Liner Notes: January - Little Earthquakes

Well, January has certainly lasted 400 days. The snow didn't help one bit. My neighborhood looks like the ice plant Hoth. I've left my house once this week to go to the store and it was a journey. I'm going to attempt to go see my family this afternoon. Let's hope the roads are better than they were on Wednesday. 

One fun thing about this week's snow was the fact that my warmest hat happens to be the hat I wore to the Women's March in 2017 and 2018. I got a few looks from some neighbors, but whatever. 

I'm finishing January's liner notes with my favorite Tori Amos song "Little Earthquakes." It's the last song on the album of the same name. When I got my first CD player, I bought Little Earthquakes and the original Broadway cast recording of Hair as my first two CDs. This would have probably been in 1992. I don't have the Hair soundtrack anymore but this is the same copy of Little Earthquakes. I've been listening to this album and this song for 34 years.

"Little Earthquakes" is such a randomly beautiful song. The lyrics and the build are dramatic and powerful. It's just under 7 minutes long and you go on a journey. I remember singing along to the refrain "give me life, give me pain, give me my life again" at a volume my parents did not enjoy. It's the kind of song that changes as you age. I listen to the lyrics now and think about a very different version of myself than I was in 1992 hearing this song for the first time. In listening to the album again this month (a few times), I'm struck by how many of the songs are about identity and the perceptions others have about us. I probably realized that as a teenager, but listening to it now, I find myself crying at little moments in songs like "Crucify" and "Girl" realizing how much these songs helped me figure out who I was and through feelings I've had over the years and how they're confirming how freaking awesome I am today. So much of our lives is spent telling the weirdo we were at 14 or 15 to be normal, and I've realized my 40s are about letting that weird girl out to roar and be whimsical. Tori is a huge part of that journey and I'll keep listening to her until this I can't listen anymore.

Here are the last entries to this month's Liner Notes: 

January 25

January 26

January 27

January 28

January 29

January 30

January 31

January Liner Notes inspired by Tori Amos

You can listen to the full album Little Earthquakes online (I guess) but you should really go buy yourself the CD and enjoy the way the goddess and Tori intended. 

Up next: one of two soundtracks featured in this year's project. We're going to get all glammed out with Velvet Goldmine. And yes, we'll talk about Ewan McGregor's role in inspiring every guy you knew in college as "Naked Their Name." Because he really did inspire a whole lot of guys to be the naked guy at parties. 

WIPs and Other Small Joys

Meow Manor is officially done! I finally finished the bag tags last Sunday. Snowy weather means I get stuff done I guess. I was supposed to drop off my pieces at Woodlawn today but they moved drop-off to next weekend because of the storm. So Meow Manor will be on its way next Saturday.

I ended up making the bag tags as a pin instead of a key chain. The lobster clasps I bought weren't the right size and didn't look right anyway. I used a chain of yarn I crocheted (the colors of the house and the door) as the attachment. The embroidered house sign is also attached to the pin so it's easy to take both off if needed. 

Bea had quite a week of being the perfect little weirdo cat. I love this animal, but man does she have a lot of energy. She loves the laser toy but also loves pushing it over and then being annoyed she can't find the red dot. It's a whole thing. She also decided to make my table runner a burrow and was concerned about the snow. 

Absolute menace. Although my action photography skills are improving with her in the house. 

If you're still digging out from the snow, take breaks and don't do too much. Maybe stay inside and watch Catherine O'Hara movies instead. We lost a good one yesterday and you should really watch all of her movies this weekend. That's the only thing that makes sense. 

Happy Groundhog Day from me and Bea! One of my friends asked if we could get the groundhog to predict when the fascism would end and I told her I thought it was terribly unfair to ask a small rodent to do that. He doesn't even want to predict the weather, so asking this of him feels like too much.