I ask because I’m about to compose a diary entry in Japanese about my hobbies, as part of my class. Which will further delay me from blogging, as one might imagine.
Other things which have kept me from blogging include this:
Yes. That’s right. Trent Reznor sang one of my favourite songs at a recent NIN show. And I was there. Granted, I wasn’t nearly this close, and I was standing on my tiptoes, but I was there. (I think I may have been hopping up and down and squeaking, actually. It’s sort of a happy blur. Ask Squid what happened.) I love his triumphant little “Yes!” toward the end of the performance, like he’s gleeful at having pulled it off.
This is one of my favourite songs. Mr. Reznor rarely performs it. It was the title track of my favourite record, but never became a single. I have always wanted to see it live.
I love the Internet. I love NIN’s new stance to fans. I love the fans for making Mr. Reznor successful enough that he can do things like give albums away and encourage piracy and share moments like this. I wish I could give Mr. Reznor a hug. I would probably linger too long.
Last Christmas, I made the foolish mistake of packing my Deluxe Edition copy of The Downward Spiral on a trip. It was stolen, along with two other CD’s: another NIN, and a Yoko Kanno — both vexing losses, but the loss of DEDS was especially sad because it was a birthday gift from Troy, who always gives the best. (Oh, and a wireless card. They stole that, too.)
I found a copy of The Fragile shortly thereafter, it being the most urgent of my needs. I held off looking for another copy of the DEDS, already having both The Downward Spiral and Further Down The Spiral in my possession (from whence comes much of the Disc Two special content). But tonight I decided to rip my copy of The Downward Spiral into iTunes, so I could carry it around with me. After all, sometimes you really just need it. (Especially in the winter. It’s a good winter record.)
So I put my copy in the computer, give it some time, and go back to listen. Oh, “Mr. Self-Destruct,” I thought, Mama missed you real bad.
MY GOD, IT’S FULL OF SKIPS.
I don’t know if it’s the disc, or my machine, or what. But it’s FULL OF SKIPS.
*Actually it isn’t. Listening to it once the whole record had been imported dispelled the problem. Silly me. Also, “Mr. Self-Destruct” is still an excellent song. He takes you where you want to go. He gives you all you need to know.
The only saving grace here is that my copy of Still is fine. I’d probably burst into tears on the spot if I lost that record.
It’s tragic that there’s no official video for this song, but this fanvid does it justice:
In other news, humans are savage beasts, I’m an O, and I have just finished a re-write of a story called “Off-track Betting,” now with 100% more science, pathos, and pinyin.
February 11th, 2009 |
Posted in Life
| Tagged with muisc, NIN |
{Madeline Ashby}
...is a science fiction writer, grad student, おたく, and immigrant. She has lived on the outskirts of Los Angeles, Seattle, and Toronto, where she is now a member of the Cecil Street Irregulars and a contributor to both Tor.com and WorldChanging Canada. Her fiction has been published in Tesseracts, FLURB, and Nature.
