Top Ten of 2013 by Carrie Ivy
“It will get stuck in your hair and in your mustache and tangle in your earrings”
1. Cat Power, live show November 29, 2013, Hawthorne Theater
Chan Marshall played solo for 2.5 hours in a not so large venue in Portland, just down the street from my house. It was my first time ever seeing her live, after having loved her music for more than eight years. There was only one person standing between her and me during her set. She just kept going and going. Hearing the songs that I’d written so many sorrowful words to during my most opaque days, the songs I sang in the shower when I wished to go down the drain, the songs that kept my heart company when I thought no one could feel the darkness that was mine, I was able to witness something I had wanted to for so long. When she was finished playing I got to give her the crystal necklace that I was wearing. She shook my hand and asked me my name. She pulled a relic out of her denim jacket pocket, showed me a carved crystal that looked like selenite, which she travels with, asked me if I wash mine too. Here she was, an ordinary person with a real name, as beautiful and honest as anyone I’ve met.
2. Gay Marriage
Legalized in nine new states: California, Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, as well as the unlikely Utah… totaling 18 states now with same-sex marriage rights. Come on, Oregon. Domestic partnerships don’t cut it. It was back in the autumn of 2004 when Multnomah County Clerk's office issued marriage licenses for gay couples (which were nullified in April 2005). We’ve been fighting for this for a while now.
3. Into the Dark & Emptying Field by Rachel McKibbens
This is truthfully my favorite book of poetry this year. It is heartbending and raw, and I love the myriad of voices that the key player, Loneliness, inhabits. McKibbens is an intelligently skillful writer, with no misplacement of feeling or image. She has total control over these poems, even in the turmoil of emotion or the trigger of memory. I could not stand stronger behind this book.
4. STRFKR’s Miracle Mile
A 15-track album that will get stuck in your head. It will get stuck in your hair and in your mustache and tangle in your earrings. The music is pop-y and not what I usually like, but they hooked me anyway and that is no small feat. To be truthful, the album made my Top Ten because of this music video, for the first song on the album, “While I’m Alive.” So good.
5. Tenth of December by George Saunders
I’ve never read a George Saunders story that disappointed me (and I’ve read them all—some, many times). Maybe a good way for me to describe this book is through the Freudian slip that happened when I started this paragraph: I typed “Tenth of Demember.” The first story “Victory Lap,” which follows two innocent adolescents through a terrifying experience, de-membered me completely, a flow of salt down my face at the end. As usual Saunders dismembers our rosy vision of our time on earth, putting certain parts into hyperbole, bringing the darkest parts of our humanity into the light. But he is also hilarious. So bravo to him, as always.
6. NAILED’s advice column, Lady Jonathan Tells All
This column is a must read for anyone with a sense of humor, an interest in human interactions, a desire to listen to people talk about sex, a passion for what the animal kingdom can teach us about our own lives, and/or an attraction to the occult via animal medicine cards. My favorite Lady Jonathan advice Q & A to date is in response to a question of marriage, and it is complete with a criticism of some of the thoroughly whack traditions that we, as a culture, have submitted to over so many years, as well as lots of photos of dogs and cats ready for matrimony! Do yourself a favor and read: http://www.nailedmagazine.com/letters/lady-jonathan-tells-all-11/
7. BBC Three’s Glasgow-based lesbian drama series Lip Service
I discovered it this year, but it started in 2010. After two seasons it was canceled due to losing its lead actresses (roles Frankie and Cat) to American pilots, which I am sure had a lot more moulah to offer. America you are not on my Top Ten this year (not directly at least). Thanks a lot.
8. My celebrity crush this year is a tie between Jennifer Lawrence and Krysten Ritter.
9. Peter Serafinowicz kisses Kurt Braunohler on stage
In April NAILED got to cover Bridgetown Comedy Festival and this priceless moment between two brilliant comedians made the list. The kiss was extra long and unprompted, but happened seamlessly and with such engagement. The audience was in an uproar! It must’ve been quite good because they did it again later the same night during a different show.
10. YOU!
The readers of NAILED. We do this for love of the art and creative process. We want this to be important and relevant and it does its job whenever you engage with it. <nailed's top ten of 2013>