Not too crazy

15 Albums Meme

2009-02-20T11:02:00.002-05:00

Crossposted from Facebook. Oh yes I did!

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. They might not be what you listen to now, but these are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world.

These are not in any particular order:

1. Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door. I recorded this to cassette from the LP, and today when I hear it digitally remastered, it does. not. sound. right. without the pops and whistles that are inherent to vinyl play.

2. Billy Joel - Cold Spring Harbor. From a very prolific artist, I maintain that this is his very best album, ever. Hands down. Might just be my desert island album.

3. George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice (Volume I). I owe Mags for introducing me to this, big time. I've recited the following speech to a number of people, and I will repeat it here now: You might not believe me, and you may think I'm just messing with you, but Listen Without Prejudice is one of the best albums ever recorded by any artist, ever. George Michael's magnum opus, it is a beautiful, stirring, gorgeous piece of musicianship that is just as relevant now as it was when it was released. Put whatever you may think of George aside and listen to this album. You'll be surprised.

4. Eazy-E - Eazy-Duz-It. This was when I figured out that there was more to music than old white guys protesting wars, or young white guys with big hair who wanted to party. This was when I started learning more about things outside of being a relatively privileged white girl in the suburbs.

5. Rush - Moving Pictures. YYZ still blasts me right in the face and gets its awesome all in my eyes and stuff.

6. Metallica - Master of Puppets. I'd never heard anything like this, ever. It blew me away and made me want to hit stuff. In a good way.

7. Pink Floyd - The Wall. Requires no further commentary.

8. Roy Orbison - In Dreams: The Greatest Hits. My dad gave this to me when I was 13 years old, and after rolling my eyes at him and pretending to be gracious, I actually listened to it, and LOVED it. Soon after, Roy Orbison died. I was cry-i-i-i-ing for days.

9. Grant Lee Buffalo - Mighty Joe Moon. Andy. It still hurts a little, but in a good way, now.

10. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man. Cohen has been a jaded, broken old man since birth, I'm pretty sure, and we all know nothing makes for a better lyricist. The passion in his admittedly imperfect voice makes him a compelling vocalist. And, really? This is the man who wrote Hallelujah – a song covered practically as often as the Star Spangled Banner. I fell in love with him via a left turn from Christian Slater: I saw Pump Up The Volume for Slater, during which I was introduced to the song Everybody Knows. I had to get my hands on that song, which led me out of the mall theater and into a Tower Records, where I spent an hour scrutinizing track lists on cassette packages.

11. Pearl Jam - Ten. Being a teenager living in the Northwest in the early Nineties was an experience, let me tell you what. As such, it is my duty to either love or hate but nothing in between, all bands who crawled out of the primordial grunge ooze. Mostly, I lean toward love, so long as we don't have to include Alice in Chains. Sidenote: Although not from this album, Corduroy (Vitalogy) is Pearl Jam at their finest. That song speaks to me.

12. Heart - Dreamboat Annie. One of my first albums, this was when I learned that girls could totally rock, thanks to Ann and Nancy Wilson. Magic Man is one of my all-time favorite songs.

13. Nirvana - Nevermind. See #11 about living in the Northwest. While my first reaction was "What a blatant Pixies ripoff", my second reaction was "I must hear more of this", and then "I must play this as loudly as possible", and then that turned into "hey, I'm getting letters of warning from the apartment management".

14. Counting Crows - August and Everything After. This is an odd one. I love this album SO MUCH, and yet I find pretty much everything Adam Duritz ever did afterward to be whiny, petulant, and irritating. But this? This album abides. I spent a road tripping summer with this tape, wearing D batteries in a boom box on the passenger seat of my 1982 Datsun B210, and trying to decide between spending my last $5 on more batteries, or cigarettes and coffee. She says it's only in my head...

15. Guns N'Roses - Appetite for Destruction. When I first heard Welcome to the Jungle in 8th grade, I totally threw a rod and found myself incapable of doing anything other than obtaining this album in order to find out just what, exactly, this was. It wasn't like anything I'd encountered before. It was pain, and survival, and real life, somehow.

Limiting this to 15 is so awful.

