changes

This was so real to me as a 14 year old, and a little bit scary. First Smashing Pumpkins album I purchased. And I still like listening to it now, I guess.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Siamese Dream

Been listening through this comp¹, but also using it as a jumping off point to explore more by some of these artists and also just an excuse or occasion to listen a lot of other 80s and 90s rock I loved or always wanted to listen to but didn’t have access back at the time.

A listening project, but casual, wide ranging, inclusive, and maybe with no end until I get distracted by something else. Just allowing myself to listen to what I want, and right now what I want is a lot of late 80s and early 90s noisy rock. So far I’ve also listened to a bunch of My Bloody Valentine, A.R. Kane, finally tried some Cocteau Twins, The Stone Roses (don’t start; I know they are not ‘shoegaze’ at all but they are mentioned in these liner notes as a key group of the period which made me want to listen to them again and I have also always wanted to explore Manchester music more and so I am doing that as well with this project, therefore finally listened to The Verve’s first album A Storm in Heaven which I’ve wanted to hear since I was probably 15 years old or something like that - it would have been one of my favorites if I had back then), &c. Also had this unrealistic idea at some point to listen to “everything” released by 4AD because many of my favorite 21st century artists are associated with the label and I understood it to have a storied history, so this comp and project is scratching that itch as well. A lot more things queued up to check out that I will hopefully log on this site as I get to them.

And of course it was also going to lead me to listening to Smashing Pumpkins a whole bunch, but that’s for other posts…maybe Sonic Youth, maybe my more recent 4AD favorites in this vein Deerhunter and TV on the Radio…

Past Log Updates

DATE : 2024-12-16 (Backdated)

I also posted this in my reading log as ‘currently reading’

Reading Log: Still in a Dream - A Story of Shoegaze 1988-1995

This is more listening than reading, but it is formatted as an actual book with probably 40+ pages of liner notes and essays to go along with 5 compilation discs to listen to. Since I did sit down and read it like a book, I’m listing it as reading as well. I’m not marking it as completed yet because I haven’t finished listening to all of the songs, nor my various side quest deep dives into individual albums and artists associated with this compilation and era.

I happened upon this in the Salt Lake City Public Library catalog while I was searching for something else, and I’m so glad I did get the physical copy. Having all the essays and band biographies there at hand was so helpful, and I think this is much more thorough than some random “Shoegaze and Dream Pop” playlist one could get from the streaming platforms. Also, though this comp is offered on the streaming platforms, the physical version is much more generous, with more than double the tracks of the streaming version, including many from the most notable artists. No My Bloody Valentine though. (It’s okay, I already have their stuff.)

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Still in a Dream

I volunteered to be a reader for the poetry committee for the Beehive Book Awards. With their 2026 shortlist meeting deadline looming I finally got to reading as many of the titles as I could this weekend.

Bonus, this deadline forced me out of my reading paralysis–I hadn’t been able to commit to a book to be my first for 2025. This freed me to just read 22 different small books instead, no pressure.

I don’t want to share all my notes and ratings and not sure if I should, anyway, but below is the full list of the books I read in the past two days from the longlist (which I’m also not sure I should share in full.) I’ve bolded the titles that were my personal favorites, and included their covers in the .gif associated with this log entry.

(I’d already read and favorited some others from the longlist last year, such as–Poetry Comics, Louder Than Hunger, And Then, Boom!, Kin: Rooted in Hope.)

Read on 2025-01-18

• Home, poems and illustrations by Isabelle Simler, translated by Vineet Lal
• Welcome to the Wonder House, poems by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard, illustrations by Deborah Freedman
• The City Sings Green and Other Poems about Welcoming Wildlife, by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Ginnie Hsu
• The Mighty Pollinators, poems by Helen Frost, photographs by Rick Lieder
• Tree Whispers: a Forest of Poems by Mandy Ross, illustrated by Juliana Oakley
• The Museum of the Moon: The Curious Objects on the Lunar Surface, by Irene Latham, illustrated by Myriam Wares

