Political Liturgy

Before I launch into the main topic, I just have to say:

don't McCain and Palin look like every local news anchor team you've ever seen?  Grey-haired but still fairly nice-looking man, and 30's-40's just-this-side-of-mid-life attractive woman, twenty-plus years apart in age (the woman being the younger)?  I can see them on a promo for Action News Live At 5...

Okay.  To the subject at hand.

Listening to Obama's speech Thursday night, it struck me...

for a guy who is preaching change, he sure has adopted the standard speech structure of the political candidate.  It's so predictable, it's almost like the liturgy at St. Rose's.  There's a form for this sort of thing, you know.  

Yes, you can do it with more (or less) enthusiasm, polish, ceremony, and life than the next person (or church), but it still needs to be in the proper form.  

It goes sort of like this:

I.     Invocation:  "My fellow Americans, I'm humbled and grateful by your confidence in me."

II.   Text for the Day:   This my background, and these are our common values.

III. Sermon:  

    A.  Here are some real-life stories, examples of the problems we face.  They need fixing.

    B.  My opponent is honorable, but wrong.  His approach doesn't work, never will.

    C.  This is what I will do instead, with your trust and support.

IV. Closing Resolution:   We can win this thing, change the world!

VII. Doxology:  "Good night, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America!"

Amen.  See you all next week for the other guy's version...

... and in a few years, when we'll do all this again.  Same liturgy, different pray-ers.

Music Reviews: Counting Crows, John Mayer, Sheryl Crowe

This is kind of a career-overview summary for some big name artists who I happen to not have listened to very much, but maybe should have. So, I'm educating myself here. ;)

Counting Crows - "August and Everything After", "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings", "Films About Ghosts": This last one is really a "best of" CD (the title derives from a line in their song "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby", which I still don't quite follow: "if dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts." Hm. I'm not sure that the second half of that sentence really follows logically, but.. it's an interesting notion, anyway.)

The first CD is their debut from 1993 (which placed 5 songs on the "best of" collection), the middle one their latest release. And overall, I can understand the appeal of the music. It's thoughtful and sort of cross-over-y. A little country, a little folk/rock, a little pop. Sort of like America and the Eagles were, back in the day.

But I just can't warm up to the lead singer's voice. :( It sounds to me like he's trying really hard to sound like Van Morrison and not quite getting there. I'd heard "Mr. Jones" before, and remembered why I never bothered to follow up on who it was, at the time. Just didn't care for his vocal. But, there were some tracks on the debut CD that I did like: Perfect Blue Buildings, Rain King, Sullivan Street; but I think it was more for the playing than the vocals.

Other favorites - from "Films About Ghosts": A Long December, Big Yellow Taxi (aww... reminds me of Joni Mitchell's original. and really, I think this is a better style for Adam Duritz as a vocalist, anyway), Friend of the Devil, Holiday in Spain, Accidentally in Love (from Shrek 2.) From "Saturday": None, really. "Come Around" isn't too bad, I guess. I think they should lose the banjo and harmonica, stop trying to be Van Morrison doing angst-y Dylan, and just play the solid pop that I know they can.



John Mayer - "Inside Wants Out", "Room For Squares", "Heavier Things", "Continuum": Now I'm sure there are going to be a chunk of people who disagree with me, but - I think this guy started out to be nearly perfect, and gradually slipped from that state as he went along. His first EP, "Inside", was just him and his guitar and was flawless. Just a gorgeous sound and style.

He held on to it do a degree during "Squares" (to some extent because some songs were rolled over from the debut EP), but not quite as consistently. The extra instruments took away from his voice and playing. Heavier Things went way electric, and Continuum went dark and slow. I wish he would've just held still.

But change is inevitable, you know? It's the ebb and flow, yin and yang of life, the constant process that's wired into the universe. (Just like his song "Wheel", in fact.) People change, as much with success as with failure, and you don't necessarily find the change attractive.

