Liner Notes: January - Strange Little Girl

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I'm the kind of cat person who makes up little songs for my cat. Sometimes it's a variation of "Baby Shark" where I change the word "shark" to "cat." Other times, it's completely ridiculous songs about how pretty Bea is (or handsome when Keely was still alive). I also love to sing the chorus of "Strangle Little Girl" to Bea whenever she runs around the house for no apparent reason. 

Strange little girl, where are you going? 

Strange little girl, where are you going? 

Strange little girl, you really should be, really should be going

Bea is a strange little girl and I don't think she ever knows where she's going. She always looks at me like I'm an idiot when I sing to her, and she's probably not wrong. 

Strange Little Girls was the last Tori Amos album I bought for many years. It was released in 2001, the year I graduated from college. I remember listening to this album along with The White Stripes, Weezer's Green album (the one with "Island in the Sun"), and the soundtrack to Hedwig and the Angry Inch whenever I was in my car. Music sounds different/better in a car. I don't know why but it does. 

Anyway, the album is all covers and is considered a concept album. All the songs are songs about women originally sung by men. Amos reinterpreted them from a woman's perspective. Some are way more creepy and haunting than the original versions ("Raining Blood" comes to mind). And others, well, when you listen to a woman sing these lyrics and express these things, you realize how much men really hate women ("97 Bonnie & Clyde" is the perfect example). Other than "Strange Little Girl," my other favorite song is "New Age." It's a cover of one of my favorite Velvet Underground songs. I'll talk more about this song when we get to Lou Reed/Velvet Underground later in the year, but I love this version as much as I love the different versions of the original.

I really enjoyed the colors for this week's addition to the liner notes. Bold colors feel very much like something a strange little girl would enjoy. I did learn my lesson this week and I worked on the pieces before I attached them to the journal page. That worked so much better. There are gaps, which is fine. I'm going to be adding more shapes and embroidered spots over the next two weeks so they'll be filled or at least some of them will be.

Next week, we're talking about ghosts. 

Here's this week's additions to the liner notes:

January 11 - I had other shapes ready to stitch but changed my mind and went with this combination.

January 12

January 13

January 14

January 15

January 16

January 17

January (so far)

Songs that inspired this week's entry into Liner Notes:
Strange Little Girls is being re-issued in February with several new songs. It's available for pre-order from Rhino and probably from your local record store. 


WIPs, Book Recs, and Other Small Joys

I did a little work on L'Hiver last weekend, but not enough to really warrant documenting the progress. Most of my WIP work this week has been on Groundhog Day cards. I'm trying to get all the cards made this weekend so I can start writing notes and mailing them. If you'd like a card, the sign-up link will stay open until January 20. 




I'm trying a few new recipes out this weekend. Two are from the website The Practical Kitchen. I also follow Rebecca on Instagram and her recipes always look so good. They're also not super complicated, which I love a lot. I'm trying out a recipe for a small loaf of crusty bread (it's been resting overnight) and one for a butter pecan pound cake. I'm also making pickle soup for the first time, or Zuppa Ogorkowa if you'd like the Polish name for it. The recipe I'm trying is from another person I follow on Instagram. She's made a few things I've saved to try, but I'm starting with pickle soup. I'm very excited about this.

I started a new book this week, The Heart-Shaped Tin by Bee Wilson. It's absolutely lovely. If you like trinkets and using your good plates, you'll enjoy this book. 


Bea has had a great week of being a little weirdo. She spent several evenings sitting in the dark under the drawers of my work table. She has taken over a corner of the dining table when the afternoon sun comes in and likes to make faces when I play Florence and the Machine songs. And she's re-committed herself to being a perfect couch gargoyle. The world sucks, but Bea is awesome and brings me joy.






If you're a fan of record stores, please take a few minutes and check out some of the ways to support Crooked Beat Records as they recover from massive flood and water damage. This is one of my favorite record stores in the area and it's sad to see what Bill and his team are having to deal with right now. If you can support them, please do. 

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