Ben Ostrowsky

From the I-should-be-working-on-the-report-that's-due-today-but-can't-focus department:

Back when I was in college, I made a mixtape called "Songs of Love and Bitterness". Or maybe it was high school. I've revisited it and created a muxtape (an mp3 compilation on muxtape.com) that you can listen to for free in your web browser.

Some of the songs will be familiar to most people. Others might be somewhat familiar, but are covered by another artist. And unless you've heard the original mixtape I made, you probably haven't heard of Bakers Pink's "The Noose, the Flesh, & the Devil". I hadn't heard of them when I bought their CD used in the 99-cent rack, and that was a long time ago. But I'm really glad that I did.

Like to hear it? Here it go.

Click here to open the muxtape in a new window, then click a song to start listening: Songs of Love and Bitterness (2008)

1. Styx - Don't Let It End
   
   "Don't let it end this way": but as some scurrilous wag attributed to Seneca, "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" (Semisonic - Closing Time). So begins this mix.


2. Moxy Früvous - Fly
   
   "A song ... about the moment when you realize that someone that you really love, that you really care for, when you both realize that—you're just not right for each other." Poignant and bittersweet, but not bitter simpliciter.


3. The Corrs - Everybody Hurts
   
   My original mixtape used R.E.M.'s original, but I like this cover even better.
   


4. Bakers Pink - The Noose, the Flesh, & the Devil
   
   "And if I can't have you—I can't go on."
   


5. Harry Connick, Jr. - Only 'Cause I Don't Have You
   
   "Later on, good wishes. Later on, good try." But for now, "if looks could kill, this mirror would do."
   


6. Ivan Neville - Why Can't I Fall in Love?
   
   The emotional turning point: "It's time to fall in love."
   


7. Scala & Kolacny Brothers - Creep
   
   A cover of Radiohead sung by a Belgian girls' choir. "But I'm a creep. What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here." A reminder for those who might be overheard listening to this music: "Creep" drops the F-bomb.
   


8. The Police - Message in a Bottle
   
   The original turning point of the mixtape. "Seems I'm not alone at being alone."
   


9. Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands: Ice Dance
   
   Without words.
   


10. The Cure - Hello I Love You
    
    Exuberant and wholehearted, a cover of The Doors from the Elektra Records cover compilation Rubaiyyat.
    


11. The Decemberists - Human Behaviour
    
    Ideally, I'd use Björk's original, but it's so freaky (delightfully and justly freaky, in my opinion) that it would threaten to make the whole muxtape unlistenable.
    


12. Jennifer Warnes - And So It Goes
    
    When this started playing on Coverville (#456, The Billy Joel Cover Story), Jodi skipped it because she didn't want to listen to a sad song. But, to my mind, it's one of the most hopeful romantic songs in the world. The narrator worries that a lover will leave, but acknowledges that the lover is free to choose. Most love songs treat uncertainty as torture, but the narrator of this song embraces uncertainty as part of faith and puts their heart on the line anyway: "So I would choose to be with you—that's if the choice were mine to make—but you can make decisions too, and you can have this heart to break."
    

Thank you very much.

The rule is simple: Don't use the same answers as the person you swiped it from.

1. Name something a claustrophobic person should not get into:
a monogamous relationship

2. What one thing does a woman spend the most time on when getting ready to go on a date?
fretting

3. What is a Spanish word that everyone knows the meaning of?
no

4. Name something in your bathroom that you leave plugged in all the time?
clock radio

5. Besides golfers, what is something you see on a golf course?
grass

6. Name a household chore you actually enjoy:
ironing

7. Name something you walk out on:
front lawn

8. Name a place where you see nervous people:
Death Row

9. Name something that can be cherry flavored.
Rita's italian ice

10. Complete this phrase: "I’ll never forget my first _____":
job

11. Name another word for "Dad":
Daddy

12. Name another word for "Mom":
Mommy

13. Name something a married couple might want to have 2 of:
TiVo

14. What is the first part of a person’s body to lose the war with gravity?
feet

15. Name something that is sold by the bunch:
panties (at least, I tend to get mine in a bunch)

16. What age would you retire if you had enough money?
50, maybe

17. Name something you find on a kitchen table:
a cat who knows better and doesn't care

18. Name something that rhymes with “dizzy”:
Izzy

19. Tell me how many people you kissed last New Year’s Eve:
can't remember, dammit

20. Name something you see in a jail cell:
Dubya's future

21. Name a month with 31 days:
I shall call it Benuary.

22. Name an occupation where you might work all night:
writer

The new address is:

891 BRIARCLIFF RD NE APT A10
ATLANTA GA 30306-4632

Jodi and Pied are there tonight. We'll spend the day apart tomorrow, working on our respective projects, and then have dinner together. Most of our stuff is still over here, but she's got the basics. And now I'm going to sleep!

