:00.000-04:00

Kurt Cobain smokes a cigarette and takes a walk in William S. Burroughs' garden.

"Cobain was very shy, very polite, and obviously enjoyed the fact
that I wasn’t awestruck at meeting him.
There was something about him, fragile and engagingly lost.
He smoked cigarettes but didn’t drink. There were no drugs.
I never showed him my gun collection.”

-Leah

Mixtape for my bedroom.

2011-04-03T19:16:00.002-04:00

I love my bedroom. She is my best friend. I made this mix just for her because she really understands all of my teen girl problems.
-Leah

Junk.

2011-04-03T00:26:00.002-04:00

Self Portrait in Tub with Chinese Food
By Lee Price

http://www.leepricestudio.com/

-Leah

We are your punk rock widows.

2011-04-01T23:34:00.008-04:00

Getting A Life With... / This Many Boyfriends

"Trying Is Good" // This Many Boyfriends

This Many Boyfriends' debut EP is currently my go-to source for a healthy dose of music-to-buzz-about. Granted, their indiepop tracks fit in pretty seamlessly with bands like The Pastels and The Pooh Sticks, but this only makes them all the more buzzworthy. Solid, contemporary, purebred indiepop bands are hard to come by. Before This Many Boyfriends, I tended to think of bands like Noah and the Whale and Los Campesinos!, but I only sort of liked those bands at best. And the indiepop from the 90s was so fantastic, I figured why even bother listening to mediocre twee from the new millennium? TMB definitely broke that stigma. They know their fucking history, and where their roots lie. Which is always a big plus.
-Leah

Prom night done right.

2011-02-26T19:37:00.002-05:00

This is what prom would sound like if it was up to me.
p.s. Once the mix finishes, everyone is gettin' Carried.
-Leah

Hammer Time.

2011-02-24T22:19:00.003-05:00

"Datemi Un Martello" // Rita Pavone

I am completely obsessed with this. Rita Pavone where have you been my entire life, seriously.
-Leah

Deal Breakers.

2011-02-18T21:42:00.001-05:00

Dating is hard. Or so I'm told.
-Leah

Lite FM's finest moments.

2011-02-06T00:05:00.001-05:00

Lite FM sucks so hard, it really does, except for when it doesn't!

This one's for all the times you've gotten your jam on in a doctor's office waiting room.

-Leah

I'm so tall, can't get over me.

2011-01-22T12:59:00.005-05:00

So even though Weezer's Deluxe Edition Pinkerton reissue has gotten outstanding reviews (P-fork even dished out the coveted 10.0), I've resisted the urge to buy it because I already own Pinkerton. And reissues kill me because it's annoying having to rebuy something I already have just to get extras (this is what happened to me with Black Tambourine's Complete Recordings and also countless Criterion Collection releases). But this is Pinkerton, which is quite possibly my favorite album of all time if not the Blue Album, and I am a ridiculously loyal Weezer fan, one who won't even scrunch her nose at them in their current state of eternal dad-rock goofiness, so I do think this definitely making it onto my birthday list.
Besides, discovering this song was literally the greatest thing that happened to me all month:

"I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" // Weezer

-Leah

I can put that smile back on your face.

2011-01-16T18:02:00.004-05:00

"Right Back Where We Started From" // Maxine Nightingale

-Leah

Tastes like winter.

2011-01-07T00:52:00.004-05:00

-Leah

Poof.

2011-01-04T01:39:00.005-05:00

The Dust Bowl is so beyond fascinating to me.
All I want to do is read The Grapes of Wrath all day long.
-Leah

Porque te vas.

2010-12-30T00:56:00.001-05:00

So my resolution for 2010 was to watch 100 movies, and I'm almost there. I've got just three more to watch by Friday. I probably watched more than 100 in 2008 and 2009, but I also did a lot of studying in 2010, so 100 ended up being the perfect number. I really don't care about New Year's resolutions unless they are fun and achievable like this one. Not sure what my 2011 goals are exactly. Mostly just to swiftly exit high school. But I do know that I want to complete the entire Criterion Collection by 2015. I'm currently at 59/559 so I have quite a ways to go. I'm keeping track of my progress here. The full list of the collection can be found here.
-Leah

With an ivory pipe and a cummerbund.

