The Minute I Hellllllllllllllld The Key.

Making yet another attempt to find something remotely appealing in the tracks of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. So far, minimal success. We’ll see.

Have ingested yet another LorTab. I’m a biggg believer in pain relief. I also anticipate criticism on my liberal usage of pain meds. When you have a scalpel taken to the palm of your right hand, then and only then will you be allowed to criticize my pain relief initiatives. That’s all.

Also, in my ongoing quest for sensory overload, I’m watching BBC America’s docuhorror Plastic Surgery Junkies. Like many before me, I’ll liken it to roadkill. It’s disgusting, but you can’t make yourself look away. The Male Barbie guy realllly bothers the snot out of me. Kind of like the Cat Lady. Who told them they looked good? What kind of doctor deems it acceptable to operate on someone that is so obviously sick? Just bugs me.

Have moved onto a few newer additions to my iTunes library — Animal Collective, Department of Eagles, and pieces of the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. Here’s the part of my blog where I tell you what to do.

TRACKS WORTH HEARING
My Girls – Animal Collective
Brother Sport – Animal Collective
Grass – Animal Collective
The Purple Bottle – Animal Collective
Daily Routine – Animal Collective
Winters Love – Animal Collective
For Reverend Green – Animal Collective

Phantom Other – Department of Eagles
Waves of Rye – Department of Eagles
Floating On The Lehigh – Department of Eagles
Teenagers – Department of Eagles
No One Does It Like You – Department of Eagles
In Ear Park – Department of Eagles
Noam Chomsky Spring Break 2002 – Department of Eagles
Origin of Love – Department of Eagles

Ringa Ringa – AR Rahman, Alka Yagnik & Ila Arun
Paper Planes (DFA Remix) – M.I.A.
O…Saya – AR Rahman & M.I.A.

Think that’s all. Seriously, check ‘em out. I can’t promise a religious experience, but I guarantee you it’ll brighten your Friday.

That’s it. Love.

xxAimeeCait

I’m Up In The Woods, I’m Down On My Mind.

New Bon Iver, yay. Just so you know, his latest contribution to the music universe, the Blood Bank EP, is satisfactory. I’m particularly fond of his track “Woods” – the Imogen Heap circa “Hide And Seek” sound of it is charming.

Watching Sex, Lies and Videotape for the first time in my life. How have I avoided this so far? I’m getting homesick already. Hello, Baton Rouge Garden District. Love and miss you. This film is so dated… a film with James Spader, Andie McDowell, anddd Peter Gallagher? Wow. Authentically 1989. The whole cicadas in the background thing is kinda cute, and watching James Spader drive across the Mississippi River bridge was sweet, but the fact that everyone is gleaming with beads of sweat in every scene is a bit much. I lived in Baton Rouge in ‘89. I don’t remember much, but I remember air conditioning.

“Being happy isn’t all that great. I mean… the last time I was… really happy… I got really fat.”

Ah. Amazing.

Speaking of fat… This week has been sick with culinary success. King cake midweek turned out brilliantly — could not have been more pleased with myself, family was stoked, mom’s got plans for cheesecake filling… I’m not so sure about it, but whatever makes her happy. I’m more interested in the Bourbon Roasted Pecan filling I found… Anyway. Last night was Duck Gumbo night, and that, too, was wildly successful. Also managed to throw together the most amazing spinach artichoke dip I have ever had in my short life. Holy moly.

Tonight I made my own pasta — tortellini, to be exact. I got the idea while I was watching Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven, an HBO documentary about famed NYC culinary institution, Le Cirque. Sirio’s wife was being interviewed in her kitchen while she meticulously created tiny tortellini by hand. Thus, I was inspired. Threw together some pasta dough in my mixer & got to work. Nowwww I have this desperate craving for a pasta machine. The tortellini were sooo cute. Dad and I had a proper little feast, it was magical. Go ahead and be jealous. If you’ve never made your own pasta, I really wish you would give it a go — the flavor and texture is beyond rewarding. Do itttttt.

That’s all I have for now.

xxAimeeCait

Songs I’d Drive To… If My New Nickname Weren’t “Crash”.