One and a half missed hours of my life.

This heresy meme seems kinda interesting. I'll have to work on my own version when I've got the time.

And why am I surprised at all to learn that zanna_voodoo is one link away, at most, from tacit, whom I've never met in person, but learned about by spotting his awesome bumpersticker in the apartment complex in Tampa where I first lived when I moved there for library school in 1996?

I'm surprised I didn't know about dellaran's journal before, though. Perhaps if he friends me I'll see something more recent than the sad news of January.

Valentine's Day is nine months after Mothers' Day. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

I'm filling out a Nolo Press rental application, which asks for two personal references. It's already asked for previous and current landlords and employers. Who should I put down as a reference?

Poll #1185401 Movies
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Which of these movies have you seen?

What movie would you most likely insist that a good friend watch, if they hadn't seen it?

Fannie makes ceiling fan cleaning a breeze

Yes, as Mary Poppins pointed out, housecleaning is easier when you're having fun. And what could be more fun than lots of Fannie?

wow! i haven't thought about memepool.com in so long...

Can anyone recommend a royalty free heavy serif font like Varsity, but with great lowercase letters (esp. 'umsk')?

I'm surprised that more companies haven't donated their old PCs to 1000Computers.org.  Maybe it's just because it's a new initiative, or maybe because some companies aren't confident in their ability to scrub data from their old machines.  But I'm sure that some of my readers will know a company that's got an old PC that could be donated for use in a developing community.

1000Computers.org is the latest Good Buzz from BzzAgent, which means that they're getting free publicity.  And, as always, I get some modest reward from BzzAgent when you click on these links.  Most often, though, I've been using my reward points to make charitable donations.  So go ahead and click.  It's a good deed!  

Cut from a large piece of paper and wheatpasted to the wall

Someone should hire this artist to do a mural at the library.

NSFP, but well-timed.  Check it out!    

VoicePost 252K 1:18

“I talked to a Georgia State police officer today and found out some pretty interesting things that I'd always wanted to know. First of all, yes in Atlanta at Five Points if you're coming south on Peachtree you can turn right on Marietta but you have to do it on that little segment of Edgewood before the sculpture. If you go past it and then make a 90 degree turn, *that* is illegal. Also, you do have to stop for pedestrians, *but* if the pedestrian is not supposed to be on the road--either because they're in the middle of the block or because the traffic signal is telling them not to cross at the intersection--then you aren't actually obligated to stop for them. Obviously you shouldn't hit them but they're in the wrong and it's perfectly OK to proceed, as long as you don't harm them. Whereas if they're rightfully on the crosswalk you do have to stop any time they're basically within two lanes of you and that's pretty interesting. Also, yes, you can make a left turn on red if it's a one-way street going on to a one-way street (both).” Transcribed by: multiple users

VoicePost 135K 0:41

“Would anybody like to recommend to me a charger that can handle anything from AAA up to D batteries and can also shut itself off after the batteries are fully charged? I'd like it to be able to handle nickel metal hydride (NiMH) as well as lithium ion (Li-Ion). And also, if anybody would like to recommend to me some AAA batteries with lots and lots of milliamp-hours? I would like to find out what that is, I think they might go up to 12 or 1300 [mAh] but if you have any recommendations I'd be pleased to hear them.” Transcribed by: multiple users

We didn't get the house, but the owner seemed a bit sad that fairness compelled them to give the house to the first interested party.  She said that it seemed like we'd be very good renters, and we shouldn't lose her number.

I'm thinking that means "call me again late next month to see if any of my other properties open up".

This weekend we looked around for a new home.  We started by looking at craigslist, but gave up when we found far too many spammy and deceptive postings to bother with.  (I'd love to see the owner "literally in a few minutes...bike to...CDC" from there.  Hell, I'd love to see Lance Armstrong do it.  It's 4.7 miles, and "a few minutes" would be 60+ mph, not counting traffic lights.)

Instead, we followed a few bus lines and drove around a block or two from each bus stop.  We found a half of a house that we'd love to get, but we're still waiting to hear if the woman who's first in line wants it enough to actually put down a security deposit.  The same owners also have a unit on the bottom floor of a house, but it's really just a finished basement, and Frank Lloyd Wright would approve of the ceiling height.  (I'd have to stoop, or bang my head, every time I use the kitchen, or any time I wanted to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom or the other room.)

We also went to Candler Park to see a 1/1 right on the main drag, but the house itself is inaccessible and the 1/1 unit is on the top floor up a spiral staircase anyway.

So we'll hope for the half a house, and also keep looking at other places.  A weekend festival blocked our access to most of Inman Park and Little 5 Points, as well as some of Candler Park.  We'll be able to follow bus lines in those neighborhoods after today.

We're also considering houses that we'd share with others (it would be cheaper by several hundred dollars per month) but are hoping to have a home for just the three of us for the first time in our married lives.