my top twenty favorite lyrics ... part one

Driving through Wyoming and Idaho, believe it or not, does have its plus side: it's a perfect time for listening to all kinds of music. It was during one such drive that I "discovered" Camera Obscura and Arcade Fire (thanks, Erin and NM!).

This time as I drove, I got thinking about how much I love certain lyrics. And I thought to myself, "Self, why not share those lyrics with your handful of faithful readers? Maybe some of them will discover some new music that they love as well."

This list is not entirely complete. For one thing, I'm not putting any Muse lyrics in here -- there are just too many of them that I love too much, so I've decided to make a separate post for them later on. For another, I'm focusing right now on the alternative and indie music I've grown to love during the last year or so (thanks again, Erin and NM ... and Stephenie Meyer), so there are no lyrics from Gershwin or Berlin or ... whoever wrote all those Bing Crosby/Frank Sinatra/Rosemary Clooney lyrics. Another time, perhaps.

For another thing, I have left out several of my very favoritest lyrics, having decided that the lyrics for these whole songs were too good to be able to just pick one or two lines. So, I will post another list sometime (probably quite soon) with these.

The list is also rather flexible -- a lot depends on my particular mood, and I know I'm missing some that I have thought about in the last week as favorite lyrics. I was originally planning, in fact, to make this a top ten list, but I couldn't narrow it down quite that far. But, at the same time, twenty things is a lot to take at once. So I'm giving you the first (or last) ten today, and the rest I will save for another day.

Anyway, with no further ado (since we've had ado a-plenty at this point), here is part one of my top twenty favorite lyrics.

20. Face down in the dirt, she said, "This doesn't hurt." (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, "Face Down")
19. I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone. (My Chemical Romance, "Famous Last Words")
18. If I threw my guitar out the window, so far down, would I start to regret it, or would I smile and watch it slowly fall? (Cake, "Guitar")
17. She left me roses by the stairs -- surprises let me know she cares. (blink-182, "All the Small Things")
16. And as for now, I'm gonna hear the saddest songs and sit alone and wonder how you're making out. And as for me, I wish that I was anywhere, with anyone, making out. (Dashboard Confessional, "Screaming Infidelities")
15. With a name I'd never chosen, I can make my first steps as a child of twenty-five. ... Just because I'm sorry doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it at the time. (Snow Patrol, "Chocolate")
14. So never look behind you, spooky people make you cry. The world is ending, there's a party by the bay. (Blue October, "Sound of Pulling Heaven Down")
13. In a car, underwater, with time to kill. Thinking back, I forgot to tell you this: I didn't care that you left and abandoned me; what hurts more is, I would still die for you. (Armor for Sleep, "Car Underwater")
12. My heart is playing like a violin. (The Clientele, "Here Comes the Phantom")
11. But that's how it's gotta be, it's coming down to nothing more than apathy -- I'd rather run the other way than stay and see the smoke and who's still standing when it clears. ... I wish you were a stranger, I could disengage. ... I'm losing you and it's effortless. (The Fray, "Over My Head (Cable Car)")

So, now it's your turn -- tell me about some of your favorite lyrics. Are any of them the same as mine (so far)? Do you love some songs or artists that I don't know yet?

heads-up

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am safely back in Idaho Falls now, with Mom and Dad. I'm staying upstairs, which is sad because it means my room is smaller, but good because it means I get better cell phone reception.

Last Saturday we had a family reunion, and it was great to see all of my siblings and nieces and nephews. We played laser tag (my dad even played!) and glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, and Dance Dance Revolution (except it wasn't really), and I got a real kick out of watching my sister play Whac-A-Mole. She's got some unreleased agression, she does. :)

This week I have been out job searching. I've applied at two temp agencies (with an interview tomorrow for one of them), hoping to get some clerical work for the month of September, before Lancaster University's school year begins. I've also applied at Barnes and Noble, though it's low on my preferences list, and I'm going to apply for substitute teaching in the local school district.

Most importantly, though, I have a phone interview tomorrow morning with a college in Seattle, who are considering me for an online course in the fall. I'm hoping that will work out. It would be great to have a steady income like that, not to mention the teaching experience, and the online teaching experience, and the "foot in the door" in Seattle. Wish me luck!

Things are looking up -- it's a great little world we live in! (23 points)

The last two quotes, which Erin (naturally) got right, were from Muse's "Falling Away With You," and School of Rock.