Furr – Blitzen Trapper
I love love love Blitzen Trapper. (Understatement much.) I love new folk. Download everything you can find by these guys.
Downpour – Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile is my latest favorite female artist. I don’t have many of these — I don’t know what it is, I just don’t respond as well to female vocals, but I can’t be bothered to attempt to figure that one out at the moment. Her voice drags the empathy right out of you.
Basin Street Blues – Kid Koala
I’m particularly excited about this discovery. I went digging through the track listings for my favorite episodes of Skins. If you haven’t heard of Skins, I apologize. Admittedly, it’s a horrifically trashy show on the BBC. But it also allows me my own glimpse (albeit fictional) into Bristol’s youth culture, and the soundtrack is killer. This track is an updated spin (no pun intended) on a New Orleans jazz standard. You owe it to yourself to hear this one.
New York, I Love You (But You’re Bringin’ Me Down) – LCD Soundsystem
Another Skins track — it’s my favorite kind of melancholy.
1922 Blues – Charlie Parr
Everybody needs a little bluegrass in their daily lives, and Charlie Parr is an absolute legend. Hard times seem a bit better when they’re sung over a catchy bit of finger picking.
Lay Lady Lay – Magnet
So, a confession: I can’t stand Bob Dylan’s original recording of this song. His voice in his later recordings just doesn’t do it for me. Give me young, yodeling Dylan, nottt crusty old snarling Dylan. Gag. So I was fully prepared to dislike this song when a friend recommended it to me, but I was pleasantly surprised and quite enjoyed this version of the track.
Herculean – The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Pistol – Dustin Kensrue
Raw, acoustic, folk magic. Kinda Ryan Adams meets Jeff Tweedy? Yeah, somethin’ like that. The lyrics are the best — “I love how you curse when I wake you up/And sweetly demand that I fill your cup/I follow your cool gun powder glare/Honey, you lay me bare“ – an honest man expressin’ his love for his beloved battle ax of a sweetheart.
You Make Me Weak At The Knees – Electrelane
Playful, sweet piano instrumental. Gradually builds momentum, remains interesting to the last trill.
Sun It Rises - Fleet Foxes
Anything the Fleet Foxes do is magic. The harmony (duh) is tight, haunting and gogeous. The tone of their guitars is so gloriously warm… it all blends just right. You should hear it.
Fake Empire – The National
Low, smoky, mature vocals, haunting piano riff. Mournful in a helpless kind of way.
Pull Me Out Alive – Kaki King
One of the few tracks I’ve heard by Ms. King in which she actually sings. Anything she does is gorgeous; it’s interesting to hear her vocals, which are basic, nothing extraordinary, but solid.
Theme from Skins - Fat Segal
Another gem gleaned from Skins. Fat Segal is their staff composer, and everything he writes is a work of genius. Fresh, dynamic, and relentlessly catchy. You’ll hum it later, promise.
Knife – Grizzly Bear
Sedative, yes, but pleasantly sedative.
Signs – Bloc Party
Yayyyy new Bloc Party. I’m a sucker for bells, and this track features a steady
I Wanna Be Your Dog – Iggy Pop & The Stooges
Iggggggggy Pop! You just need to hear it. It’s an essential for your music library.
Electro-Socket Blues – Rogue Wave
This one is from Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist Soundtrack.
Bryn – Vampire Weekend
Didn’t listen to this Vampire Weekend track when I initially fell for the prepsters from upstate New York; only recently has this track grown on me.
Artifact – DJ Shadow
It’s a getaway song.
Get Your Snack On – Amon Tobin
Go On, Say It – Blind Pilot

Oh my goooooodness. I know I’m always excited about the music I put up in these playlists, but I’m particularly excited about this one. Each and every track is so wholly satisfying. I promise I’ll elaborate later — it’s something worth doing when I have all my brain cells functioning properly.

The official Riverside Christmas 2K8 playlist is comin’ soon… I’m in the process of piecing it together. It’s a work in progress. Can’t put something like that together in one sitting, it requires a little more finesse. And with that, I must depart — I need sleep.

I’ll add notes regarding individual tracks in this list. You musttt check them out. It’s essential.

xxAimeeCait

Songs For The Sleepless; Lullabies For The Listless.

Miss Spiritual Tramp – Blitzen Trapper
Noah’s Ark – CocoRosie
You Remind Me Of Something (The Glory Goes) – Bonnie Prince Billy
Two Bodies, One Heart – Noah And The Whale
Walk The Line – The Tallest Man On Earth
One Of These Things First - Nick Drake
Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show
Honey Pie – The Beatles
Piazza, New York Catcher – Belle & Sebastian
Hotel Chelsea Nights – Ryan Adams
Is This Love? – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
Reckless – Tilly And The Wall
Travel Song – Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Goods – Mates of State
Innocent Son – Fleet Foxes
Don’t Forget To Breathe – Beulah
Two Way Monologue - Sondre Lerche
Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk - Rufus Wainwright
California – Rogue Wave
Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl – Broken Social Scene
I Don’t Blame You – Cat Power
I Summon You – Spoon
Misread – Kings of Convenience
These Days – Nico

Fidgeting. Nico always makes me cry.

xxAimeeCait

Fuh Teeg.

Fatigue
Noun
weariness from bodily or mental exertion

My new favorite side effect of Lexapro? Intense fatigue.

Studies have found that I function best between the hours of 12pm & 1am. That’s all I can manage, seemingly. Granted, I am then in bed from 1am ’til 2am on my computer, either simulating human contact via Facebook or conducting increasingly dismal job searches on various search engines. But the fatigue I then experience throughout the day is beyond ridiculous. I’m only 20, I should be able to function on a few hours of sleep. I should be out and about, being active and useful to the human race. However, I’m too tired to do all that — in the past month, I have become an wildly inactive waste of space. Awesome.

xxAimeeCait

Be kind, baby, be kind.

