Sara Ryan

Still catching up from Boston, black nail polish now very chipped. Have been brooding about tragedies of various scales, also tempests and their associated teapots. Feeling more inclined to shut up than put up, this fragmentary post notwithstanding.
But here are three good things, as a counterweight:

Tales of the Madman Underground, which I read on the [...]

I think many of y’all follow BoingBoing and so will have already seen it, but I just have to embed this fantastic video, “Spacious Thoughts”:

“Good can’t help but do a little Evil
Evil can’t help but do a little Good.”
And I know what Tom Waits looks like, but despite that, I’m gonna find it hard not [...]

Unrelated, except insofar as estate sales evoke melancholy almost by definition: I was pleased to discover that I could get Little Sue albums on emusic, and it made me realize that my music collection is currently underrepresented in moody alt-country. Suggestions?

Hey, in support of the fabulous Miss Cecil Castellucci’s excellent novel Beige, newly available in glorious paperback, I have contributed an odd little punk list — a list, as it happens, of  punks I knew in high school, because other folks far more well-schooled in music than I am, like Douglas for instance, have already [...]

This morning on the treadmill I listened to one song, over and over: “Unless It’s Kicks” by Okkervil River.
What gives this mess some grace unless it’s kicks, man/Unless it’s fiction
It took me back in time. Not because it was around when I was a teenager, but because it made me feel like [...]

I may yet write something substantive with reflections re: the date ending in a different digit, but I have reason to suspect that if I do, it will be melancholy, and right now, I’d rather go for frivolity.
So let me tell you about my dumb problem. No, really, it is a dumb problem.
I have playlist [...]

After last night’s concert, in addition to an unexpected catharsis, now I have enough Mountain Goats T-shirts to go an entire work week wearing a different one each day. Yes, I am that much of a fan. (Did you notice the Goats lyric in Rules? )

Near the end of a phenomenal Mountain Goats show. Amazing energy, the barn has been in flames all night, and even though I want to punch the drunk screamers just as much as usual, I’m still so glad I’m here. John launches into the song, people are pogoing around the floor, nodding their heads  [...]

Do you know, Portlanders, that there is an I-205 bike path? I discovered it today and felt that I had learned one of the city’s secrets.
I rode along, saying “On your left, pardon me, thank you” to the occasional pedestrians who looked a bit surprised that a cyclist was actually using the path, listening to [...]

1. Idly browse YouTube for bands covering your favorite band.
2. Discover the Heathers version of “This Year”:

3. Immediately go to their MySpace.
4. Realize that OMG! They’re coming to Portland! Really soon!
5. Go.
I need to talk a little about the fantastic venue, The Coop. For those of you who’ve read Rules, it was like attending a [...]