You're a mean one, Mr. EC...

Another weekend in the books, another weekend to write about…

1) Ever have one of those weekends where you just don’t feel like doing anything at all? Like going out and being social is the biggest hassle in the world? That’s kind of how I was this weekend and it isn’t a good sign. I can kind of feel myself getting into one of my moods where I bounce between self-loathing and really, really loathing myself. I could blame the fact that we are at the nadir of sunlight but given that I’m being short with people who really don’t deserve it I shouldn’t make excuses. I know, good old EC being the Grinch during the holiday season once more…

2) I think I write about this every year but it just never feels like the holidays for me out here in KC. It could be because my apartment contains no Christmas decorations. (One year I did go out and buy a little tree from Target but when I looked at it I could see Charlie Brown staring at it and going, “Dude, even I wouldn’t buy that one.”) But really I think it’s just the weather in this town doesn’t correspond to my memories of the holidays. It was sixty here over the weekend so instead of snow and getting to see your breath all you saw were leafless trees and dormant grass. Sure the Plaza lights are pretty but it just isn’t Christmas to me. Snow is an important part of the season and it just seems to be missing out here.

3) Switching gears a bit, I finally listened to the latest Liz Phair CD last week despite the fact that I think I’ve owned it for a year. I literally bought it, put it in the collection and never thought about it again until the random number generator chose it. In listening to it I was pleasantly surprised because it is not a horrible album. In fact, you could say that Liz is evolving as an artist. Sadly, she is evolving into Sheryl Crow and I don’t think we need another one of her. It is a tame, tuneful album and you can’t say that about Exile in Guyville, which is probably why that album will be remembered forever while no one actually bought Somebody’s Miracle.

4) In celebrity news, they’ve dropped the charges against Natasha Lyonne, a favorite actress of mine before she went completely insane. Ok, maybe not insane but she was charged with, and I quote, “Threatening to molest her neighbor’s dog.” Personally, I want to know which politician decided years ago to put that statute on the books. You know, sat down one night and looked at all of the laws and went, “Hey were missing one about molesting your neighbor’s pet. Think we can add that this to the list.” Probably would have made the Bill of Rights except that it would have been the eleventh amendment and they didn’t want an odd number.

5) I’ve got to give a shout out to Family Guy for breaking out the Garrett Morris’ President of the School for the Hard of Hearing bit tonight. It’s an ancient Saturday Night Live bit but it’s one of the funniest ever and so completely unexpected. That said, I bet Garrett would have come in handy in many of the breakups that I’ve endured over the years.

6) Finally decided that I’ll be good and read Richard II this year. Two reasons why. First, it is a page shorter. Second, in the book of Shakespeare I borrowed (or more accurately, stole) from my mom she has class notes and underlined passages for this play. So it’s cool for me to read and I have built in Cliff Notes.

The five random CDs for the week
1) Jimmy LaFave “Texoma”
2) R.E.M. “Document”
3) Victoria Williams “Loose”
4) The Connells “Ring”
5) Cowboy Junkies “Open Road”