Guest post: Sarah Allen

Today, I'm ceding the stage to introduce my friend Sarah, who's contributing Nerd Litter's first-ever guest post. And what a great post it is, striking up a potent mix of the provocative and evocative, not to mention incorporating some excellent musical selections. Enjoy. "Favorite" - Neko Case from Canadian Amp [Buy it] he said my name, over and over again, and then he whispered, "I'm going to give you bruises," his mouth against my cheek. "Expressway to Yr Skull (The Crucifixion of Sean Penn/Madonna, Sean and Me)" - Sonic Youth from EVOL [Buy it] I concentrated hard on pretending to listen, and he walked through my apartment turning off all of the lights except for the one in the hallway. it was too cold inside with the windows open, but he unbuttoned his shirt anyway and lay back across my bed sideways. I pulled off my necklace. his jaw in my hand was the squarest I'd ever felt. "Happy" - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins from Rabbit Fur Coat [Buy it] I was holding the cake with upturned palms, all of the candles lit, and I looked up at him and said I'd heard he'd had a rough day, and he looked startled, and I thought, "oh." "Wayside/Back In Time" - Gillian Welch from Soul Journey [Buy it] I opened the car door so that I could hear how hard the rain was, and considered the following: whether or not I was hungry, if I should put on shoes, who I forgot to say goodbye to, and how I would describe this to him, the color of this sky in Kentucky. "Tennessee" - Silver Jews from Bright Flight [Buy it] he ordered me another drink while I poured pepper into his grits and stirred. I'd never been looked at so hard in my life, and I thought to myself, "don't you ever forget how he's looking at you right now, ever, as long as you live." "Temperature" - Sean Paul from The Trinity we were drinking rum and cokes from paper cups, I had on red lipstick, our hands were sticky, there were boats in the harbor, the tree branches hung so low they touched our faces, my throat was sore, none of us had cried all day, and we were trying to decide what to eat for dinner. "Mushaboom" - Feist from Let It Die [Buy it] we'd taken the train and I'd shown him the power lines and graffiti and buildings that I watched every morning on my way to work. the snow was coming down hard; I couldn't remember the last time I was so happy. "West Palm Beach" - Palace Music from Lost Blues and Other Songs [Buy it] it was late at night, and he brushed my hair across my cheek and put his hand on the side of my face and pulled me towards him and went back to sleep. "Never Trust A Master" - Xylen Roberts [Visit him] my brother was driving and I leaned back onto his shoulder with my feet out the window, legs stretched straight, calves cut into by the car door. it was getting ready to rain, and dark, and he was taking roads I'd never seen, though we'd lived there for years. "12 Bellevue" - Kathleen Edwards from Failer [Buy it] she pulled the car over and I got out and walked to the train tracks, and there were more birds than I could count flying in a circle over my head. she'd been laughing all morning, and we'd eaten crêpes with ice cream and crêpes with cranberries. there was still a lot to do. If you'd like to submit a Guest Post of your own or perhaps even your own list of songs that make you think of the ten favorite things that happened to you this year, contact me at nerdlitter[at]yahoo[dot]com.