Shoulda Put A Ring On It

Very often I write down thoughts or ideas on little slips of paper and stick them in my pocket while I'm working. Ideas for stories or blogs, quotes or lyrics that I found relevant to wherever I am at that moment. I own too many pairs of pants and sometimes I won't wear a pair for quite some time and yet when I finally pull them out the little pieces of paper are still there and remind me in a vague way, like having someone else recall something you once dreamed.

I decided around Christmas that I really wanted to learn how to play Beyonce's “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” on guitar and make it into a folky fun-fest but alas, Erin McKeown beat me to it and her version is way better than mine ever could be. I freaking love Beyonce, I don't care what you say. And Erin. Check out her blog. It's priceless.

It was upwards of 75 earlier this week and Sunday afternoon Margarita and I went down the Parkway to Graveyard Fields and sauntered around a bit. I'd say it was a hike only because we both had day packs and I slipped in the mud. It was lovely. Monday afternoon was just as beautiful and after spending the morning on the roof cleaning the gutters I conned Doug into slacking off in the afternoon and going hiking. We drove up the parkway to were it is closed (due to that stupid rock slide near Craggy Gardens) and hiked on the Mountains to Sea trail. I'd say it was a hike because all in all we did about 7 miles and increased our elevation by about 2600 feet. Wandered through the ruins of Rattlesnake Lodge and up Wolf's Den. It was silent and remote and lovely and I was exhausted and elated in the same rapid heartbeat. I can't believe I get to live here.

Tuesday was 12^th night apparently. Asheville is full of NOLA ex-Pats and they keep those Cajun traditions alive and thus four of us decided to check out what the fuss was all about. We met up with the krewe (as they are called) at Ed Boudreaux's and we were by far the most stodgy looking in the bunch. None of us had capes, wings, giant gold and purple beads or a crown. Laaaame. We did enjoy the 12^th night pub crawl and by the end of it there was zydeco dancing, a very small man in a jester hat and Dale Ale in cans. Again, can't believe I get to live here.

Twitter. I'm getting a little addicted.

Before I drove back from VA I decided to buy Sarah Vowell's The Partly Cloudy Patriot as an audiobook and I have to say that was a wise purchase. I've had the book for almost 7 years, have read it dozens of times but hearing her read it brings it a new dimension (and Conan O'Brien reading Lincoln and Stephen Colbert reading Al Gore does add a nice zing). I'm racking my brain as to what other audio books I should stockpile; good books make that 7 hour drive fly by.
“My ideal picture of citizenship will always be an argument, not a sing-along.”-Vowell

Dumbest joke I've heard in quite a while but still makes me laugh:
Q: What looks like red paint but smells like blue paint?
A: RED PAINT!

The other day my iPod was almost out of juice (poor me) and so I busted out some old cassettes I had in my car (CD player was stolen last year, along with my old iPod). The tape was almost 9 years old and it shocked me how familiar it was to hear songs so connected to very specific memories and moments. How those people are years distant and faded from my life yet these songs are still around. It was like my 19 year old self came to ride shotgun for a few miles, reading my sonic diary.

Send in the Robots

I can't really post the whole story behind this photo, but really it is a story you should hear and I'll email it to you if you ask but...this is what a robot mask looks like.
And a bit of what my holiday home with the fam entailed...

My god.

Daffodils

January lied to the daffodils.

They are the embodiment of hope springing eternal; those fresh green shoots bursting through the frosted terra firma of endless winter.

And January has lied to them.
Daffodils think their time has come, they think this week is March and that it is safe to emerge and announce the return of life.

But they are wrong.
Because between now and the relative safety of March lies the tempest of February.
They will freeze.
It is only a matter of time.
January has lied to all of us.
And January doesn’t care.

"Set the foot down with distrust on the crust of the world--it is thin." -Edna

Smudging

Somewhere between 1am and alarm o’clock there is a line. Crossing it is walking into dreams rather than sleeping there; those odd hours where the smudging of actuality and imagination is strongest. I wake not sure what transpired and what I dreamed. Some days I like that uncertainty.

All They Got Inside is Vacancy

Hotel Yorba by the White Stripes always puts me in a good mood. I bounce around with it.

Still don't get the appeal of white jeans, or any color of jeans except shades of blue. I've tried and I don't see it.

Much too late/early on New Year's Eve my friend Adam and I had quite a long conversation on creativity and kairos and several hours later I had a very similar conversation with my friend Katie and I'm beginning to think that "the now" is going to be the theme of 2009.

I spent New Years Eve at the Shop with Adam, Jonathan and a gaggle of friends, milling around the woodstove and talking til 5am. I love that place.

After the Shop I stayed at Margarita's house and we spent the day in our PJs, watching "Mythbusters" marathons and moving very little. I stayed in my PJs even when I went home and the only shoes I had with me were my cowboy boots and I looked like an idiot.

I'm really enjoying The Decemberists' "Always a Bridesmaid" series, specifically the song "Valerie Plame". Love that they'd have a song about the spy.

Had a dream about a porcupine that attacked me with its quills. Weird.

One of the most honest and sad and true songs I know is "Lover I Don't Have to Love" by Bright Eyes.

I think I'd like to get into building sets for productions and my volunteer with one of the acting troupes in the area. I understand the appeal of building without the pressure of permanence.

I would make a New Years Resolution but the only one I'd really want to make has to do with being more disciplined and if I'm not disciplined in the first place how could I even begin to keep up with my resolution? And thus the crux.