Things I Like, Vol. 1

I like things. Things are really great, unless you worship them. Every so often I’m going to update you on things I like at the present – like a modern show-and-tell session. I once cut the Nike sign out of a pair of shorts in 5th grade for show-and-tell. I showed the class the Nike sign and I told them I liked Nike. That’s essentially what I’ll be doing here, except the only cutting I’ll be partaking in here will be followed by a Command + V. Which brings me to my first item.

MacBook

I always wondered why people were so militantly obsessed with their Apple products. You always hear things like, “I just love my Mac/iPod/iThing! You have got to get one for yourself.” I am always leery a things that people tell me they love; I’m more pessimistic than I wish I were. Oh yeah, and also – I’m a jerk. Well, my brother and sister each purchased a MacBook in the past year because they are smarter than I am, giving me ample time to get acquainted with said device. Like any relationship, it took time to get intimate, to build rapport, to learn to trust.

(Cut to eHarmony commercial with MacBook and I canoodling on the couch, explaining how we met, and how happy we are, and how everyone gets nauseous because we’re such a perfect couple. Me: “She’s just so easy to be with – just so intuitive and knows what I want to do next.” MacBook: “He has such soft fingertips…”) I like MacBooks.


Every Man Jack Mint Body Wash

Now, let’s get one thing clear: I will always be a loufa man. Always. I’ve heard every conceivable anti-loufa argument from all manner of uneducated swine:

• Loufas are gay.
• Loufas collect germs.

I guess those are the only two I’ve heard now that I think about it. Not exactly John Forbes Nash-level rhetoric. I know you bar-soapers won’t be swayed by logic, so I won’t present logic. Instead, I present Every Man Jack Mint Body Wash. The minty fresh assault on your senses will leave you ruminating on its wonders long after you’ve left the confines of your shower. I have literally been looking forward to showering the past couple days since happening upon the faux-wooden bottle at Target. I like Every Man Jack Mint Body Wash.

Music – First Half of 2008

Everyone does year-end best-of lists. Including me – I love them. To cut down my work toward the end of the year and because I thoroughly enjoy talking about music, here are my favorite releases from the first six months of 2008:

Honorable Mention
• Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs
• PlayRadioPlay!, Texas
• Mates of State, Re-Arrange Us
• The Felice Brothers, Self-Titled

Second-Tier
• MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
• The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
• Jon Foreman, Fall, Winter and Spring EP’s
• Vampire Weekend, Self-Titled
• Headlights, Some Racing, Some Stopping

Saucy Minx
• Grand Archives, The Grand Archives
• Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago

If you have not had the pleasure of hearing The Grand Archives or Bon Iver, you have not had much pleasure lately. Out of everything I've heard this year, these two have stuck with me the most. Bon Iver, in particular, lodges deeply in your lower gut. Kind of like IBS without the embarrassment. Anyhow - I think you'll like both of these albums more than you can imagine if you give them a chance. And the rest of them as well. I like music.