Tired Tuesday

Guys I am so beat. It's my own fault...I went to celebrate my friend Deanna's birthday last night and decided to pretend it was not a MONDAY. It was actually really wonderful: Deanna cooked pot-stickers and Bok choy and rice and this amazing Filipino-style chicken and this wine-orange thing and chocolate cake. I ate so much I barely felt the MILLION GLASSES of champagne that I had. Then we went to the outdoor patio at Chavito. And then there was Good Luck Bar. Have I talked about Good Luck Bar? It's this bar (duh) at the corner of Sunset and Hillhurst: http://www.yelp.com/biz/good-luck-bar-los-angeles

I like it there because it's super divey, but actually has a cool faux-Asian aesthetic and somehow they're always playing some amazing Kinks b-side you had forgotten you loved. Anyway, as a result of all this fun, I feel like doody. However, this music is helping:

1) "Because the Night" by Patti Smith (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px__SsVXX_0). This is one of my all-time favorite songs. People my age are way more familiar with the 10,000 Maniacs' cover, but Natalie Merchant's voice, while great, isn't nearly as tortured and interesting as Smith's...possibly because Natalie Merchant wasn't basically homeless and in love with a gay addict artist, but I digress. If you haven't, please check out Patti Smith's amazing book Just Kids and I also recommend her cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ciiCyxOJA). I know I just bashed covers earlier in this very paragraph, but she actually does something very different with the song and brings a perspective to it that I find really relevant.

2) "Number 1" by Goldfrapp (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzfaJRDfveo&ob=av2e). This is a really, really simple dance track from years ago but I still like it. Alison Goldfrapp is a super-charismatic frontwoman and this band was at the forefront of the dance-pop revival. That sentence I just typed could be a total lie, but it feels right...just like walking out into velvet.

3) "The Heart of the Matter" by Don Henley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xezg3z5IE8I). So I HELLA hate the Eagles. I am not even really sure what they sing besides "Hotel California," but that song alone makes me want to die. Like, who likes that song? Seriously? Why is it on the radio so much? But anyhoo, I LOVE Don. He hits this spot in the cheesiest part of my heart and I just feel so good whenever I hear any of his jams like Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire when his life is falling apart but Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" comes on and gives him back his will to live. I also like that all of his songs are basically long-winded justifications for all the terrible things that happen to people, like their exes breaking up with them and moving onto another relationship and they're still single and had to hear about it from a Goddamned friend BUT IT'S OKAY BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT FORGIVENESS! Oh Don...don't worry...in a New York-minute everything can change.