And, of course, ToDay’s post has to be a playlist. So, here it is, for Ella and Alex…

Must I Paint You a Picture – Billy Bragg

It’s Only Time – The Magnetic Fields

Mambo Italiano – Dean Martin

Let My Love Open the Door – Pete Townshend

Airplanes, Pt II – B.o.B feat. Eminem and Hayley Williams

Itchin’ on a Photograph – Grouplove

You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me – Dusty Springfield

The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra

Take on Me – A-ha

Tu vuo’ fa’ l’americano – Renato Carosone

Slight Figure of Speech – The Avett Brothers

I Can’t Make You Love Me – Bon Iver

and one more, just because it’s one of the most underappreciated love songs of my teen years:

Throw Your Arms Around Me – Hunters and Collectors (find the early 90s version)

If you wanna buy the book… Thank you!

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Head House Books

It’s a happymaking week here in Jensenland. The Fine Art of Truth or Dare is out on Thursday. And it’s Valentine’s Day. Two things that can definitely make my pulse a little skittery. Despite any wry, skull-accessorized appearances to the contrary, I’m really a hearts-and-flowers kinda girl. So, in honor of cardio-pulmonary systems and Sei Shonagon, I’m borrowing one of her list themes for a Tuesday Ten.

Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster

10. The clatter (or electronic ping) of the mailbox. Because maybe, just maybe, there’s a check or acceptance letter or new J. Crew catalogue or love note there.

9. The phone ringing in the middle of the night. I suppose there are good reasons for someone to call you at 3am (new baby, you won the lottery in an Antipodean country, just-couldn’t-wait-to-say-I-love-you), but it never seems to work that way.

8. Looking into your rearview mirror or zipping past a lay-by and seeing a police car.

7. Scary movies. Doesn’t matter that you know what’s coming, that you actually saw the ghost/ghoul/wronged-hockey-player climb into the steamer trunk with a machete. When they come bursting out…Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!

6. Jack-in-the-Boxes. Like the scary movie, you know what’s going to happen. You’re gonna turn the crank that last half-turn, get to the end of the weasel song, and…

5. Fireworks, thunder and lightning. There’s just something about that combination of flash and bang in the sky. Which leads into…

4. Shooting stars. Maybe because it’s another little flash-in-the-sky. More, I think, because it’s the sparkliest symbol of hope and wishes out there. Even looking for a shooting star can get the heart-rate (and hopes) up.

3. Going into a shop on a thing-hunt (the lipstick you saw in Vogue, the gloves to replace the ones he left in a cab, the new book you want to curl up with tonight) and getting the first glimpse of it on display, the possibility that maybe you’ll actually be holding it in a moment.

2. Dancing. Any aerobic exercise, sure. But it’s just so much better when there’s music and choreography (even random, spastic, and just plain bad) involved. Kitchen floors and classes count. Personal faves for pure joy: bhangra and hip hop.

1. That moment when you look at someone and want to fling yourself at them and get lip-to-lip fast. You know what I mean. Made almost dangerous, heart-wise, when you can tell they want to fling themselves at you, too. Made all the sweeter when it still happens fifteen years after the first time.

Finally. Two of my mad panel were temporarily unavailable. But here we have it, the winner. From Jess:

Six Decades of the Truth About Love Playlist

60s: The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
70s: The Sex Pistols – Liar
80s: Squeeze – If I Didn’t Love You I’d Hate You
90s: The Magnetic Fields – I Think I Need a New Heart
00s: Comet Gain – Don’t Fall in Love If You Want to Die in Peace
10s: The Black Keys – Tighten Up

And an honorable mention to “Novel”.

Mostly truths about (ex) lovers and other things.

Some people think ToD is like a contemporary “Pretty in Pink”. Maybe ’tis, maybe ’tisn’t, but one thing I know is that for anyone who loves 80s new wave music, the PiP soundtrack is a classic. So now it’s your turn. Channel your best Molly Ringwald and put together a playlist worthy of Andie Walsh. Even better, Duckie Dale.

You thought it was gonna be “Dares”, right? Admit it.

Nah. Just finished a script (yup, lots and lots of music stuff in it), so I’m in  happy happy movie mode, harkening back to fave films of my childhood and adolescence.

This theme ends next Wednesday, February 1st, at 10pm Eastern. Then, my fabulous panel of experts (made up of lovely but slightly crazy people who know me and who know music) will pick a winner.

Guidelines:

-Follow the theme, at least in a comprehensible way.

-Choose no more than ten songs, no less than five.

-Make sure you give title and artist (and version, if it matters).

-Make sure they are listenable somewhere, in case my mad folk don’t know them.

-Send only one list per theme.

-Email your list to me here: melissa@melissajensen.com

-You must be in the US or Canada (or have a US/Canadian mailing address) in order to participate.

Hint: I like most genres. Hip hop, punk, pop, country, Celtic, big band, reggae, Bollywood, (old) soul… Hint: I don’t much care for dubstep/electronica or gooey, croony singers.

The panel picks a winner, I send an ARC, and post the playlist here. Last week’s winner will be announced tomorrow (Friday the 27th).

Go.

So. Here’s the challenge: For the next two weeks, I’m going to periodically put out a call for a playlist. I’ll give a theme; you give the songs. At the end of each period, my fabulous panel of experts (made up of lovely but slightly crazy people who know me and who know music) will pick a winner.

Guidelines:

-Follow the theme, at least in a comprehensible way.

