Washington

I am the bear

that hibernates

inside a cave, inside herself

full of rotting meat and sour juices.

If I were a berry I’d be black

and I would nestle deep inside

 a prickly bush

                        aside Lake Sammamish to wait for you-

breach the thorns and pick me.

I am your constant rain.

I am May 1980.

Dear St. Helen:

You are a crater full of ash and dust—

all the rest just petrified logs.

So long winded.

You reached your boiling point.

  I couldn’t leave my cave.

I hid. You exploded.

I am not a berry. 

I am grey ash and residue—

Starched bones and

  old news.

 I rest with the fog inside your crater.

 

I’ll let the rain wash away the flecks

 of dust that cause your throat to burn.

 

 

 

Yes Yes Yes!

It has been over three years since the Yeah Yeah Yeahs last appearance and I have been waiting  since that day for them to come and rock out again.  Last night the wait finally ended as Karen O and crew rolled into downtown SLC and brought the house down as only the YYY's can do.  If you have never seen this band live you are really missing out.  KO came out in an original jumpsuit outfit with tiger tights and a head piece and basically swallowed the mic as she sang a mix of all the best from their past three albums.  Truly, they did not disappoint.  

With the girls near the stage (from left to right: Megan, Miaken, Hayley, Me, Micky)

Hayley and Tony:  such a beautiful couple

We had a perfect view from the front railing of the balcony

Her moves are so awesome.  She is like a punk cheerleader

One of her many lunges.  During several clutch moments in the show, confetti exploded all over the stage and the audience

Thank you YYY's, for returning to appease some of your biggest fans.  We were thrilled.

FRIDAY

Today is Friday, which probably means I am feeling a little bit like this:

Which isn't too far from normal, since my head is in the clouds most of the time anyway.

But, today I am feeling like I'm on another planet and I'm not sure how I got there
 My life is an emotional rollercoaster
But it could be worse, I could look like this:
What if we put too much information in our brains and we looked like this:
TGIF.  I have a couple days now to rest and let the swelling go down.

Flatlined

Maybe when the World is flat

To chop your own head off

will no longer be an issue.

If my arms disengage from my body

limbs will still be present

but they won't be my own

and I don't do well without      extremities.

There may be some truth to this

Flat World,

and if I stand on a tuna fish can

I betcha I can see the top of your head,

where the bald spots are

and the scar from

when you walked into that satellite dish

as we ran through the sprinklers.

If I flatline soon

    tell my mom I am sorry

for the pot on the front porch

that I broke.  It was just an accident.

Summer Jams 2009

This post is for Catherine who is looking for some tunes to pass through her summer in San Fran (and by San Fran I really mean Emoryville... yay!).  Here you go, Cath, a short list of what I'm currently jammin to:

- "Nothing to Worry About"  by Peter Bjorn and John.  Trust me, you will love this one.  

- "Heads will Roll"  by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. From the new and very mellow album, this song is one of the most dance appropriate songs.  

- "Deceptacon" by Le Tigre.  I don't know why I like this song, but I do, so there.

- "Buildings and Mountains" by the Republic Tigers.  Love these indie rockers.  

- "Red Morning Light" by Kings of Leon.  I don't have anything to say about them.  I just like them.

- "I'd Rather Dance with You" by Kings of Convenience.  This song sounds like it should have been in some eighties movie starring Matthew Broderick.  not sure why.

- "Comme des Enfants" by Coeur de Pirate.  cute little frenchie group a friend turned me on to.  

- "I'm a Lady" by Santogold.  Before Lady Gaga burst onto the scene wearing leotards with no pants, there was Santogold rocking gold unitards and sneakers.  

- "This is your Life"  by The Killers.  I love their latest album, and although I like 99% of the songs on the album,  this one has stepped into the forefront to become one of my favorites.

- "Life your Life" (Featuring Rihanna) by T.I.  You should try running to this song.  Excellent.

There you go, Cath.  That should hold ya off for a little while...

One Year Later...

