Queen Amaranthine

I am a regular listener but confess it's been awhile since I've pledged! My kids take up all of my money these days. In the past I was highly inclined to pledge because I was friends with several of the employees of a very small local affiliate, and a few times I volunteered to answer phones during pledge week, but that office has since been transferred/combined into another one, so the station office has moved. I have a few coffee mugs from past years and they're among my favorites because they are big and sturdy, with a cool station logo. One time I got an All Things Considered T-shirt.

That is sad! Yes, important that it was caught early, but sorry to hear about that. I'm thankful for a wonderful family, a job I like, a comfortable home, and plentiful good food and drink, something that is too easy to take for granted.

Polar Express!

One more: I had this for the first time at Starbucks yesterday. Excellent!

Beverages are a highlight of this time of year: Must this one be all decaf? Honestly! I'm sure there are many delightful alcohol-laden holiday beverages as well, but I don't partake in those like I used to!

Awesome duct tape accessories! I hear of high school girls making prom dresses out of it. I sometimes wonder about that previous life myself! :-p My present-life girly side was delighted by Hello Kitty duct tape I saw in Target today.

No superglue stories here, but I have some duct tape ones, if I may? When my daughter was still in her high chair for meals, one day after I lifted her out of it, our little terrier dog sniffed some food she'd spilled onto the padded seat and he tore at the seat in a frenzy to get a quick snack. His sharp little teeth and claws that were in need of a trim shredded that padding! My daughter was on the verge of being old enough to be out of a high chair soon, so I didn't want to have the expensive of replacing her high chair. Yet no way could she sit in it as it was. Duct tape to the rescue! I

Yeah, I know those facial expressions! I have a friend who doesn't get my Wilco obsession at all, nor any other obsession anyone else might have. Either she is totally mentally stable or just isn't passionate about much! She has some other friends who have a Nascar-themed bathroom. To hear my friend describe it, the bathroom is distasteful. Although I don't get Nascar, I thoroughly appreciate the enthusiasm and love for something, and if Nascar's your thing, a bathroom decorated that way sounds amazing. We all probably know people who are as passionate about something as we are about Wilc

Congrats! I have been unsuccessful in past attempts in proselytizing and in fact have merely managed to make my friends think I am crazy and too OCD for my own good. I have learned to just stay quiet about my Wilco enthusiasm except for here and with a couple of friends who already love the band too.

That's a fantastic photo. Fun topic for an article! A listen to banter during Tweedy solos and some Wilco shows is evidence that the band has a sense of humor. The entire Wilco (The Song) is really really funny if you think about it. As for romance--it's overrated. A little of it is good for a relationship or marriage, but friendship, trust, sincerity, some common interests, and simply being able and willing to put up with each other are the keys to making it last.

Maybe a more direct way to put it is "Whoa, that is one fuckuva lotta people added to the planet in one century compared to the previous 4 or however many millennia!" ;-) NPR did another related story this morning but I didn't catch it all because I was going in to work. It was about land resources, food availability, cropland shrinking and something about a need for innovative agricultural practices to use less land to feed more people.

Ewwww! Interesting but...the thought... On NPR this morning was a feature on the 7 billion population mark. The world population reached 2 billion in the 1920s. Staggering growth in under 100 years.

Great costumes here! Ideas for next year... This year my kids were a train conductor and fairy princess, while my husband & I went as harried old exhausted & overworked parents...wait a minute...those are our everyday costumes! I meant to dress up but time got away for putting something together. I did, though, manage to "help" the kids with their candy and get a pumpkin spice latte. Bliss!

ADORABLE! The creative, out there, artistic, no-problem-thinking-outside-the-box-because-it's-a-challenge-for-me-to-think-inside-the-box side of me is in awe. However, my practical side brings the party down a notch by wondering, how would you wash it?!

In a car or pharmaceutically enhanced?!

What's your favorite Halloween candy? Any spooky decor in your windows? What are some of your best costumes in past years or this year? Or your kids' if you have any? I love this time of year. Roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin spice lattes, Haunted Hotels episodes on the Travel Channel, gorgeous autumn leaves, creative costumes, spooky decor, strings of orange and purple outdoor lights, candy leftover from Halloween that I'll work on persuading my kids to share with me. Look, even my avatar, Walden, is in the festive mood--he's dressed up like Jeff Tweedy.

I read an interview somewhere that quoted Wayne Coyne as saying that the morning after the band planned the whole 6-hour song, he thought, "What the F^@& were we thinking?" I didn't hear about the 24-hour one--wonder what the band said when they sobered up from that idea?

In a Future Age, with Reservations a close second. Future Age has a message of coming to terms with life, letting go and realizing that we all are just part of a larger picture. After the tumultuous themes in the songs that precede it, especially in the first half or so of the album, it gives a bittersweet sense of resignation, yet acceptance that comes fairly close to making it a happy ending. Interesting how some songs make ideal closers yet aren't, or wouldn't, on the albums. Above was mentioned Say You Miss Me, which was a perfect conclusion to the last show of the YHF tour.

That IS one bitter song! There was a rap remake of it a few years ago and the rap style fit the lyrics better than Lightfoot's easy sounding style. My husband, who was all about rock and heavy metal in the '70s, now confesses to having always been a "closet Gorden Lightfoot fan."

Or moon. I just realized it's in Capitol City too. Stars are semi-frequent too. Cool celestial references.

Super close top 3 in order: Misunderstood IATTBYH Art of almost Great topic! Is there also a thread for best closing song? Who would like to start it? :-)

I'm on the other side I'm satisfied Oh, I'm a spirit dove I'm looking for your love By the way, does anyone know why bemydemon.org hasn't been updated with TWL lyrics?

The power of Botox! I am excited about this album and need to get it! The Bangles were one of my favorites in the 80s. Loved the cover they did of Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy shade of winter."

I checked out a couple on YouTube. One was good but Jeff's voice somehow wasn't quite fitting the song, for reasons I can't pinpoint. Still, I still thought it was cool that he covered this song. I don't know much of the Radiohead canon but I do love this song. The other Jeff rendition was from the show you mentioned above and it was a smooth, beautiful performance.

You can't go wrong with either one. You might have to just flip a coin. One of my favorites is Great Expectations. It's interesting to pair the novel with the movie with Gwynnth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke. The movie is good but not great, but is an interesting modern take on the story that gives something to think about in terms of themes in the book.