With an artist, though, it doesn't affect your relationship. ;) You can just.. let them change, and then go listen to whatever of them you choose to (you don't have to discuss it over coffee.) :) Favorites: every track on Inside Wants Out, plus Your Body is a Wonderland, 83, 3x5, Wheel, Waiting On The World To Change, Stop This Train, I'm Gonna Find Another You, Dreaming With a Broken Heart.

Sheryl Crowe - "Detours", "Wildflower", "The Very Best Of": The first two CDs came out after her greatest hits one, so they are needed to supplement the career overview, since she's still pushing out the hits.  

So what would you call her music?  Pop-folk-country-rock?  It's often feel-good music, even if the lyrics are directionless & post-modern.  It's sort of like: "hey, let's have fun and not think about how lost we all are, okay?"  

It's like that on her early hit, Strong Enough ("Lie to me, but please don't leave.")  And on her latest hit, from "Detours", Love Is Free.  

Ohhh, no it's not.  This isn't 1967 anymore, baby.  We know better now.  There's a cost to love, all right.  No self-deception, please.  

It's not free.  There's an emotional cost.  A psychological one, and sometimes a physical one.  There's costs in terms of time spent and opportunities passed up and lost privacy and character flaws revealed.  And often there's a cost in terms of heartache, loss, longing, regret.  

When love is good, the costs are well worth it - no doubt.  But love is *never* free.  Yes, it's a nice song... top 40 hit... fun to listen to... but face reality?  Nooooo.  Not if you want people to keep buying your records.  And she sells a few.

Okay, rant over.  :P

So, for music's sake only, I liked (from the "best of" CD):  Strong Enough, My Favorite Mistake, A Change Would Do You Good, Home, Soak Up The Sun, First Cut Is The Deepest, Light In Your Eyes.  From Detours: the title track, Motivation, Love is All There Is, Love is Free (yes, yes, I know...)  

Wildflower is a really, really nice album, much more laid-back and contemplative.  And when Sheryl is mellow, she sounds a lot like Sara Groves, who I love.  :)  I like all tracks here, but especially I Know Why, Perfect Lie, Chances Are, I Don't Wanna Know, Always On Your Side, Live It Up. It's all good; a great CD.  :)  

Consume my heart away...

Two book titles (at least), each made into a movie recently, drawn from the lines of one poem by Yeats. Huh. Shows how much I know. Never read much Yeats; maybe I should. This one seems pertinent.

So, can you find the book titles?

(Hint: one's by McCarthy and should be obvious, the other's by Roth and not so.)



Sailing to Byzantium

That is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees -
Those dying generations - at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unaging intellect.

An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.

O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

-- William Butler Yeats

Facebook Romance

Sounds like a name for a band.  ;)  And if they wanted to be ironic, they could play mostly thrash metal.  :P

Or it could be a title for a best-selling book.  Maybe a collection of essays or short stories.  Or a commentary on current social practices.  You know, love in the age of emoticons, or some such drivel.

What brings it to mind was a little notice that popped up on my Facebook home page yesterday night - the page that gives you newsy little bits about your friends.

Except this one seemed so poignant:

Friend A and Friend B ended their relationship.

Oh.  :(

Even with the names changed, it still is poignant. Facebook is so matter-of-fact, so devoid of sympathy. But when this involves people you know, that terse, emotionless statement brings up real emotions in you. You begin to mentally fill in the little human details that Facebook leaves out. "Ohhh... I'm so sorry to hear... Was it really hard? How are you feeling?", etc.

You want to inject some humanness into what's on the screen. You want to feel what Facebook doesn't feel.  Melancholy, curiosity, empathy, anger, whatever - feel something!  

You know that it wasn't you - but it could be, sometime. You're relieved, but very aware of your limitations, all at the same time.

All that in a little phrase from a news feed?

Yeah. And it's still sad. Even on Facebook.

How did I get to be here, like this, anyway?

Had dinner last night with the next-door neighbors. Even though we see them nearly every week at church, and sometimes in the yard, it's the first meal we ate together since moving here. Guess it was time. :)

They are graphic artists/designers, with home-based offices, and after dinner we looked at some of their work. For example, he is working on logo merchandise for the Wisconsin Badgers, and she is making greeting cards sold in local shops.

