A Tale of Two Playlists (AKA, Music to Which One Might End College).

So, you guys. It's happening.

Indeed, much like Daniel Day-Lewis lofting a bloodied bowling pin over Paul Dano's crushed-in skull—&/or a small child who has poked at her food, frowned at it, attempted to eat it, & ultimately just maniacally splattered it all over every object within a 20 ft radius—I can now cry out with impunity (& more than a little slurry, sleep-deprived overenthusiasm), "I'm finished!!!"

Because somehow, i's dotted, t's (& fingers—& toes) crossed, I will be graduating college in approximately three days.

Of course, along with this feeling of cosmic doneness comes the stomach drop panic of, "... Well, then... ???"—looking out over the edge of the Familiar into the spiky abyss of the Unknown, contemplating leaving behind once & for all the world of poached dining hall fruit & artfully bullshat prose for the uncharted territories of rent checks & unlimited Metrocards & office-appropriate attire. Because, as synapses melt into a puddle of interrobangs, & time refuses to make sense (e.g., "How has it been four years since I saw that person / moved to New York / took a math class?"), & oh, I guess, but I just don't know, it would seem that the only appropriate response is to clutch one's box of wine & watch Empire Records seven or eight times in a row while silently weeping into a pile of dirty laundry.

However, soon after said bout of blind, short-circuit panic & all its adorable concurrent catastrophes comes that moment when you realize, "Well, wait, I also somehow managed to find employment & a place to live"—& more to the point, it's about to be summer in the city, & since it's Friday night, & legend has it that's a different world, maybe it's about time you went out & found a girl.

In short, out of this whirlwind month-or-so came two rather different playlists: the former, which hems & haws & surges & slides & ultimately asserts simply "Here I am," with the plain, resigned sigh of Simon & Garfunkel's chorus—the latter, which finally just surrenders to the hot, ridiculous jitters of uncertainty with a grin & a fuck it & a techno beat. Here's both.

5-4-13: Here I Am.
[ ^ Grooveshark playlist!^ ]

Yes Sir, I Can Boogie—Baccara.
Higher Ground—TNGHT.
Two-Headed Boy—Neutral Milk Hotel.
Some Weird Sin—Iggy Pop.
Blank Generation—Richard Hell & The Voidoids.
Know Your Onion!—The Shins.
The Enemy—Dirty Pretty Things.
Watching the Detectives—Elvis Costello.
A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left—Andrew Bird.
A New Career in a New Town—David Bowie.
The Hollows—WHY?.
Loser—Beck.
Buena—Morphine.
Wake Up, John!—Sidewalk Driver (Not on Grooveshark—but on Bandcamp!).
The Only Living Boy in New York—Simon & Garfunkel.
Do The Strand—Roxy Music.
It Ain't Gonna Save Me—Jay Reatard.
Fast As You Can—Fiona Apple.
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby—The Smiths.
Heroin—The Velvet Underground.
Let It Rain—OK Go.
Pursuit of Happiness—Lissie (Kid Cudi cover).
Days With You (feat. Sxip Shirey)—Jason Webley.

5-17-13: Meet You on the Rooftop.
[ ^ Grooveshark playlist!^ ]

Summer in the City—The Lovin' Spoonful.
Girls and Boys—Blur.
Goodbye Horses—Q Lazzarus.
I Love It (I Don't Care)—Icona Pop.
Call Me A Hole—Carly Rae Jepsen vs. Nine Inch Nails.
She's Not There—The Zombies.
Mad World—Tears for Fears.
Necessary Evil—The Dresden Dolls.
Wavvy—Mykki Blanco.
Pledge Of Allegiance—Louis XIV.
Heartbeats—The Knife.
Great Big Kiss—Johnny Thunders.
Gravity—Nico Vega.
Fall Into Place—Apartment.
Wig Wam Bam—Billy Hatchet and the Mowhawks.
Sugarhigh—Coyote Shivers.
The Start of Something—Voxtrot.
Donna—HAIR (Original 1968 Broadway Cast).
Sex and Candy—Marcy Playground.
Don't Ask Me—OK Go.
Semi Charmed Kinda Life—Third Eye Blind.
The Killing Field—FLESH (Not on Grooveshark—but on Badcamp!).
Forest Whitaker—Brother Ali.
Queen Bitch—David Bowie.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pack everything I own into portable-sized containers. See you on the other side, team.