The Professor: A List

* Has broken his nose ELEVEN times wrestling and playing football. I have only broken my nose once, and it was without a doubt the worst pain I've ever experienced.

* Also thinks that Heart of Darkness is a putrid waste of paper - just slightly ahead of The Good Earth.

* Nearly vibrates with hyper energy - like, his general frequency sometimes makes me tired.

* Has a pet peeve about people who have names that are nicknames - like Jack. He says no one should be named Jack because they should be named John and called Jack. Jack is probably my favorite boy's name.

* Told me about reading a book about cats in a store downtown and finding it really interesting. But not interesting enough to get a cat. We all know how I feel about my cat.

* Thinks that my laugh is charming - which is good because I laugh a) a lot b) loudly and c) rather forcefully.

* Totally adopted my fries-with-feta habit at The Grill.

* Am wondering if he should get his own blog label?

* Had a stuttering problem as a child and endured a lot of speech therapy. I've never heard crisper "t's."

* Called me a "pretty gal" tonight - as in, "I like to be able to buy a pretty gal dinner." To which I responded, "Did you really just say that?"

* Is a connoisseur of beer. My favorite bar downtown is a beer garden, and I feel hopelessly inept ordering after him.

* Somehow ended up in a conversation with me about bra sizes tonight? How does this happen to me?

* Owns a pretty impressive house with grown-up furniture in it. Like matching grown-up furniture.

* Has not read Harry Potter. I know, I know. He's getting a pass for a few months, but he better get on it.

* Is very patient about my disdain for academia.

* Knows I won't go out with him on Tuesdays because of House and Fringe.

* Really wants to take me out for Indian food which has me envisioning myself as Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly.

* Thinks I am infinitely wise about pop culture and music. He was so proud watching SNL a couple of weeks ago and recognizing The Killers.

* Sat with me on a bench tonight and let me tell him why I'm obsessed with Twilight...and that I'm not good at arguing, prefer the path of least resistance and that I might have to call my parents and tell them I'd be later than I thought. And he thought all of that was okay.

Killer News

The Killers' newest studio album Day & Age will be out November 25. Check out the new single "Human" at the band's official site.

Ash's Obsessions du Jour

Tagged by Pen - here we go.

1. Noticing. Everything. Contemplating the light through the windows in the apartment in the late afternoon. Considering Kudzu's regular patterns of movement from room to room and neat jumps onto the windowsills. Ways of getting from one place to the other in town, recognizing the acute knowledge of each curve and straight and landmark - I know this road. Wondering (but trying not to overly much) if this will be the last time I do this or that in Wilmywood before I move. Noticing. Everything.

2. Quiet solitude. Not that quiet is the way anyone would describe me - prone to nervous chatter as I am and filling silences with it. And generally talking too much and too loudly. But today is quiet, and I relish the quiet and hold the quiet.

3. Oakdale Cemetery. Having never been there until yesterday, I was unaware that it holds the esteem of being quite possibly the only place in Wilmywood that I might describe as "hilly." Any other season, it might be drab - naked wintry branches or fully-leaved summer trees. But in spring, it is blossoming and fragrant and serene.

4. Songs that I hear that have a confusing context. How sometimes The Killers' "Smile Like You Mean It" sounds like a song Kim and I would've listened to in the car on the way to the beach, even though it came out after we graduated. Or how The Fray's "How to Save a Life" feels impossibly like a song from college that I would've listened to on repeat going up Stretch Road and hummed to myself as I rattled around Frost Chapel.

5. Kudzu's relentlessness in waking me these days when he wants to be fed. His pawing the covers off me and wet nose on the eyelids. He drives me mad until I stumble into the kitchen and crack open a can. But then, after he's eaten and I've gone back to bed, he'll curl up against my spine in a tight circle and I feel loved.

6. My secret day off. I hedged about going home for Easter because I selfishly wanted a three-day weekend to myself. Other than my sister, sworn to secrecy, my family thinks today was just another day at the office.

DJ A.S.H.