2010-12-29T14:57:00.004-05:00

For Christmas I got 2 Magnetic Fields albums: Get Lost and The Charm of the Highway Strip. Previously I only owned the 69 Love Songs boxset (which is enough to keep anybody satisfied for a good while) and scattered MP3s from various compilations. But it's no secret how much I love The Magnetic Fields, and I can basically pluck anything from their discography trusting it'll be great.

"The Dreaming Moon" // The Magnetic Fields

"Born On A Train" // The Magnetic Fields

-Leah

Indefinitely.

2010-12-25T14:13:00.006-05:00

Hey there, Merry Christmas everybody.
This is great. I don't know how I could possibly ever be bored again.
I would like some snow now though, yes, please and thank you.-Leah

My year in lists (2k10) pt. 3

2010-12-22T23:34:00.002-05:00

"Answer to Yourself" // The Soft Pack

Definitely the most band crush inducing music video of the year, so there.
-Leah

My year in lists (2k10) pt. 2

2010-12-22T13:34:00.001-05:00

Here are the tracks I most enjoyed from 2010. (Again, I didn't even come close to listening to everything that was musically put out.)

"Desire Lines" "Rivival" // Deerhunter
"Heart in Your Heartbreak" // The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
"Down On Loving" // The Soft Pack

"Telephone" // Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce
"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" // Arcade Fire
"Chinatown" // Wild Nothing
"Year's Not Long" // Male Bonding
"Super Soaker" "King of the Beach" // Wavves
"Let's Go Surfing" // The Drums
"When I'm With You" "Boyfriend" "I Want To" // Best Coast
"Solitude Is Bliss" // Tame Impala
"Narrow With the Hall" // Women

"Jail La La" // Dum Dum Girls
"Excuses" // The Morning Benders
"Drunk Girls" "Dance Yrself Clean" // LCD Soundsystem
"Lazy Heart" // Black Tambourine
"What to Say" // Born Ruffians
"Roman Candles" // Suckers
"Vacation" "Daydream" // Beach Fossils
"Pumped Up Kicks" // Foster the People
"Over" // Drake
"Big Things" // Fiction

-Leah

My year in lists (2k10) pt. 1

2010-12-21T15:16:00.033-05:00

For obvious reasons, I didn't get around to listening to every album put out this year.

However, I did learn to really fancy these.

From top left on down, in no particular order:

Screaming Females // Wavves // Titus Andronicus // Best Coast

Women // Deerhunter // Beach Fossils // LCD Soundsystem

The Soft Pack // Arcade Fire // This Many Boyfriends // The Drums

-Leah

This was 2k10.

2010-12-19T20:11:00.003-05:00

Here is just a taste of what I loved from the past year.
-Leah

Completions and connections.

2010-12-19T18:48:00.005-05:00

"Christmas Wrapping" // The Waitresses

This is my absolute favorite Christmas song.
-Leah

Put my arms around every boy I see.

2010-12-16T19:54:00.005-05:00

"Nothing Compares 2 U" // Charlyne Yi

This is Charlyne Yi covering Sinead O'Connor. It is terrifically adorable.
-Leah

Streets will make you feel brand new.

2010-12-15T23:18:00.007-05:00

So this was my day today:

Now check out how much of a nerd I was one year and nine days ago.
And here and here and here.
It worked out though! I wept real tears.
-Leah

But I love to see the girl smoke in my bed.

2010-12-10T21:05:00.009-05:00

"The Hymn for the Cigarettes" // Hefner

A song about cigarettes and a chick with sub par taste in cinema.
This is my number one jam at the moment.
-Leah

Magicians do not exist.

2010-12-05T13:25:00.008-05:00

The Illusionist
(Sylvain Chomet, 2010)

This past Wednesday I also saw The Illusionist as a second feature. It's from French animator Sylvain Chomet who you might be familiar with if you saw The Triplets of Belleville or recall the mime segment from Paris, je t'aime. The Illusionist is the product of an unproduced Jacques Tati script, and, aside from it's animation, it fits in quite snugly with Mon Oncle and Playtime. And it's a gorgeous film. Chomet's animation is just incredible; he's basically untouchable. I feel like Chomet's films are everything Disney films claim to be, but rarely are. I mean I loved Toy Story 3 as much as anyone, but truly this is the more outstanding animated feature of 2010.
-Leah

Hard and boring.