One of her cards caught my eye - it had a quote from Bob Dylan:

"People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent."

Hm. Appropriate, since I had in my calendar to go to Confession today. (Which I did. And it was good. Helpful. It always is.)

After dinner it was time to go home and watch Mad Men on AMC. The final scene had the lead character sitting at dinner with the wife & kids, and the look on his face was one that he wears often in this series: "How did I wind up here, anyway? This isn't what I expected..."

It got me thinking of all the times I've thought that same thing. And I went to sleep thinking about it. And I woke up thinking about it, too. So here's what I was thinking about:



The life you are living right now is the result of an accumulation of your reactions and choices, both passive & active.



Life presents you with situations.
You react. You make choices.
Life unfolds.
You are presented with more situations.
You react. You make choices.
Life unfolds.
Repeat.



We all do this.
The situations we face differ, as do our reactions and choices.
But we all do this.



So if you ever wake up one day (as I have, often), look around you and wonder: how in the world did I wind up in this place, with this life...

just go look in the mirror.

Booth Work & Party Time

Yup, that pretty much says it. That, and this:



The grape growers association has a booth in the Ag building, just two halls over from the section dedicated to "crop art".

No, really. The grand champion this year was a portrait of Tiger Woods made entirely of seeds. Huh.

Our booth was at least tasteful.



And staffed with (mostly) friendly volunteers to assist those curious about how grapes can actually survive in this climate, and passers-by who just want to know where they can go on winery tours and sample wine for free. And hey, we know all that stuff as well as anyone!



So, simply being willing to share our relative ignorance with others (yet in a confident sort of way) for a few hours, got us free admission to the fair. After our shift in the booth, there was loads of food to choose from. And some local wines to sample. Decent ones, too.



The chocolate-covered key lime pie on a stick was really good.



And the carmelized bacon on a stick was, too. Mmmm...




After one of those crispy, fat-laden delights a guy couldn't help but feel a little frisky. :P Or maybe it was the wine.



But they don't just eat around here - they eat responsibly! Not only are there health and wellness booths right near the food vendors, where you can get your blood pressure tested and learn how to avoid eating badly (like say, pie and bacon), but you even get to compost your used corn cobs. To wit:



And such variety! Oy. Things I haven't had since ... oh ... since the last time I had them, whenever that was.



Seeing smelt made me hungry for nostalgia (as well as for smelt.) Thankfully, they cut the heads off before deep frying, and put them in a convenient little paper basket so you could walk, talk, gawk, and eat your headless fish simultaneously. Tasty, too!

Well, after an indulgent evening like that, the only thing for me to do was to host a party the next night for my three-track friends.

The music was as diverse as ever, from the Drifters to Rare Earth to Ari Hest to Crash Test Dummies to Rufus Wainwright to Lennon, McCartney & Harrison (all heard solo), and the Sons of the San Joaquin harmonizing on some three-part yodeling.

Comity and conviviality ruled the day, and I was able to not only make good use of the lounge, but also get rid of (oops, I mean offer graciously) some of what was on my adult beverage shelf downstairs.

Pretty much anything tasted good with dip, cookies and brownies to chase it down. Plus, a buddy of mine from seminary joined us, and expanded the circle to 6. Welcome, SM!

Needless to say, my run today was ineffectual. Ooof. Could hardly manage a mile and a half, much less the 5K I had hoped for. I'll try again Tuesday. Today's run was good for purging toxins, at least.

I had a few in me to get rid of.

Oh, the depth...

It was my second time serving as lector at St. Rose's today. When they make out the schedule for half the year, I never know what I'm going to be assigned to read until I get there. 

But it was my honor today to read one of my favorites, Paul's great Doxology from his letter to the Romans (11:33-36):

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable his judgments, 

and his paths beyond tracing out! 

"Who has known the mind of the Lord? 

Or who has been his counselor?"

