And let’s put ribbons on our helmets!

-Oh dear god. Is that a bridal party doing a cycling wine tasting trip?
-Look how miserable they are.
-Holy hell. That is my nightmare. You know half of them haven’t been on bikes in a decade.
-The sporty maid of honor was all, “I know! We should go wine tasting! And do a cycling tour!”
-Well, she was just hoping some of the girls would consider losing a little weight before the wedding.

Friday Mixtape!

I’ve always wished I knew more about music, and this is part of my Life List project to listen to 1,000 new songs. Right now I’m up to 316, and on Fridays I share some of my new favorites. If you’d like to share some music with me, please send your picks to maggie at mighty girl dot com, and I will listen to them.

This week, we have a host for Friday Mixtape. Please welcome Paul Frankenstein. Paul is a reader who sent me links to a bunch of good music. These are my favorites. Thanks Paul, that was awfully nice:

“Do you love me” by Amanda Jenssen
According to Paul, Amanda is the winner of Swedish Idol.

“Destroy Everything You Touch” by Ladytron

“Idlewild” by Julia Kent

“You’re Not All That (Feat. Jessica Darling)” by The Herbaliser
Paul says The Herbaliser is “an English band that thinks that it’s 1971 and they’ve just been hired to score a series of blaxploitation flicks.”

“Ik wil alleen maar zwemmen” by Spinvis
Paul says this song is about going swimming, though it could be an obscenity-laced, anarchist diatribe for all I know. The Dutch are an angry people.

Still looking for more music? Here you go: Mixtape 1, Mixtape 2, Mixtape 3, Mixtape 4, Mixtape 5, Mixtape 6, Mixtape 7, Mixtape 8

Rumpus Book Club: Unreleased Books to Your Door

I just came across a genius last-minute Father’s Day Gift. My friend Stephen runs The Rumpus, an online culture and lit magazine with a genius book club concept. Here’s how it works:

“Every month you get a book in the mail that hasn’t been released yet. You’re invited to a moderated online discussion with the author at the end of the month… You can also write a review of the book and we’ll run the best written review(s) on the website.

It’s neat because we’re going to have a discussion about new books, rather than waiting to be told what books are approved for cultural consumption.”

Such a cool concept, and you can subscribe by the month or the year. Yes to books.