When I imagine you I think of that room.

One of my favorite albums of all time is The Con by Tegan and Sara, and though I didn't like their followup entitled Sainthood, I still get excited for new music. It's probably mostly due to my subscription to Rdio, but more on that later. The only song I'd heard off Heartthrob previous to its release was "Closer," and it's a catchy electronic tune. It really set up what the album would sound like -- and it's pretty good. I have some issues with some of the songs - there's a few sounds I cringe at (particularly the intro to one song) and some lyrics are quite plain and seem uninspired in comparison to what I know these two brilliant women are capable of. The beats are fun though, and I did some cleaning tonight with them as my soundtrack. My current favorite track is "Drove Me Wild." After a few days of listening, I'd give Heartthrob a solid B.

Has anybody else listened? Thoughts?

In other music-related news...

>> She & Him announced their album will be released May 7th! And they will have a summer tour! HOORAY! Thanks to Emily from NeverBeenHeard for letting me know at the same moment that I got the She & Him newsletter in my inbox! (Also, her music blog is rad.)

>> Jason Tate, founder of AbsolutePunk.net, wrote about why he prefers Rdio to Spotify and I have to agree with him on all counts. For myself (unlike Tate, my job is not 'music'), I think Rdio has piqued my interest in music again; I might not have checked out Tegan and Sara's new album on release day had it not been available to stream on Rdio. I know for a fact I never would have checked out the Nashville soundtrack without it. By the way, Rdio sends me e-mails whenever a new song by the Nashville cast is added to streaming - these are great e-mails to receive.

>> How convenient, Rdio is currently offering up to six months of their service for free. Go forth and check it out. Thanks to Erica for giving me my own free subscription for three months originally!

>> Speaking of AbsolutePunk.net, I signed in today and realized next month I will have been a member of that site for ten years. Dude, I feel old. I remember when I first signed up as a sophomore in college, it was to read stories about Midtown, Dashboard Confessional, Drive-Thru records (and their owners), Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, etc. OLD. Yet, the site is still relevant, and that makes me happy.

>> Besides Tegan and Sara, I'm also listening to The Lone Bellow's new self-titled album. They are great at harmonizing, something I witnessed last Monday night when I saw them play a live acoustic set at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. Talent! Check check.

What are you listening to? I'm always looking for recommendations!

Movie goal achieved!

I have seen all nine Best Picture nominees! Hurrah! Jesse and I went to see Lincoln last night, and it was good, just as I expected it to be. It was quite moving, and Daniel Day-Lewis was undoubtedly awe-inspiring. But, it was not Spielberg's best. There were some odd moments. And while I don't wholly agree with one of my favorite movie reviewers, I do in part. Sometimes the sentimentality grated. Also, I'm not sure why Tommy Lee Jones is the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor? Hm. Overall, still a good film.

I was asked today by Erica how I would rank them. I think so far out of all nine, Zero Dark Thirty is still my favorite. And behind that Amour. After that, it depends on my mood. Sometimes I look back at my Top Ten list and want to rearrange; some days I think Beasts was definitely better than Silver. But, you know, lists are made in a moment in time. But these are all great movies -- well, except for Les Miserables. I think, if I were to rank them from favorite in descending order, it would look like this:

Zero Dark Thirty
Amour
Life of Pi
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook
Argo
Django Unchained
Lincoln
...
...
...
oh right, Les Miserables. (Pah-tooh!)

At this point, I think Argo will win Best Picture. However, that could all change in the next month!

And you guys, this weekend is not only the Superbowl, it's the DGA! You know, best director's guild award? I really hope Ben Affleck sucks it and this goes to Kathryn Bigelow. Or Ang Lee.

In other news, Jesse and I met up after work tonight for a delicious, DELICIOUS meal at a place called Tommy Lasagna. Tommy. Lasagna. You may, as I first did, think this would be a joke place, a place that wouldn't even harbor anything worth eating. But I had delectable truffle lasagna! A wonderful, full-bodied red wine! Non-adjective needing creme brulee because it was THAT GOOD. If you are ever in the Union Square area of Manhattan, I suggest you check it out. It's nice to find a good restaurant that isn't overcrowded or too loud. It was nice, peaceful, and Jesse and I had a relaxing time catching up on our days.

I just watched last night's episode of Downton Abbey and I cried myself sick, so I had to go to the internet. Next up, the time suck that is Letterboxd.

Analog time.

During these winter months, Jesse noticed that sometimes when we don't have a busy schedule we have a routine of being sucked into our electronics while sitting next to each other. He'll be playing a video game while I go through my RSS feeds on my computer. We are spending time together, but without any interaction. Jesse decided we should start having 'analog time' where we hang out without our electronics -- like playing card games. We've done this the past two days and it's been pretty great. We put on music and have conversations while I beat him in rummy (okay, we are tied currently). I even suggested we only listen to records as part of the 'analog' theme. Future analog fun may include cooking meals together (joke: we have a gas stove, not an electric one! second joke: us, cooking) and backgammon.

Today: tie-breaking our current Rummy 500 tournament and a screening of Lincoln afterwards. Finally.

The way my brain works and random links.

Last night was finally a relaxing Friday. I ate Jesse's Thai food leftovers, poured us each a hot cider and whiskey, and settled in. He eventually went to a show in the city, and I watched Nashville and Parenthood, which are two great shows if you don't watch them. Then, since Nashville was created by Callie Khouri, and she wrote Thelma & Louise, and that was directed by Ridley Scott...I decided to watch Prometheus since I'd gotten the blu-ray for Christmas. (Yes, this is how my brain works.) However, my decision to turn off all the lights and snuggle into a blanket on the couch proved disastrous: I fell asleep half an hour into the movie. I awoke two hours later during the credits. Woops. Will have to watch again sometime soon.