"Who has ever given to God, 

that God should repay him?"

For from him and through him and to him are all things. 

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

36

Let me confess that we two must be twain,

Although our undivided loves are one:

So shall those blots that do with me remain

Without thy help by me be borne alone.

In our two loves there is but one respect,

Though in our lives a separable spite,

Which though it alter not love's sole effect,

Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight.

I may not evermore acknowledge thee,

Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,

Nor thou with public kindness honour me,

Unless thou take that honour from thy name:

But do not so; I love thee in such sort

As, thou being mine, mine is thy good report.

----- Wm. Shakespeare, Sonnet #36

Live from the Dakota Jazz Club...

it's John Pizzarelli and his trio!

Now *this* is small-combo jazz. Oh, my. :)




JP has been a favorite of mine since I heard his "Dear Mr. Cole" CD back in 1994 and saw him at a concert around that time doing songs from his "New Standards" CD. Saw him again about 3 years ago at a jazz festival in the Berkshire Hills in Massachusetts, where he shared the bill with Wynton Marsalis and Dr. John. But last night, it was in a small house setting where he could be intimate with the audience, and it was a thrill. :)



D and I went to the 9:30 show and saved enough on the cheaper tickets to buy drinks and appetizers. The warm chocolate mousse went well with the 6 oz pour of a decent zinfandel (in the proper glass, yet, to concentrate the nose.) And the subsequent iced tea went well with the french fries béarnaise later on. Nice.



Having not been to this venue before, I didn't quite know what I was getting when I reserved the table in the mezzanine. I had a partly obstructed view, so simply had to stand now and then if I wanted to see his fingers flying on the seven-string hollow-body he played. Woah.



Behind us was the sound guy, and he had a monitor. So once in a while I stole a look. But when John's Dad, Bucky (who plays the same instrument, only better), comes to play the last weekend in September, I'll know what seats to buy.



So a fun week this week! Concert last night, movie the night before, the third Three-track party tomorrow night (this time at my house), and tonight D and I are volunteering in the MGGA booth at the state fair to talk to people about growing wine grapes in this frigid climate. I guess we qualify now. :)

Oh, and one more thing. I went to the upscale art house theatre Wednesday night to see "Bottle Shock" (nice little quasi-documentary about the emergence of California wines in 1976), and saw my first "Smart Car" in real life. You know the one... it's the size of a large shopping cart. Unbelieveably tiny. This one had personalized plates: ITIBITI

Too cute.

Then I'll Be Tired Of You

I'll be tired of you
When stars are tired of gleaming
When I am tired of dreaming
Then I'll be tired of you.

This I know is true
When winds are tired of blowing
When grass is tired of growing
Then I'll be tired of you

Beyond the years
Till day is night
Till wrong is right
Till birds refuse to sing

Beyond the years
The echo of
My one true love
Will still be whispering
Whispering

If my throbbing heart
Should ever start repeating
That it is tired of beating
Then I'll be tired of you.

:)



----- as sung by John Pizzarelli (live, last night!)

(and he's right, you know...)

Music Reviews: She & Him, Her Space Holiday, The Whitest Boy Alive, Sufjan Stevens

She & Him - "Volume One": Saw these two live at First Avenue and agreed with J2 - they and their entourage were great live. The CD is not as much fun as the show was, but it's still good. It's an odd mix of alternative, pop, and retro (soul, surf, honky-tonk.) Makes me wonder if they are going to be as eclectic with the followup CD they are working on. Favorites: This is Not a Test, Change is Hard, I Thought I Saw Your Face Today, I Was Made For You.

Her Space Holiday - "The Young Machines":  This is kind of nice.  If electronic music can be chill, this seems to be it.  You're not interacting with the lyrics much (with a couple of exceptions), the sounds and beats just cook along in the background.  Even though the lyrics can be pretty transparent, there's not much to jar you, and quite a bit to soothe you - in a rhythmic way.  The only criticism is that the beat patterns don't vary much song to song, nor do the vocals - the delivery is repetitive. Favorites:  the title track, plus Girl Problem, Japanese Gum, The Luxury Of Loneliness.