2010-12-05T01:35:00.008-05:00

"After I've been to University, I'm going to be French, and I'm going to Paris, and I'm going to smoke and wear black, and listen to Jacques Brel. And I won't speak. Ever."
-- An Education (Lone Scherfig, 2009)

But right now, I just wait around.
-Leah

I'll play a song, you dance.

2010-12-03T22:27:00.015-05:00

Blue Valentine
(Derek Cianfrance, 2010)

I will be very surprised if I see another movie this year as impressive as this one.

Each fall my mom and I go to this film series that is hosted at the local theater on Wednesday nights. It screens a bunch of independent pictures and early Oscar contenders, and afterward there is always a director or actor or producer from the film that talks to visiting critics like Godfrey Cheshire and Owen Gleiberman. The rest of the audience is comprised of retired Jewish couples, and the whole series is essentially the biggest highlight of my suburban existence.

So yes, this week I saw Blue Valentine and afterward the director, Derek Cianfrance, skyped in from Los Angeles. He gave a ton of incredible insights which just made me admire his film even more. In the press kit he's quoted saying his biggest childhood fear was nuclear war and his parents' divorce, Blue Valentine addressing the latter of the two. It is a deeply saddening movie, but one that is very subtle for its complexity. Cianfrance was one of those filmmakers who spent twelve years trying to make his movie, with over 600 drafts of the script and probably just as many storyboards. Don't you feel terrible when you hear about directors who sacrifice huge chunks of their lives to making a movie that you watch and can't help but find sort of sucky? I hate that! I hate it so much. But the fact is, movies are fucking hard to make, especially independently, and hard work isn't the same thing as talent. But lucky for Cianfrance, his film turned out incredible. I love it a lot, actually.

Unfortunately the film currently holds an NC-17 rating given by the MPAA for no truly good reason. In my opinion, that is. The rating annoys me because it makes the film seem seedy when it isn't. You can (and really should!) visit here to sign a petition for the rating's appeal.

“You and Me” // Penny and the Quarters

-Leah

Rejection letters and a sense of impending doom.

2010-11-25T18:09:00.010-05:00

Happy Thanksgivin'

"Don't Be Upset" // Jeffrey Lewis

I am extremely thankful today. For everything. I'd be lying if I claimed to be an optimist, but I am sensible enough to recognize how ridiculously lucky I am.
Also, I'm thankful that there are people on this earth as wonderful as Jeffrey Lewis.
-Leah

We are wearing the same hat.

2010-11-24T14:54:00.010-05:00

Night On Earth
(Jim Jarmusch, 1991)

This might be my favorite Jarmusch from what I've seen of his filmography. As I mentioned before, I'm sort of really into my idea of self inflicted disillusionment as of late. Don't get me wrong, I still love Sofia Coppola films and whimsicalized chaos, but this resonates with me more. The first time I saw Taxi Driver, I was probably too young to understand it at all, and the second time I viewed Travis Bickle as a grown up Holden Caufield type (lame, I know). Now I can see that I was still wrong. Now I'm convinced the story is existentialism gone right. Which makes it ironic? Who knows. Anyhow, I like to think of Helmut from Night On Earth as a metaphor for my own 17-year-old self, bad driving skills aside.

-Leah

Teenager in love with Christ and heroin.

2010-11-22T11:13:00.005-05:00

This blog is 2 years old today, can you believe it? I sure can't. I'll be 18 in March, and I'm pretty freaked out. Part of me sincerly thought I was going to be a teenager forever, but 6 out of 7 days of the week I'm really glad that part of me was wrong.

-Leah

Hope to God.

2010-11-20T22:51:00.015-05:00

"Rip It Up" // Orange Juice

There are certain days I convince myself that Orange Juice (tied with Josef K) might essentially be my favorite band ever. I have a pretty legitimate crush on young Edwyn Collins, and he recently did a 5-10-15-20 for Pitchfork. The Coals to Newcastle boxset is basically #1 on my Christmas list.

-Leah

Dead childhood dreams to haunt us.

