now and then: songs

You know that quote "the more things change, the more they stay the same"? I don't necessarily believe that, but sometimes I have noticed my own history repeating itself in funny ways. I realized recently that certain musical stylings keep winning my heart, no matter how much "cooler" I think I'm getting in adulthood.

For instance...remember the Cranberries?

Yup. First concert. Cotton balls in my ears -- age 10. Dazzled by the wailing and the spectacle.

And late-teen angst?

Oh, Dashboard...you serenaded my tender heart on many a late-night drive.

And wondering if "bass" should be spelled like the fish or like in baseball?

My brother told me in utter seriousness that Ace of Base would be the next Beach Boys. I'm not sure exactly what that meant...

Well, here are a few songs I'd currently walk 500 miles* listening to. Is it just me? Or do they resemble the old stuff? (In a good way!) (Or is this a total stretch? I know, it probably is.)

Eisley, "Marvelous Things"

Stars, "Your Ex-Lover is Dead"

The Bird & The Bee, "Love Letter to Japan"

Well, call me out. Or put up some of your past/present favorites!

* My friend's 2-year-old daughter apparently loves the Proclaimers. She sang "I'm on mah wehh!" ("I'm on my way") out of the blue in the bathtub the other day.

max

Just went and saw this movie...and loved it. Thanks, Mr. Jonze.

fine pluming

leaves will swirl in my tea

and the pluming rise up

of fine steam and memories

through each nostril

at the sharp forefront of my brain.

eyes will percolate with images

as the film out front

shows hands and faces steeped

in something bright

and human.

fine and slow,

fog's fire will roll in low,

burn the dry leaves,

chide a feather smoldering

inside feeling's hollow hold.

embers, dash away

and share with me some swallows 

who'll sing afresh.

stop-motion: the PEN story

There's so much stop-motion creativity out in the world right now. I especially like this little movie because of the way the makers played with the setting behind the photos, along with what's going on in them. (Don't you kind of wish it wasn't an ad, though?)

versus

Some things on my mind...perhaps to be visually interpreted at a later date.

Inspired (a bit) by this awesome blog.

--

"to comfort the afflicted,

and to afflict the comfortable" -- H.L. Mencken

curiosity vs complacency

trying to seem vs being

thinking vs doing

now vs later

trusting + feeling

comfort + inspiration

attitude toward change --> likelihood of future change

go, gadget, go!

I think Inspector Gadget may have been my favorite childhood TV show. The hijinks, the gadgetry, the way Penny never got credit for solving all the mysteries -- genius! My 6-year-old self just couldn't get enough of it. And no other TV show jingle has stuck in my memory like this one (bum-ba-dum-ba-dum! In-spec-tor-Gad-get!).

I gave up hope a while ago that I'd ever see any Inspector Gadget episodes again. "Maybe it's better this way," I told myself. "It would probably just end up sad like when you re-watched Fern Gully in high school."

But oh, was I wrong. Gadget's '80s, matchbox-car-styled van...his nasally, investigator-y voice...the way he always forgets that his messages are going to self-destruct! It's all there and it's all still brilliant!!

Here you go...your ticket back to childhood.

binding

I would like to fall asleep

with the weight of a book on my chest,

and the words of a poem

fresh on my tongue.

I would like the two covers to lay there

like my blankets,

phrases tumbling against my heart,

soft-shaped syllables cascading into my dreams.

Tuck me into the binding

and let me sleep among the folds.

I don't want to go seeking

among your pages again.

at our disposal

Last night I went to an event at the Plaza Library -- the author of the book-turned-movie The Soloist, Steve Lopez, was being interviewed by Angela Elam, who hosts the literary radio show New Letters on the Air. The show airs once a week, at 6am on Sunday mornings (aah...), and it features conversations with, and recordings of, famous, contemporary, and emerging authors and their writing.

Mr. Lopez was fantastic. He read from the book and shared about his history in journalism and the relationship he formed with Mr. Ayers, the musical prodigy, homeless man, and sufferer of paranoid schizophrenia depicted in the book and the movie. He shared information about mental illness and how common it is among homeless people, how it still has a harsher social stigma than other diseases, how Skid Row in LA is a place relatively undisturbed by charity but regularly disturbed by police arrests, where thousands of homeless people live in conditions that shock even the well-seasoned. And he talked about passion and potential and joy. It's hard to watch this video and not be transported and challenged by Nathaniel Ayers' love for music.

The two-hour interview was fantastic. And free.

I can't believe these kinds of experiences are at my fingertips pretty much all the time. I can't wait to go to more.

what would julia do?

For Halloween, I was this fine lady. Much like this fine lady, she was known for being gutsy and gregarious and joyful about life. I had no strategy whatsoever about how to spend the evening as Julia except that I'd do her voice and maybe dance around with spatulas (check and check). But I realized partway through that Julia was an awesome person to be portraying. She was gutsy. And oddly, thinking about how she'd behave helped me to be gutsy too -- at least in the instance of the cream cheese and jalapeño jam appetizer that I dipped into early in the evening. (It looked appropriately, but not appetizing-ly, slimy and globby.)

So, lesson learned: an apron and pearls can do the same for an adult as a Superman cape for a kid. I have a new respect for playing dress-up.