what do you do with a B.A. in english?

This is very much topical in my life right now::


So what do you do? You go on to get your MFA in Creative Writing and then get an amazing job teaching creative writing at a university and write fantastic books full of short stories and make a difference in the world! If Aimee Bender can do it, so can I! . . . Right?

I went to the reading on campus yesterday and got to speak with Aimee Bender afterwards about the element of the fantastic, which is something I've been wanting to try my hand at in my own writing; something Ms. Bender is a master of. She's absolutely approachable and down-to-earth and wonderful. At dinner, we had Thai food, and we talked about fairytales and Alice in Wonderland and how she admired my noodles. She even signed my copy of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. My favorite, though, is this little masterpiece::

who's gonna love you buried underground?

So here you have it; lately I've been listening to female artists--which is rare for me, so this playlist is a girl-powered one, but definitely not in a Spice Girl (grrrl-power) sort of way. In a cute sweet wallflowerish sort of way, for the most part (with the exception of Karen O). In a me way. Please give more suggestions for girl musicians; I'm pretty limited at the moment.

Chan Marshall


The third song on the list is cute, and I love Cat Power. Not really sure who the other girl is. I also wanted to put "Running Up that Hill" and something Joanna Newsom--most likely "Good Intentions Paving Company"--but lala didn't let me. Jerk. Oh, and J, Priscilla Ahn is the one I thought Erin reminded me of. If you look her up on lala it just reaffirms my comparison (I learned how to play "Dream" and "Wallflower" years ago. I don't really listen to her much these days though). :)

In other non-music-related news, I cannot wait for the Aimee Bender reading at school next month. Click on her name to go to her website. It's pretty neat and has some of her stories on there for you to read. I need to have her sign my copy of Willful Creatures!

Priscilla Ahn


Jenny Lewis


Zooey

god help the girl

Binki Shapiro from Little Joy


And this Pixies cover by Emmy the Great was on top of the list of girl music I've been listening to lately, but alas, not to be found on lala.


Emmy the Great


And ending with something non-girly, but very much lovely and wonderful.