It was Sufjan Stevens. Music and internet stalking.



Happy Easter! He is risen indeed.

your mother said it's very expensive

I got my Songs For Christmas box set thingy in the mail finally. I have already heard the music, so no big surprise there, but I did spend a good hour or so reading through all the stuff that comes with it. It is all very incredible and great. I am in general a bigger fan of Christmas than Sufjan and this Rick Moody character, due to the fact that my family is dissapointingly functional. However, what they say is so true true true. So, for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas (and I have a relatively large number of friends who do not) or only celebrate the santa half, or wonder why I make such a big deal about it in general, what you should do is read those essays. If you care that much. Which you probably don't. But I do, and so thanks Sufjan and friends for this lovely little paradox of magic and misery wrapped up in metalic green paper and tied with a bow!

Also, I was dissapointed to find that some of my favorite x-mas tunes such as "Once in Royal David's City" and "Bring a Torch, Jeanetter, Isabella," are sung not by Sufjan but by Vito Aiuto of "Vito's Ordination Song"!!!! That makes me feel really weird. But hey, Vito, you're cool! I like your voice. I heard also that you are a pastor, and that is cool too. Keep up the good work.

Also, I have replaced my Bob Dylan-Modern Times poster with my new santa sufjan poster. This means a lot more to me than I would care to explain now, but chances are if you're reading this we have already talked about it. Screw Bob Dylan and the sixties and their ideology! Hooray Sufjan!

ich schreibe auf deutsch

Today my german teacher asked me if I was a writing major. I said maybe. She said it shows in my essays, even though they are in German and full of grammatical errors. That pretty much made my day. I can't wait till she reads the one I just turned in about going to see Sufjan Stevens.

I write about Sufjan Stevens waaaaaaay too much in this blog. If he is ever bored one day and googles his name and this comes up, I will be severely ashamed of myself. Sufjan, if you are reading this, I'm sorry, I really am.

But it's too late to turn back now, so I supose I may as well share my thoughts on volume 5 of songs for christmas: I don't really know how I feel about the original songs, and this volume has the highest ratio of them. They are good of course, but kind of rough-draft sounding, like the Avalanche of christmas songs. Also, they don't seem to capture the spirit of Christmas as much as, say, "We're Going to the Country" or "Put the Lights on the Tree." Also he is actually pretty explicit in some of them about like, some relationship that seems to have gone wrong around Christmas time? And this makes me sad because I don't like to think of Sufjan having girlfriends. But it doesn't really matter about those songs, because OH MY GOD, the simple piano solos in between each one are the most beautiful and magnificent things I have heard in a long time, and they make me remember childhood scenes and feelings that I haven't remembered or felt for years. As for his version of "Holy Holy Holy"....I honestly have no words. When I heard it yesterday for the first time I could do nothing but literally curl up in a ball under my blanket and smile to myself while picturing children's christmas pageants and mashed potatos. Sufjan, are you still reading? If so, keep in mind that if you ever run out of ideas for original songs, you could probably make a very good living just recording hymns in your beautiful voice for suckers like me to shed a tear or two over.

Holy^3

Today I pretty much spent the entire day waiting to get home and listen to songs for Chritmas volumes 4 and 5 (Which I did just now, and all I can say is, wow). Also, it was cold today. So you all know what's been on my mind. But in case you still have your doubts, I will provide proof:



(This one is made special for Amy)






A total of two and a half hours sitting in literature class and a half hour break in the middle for coffee shop sitting will do that to you.

In other news, I may have failed my physics midterm.

In other news, it's Halloween and I really couldn't care less.

In other news, isn't Spanish a beautiful language?

I think about how we could run away
now that it's Christmas time
we could travel in a one horse open sleigh
now that it's Christmas time

yes please!

Blog Review: Sidebar

Has anyone else been reading the new "sidebar" feature on asthmatickitty.com lately? It's great! It's basically just a joint blog of everyone involved in the company, where people post album reviews, tour diaries, sports stuff, and other such nonsense from all over the country. I really like asthmatic kitty cause you get the impression that it's just a group of friends and friends of friends and acquaintances, all helping each other out towards the common goal of making some decent music. It's kind of a testament to what a small group of friends can do if they just try to make something of their talents. Also I like how they let us into their circle and make us feel like we are a part of something cozy and nice. The sidebar is a perfect example of this. We get to hear about how the Castanets had a shitty show in manchester, or what the best foods in cincinati are, or whether the new exibit in san fran is cool or not. Even though the reader may not be able to relate in any way to any of the thngs being written about, it still gives you a little glimpse into life and that is fun. That's kind of the point of blogs, isn't it? But the cool thing about this one is you get to see so many different lives and experiences converging in one place. Anyway if you haven't checked it out you really should, and make sure and take a moment to appreciate the inclusion of "An Inconvenient Truth" in Sufjan Stevens's list of his favorite horror films.


Oh yeah and also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG the new songs for christmas are up online and I am not computer savy and dont know how to save them to my computer but I am soososososososososos excited nonetheless and I am preordering the actual album as soon as I am done writing this and I can't freaking wait to get it and dear Santa please pleaseplease bring me a banjo I promise I will learn to play it with the help of Sufjan's christmas song book and I will be rocking out to bring a torch jeanette isabella in no time i swear!!!!!!!!!

Midterm tomorrow. Woops!

Ding dong merrily on high!

Yesterday my brother told me that he listened to the album "Illinois" by Sufjan Stevens pretty much every day for nine months straight. I could instantly relate to that, and told him so. Only for me, it's "Songs for Christmas" volumes 1-3. I am now on my sixth month of religious, near daily listening, but there is no danger of me getting bored within the next 3, because soon I will have TWO MORE VOUMES of pure joy and gladness at my disposal. Combined with Vince Guaraldi's trusty old "Charlie Brown Christmas" masterpiece which I have not yet busted out this fall, this should get me through Christmas day at the very least, and has the potential, I think, of carrying me all the way through 2007. I can't wait till November 24th! Light up the yule log! Deck the halls! Get out your nativity scenes with moveable parts! Christmas is coming!