In addition to my autumn compilation, I thought I'd put together another CD just for the drive. All songs are meant to be singable at the top of my lungs and inspire me to tap my inner diva.

1. Clocks (Coldplay)
2. Mr. Brightside (The Killers)
3. Me & Bobby McGee (Janis Joplin)
4. Babylon (David Gray)
5. Shadowboxer (Fiona Apple)
6. Plush (Stone Temple Pilots)
7. 32 Flavors (Alana Davis)
8. Ticket to Ride (The Beatles)
9. Not Ready to Make Nice (Dixie Chicks)
10. Have You Seen Me Lately (Counting Crows - Live @ Hammerstein Ballroom)
11. White Flag (Dido)
12. Body Parts (Jump, Little Children)
13. Gravity (Jennifer Nettles Band)
14. Closer to Fine (Indigo Girls)
15. Power of Goodbye (Madonna)
16. Elsewhere (Sarah McLachlan)
17. Sabotage (Beastie Boys)

Also coming along for the ride: Sam's Town (The Killers), Trouble (Ray LaMontagne), What's Golden Above Ground (Trent Dabbs), Choirgirl Hotel (Tori Amos), and O (Damien Rice). It promises to be a musical adventure.

Go Down to Sam's Town

After begging Lauren to take me to Best Buy last week to get The Killers' new album Sam's Town, I had ample time to listen to it during the drive time. It carries off the concept of Las Vegas desert heat pretty well, but it comes off like a hot summer album, and I'm disappointed that they held its release for the fall.

The overall sound has an 80s glam rock tinge to it, bringing to mind The Cure, Queen and David Bowie. Though he gives a good go at it, Brandon Flowers doesn't quite have the showmanship of Freddie Mercury or David Bowie, but maybe with another album or two he'll get past some of his posturing. For now, at least he is very hot.

Sam's Town moves away just slightly from the heavily layered techno-beat of Hot Fuss and opts for a fuller sound. Standout tracks are the first single "When You Were Young", "The River is Wild" and "Why Do I Keep Counting?" is growing on me. "Bling (Confessions of a King)" has little U2 thrown in and strangely evokes the E.R. theme in my head. "Uncle Jonny" is a more modern rock track whose lyrics bring Billy Joel's "Captain Jack" to mind. And "Reasons Unknown" is another of my favorites because it's got a dash of Psychadelic Furs in it that makes me think that in some universe, Andie and Duckie are listening to it together at Tracks.

If you liked Hot Fuss, you'll like Sam's Town. The Killers deliver a cohesive, well-done album, although parts of it felt a little too glossy and rock opera-ish, rather than possessing the ragged energy of some of the tracks on Hot Fuss. It's great music for getting ready to go out on a Friday night, driving with a car full of people to somewhere fun or for throwing into a party mix for a kick of adrenaline. If I got invited to Sam's Town, I'd definitely go.

One Week & Counting

VMAs - A Recap In Brief

For your reading pleasure, and for those of you who missed it, I'll recap the events of the MTV VMAs in 5 words or less. Spoilers abound below.

Oh, and if you want to catch the action, I'm sure it'll only be on 240 times this weekend while you're trapped in your house with Ernesto.

* Winner for Pathetic Use of the Entourage on the Red Carpet: P Diddy's Silence

* Justin Timberlake's show opening performance: Bringing Sexy back
* Jack Black's opening sequence: Included the word "erection"

* Vanessa Manillo's dress: Tight bunchy busty fugly mermaid

* Vanessa Manillo: Kind of orange
* Blackeyed Peas beating "Golddigger" for Best Hip Hop Video: Fergie's humps ain't that great

* Shakira's performance: We get it. You bellydance.

* Ludacris & Pharrell's performance: Gold lame gone wrong

* Addendum to the Ludacris & Pharrell performance: The Pussycat Dolls are men

* Jessica Simpson: As dumb as ever

* Okay Go: Revolutionizing the treadmill - live


* The guys of Jackass: Still jackasses

* Paris Hilton's attire said: Attacked by angry ballerina

* Pink's acceptance speech: A Fiona Apple Throwback

* John Norris: Apparent victim of Sun-In

* Beyonce's alarming performance of "Ring the Alarm": Ultimate pop-and-lock sequence

* T.I.: Who the heck is T.I.??