The Whitest Boy Alive - "Dreams":  I really like the instruments, the playing here.  Kind of jazzy and funky, especially for an alternative band.  In fact, I'm going to add it to my "jazz" playlist, as well as to contemporary.  The lead singer's vocals are distinctive, too - an unusual combination of style and timbre.  I'm not really sure how to describe it exactly, once in a while he reminds me of Al Stewart (Year of the Cat); regardless, this is another good chilling/background-y album.  Nice.  Favorites: Fireworks, Figures, Done With You, Golden Cage, Inflation, Burning.  Really, they're all great.  Love this CD.  :)

Sufjan Stevens: "Come Feel The Illinoise", "The Avalanche", "A Sun Came", "Greetings From Michigan", "Seven Swans": My thanks to K for burning all these for me, resulting from a Three Track Party discussion. All told, 6 hours of Sufjan Stevens. So last weekend when I had the house to myself for a couple of days, it was a Sufjan marathon. :) Two passes through all 101 tracks was, um... a bit much. Eventually, I had to take a Pink Floyd break to recalibrate.

This guy apparently doesn't write music for popular consumption. I can't think of one track out of the whole business that I would classify as real chart hit material. Yet, he seems to get there. He certainly has a loyal following. And really, the music's not too bad, taken as a whole. Once in a while he goes "off somewhere" with instrumentation and song structure, but he comes back within a couple of songs.

I did enjoy the Seven Swans CD a lot. That seems the most approachable and least quirky of the bunch. Greetings From Michigan wasn't too bad either. So, yeah. I get the idea from his music that he's a decent guy inside. I want to like him. :) It will just be easier if he simply comes up now and then in the rotation, instead of listening to him 12 hours straight. Yikes!

passing through

.


bodies are finite
generations come and go
we are not immune


.

Generational Grief

On Monday I was thinking about people passing from this life into the next, and remembered what it felt like when my grandparents died.

They shuffled off this mortal coil at different stages of my life.  One before I was born, another when I was little, the others when I was old enough to feel it strongly.

But what I remember most clearly about those experiences was watching Dad mourn when his father passed.  I figured on Mom crying when her parents passed, sure, but I didn't know what Dad would do when Grandpa Ted died.  

I had never seen my Dad cry.  Ever.  He just wasn't the type (at least as far as I knew.)  

He was the oldest boy, and at Grandpa Ted's funeral, he went up to the casket alone, not with his brothers, and knelt and prayed (which is also something I never saw him do.)

I watched from a distance, giving him space to be alone there, but watched him with unblinking eyes, not wanting to miss a thing that he would do right then.  I thought, somehow, that this would reveal something of the man inside.  It did.

Huge, racking sobs shook his shoulders.  It was a motion I had never seen his body make before.  Not like a bronchitis cough or even like losing your stomach when sick (both of which I'd seen), just... convulsing with grief.  I was stunned.  My God, I thought, who is this man?  I don't know him.

And then I thought, like every young son would, I suppose... is this what I will do when *he* dies?  Will I shake with grief like this?  Will I sob uncontrollably in public?  Is that what a grown man does when he loses his father?

Time went by, and no, it wasn't like that.  I reacted differently.  When I took the podium to deliver the eulogy for both him and for my brother, I had prepared for it and was ready.  My many previous opportunities to be on stage helped me a great deal to handle it.  I'd often sung very emotional songs and delivered feeling-laden talks to large numbers, and had learned how to channel my very real emotions into the delivery.

So it was more of a performance:  honest, open, heartfelt, emotional, yes - but measured, planned, scripted, rehearsed.  I've done it at other times, too.  Some of you have seen me do that.  The real emotions were beforehand (when preparing); or later (when alone, maybe for months afterwards.)

But that's not really the point of this post, I guess.  The point I wanted to make is that I think when we are children or young adults we learn how to grieve by watching those older than us.  We see their mourning, learn that it's acceptable to do in public, and watch afterwards how the loss changes people, how they deal with it.

