we must, we must, we must increase our list.

1. The new Phoenix album is fantastic. It's everything that doesn't annoy me about recent of Montreal, most notably in the vocals, paired with really catchy Strokes-esque riffs - it's perfect summer music, essentially, which was annoying to discover on the last day of this one. The first song on the album is about Franz Liszt and it's titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. They're so heavy-handed with the classical music references that they should have just considered a concept album. Also worth mentioning: I was reading up on this album and apparently Oblique Strategies cards were used in its conception, and we all know I love those.

2. Mindy Kaling's blog, thingsiboughtthatilove.com. If I were asked to describe what kind of person popped into my head when presented with the term "girl about town," she would be my perfect candidate. She is Adorable and has changed my perspective on screenwriting for the better with her entertaining allusions to her job writing for The Office, as well as inspiring the next item on my list...

3. These Commes des Garcons vs. Chuck Taylor sneakers.



The white low-tops are slaying me. I bet they're expensive; I've just seen pictures so far and haven't been able to bring myself to calculate the hours of work it might take me to get these on my feet. Somebody go look and report back.

4. The Millburn Delicatessen in the eponymous NJ town. My family lives nearby and my boyfriend and I had been working very hard on packing some things of mine for school when he insisted that we take our lunch break there. I am so glad he did (it was really hard not to type that in all caps, for the record). I ordered this marvelous creation called The Gobbler, which was essentially the afternoon after Thanksgiving on delicious bread (so important to the quality of a sandwich!), plus mayo. I actually just remembered that I still have half upstairs, which is making it hard to keep on typing, but such are the concessions I make for you, dear reader. Chris got another of their specialty sandwiches which was even better than mine - toasted bread! Thinly-sliced chicken breast and pepperoni! Bell peppers and garlic aioli and basil! If you're ever in the area, you MUST go, and you must eat in the adorable park directly behind it and feel guilty when you can't even part with the smallest piece of your sandwich to feed to the plethora of equally adorable ducks.

5. PHEW. Sorry about that, guys, it's just too easy to get me to wax rapturous about food. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about this great band I saw at this great venue and the funny story about getting my hair tangled in a guitar that accompanies those things, but I'm all tuckered out now, so I'm going to keep it really brief. The Smith Westerns stole the show from So So Glos and Titus Andronicus at Monster Island this past week and I'm pretty sure they're all Chicago high schoolers. They're cute and reminded me of the only people I sort of didn't hate at my old alma mater, such as Guy Who Wears A Button-Down Over A Led Zeppelin T-Shirt, Guy With The Straightest, Shiniest Black Hair Ever Who Knows How To Make Computers Sing, and my personal favorite, Clueless-Looking Metal Drummer. Come back soon, you guys, I want more mouthy ballads and minimal eye contact with the crowd!