I’m going to write as much as I can before I drift off to sleep. That’s all I can promise you.

After taking an inventory of my life, a critical look at where I am and where I’m headed, I can honestly say that I am happier than I have ever been. In my twenty years of life, I’ve never felt this comfortable in my own skin. Never before have I felt this kind of peace. Naturally, I’m not 100% worry-free — I’m still Aimee Cait — but now I know what to do with my worry.

I’m in the process of applying to the University of Memphis. It’s another of the first few things I’ve done all by myself. Naturally I go to mum & dad for opinions & help with decision making, but as far as physically filling out forms & digging up my ancient ACT information goes, that’s all me.

Joe has quickly become my closest friend. I could sit here and type for the next three days on all the things I love about him, but I’ll spare you. I mean, one day, you’ll have to hear it. Sorry, but it’s true. For now, I’ll just keep it short and sweet. Joe draws out the absolute best I have to give of myself. More importantly, he makes me laugh. And I love to laugh.

Now I have restless legs & heavy eyes, so I’ll call it quits for now. New music to share & new stories to tell — next time.

Be kind.

xxAimeeCait

Hiatus Over

Vlogtober. True story.

more about “Hiatus Over“, posted with vodpod

They Tried To Make Me Go To Rehab.

No more Benadryl for this little girl.

Holy moly.

Yesterday is a blur. I took two Benadryl early Sunday evenin’ in order to combat the cruddy way I was feeling. One day I was fine, the next, I was in ear/nose/throat hell. An overnight coup had been staged on my immune system. My sinuses were fussy, my throat was wonky, my tonsils were making their presence known… however, this is when it pays to have a 3rd year nursing student as a beau. (Hey Joe.) So there’s me poppin’ a few Benadryl, and about an hour later (whilst still on Joe’s couch with his family glued to the House marathon) I began to feel loopy. It went downhill from there. I could hardly hold a conversation, I was a wreck.

Joe got me home, we watched a bit more TV, and that was it. He drove back to school in Memphis Proper and I passed out on the couch, thoroughly exhausted from fighting my Benadryl-induced drowsiness. Cue crazy disturbing drug-fueled dreams. Awesome.

Right then. Cut to me… waking up yesterday morning, bright and early, around 7:30 to see the kids off to school.

Back to sleep for a short while.

Dragged myself outside to sunbathe around 10ish.

Stumbled blindly inside to recover around 11:45ish.

Passed out on mom’s bed ’round 1:30ish.

Woke up on mom’s bed at 3:45 in the afternoon.

I was a hot mess, it was awful.

Today, I am better. I spent yesterday afternoon and night watching HBO documentaries. (I’m a sucker for documentaries… I love real life. I am amazed by how interesting ordinary people are, how someone can be so normal and have such incredible experiences… mint.)

Autism: The Musical
Tear jerker, absolutely amazing. Inspiring and heartbreaking and uplifting.

Hard Times At Douglass High: a No Child Left Behind Report Card
An innercity Baltimore high school’s battle to meet the standards set by the No Child Left Behind act.

La Corona
A beauty pageant held in a Columbian women’s prison. Fierce.

So, there we go. More possibly to come later on.

Bible study tonight.

xx Aimee Cait

1, 2, 3.

xxAimeeCait

Back To School.

Juuuust when I’m finally getting comfortable with this whole ’summer’ thing, school has up and decided to start again. Buzzkill.

Story of my life, man.

So in preparation for this first day of school, I did what I do best (apart from looking excellent in a V-neck tshirt, which is arguably my greatest & most valuable skill): I threw together a relatively clever (at times bordering on cringy) CD for the ‘back to school’ process. Naturally, I’ll have to share it with you.

I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends – The White Stripes
Back In Black – AC/DC
What I Could Stand For – Mates of State
Drinking Song – Loudon Wainwright III
Machine Gun – Meriwether
Tie Me Up! Untie Me! – mewithoutYou
Lollipop - Mika
This Year – The Mountain Goats
Typical - Mutemath
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Wonderwall - Oasis
Timebomb - Old 97s
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
Cheer Up - Reel Big Fish
Like A Prayer - Rufio
The Joker - Steve Miller Band
Meet Virginia - Train
Undone (the Sweater Song) – Weezer
Lullaby - Loudon Wainwright III
Rough Draft - Yellowcard
Baba O’Reilly - The Who

Brief explanation to accompany certain songs later on.

At the moment, I’m in dire need of some sleep.

Also – I played ultimate frisbee tonight with the GBC college ministry. I actually played a game involving the outdoors: grass, tennis shoes, sweat — the works.

Why can’t someone bribe me with a chocolate shake? Seriously. I really feel as though I’ve earned one, y’know? Gee whiz.

Right. I’m falling asleep to Baba O’Reilly. Here’s where I call it a night.

If you’re headed back to school tomorrow – best of luck.

xxAimeeCait