And grandparents especially help us with that.  Most of the time, they pass before our parents and siblings do, and so we can learn about grief from watching our parents go through it with their Mom or Dad.  

Grandparents are wonderful for many reasons, but one reason that hardly ever gets looked at is how they help us learn about death, as well as about life.   Because of them, we can experience our first brushes with mourning and loss from a little safer distance... before it hits us head-on with our own parents or siblings.  

Because of grandparents, we can learn early how to let loved ones go.

College kids, pasta sauce, scooters & drugs

It's that time of year. They're moving back into the dorms.

Our favorite college boy (J2) is back on campus now (I think...) but others we know are headed this way. JR, a favorite guest, came for dinner last night with his Mom and Aunt, on the way to move back in at Bethel. They're really fun to have around, and are a great excuse for me to try a new recipe for pasta sauce. :)

It's made with fire-roasted tomatoes and beets, red onion & garlic, served mixed with orzo. And while it's meant to be vegetarian, for the sake of our carnivore friends (yes, and me, too..), a little Italian sausage tossed in seemed like a good idea.   Oooh.  Yum.

But, to cut back on the carbs for me, I had an alternative to the orzo available. Shirataki noodles! I got the ones shaped like spaghetti. They're refrigerated, and you just rinse and warm them. Not bad. No particular flavor to compete with the sauce, and a decent size serving (8 oz) for $1.79 a bag.

And thinking about going back to college... D has one more week of vacation this week before her Fall semester starts. Plus, heard from J1 about her new mode of transportation. Cheap, electric, street legal, and it's pretty cute. Good enough to get back and forth to work, and should make the transition to use at grad school (USC?) pretty well a year from now.

I still get a few weeks to finish my summer reading list (down to one book now!) and see some concerts. :) My grad school class (Hermeneutics) doesn't start until 9/25 (after They Might Be Giants and Neko Case have both come and gone!) And with Stereolab in October, and Jason Mraz in November... Fall is looking pretty good in the music department, too.

Finally, I heard from my doctor this week and, yes indeedy, I am to stay OFF the meds for blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol!  Yay!  Cured!  (well, at least until January when I see her again.)  But for the two months I was off of them, nothing popped into the problem range.  So, good, good, good.  :)

All grown up :)

It's mid-August and time to take the grow tubes off. Aww... they're so bushy! Don't they look nice? :)






So I removed the protective plastic, straightened and retied the canes to the stakes, and sprayed some more for bugs. Pretty soon the Asian Lady Beetles and Box Elder Bugs will be out in full force. Grrr...



The grow tubes are removed because the vines have to harden at the base to be able to survive winter. It's a process called “aoutement”.

Aoutement is a French term used to describe the period beginning when the vine's rate of growth slows and the shoots and canes begin to show woodiness (lignification).




Untubed vines will have a much better chance of making it through the winter. Or so the books tell me. :)



So, yeah, c'mon, boys. Toughen up! Before you know it, winter will be here, and you'll need to be hardy. Yup. Don't I know it...

Music Reviews: Fauxliage, DCFC, Rilo Kiley, Lowen & Navarro

Fauxliage - "Fauxliage": Leigh Nash! :) This is kind of an under-the-radar project that she did last year with a couple of musicians from Delerium (who featured her as a guest vocalist on a couple of their albums.) Her voice is unmistakeable, though, and when I heard a track from them on an iTunes radio station, the band name couldn't hide who was singing (neither could Sixpence None The Richer, for that matter.)  

This is a lovely little chill album which you could play for hours and not tire of.  Her vocals float over the synth and drum like a heron riding the wind.  Beautiful.  I love every track, even the remixes of Rafe, but the standouts to me are Someday the Wind, Let it Go, Without You.