Last year at this time we were here:

And we were enjoying this:

And we had to sign this:

So that we could do this:

And then enjoy this:

I still feel today the way I did in that wedding photo, straight out of the Oahu Temple where I got hitched to the love of my life.  What a year it has been.  There is never a dull moment with BC... Just how I imagined it.

Love your guts, Benny.  Always will.  Happy Anniversary, Lover!

iTunes Celebrity Playlist

Now that I am back in the music circuit,  I have been busy rediscovering some lovelies in my iTunes collection whilst working away at my office.  I have always liked checking out the celebrity playlists at the iTunes store and have decided to create my own celeb playlist (minus the celeb part) with some of my all time favorites.  Here is a top 20 list of the stuff I can always listen to:

1. "See You Soon" by Coldplay.  I found this gem back when I was illegally donwloading music (Ben has now banned me from doing so)  and I fell in love with this song. 

2."Zero" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The latest and greatest from Karen O and Nick Zinner. Looking forward to their new album coming up in April.  First since '06, and I am thrilled.  

3. "Wonderwall" by Ryan Adams.  the best cover ever made, in my opinion.  I listened to this on repeat for about a three month period back in late 2006.  

 

 4. "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead.  Radiohead is just plain genius and this song changes key about a million times.  I kill to hear the key changes.

5.  "Heartbeats" by The Knife.  Porch Parties at Miaken's house and nights out with the gal pals at the W.  It is the ultimate indie dance song.

 6. "Time won't let me go" by The Bravery.  On Ben's first mix I made him, which later became "the anthem".  I fell in love with him listening to this song,  not to mention I blasted this from my headphones while cruising down the amazon in Peru.  It always takes me back to those places.

 7. "7/4 Shoreline" by Broken Social Scene.  I just plain love this song.  It reminds me of cruising with my windows down in the summer.

8. "Panama" by Van Halen.  This one is for Ben.  I am NOT a butt rocker by any means, but Ben sure is and he has turned me on to some good butt rock over the past year.  This song makes you want to jump around and air guitar like you won't believe.  

9. "Ahi Estas Tu" by Chambao.  People make fun of me for my love of flamenco, but I don't care.  This is a bit of modern flamenco from a group straight out of Malaga.  It reminds me of riding the bus to El Palo.

10. "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Repeat on the playlist.  Karen O's voice on this song kills it.  I remember watching her perform this song on stage and it was mind blowing.  If you want to see an amazing performer, hit up one of the YYY's shows and watch KO rock out.

11. "Take It Off" by The Donnas. Though not the greatest lyrical content, this song helps me  vicariously live my dreams of being a hard core rock chick.  These fine ladies know how to play a rock song.

 12. "Sorry I am" by Ani Difranco.  I have a special place in my heart for really depressing music.  Ani is one who lives out a lot of crappy moments of her life in her songs.  It makes for some phenomenal music and we all reap the benefits.  

13."The Great Salt Lake" by Band of Horses.  This song is appropriate considering my place of residence.  Saw them play this live a couple years ago and it was stellar.  I see a slide show of my Salt Lake life in my head when I listen to this tune.

14. "Lost Cause" by Beck.  A friend I met in Peru played this song for me on a ipod dock in a ghetto hotel in Iquitos.  It was an instant player on my playlist. 

15. "Nantes" by Beirut.  Lead Zach Condon not only does the vocals but he also plays accordian, keyboards, saxophone, clarinet, mandolin, ukelele, horns, glockenspiel and percussion. I find it fascinating. 

16.  "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" by Death Cab for Cutie.  Another depresso song, but I love the lyrics.  There is so much truth to this song.  

17. "I Feel it All"  by Feist.  She has a crazy beautiful voice.  I love that it is so pure and clean.  It seems so incredibly effortless for her.  This song never fails to make me smile and want to put on a sundress and dance. 

18. "Banquet" by Bloc Party. Another killer dance song.  love it.

19. "Heartbeats" by Jose Gonzalez.    The slower, guitar rich version seen in #5 on this playlist.  I would kill to play the guitar like this guy.  

20. "Find Love" by Clem Snide.  Sweet, simple, unique love song.  Listen to it.  

More playlists to come. Let me know what you think of this one.  Just don't mock my flamenco choices...