“Paradise Now,” a very engaging article on the Modernist movement. For any fellow Apartment Therapy fans, this is how we got that chair.

Not all of these songs/albums came out in 2005, but I don’t claim to be ahead of the curve when it comes to popular music.

Albums:

• Björk: Medúlla
• Brazilian Girls: Brazilian Girls - a birthday gift from a friend. Cool irreverent fun.
• The Delays: Faded Seaside Glamour - this was a lifesaver last February when Summer seemed years away.
• The Ditty Bops: The Ditty Bops - They showed up at CBGB’s 212 Lounge to play after a friend’s band and I was completely charmed.
• Elliot Smith: From A Basement On The Hill
• Handsome Boy Modeling School: White People
• Beck: Midnite Vultures

Songs:

• “Wishing on a Star” - original recording by Rose Royce & covered by Luka Bloom
• “Give Me Your Love” by Curtis Mayfield from the Superfly soundtrack. The whole soundtrack is excellent, but this is the track I’m most taken with.
• “Wichita Lineman” by Glen Campbell. This song is included on a couple of Top XXX Song lists not to mention covered many times, but I didn’t ever take note of it until going to see a comedy troup from Great Britain who used it in a sketch.

One of my resolutions for 2006 is to blog about music throughout the year instead waiting to the end.

Dear Employers,

NYC.gov offers some helpful
Suggested Options for Employers to assist everyone with coping through this trying time. Please note that “Screw ‘em if they can’t get a ride/don’t have a car” is not one of the options.

Thank you,
your NYC resident employees

An interview with the architect Renzo Piano. My favorite quotes:

“Cities are a place of tolerance, by definition, where difference must merge.”

“In some way, people believe that if you are permeable, if you are a good listener, you don’t have the quality of somebody with a firm attitude. But this is not true.”

I like this man.

maybe you’ll get permission by the time my birthday arrives in April. I’m talking about getting the rights to sing Happy Birthday in public.