If You Call a Man a Yankee, You'd Best Know What it Means

2008-12-17T08:53:00.004-05:00

With the transition to middle school, CJ began to ride the bus to school. He meets up with his frienemy Grant, there, and they end up engaging in the occasional scuffle. Last week, CJ greeted Grant with "Whatup, my yankee?" - not really understanding that "yankee", to southerners, isn't considered the kindest term.

Sidebar: I later informed CJ that he's half yankee, anyway, on my side. :)

So words were had, threats issued (for context, each child must wear a photo ID lanyard; CJ, having made the honor roll, has a "gold card" stuck in his ID sleeve which entitles him to things like early dismissal to lunch and recess), and when all was said and done, Grant ended up suspended from the bus and from school for two days.

Upon Grant's return, CJ received a letter of apology:

Click to embiggen (flickr)

We Love Halloween

2008-10-31T10:04:00.002-05:00

Click any photo to embiggen

Justin, as Henchman 21 from Venture Bros.

Malav, as Beastie Boys' Sabotage Cop.

Meredith, as Mouse.

Me, as Yip Yip.

How Does it FEEEEEEEL?

2008-10-13T12:07:00.003-05:00

Pitchfork Media's list of the top 200 songs of the 1960s is a fantastic journey through the songs that shaped, well, generations.

The entire list is well-crafted, but the top 20 is, in short, masterful. Of those twenty, no fewer than 12 are on my "oh, hells yes!" list. Check it out. It's a good'un.

Hanna

2008-09-03T12:29:00.002-05:00

There's lots of talk in the news about Hanna making landfall in South Carolina sometime Friday. This is probably true, BUT! Columbia is far enough inland that the most we will likely experience is heavy rain and possibly some power outage; the real concern is the coastline. Our city has set up shelters for people who may evacuate from the coast, although mandatory evacuation notices haven't been issued just yet. Here in town, city storm drains are being cleaned in case of the aforementioned heavy rain and grocery stores are stocking extra bread, milk, eggs, and bottled water (the things that people seem to rush for before a storm).

In short, don't worry that we're going to die in a hurricane this weekend. We'll be fine. :)

Stootsi.com : They Suck!

2008-08-22T11:17:00.006-05:00

I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you all about how Stootsi.com likes to get money for nothin' (and, quite possibly, chicks for free).

It all started when I purchased a refurbished Xbox 360 from Stootsi.com on June 27, 2008. My card was (of course!) charged right away, however the product was not shipped until six days later, on July 3, 2008.

They like to say that "typically" their shipments go out within 1 business day. Sure, I can accept that, everybody has issues now and then.

So I received the shipment four days later (eleven days from purchase) on June 8, and within hours the unit was flashing a red quadrant (although not the infamous RROD).

I emailed Stootsi.com, asking them (and I paraphrase): "Hey wtf, yo?". They referred me to Encore Repair, who apparently is the "refurbisher"; Encore, in turn, instructed me to ship the unit to them, at my own cost. I did so on July 17, 2008.

Encore received my shipment on July 21, 2008, and five days later I asked them to update me on what, if any, progress had been made. I did not receive a response, but later the same day, I received a replacement 360! "Yay!" I thought, "Tim finally gets to play GTA4 tonight!"

Right? Riiiiight.

The replacement Xbox 360 was in even worse shape than the first one - a full RROD along with a loose case. This time? I told them I just wanted my stinkin' money back, so Encore sent me back to talk to Stootsi.com. Stootsi.com instructed me to ship the unit back to them, again at my own cost (even though their refund policy says they'll pay for return shipping, ahem) - but, hey, I'd receive a refund of the sale price, which... whatever. Okay. I paid $195.99 ($189.99 + $6.00 s/h) at the time of original purchase, and then a combined $36.56 out of pocket for the pleasure of twice shipping defective units, for a total of $232.55. Getting near to retail price here, folks, which makes the whole "buying a refurb" thing utterly pointless.

So, the refund arrived, and now we're over 40 days after my original transaction. Except I was refunded $166.99, ending up with not only no Xbox, but out $65.56.

This entire transaction, from start to finish, was a miserable experience, and the related customer service just sucked.