2010-11-19T08:46:00.002-05:00

Throughout history, leisure and increase in quality of life have brought about great achievements in the arts.

Everything is so much better. Everything is much harder. Nothing is quite as satisfying as it once was because I have considerably less to show for it.

I'll never forget the day I first realized I was insignificant.

-Leah

I've been to all the parties in Chelsea.

2010-11-15T20:06:00.003-05:00

And Don't the Kids Just Love It / Television Personalities

This is probably one of the most glorious albums ever recorded. You should give it a whirl.

-Leah

The story of love and hate.

2010-11-13T18:06:00.004-05:00

I am so in love with Abbi and Ilana of Broad City. Their videos, along with the film Smithereens and the songs of Jeffrey Lewis, have gently nudged me into New York City disillusionment. And for that I am very grateful.

-Leah

Halloweenage Dream.

2010-11-07T15:16:00.001-05:00

http://8tracks.com/leahbobeah/halloweenage-dream

-Leah

Going insane, going out of my mind.

2010-10-24T20:56:00.003-04:00

-Leah

Reno Dakota

2010-10-23T15:32:00.010-04:00

Hey you guys, check out this deleted scene from the upcoming Magnetic Fields documentary, Strange Powers. This is the actual Reno Dakota a la The Magnetic Field's song "Reno Dakota"!

So excellent, this is gonna be the doc of the year! Thank cheeses it is getting wide release.
-Leah

Kickin' Robot Jams.

2010-10-12T13:45:00.000-04:00

My robot-inspired 8track.

-Leah

One in 8 Million.

2010-10-11T13:44:00.000-04:00

The New York Times has this amazing piece called One in 8 Million. I haven't gotten through the entire collection, but every single one I've covered thus far has been absolutely gorgeous. These people are beautiful. The Grandfather, The Only Child, The Regular, The Uncertain Gang Member, The Type A Teenager. I have so many favorites.
-Leah

Artist of the angry, subversive masses.

2010-10-09T13:43:00.000-04:00

I'm currently reading Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron in my free time, and it is so fucking gloriously bizarre! I really love all things Daniel Clowes. I think he's one of the coolest, most creative American minds we have. He keeps it very real.
-Leah

This is exactly how I feel at this very moment.

2010-10-04T13:42:00.005-04:00

Why There Are Mountains / Cymbals Eat Guitars

world class shredding going down at @ 2:50!

-Leah

All of these things I do, to get away from you.

2010-09-21T13:40:00.004-04:00

"I Could Be Happy" // Altered Images

-Leah

Tata for now

2010-01-09T12:15:00.003-05:00

I've moved over to tumblr because I am a junior in highschool and I can no longer post up to Phomboneus standards and I like it alot better, so yeah...no hard feeling blogger, I swear.
http://leahleahleahs.tumblr.com/

Yours Truly (always and forever),
L.P.

Lurve

2010-01-01T01:46:00.003-05:00

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Citizens of tomorrow be forewarned

2009-12-31T20:47:00.010-05:00

If you think about it, New Year's Eve in Times Square so absurdly anticlimactic. The ball doesn't even drop really, it is gently lowered. All things aside though, I'm ready. I hope you all have a spectacular 2010. Here's to all of your wildest dreams coming true.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

2010

2009-12-27T02:43:00.005-05:00

Disclaimer: these are clearly the resolutions of a girl with very few friends and, every so often, large pockets of time.

- watch 100 movies and write them all down

- read 10 books

- fall in love with 5 new albums

- fall in love with 10 old albums

- fall in love with as many nouns as possible

- make a little money

- take a lot of shit

- feel real bad

- then get over it (geeze, just kidding ya'll!)

- get into college

- take my vitamins

Yours Truly,
L.P.

You thought you had left

2009-12-25T12:52:00.000-05:00

Yours Truly,
L.P.

All in all, just a really good time

2009-12-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas Folks!

Yours Truly,
L.P.

What is your damage, Heather?

2009-12-24T14:22:00.003-05:00

I should have asked for a 'Free Winona' T-shirt for Christmas. I still think she's just the coolest.

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Season's greetings

2009-12-24T13:28:00.001-05:00

Yours Truly,
L.P.

