Strength Through Wounding

Well, I just went and made myself feel silly. I'm supposed to be kitty-sitting right now, but I still needed a few hours to myself to fully recuperate from yesterday. And so, leaving the kitty in my man's capable hands, I decided to dress myself up and go to the farmer's market and to the bookstore to pick up the new issue of POP was out and wanted to get that. However, I had forgotten who was on the cover of this issue, and thus I recoiled slightly at the sight of it. Not that I have anything against the cover person (being a certain Ms. Spears), I just never thought I'd see the day when I'd buy a magazine (or anything, for that matter) with her on it. Sigh. The level of silliness was perhaps increased by the fact that I picked up a second magazine, being AnOther, simply because it has Björk on the cover (and because I'm a sucker for publications with nice heavy paper). If I had been the cashier that checked me out, I'm pretty sure my head would've exploded from seeing these two covers together.

At any rate, at least I found a new favorite fall outfit for this excursion. Or I should say fall/winter outfit. You can practically see snow in the air, it just has to find the courage to materialize and show up on the ground. So, said outfit was my ArtLab jacket (layered over my marriage day hoodie), my (burgundy) Mandula dress (layered over a tee) worn as a top with the bottom tie as an empire waistline, my Wolfgang Jarnach pants (which have the most unique and expertly crafted seams that I have ever seen on a pair of pants - see below), and, of course, my trusty monochrome Chucks. I really think I did the whole New York trip wrong. I should've known that I thrive in colder weather that not only allows for but requires tons of layers. Next time.

And on a related note (related in my head anyway, as my Wolfgang Jarnach pants remind me of another pair of skinny-ish navy pants I used to wear...), it's been a whole decade since meeting my man and since first hearing AFI (my man being responsible for the latter, pretty much as soon as I had met him). So here's a video from the first AFI show I ever attended, which changed my world as I knew it. 

The show was in March by the way, and not close to Halloween, as you might think from the jack-o'-lanterns. Just like you might think my deck is where pumpkins go to die. Methinks we carved them a wee bit too early this year, though the frost/snow goblins would've gotten them in the end anyway. Sigh.

Crash love is a burning thing

I am quite distracted as I write this post. I'm in the process of finally listening to the newest album of my once favorite band, and my ears and heart are in the bitterest of battles. Not sure what the outcome will be here. If this ends horribly, however, there are quite good parts of this day to (almost) make up for it.

1) Our car is fixed, at no (immediate) cost to us. I hear we owe the in-laws a trip to Europe when my man is a rich and famous librarian, but I think that's far enough away to not have to stress about the costs of 4 holidaying adults. ((The opening two songs were quite catchy, I have to admit.))

2) I've received all of the Christmas presents I've already purchased (only one more major one to go!), and they're all absolutely wonderful. I'm secretly hoping no one likes any of them so I can keep them all. ((Ooo, this song hurts quite a bit.)) P.S. The complexgeometries stifler sweatshirt is beyond amazing. Everyone should get one in steel grey. Just saying.

3) I had the best cheesecake in the entire world for lunch today. Pumpkin Kahlua, topped with cream cheese icing and a deliciously chewy ginger/molasses/spicy cookie. I felt a tad silly eating my huge dessert in a lunchroom full of dieting people, but mostly scared that any moment one of them would steal it from me to feed their starving selves. ((Okay, you can't beat his 'Oh!'s. Sigh))

4) I came across this gorgeous architectural jacket by Amoelbarroco, aptly named the 'Black architecture jacket'. Just lovely. ((Hmm...those lyrics at least sound like the old stuff.))

5) And that reminds me of Alexandra Groover's gorgeous and newly-vamped shell hooded dress. Sigh. I dream of the day I will own the jacket version. ((...))

So the verdict? They should've at least had a black album cover. Just doesn't fit.

Changes

A little-known fact about moi is that I am a paid-in-full lifetime member of a band's fan club. This band was extremely important to me as an undergrad student after first discovering the ability to make my own decisions and to analyze those which had been previously imposed upon me. The first CD my future husband lent me (Black Sails in the Sunset, which become one of my favorite albums of all time) was by this band, one of the most incredible live shows I've attended was the first time I saw this band, and the best paper I wrote in my undergrad was on this band. However, in 2003, this band released an album which entirely changed both their sound, their look, and their fan base. I still hold that the main singer and founder is one of the most attractive males to walk the earth and possesses quite an enchanting voice. Now, with the upcoming release of their 8th full-length album, I don't know whether I'm totally dreading or am super excited about September 29th. Perhaps I'll just dress up in my best goth-inspired outfit and crank up that long-borrowed CD if I can't deal with the new sound.