a++ would smuggle into space again

(This entire post was won by cmattg in the help_pakistan auction. His prompt is spoilery for the Doctor Who finale so it's under the following spoiler text: 1800+ years, Rory must have inspired at least one artist, yes? I would therefore like THE BALLAD OF THE LONE CENTURION in your best faux-folk style. It can be slightly tongue-in-cheek but mostly serious, please. My post itself is probably only spoilery if you've seen episode twelve and not thirteen, but caveat lector.)

So as a lot of you know, I am a history major suffering through the first throes of thesis work, and last year I was very nearly pulled into a vortex of medievalism by a teacher who was really into the Ottoman Empire. He's teaching at Haverford now and he put up his booklist for the classes he's doing this fall, and on a whim I JSTORed the articles, and it kind of turns out that folk music is hilarious as a historical document because it comes from all over the place and all over the time.

For some reason I got really enamored of this one, even though it doesn't sound like anything really from the Childe ballads and is probably a contemporary invention. It might be because it baffles the crap out of the musicologists.

( follow the cut for music )

I call this post "things I do for attention."

1. Carmen Sandiego + Teddy Roosevelt HRPF. .... What?

2. I would say anekdot made me do this, and that's true, but mostly it's just true in the sense of the conversation going like:

SARES: Gee, I wish someone would write a funny song for our band to play on open m--
EMMA: OH WAIT DID YOU SAY THAT I SHOULD WRITE YOU THINGS BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID RIGHT
SARES: I -- I was talking about Robert --
EMMA: NONSENSE! WHAT SHOULD IT BE ABOUT.
SARES: Well, there was a joke about Brian's Korean drummer girl--
EMMA: RIGHT, I WILL WRITE A JONATHAN COULTON SONG ABOUT SOMEONE WHO FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE ROBOT THEY BUILD.
SARES: I really wish you'd find the caps lock key.
EMMA: IT WILL BE CALLED "INDIE ROBOT GIRL."

So, this is a song I wrote called Indie Robot Girl. It is at best demo quality. At best. One day I really should learn how to play guitar and/or sing.

( lyrics. they are about what you would expect )

Things I do to entertain myself while filing, volume six: come up with alternate lyrics to Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps from the point of view of the other person in the relationship, entitled "Relax, Relax, Relax." I mean, seriously. "A million times I ask you, and then I ask you over again"? Wouldn't that annoy the hell out of anyone? No wonder she won't give him a straight answer. Yeah, I'm shutting up now.

It's still an awesome song. Thank you, whoever gave it to me. (setissma? I -- I can't recall.)

Mmm. In the interest of getting some work done, if you guys have any links to music files that will play in-browser you would be my best friends! because then I can play them without downloading them to my work computer and being distractitastic.

A not-flocked post for once! in honour of finishing Moby-Dick, which has displaced Les Miserables as the novel I wish I had written. (Those who have read my writing and Moby-Dick have permission to groan and suggest that adding more semicolons, or longer sentences, maaaaybe wouldn't be actually so beneficial, hmm? Or, or more tangents on unnecessary topics, I THINK THAT IS WHAT MY NARRATION NEEDS.)

I am so glad that I managed, somehow, to be unspoiled for the ending; it was worth the wait. About a third of the class went up to Kirby Cove and read it around the campfire. Everyone made this "Oh, Ishmael" noise at the last line. Then we had s'mores and slept out on the bunker that has a perfect view of the north side of the city -- the bridge was lit up in the dark and absolutely gorgeous.

I got, quite literally, no sleep at all, although I did manage to have a dream in this doze of a play (Shakespearean) where the incumbent king was challenged to a duel (for the kingdom!) at such a such place in time and swore that "by that time, the kinghood would be decided," and then showed up at said street corner quite late. His opponent said, "Look, how little he cares for the crown! you are forsworn, and have forfeited" and the king-in-waiting looked very grave, and then one of his lackeys lifted the crown onto his head, and he said, "No, I swore the decision would be made before this time, and while you waited to run me through, there was a vote, and I am now king."

Today has been kind of surreal in consequence -- fuzzy about the edges. The Open Mic was at lunch, and I got up the guts to go up and perform Primroses (song I wrote) in front of the school. On piano. Apparently people liked it? That was nice, even if my hands are still shaking.

And now I've just finished a calculus test and am listening to the Eagles (Take It To The Limit; my math teacher's joke). So. Good day?

C'mon guys, I'm disappointed in you. I'm blatantly comment-whoring now: please read the lame book review below and tell me how lame it is. PLEASE.

Sitting in Spanish class. I just finished the big bad scary Spanish test--surprisingly easy, really--and I'm staring at the posters we made during the World Series, trying to "sell a product using commands". (Mine was for Nike and it proudly says "Simplemente hagalo.") One pair did the Red Sox. The sign says, "Ahora quien es tu padre?" Well, it makes ME happy.

I also ( finally wrote a finalized other verse to that song below. )

whorewhorewhore

Two thousand words to write on NaNo today just to catch up. Damn, I really am falling behind. *cries*

I've been working verrrry slowly on a filk of Guys and Dolls--the fantasmulous musical--to Goblet of Fire. There's a post a ways back with my version of "I've Got the Horse RIght Here" but I essayed something a little bigger this time--the title song.

Enjoy!

( Read more... )

Hokay. I love darkwitch666 because she is a brill ficcer, Harry Potter (natch) genyous, and has the largest collection of cool icons that I have EV0R seen. Also, her LJ name is clearly evil, so she MUST be cool. Go read her journal!

I'm workin' on a song...and it's prettyful. It sounds like it's about a faded relationship that someone can't walk away from, but it's actually about both my obssesion with computers, books, etc., and my fear of heights! Sneaky, eh?

It's so fun to have a basically private diary in public and know that almost no one will read it!

Lalalala...did you know that Po is inherently better than any of the Teletubbies because his name means toilet?

Signing off,

"Anna Grissionally" (HAHAHA), the unreasonably perky