Here are some other things in my brain waves this week...

J.J. Abrams officially directing the new Star Wars movie ...as the story that definitely surprised me.

Mainly because he said he never would a month ago, and the fact that because of this I defended my opinion to Jesse back then that why would he mire himself in another franchise with similar fandom? Of course, my number one choice would have been Ridley Scott. Yes, that guy again. I love Abrams, but he has an aesthetic and quality to his films and television shows that is great, but do I want to see two similar-feeling franchises about space? We'll see. I like the levity of Scott, but I do trust Abrams. We'll just have to see.

M. Ward declares new She & Him record ready to release this spring ...as an album I didn't even know was in the works in order to anticipate it!

I'm a huge fan. Liz can attest to this... I mean, we spent an entire weekend together in two cities seeing them play shows. Also, this. So, it's going to be called Volume Three, I would guess?

I'm just going to leave this here right now ...as a story that's really just about technology and our time.

Dating was different in the '90s. I wrote a whole (unpublished) short story on the theme, because something happened to me that was pretty similar to this article. I don't know who's reading, but for those that I've read, I usually begin to admire from afar, forgetting the reasons why I sought you out in the first place.

LETTERBOXD ...as my new favorite internet thing.

Thanks to Michelle for telling me about it and sending me an invite!! Basically, and I've been saying this for years, I've always wanted a site like Goodreads for movies. Goodreads is a fantastic way for me to keep up with my reading and my friends' opinions on books I've read or want to read. Letterboxd does that for films, and it's got a great design. I'm slowly and surely keeping up with my DVD collection blog of personalized reviews, but what about all the Netflix movies and in-theater movies I watch? For Christmas I got a Film Moleskine, which I love, but with Letterboxd I'm able to make lists and keep track and friends can check out what movies I loved or disliked. It's fantastic! DO YOU HAVE IT YET? BE MAH FRIEND!!! I have two invites left for now...

Miniature pencil drawings by Marie Harnett via The Film Experience

My Mom, the Panamanians & the City.

Courtesy of Jesse

On Wednesday morning, Jesse and I woke up and headed to Grand Central Station to pick up my mother who was arriving to visit with some of our Panamanian family - my Tia Belinda, cousin Cheli, her daughter Sofia, their friend Milly, and my mother's friend Judy. Most of them had never been to New York, so my mom thought a two day trip would be fun while they were visiting from their paradise-like country.

Unfortunately, they picked the two coldest days of the year so far. When I woke up on Wednesday it was 12 degrees, but supposedly felt like -1 degrees. Hooray!

Jesse being the good guy watching the bags at Grand Central

My Tia Belinda and Mom, so sassy. 

Bundled Mom & Jesse

They came fully prepared and bundled up, and after dropping off their things at the hotel I brought them to Brooklyn in order to enjoy some of my favorite Venezuelan food at Caracas. Venezuelan food is similar to Panamanian cuisine - plantains, white cheese, arepas, etc. We had a fun time catching up, and as usual with me, my Spanish started off slow and as the day progressed so did the velocity of my conversation.

I was born in Panama and my first language was Spanish. Since my father was in the U.S. military and we moved from base to base growing up, I also learned English almost simultaneously. I consider myself lucky to have visited Panama almost every other year of my life -- all of my mother's side of the family resides there. I don't use Spanish nearly as much as I do when I'm at home or in Panama, of course, but it always comes back. Especially with such a fun group like these ladies. Sometimes Jesse was a little lost, but he's learning!

The ladies and Brooklyn graffiti

After showing them Brooklyn and our apartment, we trekked back to Times Square, which everyone wanted to see. Too bad the wind was cutting everybody's cheeks! We walked briskly to the TKTS booth and picked up evening tickets to see Phantom of the Opera. Rather than shop at the souvenir stores as they are wont to do, they wanted to take a break and go back to the hotel. I had no objection, as my cheeks were bright red without wearing any blush.

We rested while everyone readied themselves for dinner and the show, and then we headed out bundled up as much as possible. After a delicious dinner in the theater district and a few glasses of wine, we were ready for PHANTOM! Before, though, I explained the plot of Phantom for the Spanish-only folk, and I felt pretty, pretty proud of myself (this was after the wine, of course, who knows how it all came out).

My mom and I before the show

Phantom of the Opera was the first Broadway show I ever saw (but, you know, "Broadway" in Kansas City with my family and grandmother when I was 10). I still love it. I unashamedly love the Joel Schumacher movie starring Emmy Rossum as Christine and a surprisingly good Gerard Butler as the Phantom (he should have played Javert in Les Mis, just sayin'). It was great seeing it live again, and I tell you, those songs still give me goosebumps! "The Phantom of the Opera," "Music of the Night," and "All I Ask of You" are tremendous songs.

Afterwards, Jesse met up with us at a bar near their hotel and we warmed ourselves from the four-block walk with - what else?? - wine! It was a great close to a long and awesome day with family. They weren't able to see much of the beauty of the city from Central Park to the Highline to the Statue of Liberty to exploring the different neighborhood, but it was great to spend time with family I hadn't seen in a long time.

My mom and I ending the night with one more glass of wine!