Suggest-Fest

McSweeney's has a recommendation page, so I thought I'd steal their idea and do one of my own. I figure they get about a million more page visits than I do, so I'm hoping they don't mind. I mean, hey, they're intellectual heavyweights, and I'm, well, a nerd featherweight. But I love lists. Without further ado, the new installment to Cabbage Babble, Suggest-Fest!

Rearranging your room
It makes you feel good. It breathes new life into the place.

The Night is Most Uncertain by the Anomoanon
This song is the greatest summertime song, ever. It makes everything better to just scream, “Frankie likes to party” with the chorus. Unfortunately, it is out of print and hard to find. Why? Because the Oldham boys have to make everything très difficile.

Raising an Orchid
They’re temperamental. They like clay pots and humidity. And they’re gorgeous.

The Main Branch Library
I love my library. Unabashedly. It is an stately, classic structure and they have everything I need or they'll order it for me. And checking things out with a deadline makes me actually read them. Sometimes I buy books that sit on the shelf for a while, but knowing I have to get Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace back by a certain date makes me think, “I need to get on this sucker!” Plus, you get to check out dvds and cds. What more could you ask? Oh, wait, probably that the bathroom wouldn’t smell like a truck stop. But, hey, even bums need a place to sh*t, shower and shave.

Fay by Larry Brown
I have mentioned my obsession with Larry Brown before. I think he is one of the greatest American writers. This book is moving, and big, and he makes you love Fay and her naive quest to find something better than where she's been.

Lastfm.com
I listen while I’m at work all day long. All you do is get a login, add your favorite artists, and play your own channel of tunes while you work or clean house or whatever. Or, just listen to the “romantic classical” station on rainy days for a perfect soundtrack to a melancholy mood.

Otters
I mean, duh. Otters. They're cute, sleek, stealthy swimmers, and I want one as a pet. Then again, if I could have all of the animals of Noah’s Ark as pets, I would. On one big farm.

Fool to Cry by the Rolling Stones
Mick’s falsetto is wonderful, and I love just singing, “Oooooooh” when he does, even if it doesn’t sound as good.

The Elegy of the Southern Drawl by Rodney Jones
One of the most excellent books of poetry in the world, and it was nominated for a Pulitzer. He is an Alabama native and really speaks to me about the loss of culture we’re experiencing in the south as a result of homogenization and cable television.

D.H. Lawrence
His father was a coal miner and mine is too, so, I’m biased. He writes achingly beautiful epic novels about relationships. He makes me cry at the end of every book I’ve ever read by him. Seriously.

Opting-out of Spammy Emails
I love unsubscribing from spam emails, especially when they give you a feedback form. I always write, “Because you suck.”

Ah! That was fun! Not sure how many of these I'll do, or how regularly they will occur. In the meantime, thanks, McSweeney's for the idea and hope you don't mind a little ol' blog like mine doing some petty plagrisim.