WWED

I've lately been working a temp job in the credit department of a local flour company. That's right. I process paperwork all day. In case you were unsure, it's as boring as all get-out. Not to mention repetitive. Highly repetitive.

I do quite well with repetitive work, really. I enjoy not having to think too hard and being able to concentrate on other things (like audiobooks, or -- this week -- the glory of Muse). But I do have a tendency, when performing repetitive tasks, to work a little too quickly, overlooking things and letting errors slip in. To combat this weakness of mine, I have been double- and triple-checking my work at the flour mill, trying to slow myself down. I checked things that no one cared about (i.e., Are these invoices all in the same order that they were listed in on the DOS print-out I used when compiling them?), just to make sure I didn't let my desire for speed overtake my desire for quality work.

Even so, the other day, one of my co-workers genially suggested, "You don't have to work so fast." I didn't have a response to that -- anything I could think of to say would probably have sounded like bragging.

Besides all the tedious work, though, there is also the issue of my supervisor. I like her just fine ... except that I'm not sure she always really knows what she's doing. The other day she assured me that the invoice notes -- written in French, for a Canadian-based company -- indicated that samples had been given to the company (therefore, our department would credit their account for the goods they had incorrectly been billed for). I couldn't figure out how she got that from looking at the invoice, so I asked. "I speak French," she responded -- as though this made the whole thing obvious. I looked at her blankly for a moment. "So do I," I finally said. "But I still don't see how you're getting that." "It's written at the top of the page," she told me. I looked again and then held it up for her, pointing to the word frais written in all-caps at the top of the page. "You mean this?" I asked. "Yep. It says 'free.' That means samples." Now, my French is not the best, I will readily admit. But I happen to know that the word frais means 'fresh.' I looked it up today and learned that it can also mean 'fees.' But 'free' it does not mean. That would be gratis. Unless there's some weird French-Canadian thing going on here that I'm unaware of -- which is entirely possible. But my point here is that my supervisor has a tendency to pretend that she knows what's going on, even when doesn't really (which I suspect is most of the time). [NB: Remind me to tell you all someday about the phony math formula she gave us.]

So, between being assured of various "facts" that I happen to know are false, and constantly surprising people with my super-speedy skills, and having recently stayed up all night (literally -- went to bed at 6:30 am) to read Eclipse, I found myself this week sitting at work and wondering, "What would Edward do?"

Clearly, others in cyber-space have beat me to the punch here, but I still found myself amused by my own thought.

You know, I'm not so sure I'd want to be a vampire -- at least not the way that the Cullens do it. Can you imagine the eternal torture of sitting around at high school year after year after year, listening to lectures on things you already know -- because you already have a plethora of undergraduate, graduate, and professional university degrees -- ignoring information that is blatantly incorrect, and pretending not to mind any of it? Or constantly moving at a significantly slower speed than you are naturally inclined to, just so that people won't get suspicious? I actually tried slowing myself down this week -- not just the double-checking stuff, but actually working slowly, making myself take more time than necessary to lift my pen and make a check-mark -- just to see what it was like. Torturous, that's the word.

I hope Bella knows what she's getting herself into.

If I were a creative writer, I would give you a snap-shot of some of things I thought about this week -- imagining Edward or Bella working in my job, and their reactions to the things I find so frustrating. But I'll leave that kind of thing up to the scritcher.

I can't remember when it was good; moments of happiness elude. (68 points)

My future plans

Well, folks, here it is. The decision of the moment. After much debate and summer's worth of attempting to be decisive about my future, it comes down to this: I'm moving home. As in, with my parents.

I hate the thought of it, I really do. I can't stand the idea that I'm 28 and have multiple college degrees, and yet I will be living with my parents. Again. But the fact is that I just can't afford to move anywhere else right now, financially speaking. And, even though I've had many, many kind offers to live with various friends (thanks, guys!), this is actually the decision that feels the most right to me for the time being. I'm worried that I'm going to start acting like a bratty teenager. Oh well -- at least I'll relate better to my nieces and nephews. :)

And, on the bright side, I will still get to see Muse in concert in Orem on September 12th! Can't wait. About once a day, as I'm listening to them, I briefly hyperventilate in anticipation of said event.

So don't waste your time trying to make anything cool or pure or awesome, 'cause The Man's just gonna call you a fat, washed-up loser and crush your soul. So just do yourselves a favor, and just give up!! (31 points)