* Jared Leto: Not Jordan Catalano anymore


* All-American Rejects: Moving along to the bar

* Jack White: Talented but needs a shower

* Presenter Rhianna's dress: Presenting boobs on a shelf


* Panic! at the Disco: Happening Mad Hatters Hot Performance

* Best New Artist, Avenged Sevenfold: "Thank you, God...whichever one."

* Great cameo by Spederline: Oops, I Lost Sean P.


* Kanye West's Video Vanguard Award: The word is "STY-le", not "stal"

* Video Vanguard Presentation: Ernesto is in the house!

* Sarah Silverman's Paris-Hilton-is-fat speech: BRILLIANT

* Christina Aguilera: Plastic hair, hot red dress

* Best Rock Video goes to AFI: And beats "Dani California"???

* Jackass boys, Part II: Always shirtless or naked

* Viewer's Choice Fallout Boy: Yes, he's wearing a cape

* Me at 11:06: I was promised The Killers!!


* Al Gore: Rockin' the Clinton tactic

* Jennifer Lopez: Braless, ta-tas bouncing

* Panic! at the Disco, Video of the Year: Men without hats, strange hair

* Axl Rose's corn rows: Sweet fancy Moses

* The Killers: Hurrah! Finally!


Noteworthy and more than 5 words:
* Justin Timberlake to Jack Black: "Look, Jack. I've maximixed your storage space and added little hook for your keys."

* Al Gore: "I wasn't going to be here tonight, but then MTV explained to me that Justin Timberlake is bringing sexy back. So."

* Justin on Jennifer Lopez: "Why's she wearing a skull cap? That's what I want to know."

* Jack Black on "Six", the mic interceptor when video of the year was announced: "Ooh, I think Six is the new Soy-Bomb!"

Biggest upsets? Madonna & Red Hot Chili Peppers - shut out! Christina Aguilera - shut out! Kanye West - shut out! Times I felt old and out of touch? At least once every fifteen minutes. Longest. Post. Ever. Thanks for tuning in. Look out, Suchin Pak. I'll have your job next year.

Thoughts for Saturday

It's almost 7:30...here are the things I've thought about today:

1) Taking a walk (but not taking one)

2) The gay man at the office came out yesterday - and admitted that he doesn't love my haircut. I'm officially growing it out.

3) How long it will take my hair to grow back out

4) Going to the grocery store (but not going)

5) Sadness over the plate I knocked to the floor off the couch arm and broke into several sadly irreparable pieces

6)How everything in my house that is edible seems to be stale

7) Having seen two drunk college students almost have sex on Front Street last night between the post office and a lunch-only cafe called Betty B's

8) Amusement at Kudzu's new habit of laying on the window sill and sleeping with his face smashed up against the pain or the frame

9) How wonderful it is, sometimes, to have not talked to anyone all day

10) Going to the library to get a book on tape to listen to while cleaning (and not doing either)

11) My hair looks best on Saturdays when no one is going to see it

12) That if I put all the things back in the corner where the ceiling leaked, someone will show up to spackle, paint and sand the ceiling - all over my stuff

13) Why the new Killers album isn't coming out until October

14) How to lose 12 pounds before I have to wear a bridesmaid dress without really trying (or giving up chips, cookies and ice cream)

15) Why I can find time to blog, make my way through 96 episdoes of S&TC, eat, drink, sleep, work, and make a gigantic mess of my apartment, but I can't find time to read a book

16) That I kind of missed taking the new car for a drive today while I was busy staying in

17) Sometimes Kudzu knows just when to come and get in my lap

18) Where to get to dinner from (refrigerator not included)

19) Whether or not I should start the 6-hour Pride & Prejudice, which I suddenly have a yen to do

20) The list of things I should be doing is growing longer the longer I sit on this couch and blog