I've touched your children

2009-12-22T17:59:00.008-05:00

I could try to make a best of the decade list, but really, what would be the point? I can't do that. I don't have that kind of authority. But I can say that I think one of the movies I've cherished most from this decade has been School of Rock.
I mean I got so lucky with this one. It came out fall of 2003, I was in the 5th grade and I was so finally over the Disney Channel. And I could be over the Disney Channel because that was before the Disney Channel controlled EVERYTHING. It's absolutely ridiculous now. I knew girls freshman year who went to Jonas Brothers concerts every month and the tickets cost their parents thousands of dollars and they don't even fucking like them anymore. It just so tragic. And I mean, those are kids my age. The elementary school kids now are never going to be able to outgrow Disney. No way. There is too much money in it. But School of Rock was fantastic because I was in 5th grade and the kids in the movie were in 5th grade and I said to myself, "THIS is fucking cool!" And I got to grow up and listen to real music and fall in love with rock and roll. I mean I don't still listen to AC/DC, I've moved beyond that, but even looking back at how huge The Strokes were in the early 2000's. There's nothing like that on radio today. Anything worth hearing is so hard to find if you are not looking for it.

So I'm just thankful that Jack Black came along and let me know what hardcore really is. Because you're not hardcore until you've lived hardcore so all those emo kids in middle school could suck it as far as I was concerned.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

My year in lists pt. 2

2009-12-20T16:17:00.011-05:00

These were the songs I fancied most (in no particular order):

"Psychic City (Voodoo City)" by YACHT
"Microphone" by Coconut Records
"11th Dimension" by Julian Casablancas
"White Corolla" by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
"Strictly Game" by Harlem Shakes
"Should Have Taken Acid With You" by Neon Indian
"Good Ol' Fashioned Nightmare" + "Daylight" + "Lessons Learned" by Matt & Kim
"Rumpus" by Karen O and the Kids
"1901" by Phoenix
"Zero" + "Soft Shock" + "Heads Will Roll (Little Vampire Remix)" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Percussion Gun" by White Rabbits
"Cheerleader" by Grizzly Bear
"Happy Up Here" by Röyksopp
"Come Saturday" by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
"Lust for Life" by Girls
"Little Secrets" by Passion Pit
"And the Hazy Sea" by Cymbals Eat Guitars
"Summertime Clothes" by Animal Collective

Again, I am not a wizard. If I missed something phantasmagorical, tell me!
Also, some of these singles came out in 2008, but the albums that they're all on were released in 2009.
I think it's been a pretty good year.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

My year in lists

2009-12-20T01:56:00.023-05:00

I did not listen to every single album that came out this year. But I did really really fancy each one of these at one point or another.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart // Girls // Cymbals Eat Guitars // Whip It Soundtrack

Phoenix // Vivian Girls // Yeah Yeah Yeahs // Grizzly Bear

Matt & Kim // Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack // Animal Collective // Coconut Records

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Coleslaw

2009-12-11T00:34:00.004-05:00

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Quiet

2009-12-10T22:25:00.003-05:00

Life and drowning are similar.

If you stop struggling, they can be both be sort of peaceful.

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Une femme est une femme

2009-12-10T18:51:00.009-05:00

Feminism really depresses me sometimes. I saw Young Victoria last night and there was all this talk about her being feminist and what not and I just hate the word "feminism". So many negative connotations. Because, really, it would be much more accurate to have a word for people who aren't feminists. What's wrong with caring about the way you're viewed on an intellectual level? Nothing. There's something wrong with letting your life passively revolve around men. There should be a name for those kind of women. They should be the abnormal. It's so strange. I don't identify myself as a feminist I just identify myself as a thinking human being who expresses interest in equality. But apparently that's crazy enough to make you a feminist when you're 16.
And 2009 has been a great year for female protagonists in films, but I don't think it has anything to do with feminism. Just because the characters were written with substance and authenticity doesn't mean they were doing anything all that groundbreaking other than having the audacity to show signs of life.

Now, I understand it being radical in the 1800s with Queen Victoria, but it's kind of embarrassing that this is still a left-wing concept

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Scarecrows

2009-12-09T23:05:00.002-05:00

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Linus and Lucy

2009-12-08T18:03:00.006-05:00

Please oh please oh please oh please give me a snow day tomorrow!