Death Cab For Cutie - "Narrow Stairs":  I know, I reviewed these guys not long ago, but... the older stuff.  Their live concert sort of put me off to their new album.  But, thanks to Amazon's daily deals, I picked it up for $5 last week.  It's way better than the live version was!  :)  I really like this.  It's nowhere near as pop-py, true, but it's still Ben Gibbert singing, and it grows on you.  Favorites:  I Will Possess Your Heart, Cath..., You Can Do Better Than Me, Long Division, Your New Twin Sized Bed, The Ice Is Getting Thinner.  Good, good, CD.

Rilo Kiley - "Under The Black Light", "More Adventurous", "The Execution of All Things":  This band is one that's pretty versatile when it comes to material, at least when seen over the course of their career.  There's some straight pop, some alt-country, some emo, some mainstream alternative (what an oxymoron), some quirky stuff, some dance, even.  On the earlier CDs, once in a while a song has a language issue, but those simply... don't make the playlist.   

The albums have gotten more polished and less raw as they've gone along, with "UTBL" (the latest) being the most pop/dance/club-oriented and consistent of the three.  I also like it best, (and their early, "evolution" one, least.)  :)  I do have kind of an emotional attachment to "More Adventurous", though, for the title track, and also because I like Jenny Lewis' voice when she's sounding like a country singer, which she does fairly often on that CD.  She and Leigh Nash are both really good with a pedal steel behind them.   

Besides More Adventurous, favorites tracks are: from "TEOAT", the title track, Capturing Moods, Hail To Whatever You Found In The Sunlight That Surrounds You.  From "More Adventurous" I also liked Does He Love You?, Portions For Foxes, I Never, A Man/Me/Then Jim, It Just Is.  From "UTBL", the title track (again!  Guess they choose good titles..), Close Call, Breakin' Up, Dreamworld, Smoke Detector, The Angels Hung Around, Give a Little Love.

Lowen & Navarro - "Broken Moon", "Walking On A Wire":  A recommendation from SQ, this folk/rock duo put out some good work in the early 1990's, and they are really easy to warm up to.  Great hooks, comfortable harmonies, solid melody, good lyrics.  Nothing all that challenging, but a lot that is emotive without being emo.  ;)

Favorites: from WOAW, the title track, plus Seven Bridges, Somewhere Far Away, C'est La Vie.  From Broken Moon... um... everything?  This is a CD I can listen to over and over and not get tired of it.  I suppose that the ones that rise to the surface are ones I connect with lyrically (read: tears escape.):  Maybe Later, Constant As The Night, Just To See You, Not Like You.  

What I did on my summer vacation

Went to the big city




























for a wedding & reception along the river
















































































Went to the state fair, to play and eat



and to see some dairy cows,

some nervous,





some worn out



some dairy cow *handlers*





and some dairy goats!



(brown seems to be "in" this year for animal fur color...)



and even saw a few kids lying around.



Not only that, we even had time to stop and smell the flowers. Even if these don't smell like much. Still, it's the principle of the thing. :)




Ate some favorite food at old familiar places



saw a ballgame with my favorite team (a win, even!...)



Saw my doctor (still waiting on test results to see if I can drop some of my meds; crossing fingers...)



Relaxed at a favorite B&B (for the fourteenth year!)



in a little town that has all things Frank Lloyd Wright. Even the Catholic church which was built in '88 is done in that style.




saw my sister and husband for lunch in a little river town



not far from a gracious winery which I love to visit (no exception this time, either; checked out their trellising systems, asked about beetle control, and yes, bought a few bottles...)




Saw a comedy by George Bernard Shaw at the outdoor Shakespeare theatre. What a lovely place. Fourteen years coming here, too. :)







Then home via the scenic route, through quaint little river towns populated with oddball little businesses, along the "Great River Road" (or so the signs said. Guess they were right. It was pretty great.)



Managed to avoid a pretty big storm by hiding in an old stoneware factory that had been converted to shops. Very cool antiques! So many ideas... so little money. (that isn't already spoken for, I mean.)



Finally more gas ($3.49 - cheap!), another winery, another restaurant, and... home. Five days, packed with stuff to do and see (as well as people), things to remember, and things to distract me from thinking too much. :)

I needed that.