Read on 2025-01-19

• Zilot & Other Important Rhymes by Bob Odenkirk with illustrations by Erin Odenkirk
• Aloha Everything by Kaylin Melia George, illustrated by Mae Waite
• Windsongs: Poems about Weather by Douglas Florian
• What You Need to Be Warm by Neil Gaiman, various illustrators
• Bless Our Pets: Poems of Gratitude for Our Animal Friends, various authors, illustrated by Lita Judge
• Eating my Words and 128 Other Poems by Brian P. Cleary, illustrated by Andy Rowland and Richard Watson
• Forward Always: Poems to be read aloud by Matthew Hodson
• We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America, by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya
• This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake, poems by Nicholas Ruddock, pictures by Ashley Barron
• T Is for Trails: A Hiking Alphabet by Judy Young, illustrated by Sharisse Steber
• Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol, illustrated by Todd Stewart
• Pickle Words: Crunchy, Punchy Pickles and Poetry, by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Jialei Sun
• Haiku, Ew!: Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature by Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Julia Patton
• Great Gusts: Winds of the World and the Science Behind Them, by Melanie Crowder and Megan Benedict, illustrated by Khoa Le
• Red Bird Danced by Dawn Quigley

I’m excited to see which titles the committee ultimately picks.

P.S. The GIF turned out a mess but I don’t really care I’m just going to go with it and get on with my life.

Standalone post link: Reading Log: A bunch of children's poetry books

This is one of those albums that opens several avenues of musical exploration, some entirely new to me (Ale Hop) and some I know and love but need to catch up with (Nyege Nyege Tapes, Soukous.)

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Mapambazuko

(I built a playlist to finally try the original 3LP Vinyl edition tracklisting: Dawn - Tea Time - Dusk - Twilight - Midnight - Starlight)

It works, or at least it doesn’t make any less sense than the regular CD track order…and I didn’t have to spend $700 or whatever to try it. I think I could have bought this for $75 at some point but I didn’t have the money.

Here it is -

dawn

1. mellon collie and the infinite sadness
2. tonight, tonight
3. thirthy-three
4. in the arms of sleep
5. take me down

tea time

1. jellybelly
2. bodies
3. to forgive
4. here is no why
5. porcelina of the vast oceans

dusk

1. bullet with butterfly wings
2. thru the eyes of ruby
3. muzzle
4. galapogos
5. tales of a scorched earth

twilight

1. 1979
2. beautiful
3. cupid de locke
4. by starlight
5. we only come out at night

midnight

1. where boys fear to tread
2. zero
3. an ode to no one
4. love
5. x.y.u.

starlight

1. stumbleine
2. lily (my one and only)
3. tonite reprise ❋
4. farewell and goodnight
5. infinite sadness ❋

❋ vinyl only bonus tracks, sourced from The Aeroplane Flies High Deluxe Edition for purposes of my playlist.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: MCATIS

This was a “personalized” suggestion for me from the Apple Music algorithm and it was a good one. I hate that a little bit, but glad to learn of this band.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Dust Inside a Dream

Send my body to Arby’s

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Standalone post link: Send my body to Arby's

The friendmaking challenge really threw me off and I stopped playing this for a long time, but I finally got back to it and pushed through to finish the main storyline. I kind of love this game.

This game has been hillarious to me and I probably should write something more about it and my weird reaction to the friendmaking part. It is silly and fun but also has an occasional dark satirical and slightly cynical take on human society. Or maybe I’m bringing my own issues to the game. This is what I should probably explore. But not today.

Date: 2024-05-11

Apparently I love Canadian video games?

I’m hooked after starting this on a whim one day while browsing Apple Arcade for the first time on my laptop. I’d wanted to play something on the Switch but not enough to kick my kids off the Switch.

Standalone post link: Playing Log: Sneaky Sasquatch

EVERYTHING THAT THE SKULL SAID WAS TRUE

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Standalone post link: EVERYTHING THAT THE SKULL SAID WAS TRUE

I’m purple man, too

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Standalone post link: I'm purple man, too