It's December 8th already and I haven't even had a chance to think about the Holidays.

I mean, my school isn't really all that strict, (we don't have nuns or anything) but the nice thing about going to a Catholic school around this time of year is that Christmas is a HUGE deal. You don't have to worry about not being noninclusive or offensive or something. Christmas lights are up around the school and we have a big tree in the main hallway and a really wonderful celebration the day before break where we get to perform Nutcracker and everyone holds candles. We also have like 3 school Masses all within a month which is a lot if you are like me and not actually Catholic, but it really is really magical. Definitely my favorite time of year.

That being said though, a snow day tomorrow would still be very much appreciated.

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Holy shazam

2009-12-07T19:56:00.004-05:00

Oh my god I have been try to find this song since the 7th grade!
I was in one of those cool clothing stores that have big screens where they play music videos and spent a solid year Google searching EVERYTHING to figure out what this song was! The only lyrics I knew were the "beep beeps". I went through so many "Best Music Videos with Puppets" lists you have no idea.
Maybe if they had just spelled popsicle right...

So any way, I really like Starlight Mints a lot and that's how I finally found this.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

I want to be a fish, not a duck

2009-12-07T01:40:00.008-05:00

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." --Holden Caulfield

There have been so many times when I just completely buried myself in books and music and films because I was so sure that the makers of those would understand me better than anyone else. I got friendship out of those things. And it was great, I mean they couldn't exactly break my heart or anything. But it did get lonely. I don't know, adolescence is so weird. Growing up in suburbia is so weird. You're expected to find your best friend, your first love, your liberation and your inspiration all in one tiny town? What the fuck? Why would anyone want that? For these to be the happiest years? The reason why I care so much about school is because I need to get good grades so that I can go away to college and meet people who want to be in the same place that I want to be. That's it. I definitely don't get my kicks from getting A's. I just look around and see how dangerous it is to be shortsighted in high school. I love Holden. I always have, but part of me is just like "COME ON! You're gonna be miserable no matter what, might as well have a goal."

Yours Truly,
L.P.

What could have been

2009-12-05T22:25:00.008-05:00

This is my favorite show ever.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Happy birthday Woody Allen

2009-12-01T00:07:00.000-05:00

You are the greatest. Best friends forever. Nuff' said.

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Nobody wants a challenge

2009-11-28T17:40:00.002-05:00

He was so smart. I love the way he talks in this video. That's the way my dad talks when he's explaining something important to me. Just so much passion. Maybe it's a Greek thing.

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Merci

2009-11-27T20:37:00.004-05:00

I know I'm a day late, but I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.
I really don't like Thanksgiving foods at all, but it's so nice seeing family and not having to go to school.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Bloganiversaire

2009-11-22T12:16:00.005-05:00

My blog is 1 year old today. Wow! One whole year of Listening Up to Phomboneus Jones each and every day. It's been good guys. It really has.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Really hard and boring for the rest of my life, or...

2009-11-21T23:17:00.006-05:00

Carey Mulligan is so incredibly lovely in An Education. So clever. She just has such a twinkle in her eye all the time!

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Dance dance dance dance dance to the radio

2009-11-21T13:42:00.001-05:00

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Scenes from my bedroom

2009-11-08T23:29:00.003-05:00

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Philippe Petit

2009-11-06T11:57:00.003-05:00

So much passion and imagination.

Yours Truly,

L.P.

Logic

2009-11-05T23:41:00.003-05:00

Pretty much my whole self has always been okay because I've always been able to convince myself that if my life was a movie or a television series, I would undoubtedly be the main character. And it was like if I ever got teased it was okay cause they were just the extras whose only purpose was to emphasis how out of place I was. I feel like when kids don't connect, they get depressed and tweaked, but for me it was always like, okay, has this ever been easy? Has Daria or Lindsay Weir or Liz Lemon ever been given the benefit of the doubt for being the smart, biting protagonist? NO! So I don't sweat it either.

...but I don't think I'm ever going to be able to explain this to anyone.

Yours Truly,
L.P.

Fight the power

2009-11-05T13:11:00.001-05:00

Yours Truly,

L.P.