Welcome to Litsy!

#AllAboutMe (musically)

I don‘t know if Spotify Wrapped‘s been as big of a thing on your social media feed as it‘s been on mine but…I‘m bringing it to #AuldLangSpine!

If you‘d like to get to know me by listening to what I listen to (when I‘m not listening to audiobooks), I made a sampler for you! It‘s got two songs from each of my top artists from this past year.

https://tinyurl.com/monalyisha

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I never really listened to Wilco but heard Jeff Tweedy talking about his new book (How to Write One Song) on a podcast. I liked that book so I picked up his earlier memoir. I enjoy his writing—he seems like a mostly normal, straightforward, guy who works hard to make music he‘s proud of and to have a good life with his family, but who‘s willing to share enough insecurities and mistakes to be interesting and insightful.

Studs Terkel asked Bob Dylan in the sixties about how he went about writing a song and trying to outdo himself, or at least being as good as the last song he wrote, and his response was pretty damn perfect. “I‘m content with the same old piece of wood. I just want to find another place to pound a nail . . . Music, my writing, is something special, not sacred.” If the songs Bob Dylan wrote aren‘t sacred, then nobody‘s songs are sacred. Nobody‘s.

The way I feel about Susie, the way she‘s loved me and changed me...It‘s too big for songs. Maybe I can get a part of it to fit. Sometimes it gets deep in the track where I can feel it but it‘s never put into words. If you‘ve ever been in a relationship that you took for granted, even when it was the one thing holding you together, and you somehow didn‘t lose it...then you know how difficult it is to convey that amount of gratitude...

If there‘s one thing that‘s 100 percent true about every intoxicated person in world history, it‘s that you shouldn‘t believe them when they say they love you. The only difference between you and that slice of cold pizza back at their apartment is that they haven‘t met the pizza yet.

Melody is king. Songs are ruled by melody. I believe that melody, more than lyrics, is what does all the heavy lifting emotionally. When I write lyrics, or when I adapt a poem to a song, my goal is to interfere as little as possible with whatever spell is being cast by the melody. At the same time, I hope, at best, that the words enhance the song somehow, add meaning or clarify and underline what the melody is making me feel.

Now, isn‘t that neat.” Midwestern sarcasm, when it‘s done correctly, can be a thing of rare beauty. It‘s like performance art. Everywhere else in the world, you can identify sarcasm if you‘re paying attention. Even if the hostility isn‘t overt, you can read the signs. There‘ll be slightly elongated syllables or a pitch that‘s just a little off...

I like to believe most people's natural state is to be creative. It was when we were kids, when being spontaneously and joyfully creative was just our default setting. As we grow we learn to evaluate and judge, to navigate the world with some discretion...Creating can't just be for the sake of creating anymore. It has to be good, or it has to mean something. We get scared out of our wits by the possibility of someone rejecting our creation.

I didn‘t want this to end! It was raw and intimate. I remember watching “I am trying to break your heart” and wanting to know more about the band‘s history and this filled that hole. I‘m going to rewatch it again soon now with more context.

My husband has loved Wilco & Jeff Tweedy for as long as I can remember. Tonight I finally got to experience Tweedy in person with him. It was pretty spectacular. Plus, #bookswag! Now I can‘t wait to read his memoir! Yay for music & books! 🎶📖🤓

Before this book, the only time I'd heard Tweedy's name was a line in an Eric Church song about him being "one bad mother." That was enough for me to pick this book up from the library, and I'm so glad I did. He's candid, humble, and likable. He's unapologetically who he is, which seems to be pretty much a badass in the very best way. He doesn't sell out and fame was never the reason he made music. He made music because he had to make music.

"...except for Ricky Martin. His performance was the good kind of fever dream. He had women on stilts with streamers, and drummers who looked like they were hitting the peak of an ecstasy trip marching through the audience, and Ricky was gyrating within an inch of his life in these ridiculously tight leather pants. It was like a Hieronymus Bosch painting come to life." I didn't know the artist, but I knew the exact art he was referring to ?‍?

1. 📚Let's Go (So We Can Get Back) by Jeff Tweedy
1.5 🎧 Educated
2. Ravenclaw
3. A Million Little Things and Splitting Up Together (I can't remember which one was actually last, but caught up on both this morning)
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

I‘ve received some great freakin‘ bookmail recently & vow to share it all this weekend.

This signed (!) copy of Jeff Tweedy‘s new memoir was a surprise gift from one of my best friends, a person I don‘t see nearly enough. It came with a very sincere & earnest note (which he composed while wine-drunk), written on an old, ripped piece of mail — because he‘s a boy & they‘re often not taught to appreciate aesthetics. 😅 I got a little weepy. 💕

"...but still...Was she feeling okay?" ??? I know very little about Jeff Tweedy as an artist, but I'm loving his memoir so far.

Crying at a Starbucks. *sigh*

Having finished this memoir makes me a bit sad because I‘ve gone and I‘m not sure I‘ll ever be able to get back the way it was- the writing truly is like being in a conversation with Jeff Tweedy sitting across from you- richer for the wry wisdom of a guy who‘s seen a fair chunk.

Christmas book haul!! The Witchfinder‘s Sister is from the wonderful @Ashley31 and I can‘t wait to dive in!! Merry Happy, y‘all! 💜🎄💜

Meta bookmarks. Mansfield Park gets the ticket from last week‘s production and Jeff gets a bookmark from my (and actually his) local indie; fitting for the lead singer of one of my favorite indie rock band.

I was just talking to a friend about this regarding when I went I went back to my hometown for my 20th high school reunion!

Supposed to be studying. Even went to a cafe. Jeff is much more interesting.

It's here! ~

I'm cold and wet from head to toe but I got to see Jeff Tweedy tonight and now I fully intend to dry off, warm up, and burrow down with this memoir. If you get a chance to see any author events at the Free Library of Philadelphia, do it.

File this under “Things I‘m Considering Spending a Stupid Amount of Money On.”

(still broke from vacation)