-Choose no more than ten songs, no less than five.

-Make sure you give title and artist (and version, if it matters).

-Make sure they are listenable somewhere, in case my mad folk don’t know them.

-Send only one list per theme.

-Email your list to me here: melissa@melissajensen.com

-You must be in the US or Canada (or have a US/Canadian mailing address) in order to participate.

Hint: I like most genres. Hip hop, punk, pop, country, Celtic, big band, reggae, Bollywood, (old) soul… Hint: I don’t much care for dubstep/electronica or gooey, croony singers.

The panel picks a winner for each theme, I send an ARC, and post the playlist here.

Yay. A musicky contest. Love those.

And the first theme is…surprise, surprise…Truth. Five to ten songs about truth. “Truth” doesn’t have to be in the title, or even in the lyrics. Just has to be in there somewhere, somehow in theory or spirit. This theme ends Sunday, January 22nd, at 10pm Eastern.

Go.

10. Bjorg jewelry.

9. Research proved that I am, much to my distress, not yet the geeky girl I hoped I had become.

8. G-Side, Lindi Ortega, Blitzen Trapper, Renato Carasone, Grouplove, Gyptian, Melody Gardot.

7. Laura Mercier Creme de Pistache Souffle.

5. I am not, contrary to Winston Churchill’s assertion, growing more conservative as I get older.

4. The Oz books, especially Ozma and the Patchwork Girl, never get boring.

3. Moving to Ireland is going to be more complicated than I thought, but totally awesome when it happens.

2. Much of the “Grownup” literature vaunted recently isn’t nearly as good as the YA I read this year.

1. We absolutely have to save independent bookstores, music/arts programs, polar bears, libraries and bees.

(6. I’m not getting smarter either, Mr. Churchill. Still can’t count.)

For the next few weeks, starting today, I’ll be posting a piece of a piece of fine art on Twitter (follow me at @meljens) daily. The first person to correctly identify the title and artist by tweeting the answer, along with “@meljens” and “#TheFineArtofTruthorDare” will get a signed ARC of the book–or, if preferred, a signed copy of my last book, Falling in Love with English Boys. Confusing? Here’s how it works: Every Monday, I’ll choose a piece of art from a famous artist. For seven days, or until someone tweets the right answer, I’ll post a small section of the whole. If no one gets the right answer by the seventh day, that piece is done (no one wins for that one) and we move on.

An example (this is just an example; this painting will not be used in the contest), I might tweet this image:

Then this one:

Then this one:

Up to seven little bits.

If you were to tweet “@meljens #TheFineArtofTruthorDare ‘The Kiss’ by Gustav Klimt”, you would be right. If you were to do it before anyone else, you would be the winner.

That was an easy one. The rest will be famous and/or familiar, but not so obvious.

Catfish?

Let the game begin. First arty tweet goes up now.

(And don’t forget, this other contest goes until April.)

*US and Canadian entrants only. Sorry if you’re farther afield. Shipping costs, alas.

Like Andie in Pretty in Pink, other-side-of-the-tracks Ella doesn’t quite fit in and, if given the choice, would rather not have to pay attention to all of the rubbish that comes with trying to survive high school: mean girls, the right shoes, well-meaning (read: inept) adults, heartbreak. Like Andie, Ella has the very best best friend ever. And (even if just in my head) a really good soundtrack.

I remember seeing Pretty in Pink for the first time. While The Breakfast Club remains my truly beloved John Hughes fave, I have a big soft spot in my heart for PiP. I’m a huge sucker for any good Cinderella story. As long as Cinderella has some serious goals along with getting the prince. Like a Nobel prize. Or a showing at MoMA.

Anyway. Thinking about PiP got me thinking about some of the teen-oriented movies that I’ve loved through the years.

(Yes, I do store these things up for Tuesdays.)

Ten Fave Teen Flicks

10. Valley Girl (1983). Romeo and Juliet with legwarmers, malls, and a happy ending.

9. Bring It On (2000). Cheerleaders and intellectual property theft. Cool.

8. Heathers (1988). Mean Girls meets the Brothers Grimm. Not a movie that would get made now, probably. Lucky for us, it was made then.

7. Can’t Buy Me Love (1987). McDreamy when he was McDreamy, Jr.

6. Election (1999). A really impressive script. Really impressive acting. I mean, we expect it from Reese Witherspoon, but Chris Klein, Mr. Gormless…?

5. Mean Girls (2004). Forget the more familiar names. Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried are so fab. Weather prediction as I firmly believe it is really done.

4. Say Anything (1989). John Cusack and the boombox. Better than any balcony scene ever written. Ever.

3. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). Oh, Heath. Thank you for leaving us this.

2. The Breakfast Club (1985). Simply wonderful. Even twenty-five years after the fact.

1. Clueless. Jane Austen in Beverly Hills. It makes perfect sense. It’s a nearly perfect teen romedy.

From: fmarino@thewillingschool.org

To: abainbr@thewillingschool.org

Date: November 23, 1:11 p.m.

Subject: Re: TG

Alex-

I will be having my turkey (there will be one, but it will be somewhat lost among the pumpkin fettuccine, sausage stuffed artichokes, garlic with green beans, and at least four lasagnas, not to mention the sweet potato cannoli and chocolate ricotta pie) with at least forty members of my close family, most of whom will spend the entire meal screaming at each other. Some will actually be fighting, probably over football.

I am hoping to be seated with the adults. It’s not a sure thing.

-Ella