small.town.girl

While I have been taking baby steps with most of my new year’s resolutions, there is one goal with which I’ve made huge strides. I’m steadily making my way through the Harry Potter series. A week after starting the first book, I’m over halfway done with the third book. I’m amazed at how quickly I flip through the pages, and how when I’m not reading them, I think about when I might get a chance to read again. The series has really grabbed me. I now understand how and why these books energized so many folks to read, even if they were not “readers.”

What’s lucky for me is that I never tainted my opinions of the series; in addition to avoiding the books, I’ve never seen any of the movies. I have kept myself fairly isolated from all things Potter, which means that I can still make my own mental images of the characters and I have no idea how the plot will twist and turn. I find myself making predictions, but I do not voice these to my friends because most of them are familiar with the books. I’m having a lot of fun being immersed in this world, and even though I thought the books would be childish and silly, I find myself admiring the prose and the language employed to convey stories that are not boring in the least. In fact, in Chamber of Secrets, Rowling used the word “tenterhooks,” which made me really, really happy. Perhaps I’ve been living in this county for too long if proper usage of words makes me giddy.

I think that after I finish the third book, I may take a brief break. Perhaps I will read something else, or dedicate myself solidly to working ahead on my classwork. Regardless, I think that three books in a little over a week will be a sufficient start to meeting this 2010 goal. Dan also pointed out that if I read all seven books in less than a month, I may start thinking that I am Harry Potter.

He’s totally wrong, though. I’d be Hermione. Duh.

This is a song I almost missed. Thankfully, my friend Faith asked me last month if I would be interested in seeing Innerpartysystem, which led them to a slot in my car’s CD changer. I had never heard of them (or hadn’t paid enough attention for them to register on my radar). Now I’m pretty smitten, and not just because they’re local. Plus, in a matter of hours, I will be seeing them, so I figured I would take this opportunity to share them with you.

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Oh, goodness. Another mid-week holiday that confused my internal clock and has me bloated–this time from sharing a bottle of Patrón with one of my most favorite people in the world–has passed and it’s an awkward Friday that feels far too much like a Monday, but with jeans instead of business casual wear. I had picked this song out before my New Year’s plans were cemented, but it makes it even more special because my drinking buddy is the one who introduced me to The Mountain Goats.

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Family get-togethers at the holidays usually include at least three cousins asking me, “How did you go from Marilyn Manson to Britney Spears?” or, in reference to the general time period where I caught shit for listening to Manson, “Remember when you used to wear those boots?” Well, the simple answers, my dear family, is that I still listen to Marilyn Manson even with my newfound love for Britney. And my platform boots from Hot Topic broke in 2003, or I’d probably still wear them.

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I am a product of 90s post-grunge, and this is one of my many anthems. Though The Verve Pipe is best known for “The Freshman” also known as the song that makes me want to claw my eyes out because I’m still troubled by how much it was overplayed a decade ago, “Photograph” was their first single off their album Villains. It peaked in Billboard’s Modern Rock Top 10 but obviously didn’t get that played-at-every-middle-school-dance success that “The Freshman” did. Whatever, it rocks way harder.

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Can I scream?

The first time I ever heard this song, it was the middle of the night. I was in high school, I think, watching MTV when I should have been sleeping. These rabbits started to run around on my screen as the music builds culminating, fades and bursts into that simple question: Can I scream?

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I don’t typically listen to pop music unless it’s mixed in to a Girl Talk track or I’m out and can’t avoid it. It’s not that I don’t like it, but it’s usually not my first choice for driving tunes. However, in the past year or so, I’ve completely embraced Britney Spears as my popular side. If I could invent another personality, Britney would be my Sasha Fierce.

Photo by Peggy Sirota for Rolling Stone via BritneySpears.com

Most of her danceable singles were on my computer from the need for college party mixes and because I don’t live under a rock, but Blackout was the first album I bought. Surprisingly, I loved it. It came out almost a year ago, and I can honestly say that it has not left my car’s 6-disc changer. It’s not always my first choice, but it’s an album that can brighten my day in seconds. Yesterday, for example, I cranked “Ooh Ooh Baby” and belted it out while driving home from work.

So what’s with my title then? Well, for those of you who do live under a rock (or in a Britneyless world)–December 2, less than a week from now, her latest album, Circus, hits stores!

I have already preordered on iTunes to guarantee myself the bonus track.

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