Here's some history:
---

We'll skip the first 13 emails (most of theirs one-line statements without so much as a "thanks for your business"), and jump right to the email I sent after receiving the second defective 360, when I emailed Encore directly:

to Encore Tech Support
cc "sTooTsi .com - Customer Support"
date Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:49 PM
subject Re: Xbox 360

Unfortunately, the replacement Xbox 360 is defective.

Yellow card code: ERS-0905
Number on console case sticker: 621493354805

This time, not only is the front of the case loose and unable to fully latch into place, the entire red ring flashes and won't even display a screen to show an error code. It probably goes without saying that this is incredibly disappointing. It's now been a month since my original purchase, I received a defective product, had to pay to send the defective product back, only to receive yet another defective product.

At this point I simply want my money back. How can we achieve this?

Encore told me to talk to Stootsi.com:

from Encore Tech Support
date Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 10:31 AM
subject RE: Xbox 360

Your unit is covered by a warranty that only includes repair or replacement for units. Encore Repair Services cannot issue refunds for units. For a refund, you would need to contact your place of purchase. If you would like to process a warranty repair or replacement for your unit, please let us know.

Thank you,
Encore RMA Department

So I talked to Stootsi.com. I forwarded the above message from Encore and asked them to "Please advise".

Stootsi.com said, "hey, you can return it for a refund of the sale price":

from sTooTsi .com - Customer Support
date Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:39 PM
subject RE: Xbox 360

Jennifer-

You can return the unit to us for a refund of the sale price or exchange another unit with Encore. Please advise.

So I said, and again I paraphrase, "Well, alrightie, then.":

Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 12:49 PM
To: sTooTsi .com - Customer Support
Subject: Re: Xbox 360

Hi Stootsi, thanks for the reply. I'd like to return it for a refund. What's the procedure?

And so Stootsi told me how to return, again stating there would be a refund of my sale price:

sTooTsi .com - Customer Support
date Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 2:10 PM
subject RE: Xbox 360

Thank you for contacting us. We are sorry you are having problems with your item.

You can return your item to us a for a refund of your sale price, or an exchange. If you are requesting an exchange, please note that in your return. We process exchanges within 1 business day of receiving your return. Please send your item, along with an order #, and a reason for return to:

Stootsi.com
2507 Lovi Rd, Bldg 3
Freedom, PA 15042

When we receive the item back, we will refund your credit card within 5 business days or exchange it for you. Thanks!

So I (again) packed it up, and (again) paid to ship it back, sending it off on July 30. Two days later, they received the package. When I followed up on that and inquired about my refund, the one-liner read:

sTooTsi .com - Customer Support
date Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 12:41 PM
subject RE: Xbox 360

Your order will be refunded within 1-2 business days.

Great, right? Wrong! At this point, I'm out a total of $232.55, but just expecting to receive the "sale price" refunded. Imagine my surprise when I received a refund of $169.99:

to "sTooTsi .com - Customer Support"
date Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 9:49 AM
subject Re: Xbox 360

On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:39 PM, sTooTsi .com - Customer Support wrote:
> You can return the unit to us for a refund of the sale price or exchange another unit with Encore. Please advise.

Greetings. The amount I received in refund was $23 less than the sale price I paid for the item (not to mention the amounts paid to twice return the item, although it appears you only refund purchase price). I paid $189.99 plus $6 s/h.

Please advise.

And then, in yet another one-liner, Stootsi pretty much told me to suck it:

sTooTsi .com - Customer Support
date Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 12:55 PM
subject RE: Xbox 360

Jennifer-

You were charged a restocking fee because you chose to return it to us rather than receive warranty support from our refurbishing company.

I thanked them for the AWESOME customer service, made a mental note to share with The Consumerist, and bought retail.

Never once did either company try to make this right. Nobody came close to saying "Wow, valued customer, I'm so sorry for the trouble! Please allow us to overnight an RMA label to you". Nobody even bothered to mention "restocking fee" until after they sent me two total pieces of crap and kept my money.

The retail 360? Works like a charm.

So, in short (except really, in long), do not do business with Stootsi.com. Learn from my misfortune: They don't care about your business, they have no idea what "customer service" means, and eventually (if not immediately), you'll regret it.

