Note to MnkyGrl

Happy New Year.

I know it's been tough going lately, but maybe we can make this one better.

Note to Die Hard U2 Fans

1997's Pop is the only U2 album any self-respecting human being would ever even consider listening to, and if you beg to differ it can mean only one thing: that you, well, have no self-respect.

Addendum 1.1.07: Needless to say (but I'll enjoy saying it anyway), those of you who in the past 48 hours have listened to New Year’s Day and felt it to be a momentous, meaningful, moving experience are even more in need of a life than I am.

Funeral Music

During my rough and satisfying visit with Dagon last night, three more exquisite tracks were officially added to the supreme pantheon. They are:

Chakra - I Am (Digweed & Muir's Bedrock Mix)

Why is it called trance? This track is the answer. (What I don't know is whether the crimson waif on the cover is vocalist Kate Cameron or just some model, so I'd be grateful if someone out there could please tell me.)

Ultraviolet - I Wish That (Radical Mix)

Upon revisitation I find this mix has a very similar feel to the infamous Fantasy Flite Part One. Enough said.

Violet Vision - Your Voice (Original Mix)

Noa Lembersky's voice, over one of the fattest breaks you'll ever hear, is simply heartbreaking.

Also, I've not previously mentioned It's No Good from Depeche Mode's criminally underrated album Ultra. Perhaps the deadliest track they've produced in their entire history, it was inducted upon release nearly ten years ago.

Addendum 30.12.06: Ok seriously, the Chakra track is an ABSOLUTE FUCKING BOMB—I mean, I've been playing it non-stop for two days now and I'm still nowhere near sick of it. And I'll even go so far as to say we might have a slight problem on our hands. Uh-oh.

Note to MnkyGrl

I just realized It was a song with your middle name in the title, and I happened to be listening to it only a few hours after sending you an email in which I called you by your middle name for the first time ever.

I can't wait to listen to it together.

Note to Dagon

I too feel it's time we quit denying the palpable tension that lately pervades our every encounter, and quit sublimating the raging desire we so obviously feel for one another in all these silly little games we've for years been playing. While it's true I deeply cherish our friendship and know I'd be devastated by the loss of what we have, I simply cannot help wondering if there could be more—much, much more. And so I think it's time we finally throw caution to the wind and find out once and for all.

Because the truth is, I've been waiting since fourth grade to passively revel in your fiery agressiveness, and I just don't think I can wait any longer. So please hurry.

(And while you're at it, pick me up a cheeseburger.)

Reckoned

Some things I do actually matter.

Guilty Aural Pleasures

BT - Emotional Technology

Lord, what good can I possibly say about this one? I mean, it has to be one of the most truly awful albums I've ever truly loved—an utterly perverse orgy of rock, house, breakbeat, hip-hop, and synth-pop, plus even a brief nod to gospel, featuring cheap, gimmicky guest appearances galore, including, God help me, one of the now grown-up characters from NSync, not to mention the most painfully juvenile yet eminently lipsynchable lyrics conceivable on every single track.

In other words, it's fucking brilliant. So get it now. Because however hard he may try, BT simply can do no wrong.

Waning Vital Signs

I can walk into my neighborhood 7-eleven and help myself to a free Slurpee anytime between 10pm and 6am.

(The implications are far more serious than you might think.)

Reckoning

Her first response appeared in my inbox.

I wasn't expecting it yet, if at all, ever.

God I wish it weren't there.