Hello. I am e.n.d. Once upon a time I came from Minnesota. But then I moved everywhere.
Curiosity didn't kill the cat. Complacency did.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
I was 20 when I first heard In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
I popped the CD into my Volvo probably around 10:30pm, some weekday in June or July, 2000. My friend Adrian gave it to me minutes after I picked him up at his parents’ place.
We drove over to the Federal Reserve building to go skateboarding. I always had my sunroof open. Minnesota summers are hot as hell. Breezes came in. Music went out.
We listened to the entire album on the way there and on the way back. And often for the rest of the summer.
I hadn’t yet moved out of my parents’ place but I had a lot of freedom. They bought me that 1985 Volvo DL. It was my third one. (I got into a lot of car accidents). Each one had a sunroof. Not that I could make demands on them since they financed my early driving years, but I always requested a sunroof. They always caved.
Long since I’ve moved out, happily carless, I have to pack. I’m leaving Berlin next week and moving to San Francisco.
Soundtracks. Lyrics. Déjà vu.
But now we must pack up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on
(Thanks, Thom).
The view from my boat ride home on the Li River earlier today.
With the sounds of this classic Jesus and Mary Chain album in my ears.
Been cafe-ing all day with Mr. McNamee and we came across this piece of beautiful.
From “inni” by Sigur Rós.
I watched this video in bed on my glass-shattered iPhone 3GS nearly every other morning in June of 2009, the year I lived on 18th street in Gramercy Park, Manhattan. A beautiful track they usually have such a hard time playing live - done amazingly well here.
At one point I showed it to a friend of mine after another über late wine-night in NYC. He watched it on my couch six times that morning, horribly hungover in the humidity. He, too, admitted the quality totally sucks but he also said, “it’s a beautiful up-close reality in two minutes. It says a lot about a lot and don’t you love reading into songs like these with your own narrative? It’s a strange kind of fun.”
Completely.
I lived with two other girls in a *tiny* three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 5th floor walk-up of an old Manhattan brick apartment building. We had a “walk-through” kitchen - a pathetically small thing on your way from the front door to the living room with a small fridge, stove and oven that seemed almost make-believe, as if used only by children. We barely cooked. We were bachelorettes in a city with the best take-out ever.
Our apartment was covered, floor-to-ceiling, with exposed brick. If you know me and how obsessed I am with open brick buildings, you will know that my tiny apartment was heaven-in-the-big-apple to me for a year.
The final highlight was our private rooftop deck on top of the building. Only the three of us had access to it from a steep staircase that ran from the side of our living room all the way up to a door in the ceiling. We also had awesome sky windows where we could see through to where the deck was from inside. Windows that tempted you to take your life outside everyday.
Having a bit of private outdoor space in Manhattan is one of the only things that keeps people sane in that city. Doing yoga a couple times a week up there solo helped even more.
But what was a different kind of nice was the number of cocktails we’d have until the wee hours of the morning up there.
Our guests and us would wake up, sometimes hungover. And I’d watch this video. And then I’d do it all over again. Until I left.
Going back for another visit on Friday.
Two years later, I am now on my third shattered iPhone.
I think I’m onto something…
Big Boots: a resurrection of sorts.
One of my old favorites.
Will it finally be released on the upcoming album?
“What a nasty surprise.” - Radiohead