Summer Fun: The Gargantuan Photo Cross-post

2008-08-19T14:47:00.000-05:00

Vacation at Myrtle Beach

Click through for full set

CJ's 11th Birthday

Click through for full set

First Day of Junior High and 3rd Grade

Click through for full set

OMG you guys, seriously.

2008-07-02T11:28:00.002-05:00

I laughed so hard just now I really thought I was going to puke.

Guh

2008-06-18T14:47:00.003-05:00

Now, I've never seen Glitter, so take this with a grain of salt, if you like: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which we wisely rented, is indeed one of the most awful movies ever. And I've seen AVP4, so I know from awful movies.

I'm just sayin'.

Happy Birthday!

2008-06-13T16:01:00.004-05:00

Oh hai, today is Tim's 31st birthday! Happy birthday to my favorite husband ever. :)

The Big Deal Fifth Grade Field Trip(tm)

2008-04-24T15:05:00.004-05:00

CJ attended the Big Deal Fifth Grade Field Trip(tm) yesterday, to Charleston, 121 miles from home(!). I spent the entire day oscillating between "Oh! Em! Gee! My! Baby! Is! Hours! Away!" and figuring he was having a really great time (and, as Tim said, I'd get a phone call if CJ angered a manatee or something) and I should chill out a bit.

As part of the whole "you're growing up, cool!" to-do about this trip, I offered CJ the opportunity to take my digital camera along for the ride.

He did, and this photo set is the result (link).

Unofficial Krispy Kreme Hotlight of the Net

2008-04-03T10:09:00.002-05:00

Is the Hot Light on? Find out...

read more | digg story

Top Ten Artists Suffering The Lindsey Buckingham Paradox

2008-03-13T11:54:00.010-05:00

Fifteen minutes ago, I was explaining the Lindsey Buckingham Paradox to Malav.

Malav, like most people, furrowed his brow and asked what, exactly, this paradox might be.

The Lindsey Buckingham Paradox is what happens when otherwise brilliant musicians decide they're better than their bandmates (creative differences, natch), strike out on their own with solo "careers", and somewhat curiously never again manage to grasp his or her own genius in the way we all know is possible.

Lindsey is a goddamned genius. He strives for constant musical evolution, always pushing the creative envelope, and is unto himself an origination point on the great conceptual flowchart of musical evolution in the last 40 years. But, solo? Mania. I mean, oh dear god, concept albums. He's a one-man Plastic Ono Band, all by himself.

It is when Lindsey Buckingham's lunatic genius is tempered by Stevie Nicks (and even Christine McVie) that the magic happens, because the whole of Fleetwood Mac is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Once this is explained, people grok the Paradox immediately and offer up their own suggestions for musicians who suffer from the same.

After numerous discussions with numerous people over the years, I thought to start making lists of artists with a terminal case of the LBP. Lindsey, of course, goes without mentioning, as he is the namesake. There are many many more, these are just today's starting point.

Today's Top Ten Artists Suffering The Lindsey Buckingham Paradox:

#10 Steve Perry (Journey)
Oh Sherry notwithstanding, just... what? Diva, untamed.

#9 Glenn Frey (The Eagles)
Where, oh where, has our Desperado gone?

#8 Tim Finn (Crowded House, or even Split Enz)
Crowded House undoubtedly achieved its great(er) success after Tim left the band, and while they were never the same, Tim... didn't. And wasn't. While Tim's brother Neil is a creative genius in his own right, somewhere in the collaboration? That's where the miracles live.

#7 Art Garfunkel (Simon & Garfunkel)
The haunting magic that Art brought to Paul Simon's artful mastery was like the unexplained awesometasticness that bursts out of, say, dipping french fries in chocolate milkshakes. There's no reason that these two things should be any good together, but they ARE. Unlike this example, however, both of those ingredients are better on their own. Not so with Mr. Garfunkel.

#6 Peter Cetera (Chicago)
Sorry, Matt. I know you're going to drive to South Carolina expressly to poke me with a very sharp stick over this one, but, man. I know even you will agree with me when I say: If You Leave Me Now? The apex. There was nowhere Cetera could go but down, down, Karate Kid down.

#5 Dennis DeYoung (Styx)
Remember when Styx was groundbreaking? Then remember how Dennis DeYoung put on the +20 Perm of Suck and went all concept album on our collective asses? Yeah. Me too.

