misery loves company

For a long time, I have been working on a mixtape in my head called "Misery Loves Company" -- a mix of all the best (i.e. most tragic) love-gone-wrong songs. I was thinking about my list today while cranking my iPod on a trip to scenic Dover, and thought I would post a list of the five songs I have come up with so far.

5. "The Art Teacher" -- Rufus Wainwright. A great song about a woman remembering her unrequited love for her high school art teacher. Lucy and I were singing this throughout London as we visited art museums..."I looked at the Rubens and Rembrandts. I liked the John Singer Sargents. He told me he liked Turner. Never have I turned since then. No, never have I turned to any other man."

4. "Simple Kind of Life" -- No Doubt. Back when they were just a couple of kids growing up in the OC, Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal fell in love. After years of hard work, touring the country with their little ska band, life got in the way, and Gwen and Tony broke up. But despite the band's success, all Gwen ever wanted was a simple kind of life. "I always thought that I'd be a mom. Sometimes I wish for a mistake. The longer that I wait the more selfish that it gets. You look like you'd be a good dad." Now Gwen has Gavin, and baby Kingston, with another on the way, so she is living the dream, and I am happy for her. But if Tony needs someone to carry his baby, so he can find out if he would indeed be a good dad, I could probably make myself available.

3. "You Were Mine" -- Dixie Chicks. Country music. Key changes. Cheating men. Do you really need anything more for a great break-up song? Well, how about if we throw in an additional dagger to the heart (Justin, if Ally is reading this to you, brace yourself.....), kids caught in the middle. "I can give you two good reasons to show your love's not blind. He's two and she's four and you know they adore you, so how can I tell them that you've changed your mind?" Cue weeping.

2. "No Children" --Mountain Goats. More bitter than working class voters in Pennsylvania, and at least twice as witty. "I hope it stays dark forever, I hope the worst isn't over. I hope you blink before I do, I hope I never get sober. And I hope when you think of me years down the line, you can't find one good thing to say....And I hope you die, I hope we both die..." Hey, at least they don't have kids.

1. "Fairytale of New York"-- the Pogues with Kirsty McColl. This song gets me every time. Poor Shane McGowan is in the drunk tank on Christmas Eve, pining away for Kirsty, and Kirsty is totally over him, calling him a "scumbag" and a "maggot", among other choice words. This one is made so much more poignant by the fact that Shane McGowan really is a horrible drunk, and Kirsty McColl met a tragic end, decapitated by a boat. You can't make that shit up.

Now you have to tell me what other songs I should put on my mixtape (and by mixtape, I mean iTunes playlist). Thanks for your help.

blog this

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Originally uploaded by kjerstieb

Lucy took this picture of me yesterday when I was dropping her off at school. I really like this shirt (which Lucy insisted I buy), and think that my blog is the perfect place to share mundane facts like that. Also, I like Doritos a lot. Had some for lunch today and boy, were they tasty.

picnik

tower bridge duo
Originally uploaded by kjerstieb

My latest obsession is the editing software that interfaces with flickr, called picnik. I am applying duotones to all my pictures. I think it looks cool. I am working my slowly towards a project that I bought art supplies for about 6 months ago-- applying encaustic to photos. I am thinking it will look cool with the duotones. I'll let you know in another 6 months.

a haiku for you

I would like to dedicate this to Lucy and Jen. Prepare to be touched.

"Mutter Museum
has floaty bits of babies
perfect but for brains."

(Some backstory: We were at the Mutter Museum once looking at all the deformed babies in jars, including one with no brain. These women in front of us said one of the funniest things I have ever heard: "Oh! That baby is so cute! It would have been perfect if it only had a brain!" I was inspired to write this haiku because Jen sent me a picture of her standing alarmingly close to a brain in a jar with a delighted grin on her face, and Lucy has been writing haikus at school.)

good news...

...all of my england photos are up on flickr. i am still working on tags, but check them out.

happy accident

I did not take this picture on purpose at all, and didn't even know I had taken it. If you enlarge the picture of Lucy standing in front of Shakespeare's Globe, posted below, you will see this reflection -- Shakespeare superimposed on a perfect London streetscape, bookended by St. Paul's Cathedral. It looks cool, doesn't it?

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Originally uploaded by kjerstieb

We interrupt this gripping travelogue to bring you a picture of the previously referenced mayonnaise cake, which I made for my dad's birthday. I did not beat the icing for as long as I should have so it was a little weird (hence the brightly colored sprinkle disguise), but the cake itself was delicious.