No Words

Laura Ingalls Wilder, YOU DONE GOOD.

From My Daguerreotype Boyfriend

Maybe I'll make some words sometime soon.  In the meanwhile I have a LOT of Google Reader to catch up on, and some wedding shit, I guess . . . plus I have to watch the Muppet Movie, so, you know, priorities.

Use More Words

WORDS I LEARNED LAST MONTH  

flailure (n): portmanteau of "failure" and "flail," meaning a failure characterized by vigorous but erratic and unproductive movement

Usage: "The mind-bending, Escher-like I-didn’t-say-that-thing-I-said weirdness of Mr. Gingrich’s flailure on this issue I think is exceeded only by the best new thing in the world tonight."

from the 5/18 Rachel Maddow Show in reference to Newt Gingrich's flip-flopping on the Ryan budget and Medicare

untzy (adj): onomatopoetic expression describing the downbeat of techno music; used to describe venues which strive to be trendy by playing loud electronic music and which may emphasize style over substance
Usage:"I’ve never had dinner at Masa for a few reasons: It always seemed packed and—to be honest—a bit untzy. I love to people-watch during dinner, but I wasn’t fond of the spin-class-gone-Euro ambience."
from the Washingtonian's Best Bites Blog review of Masa 14 (Urban Dictionary definition here)  

bollard (n): a short vertical post, typically used to block vehicle passage  
Usage: "In D.C., that steady progression has seen ever more buildings ringed with bollards and outfitted with metal detectors, sealed entrances, and cordoned-off steps . . ."  
from a City Paper article about post-Bin Laden security in DC  

daylight (v, alt.stream mechanics usage): to come to the surface, specifically in reference to an underground body of flowing water
Usage: ". . . put in place a trash trap at the mouth of the stormsewer outfall so that trash and debris washed through the storm sewer system is collected immediately as the stream daylights."  
from a stream conservation document (I am such a sucker for verbed nouns.)  

condign (adj): fitting or appropriate, especially in reference to a punishment  
etymology: com = with; dign = dignity, worthiness  
usage: "The dwarf muttering a terrible oath looked round as if for some weapon with which to inflict condign punishment upon his disobedient wife." (from The Old Curiosity Shop by Dickens)
from: Ugh I can't find it! I saw it in the comments of a well-known blog with cranky/amusing/controversial commenters - DCist, Prince of Petworth, Regretsy, something like that. I am ashamed to say that I thought it was a typo, but I looked it up immediately and was appropriately chastened.  

longueur (n): a tedious passage in a work of literature or performance art.  
Usage: "If this book of 400 pages had been devoted to her alone, it would have been filled with longueurs, but as the biography of a family it has the merit of originality."
from the Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Use Your Ears: Concert Review Part 1 - Titus Andronicus

On Thursday E and I went to see Titus Andronicus at the 9:30 Club.  For those who are not up on their Civil-War-themed-indie-rock albums, Titus Andronicus recently made critical waves with 2009’s The Monitor, which ties Civil War history and Springsteen-inspired epic singalongs to lyrics about post-adolescent anxiety, rage and ennui.*  This might seem to you a jarring combination, with the ideas disparate both in aesthetics and general societal import, and that is because it is, and they are.  Execution on the Jersey natives' album isn’t perfect either: sometimes the songs feel a bit flat, and front man  Patrick Stickles' vocal stylings hover in the purposefully-grating-punk register more often than I would prefer. 

Nonetheless, the album is full of interestingly layered rhythms, catchy rock anthems and infectious energy.  Track 1, “A More Perfect Union,” is a stab at the millenial’s answer to Thunder Road (“Baby we were born to die”) and "Richard II" is an uptempo barroom ballad built on pure hatred for its subject ("And at the end of the day, to whatever extent that you hate yourself, it isn't enough").



Live, the band's energy coalesces nicely.  Each member of the now five-piece outfit has a designated dance, ranging from classic indie spasticity to restrained head bobbing to full-on headbanging.  At least one band member actually rocked his own glasses off his face during the set, which I think we can all agree is a pretty good sign.  A mosh pit of fans in front of the stage (yeah, at 9:30 Club, on a Thursday) kept those in the audience on their toes through the performance as well.

Songs were rendered admirably, though without the interesting Civil War era quotes that punctuate the album.  Singalongs were plentiful and reasonably enthusiastic, and an electric violin even made two appearances (with mixed success).  Banter was minimal, which was fine; when it did occur it was enthusiastic and grateful, which I love to see in a band.  There was a certain sense of dude-itude about the songs themselves, and no dearth of fist-pumps, but the audience was pretty well mixed gender-wise.  Plus, the band's lone female member Amy Klein was far and away the best and most energetic dancer; she totally won the night.

Verdict: Worth the $10 cab ride to get there on time.**

*Sample singalong choruses: “The enemy is everywhere,”  “You will always be a loser,” “They’re all going to be laughing at you,” “Please don’t ever leave.”
 **Though it sadly meant we had to leave the delicious Taqueria DF, where we were helping our good friend Mae celebrate two very exciting personal milestones, before the flan arrived.

Use Their Words

"I knew I could be with [my wife] for a long time because we could sit down to make something together and not drive each other crazy.  She once said to me, 'I want to guard your solitude.' And at that point, I said, 'We should get married, because I want to guard your solitude.' I don't want anything messing with what she has to do.  Whatever her higher purpose is, my job is to bat things away from it"

- TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe, talking about his artist wife (as quoted in BUST)