#4 Paul McCartney (The Beatles)
Say you want a revolution? Well, you know.

#3 Jon Anderson (Yes)
The mere existence of that Jon Anderson lyrics generator is enough said.

#2 Sting (The Police)
Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers brought their own special flavors to the Police party, and without them, Sting is just a big bowl of goddamned puffy cheetos. Like Bono, maybe, without the passion or, you know, cred.

#1 Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins)
"My band is a bunch of mean-spirited drug addicts! H8erade! Solo Career! Wait, oh noes, where'd my career GO? Come back! I'll stop being an insufferable diva with a superiority complex, oh my god, I swear, just take me baaaaaack (wah)".

There are many (many) more, of course. Who do you think suffers from the Lindsey Buckingham Paradox? Let me know in the comments.

Desktop again, for rbw

2008-03-07T10:11:00.003-05:00

When CJ got his hair cut

2008-02-21T10:27:00.001-05:00

When CJ got his hair cut
Originally uploaded by Mynxzilla

He always looks so ridiculously old right after a haircut.

Happy birthday to me

2008-02-12T12:58:00.001-05:00

This morning, CJ gasps and goes "MOM! You're almost 35!"

At which point I'd been 34 for, oh, 7 hours.

Meredith's homemade card started "HEY, big 34 year old, you're 34 today!".

Indeed.

Get off my lawn!

Cozy

2008-01-08T10:25:00.000-05:00

Less than a month ago, I brought a pair of knitting needles and white yarn with me to Luau, since Ginny had agreed to teach me the basics. As luck would have it, Mandy's charming new girlfriend was with her, knittery in tow. We all gathered round as I learned the basic cast-on and knit stitch.

Then I bought a book, and whipped up a few scarves while the children were away. When they returned for Christmas, they had Tamagotchi toys from their father, and difficulty keeping track of 'em.

Enter: The Tamagotchi Cozy!

It began as a sort of protective case for Meredith's Tamagotchi, Bob, after a minor injury; a red jobby with a white heart on the front, and a long strap with which to wear it around one's neck. Then, of course, one had to be made for CJ. That one was more involved, with a skull and crossbones motif, and was knit during the worst most boringest stupidest movie ever.

They wore their Tamagotchi Cozies to school. They came home that day with requests from two of their friends. Then another day, another request. To date, I think I've knitted a total of six Tamagotchi cozies in two weeks. As I dropped the children off at school this morning, I saw a little boy leap out of a truck to join CJ on the walk into school.

Around his neck swung one of my cozies.

I'm such a cool mom. Or, you know, a gigantic pushover.

Passing it along

2007-12-19T14:03:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this interview with Michael J. Fox. I don't usually enjoy interviews, like, ever, so... whatever. There you have it.

And now, for the sake of contrast

2007-12-07T09:44:00.001-05:00

Click to embiggen "The kind of notes that girls write" (flickr)

This is what letters between elementary schoolgirls look like.

Seriously what's going on dude

2007-12-06T10:31:00.001-05:00

At our elementary school, there is a charming inner-school mail system that really does encourage kids to communicate via the written word. It's hugely successful, and often it's highly amusing, too.

Both of the children send and receive mail multiple times a week; CJ received this one yesterday and it's just too good not to share here, in its entirety:

Click to embiggen "Seriously what's going on dude" (flickr)

C is for Cookie

2007-11-27T13:31:00.001-05:00

When C brings me lunch during the workday, he almost always brings me a cookie, too.

This? This is a good friend.

Work Wallpaper

2007-11-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

My desktop wallpaper here at work just changed from this to this.

The Zombeatles - A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead

2007-11-09T13:01:00.001-05:00

Awesome.

Be aware

2007-10-29T10:09:00.001-05:00

I really hate the word "webinar".

Flowers!

2007-10-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

A cardless bouquet of flowers appeared in front of my keyboard this afternoon while I was away from my desk.

Nobody in my office will own up to being responsible for this random act of kindness, but I know it was one (or some) of them. As Tim said, "that means they're all in on it".

Thank you, Mr. Flower Leprechaun & Co.; you gave me a serious warm fuzzy today.