I'm done my semester!

So: apropos of nothing (since when does anything on a blog need to be apropos of anything?)-- how about a little post about music?

1. Here are the songs that saw me through a marathon of paper writing. Each one deserves special thanks, and if you haven't met them yet, you should. Thanks, friends.

Gravity, The Handsome Family
So Much Wine, The Handsome Family
Loves Comes to Me, Bonnie Prince Billy
By My Car, My Morning Jacket
Monster Ballads, Josh Ritter
Belle Star, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
Black Wave/ Bad Vibrations, The Arcade Fire
Hard to Find, American Analog Set
Low, Cracker
Cold Cold Water, Mirah
She's a Jar, Wilco
Baby in Two, Pernice Brothers
Our Anniversary, Smog
Moonshiner, Cat Power
Heart of Gold, Cash

2. Here are the far cooler songs that will be the soundtrack of my summer:

Brother John
Good King Wenceslas
Tisket, a Tasket
Mexican Hat Dance
Cockles and Mussles
On Top of Old Smoky
A Friend Like You!
Thumbs on C!
Rockin' Intervals

That's right. I'm teaching myself to play piano using this book. Look past the aristocratic cover-- it's kind, welcoming and encouraging, and the first lesson even contains a diagram with arrows explaining--were you aware of this?-- that keys on the right side of the keyboard create progressively higher sounds and notes on the left produce lower sounds. Wild!

3. Check this enlightening article at the Times about musicians and blogging. I heard a radio interview not long ago with the chap who's discussed at the top of the piece. His music isn't exactly my cup of tea, but he does have a very funny song about zombies.

4. Do u any music recommendations for me?

Skype Rhymes with Hype. But it's actually cool.

Ever notice that all the good user names are gone? Apparently, someone else using Skype also likes the name “Fennoscandia.”

Skype video, by the way, is weird. That’s my assessment to all you who have probably been using it happily and unfazedly for years now. But it is weird. When you’re finished staring at your husband’s pleasing, albeit grainy face (so far he’s the only person I’ve called, so I can’t imagine anyone else there) and the call ends, it’s so decisive. The face just zaps from the screen—poof. Fortunately, he was in the other room alive and well with his laptop during the call and was content that it all went according to plan, and strode out into the kitchen in a ho-hum-I-just-set-up-some-rad-new-technology-thing-and-it-works sort of way. Yeah, future!

"Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard"

I don't know if it's just my inordinate stress level these days (even car commercials are seeming especially moving), but this New York Times article about ambitious high school students nearly made me cry.