Mellow Pensivity

I'm into uber depresso music as of late. I blame it on the weather change. Shorter days, long dark nights, the looming 7 months or so of winter always manages to swallow me. Here are the latest doleful songs dominating my headphones:

• Sanders Bohlke- "The Weight of Us"

• Iron and Wine- "Faded from the Winter"

• Bonnie Prince Billy- "Hard Life"

• Coeur de Pirate- "Intermission"

• Andrew Bird- "Lull"

• Karen O and the Kids- "Hideaway"

• Jose Gonzalez- "How Long"

• Kings of Convenience- "Gold in the Air of Summer"

• Way Out West- "Don't Forget Me"

• Rogue Wave- "Christians in Black"

Check em' out.  You can find most of these on emusic.com. 

It's a Pablo Neruda Day

The Stolen Branch

In the night we shall go in
to steal
a flowering branch.

We shall climb over the wall
in the darkness of a private garden,
two shadows in the shadow.

Winter is not yet gone,
and the apple tree appears
suddenly changed
into a cascade of fragrant stars.

In the night we shall go in
up to its trembling firmament,
and your little hands and mine
will steal the stars.

And silently,
to our house,
in the night and the shadow,
with your steps will enter
perfume's silent step
and with starry feet
the clear body of spring.

En Espanol:

La Rama Robada

En la noche entraremos
a robar
una rama florida.

Pasaremos el muro,
en las tinieblas del jardin ajeno,
dos sombras en la sombra.

Aun no se fue el invierno,
y el manzano aparece
convertido de pronto
en cascada de estrellas olorosas.

En la noche entraremos
hasta su tembloroso firmamento,
y tus pequenas manos y las mias
robaran las estrellas.

Y sigilosamente,
a nuestra casa,
en la noche y la sombra,
entrara con tus pasos
el silencio paso del perfume
y con pies estrellados
el cuerpo claro de la primavera.

Moral DIlemma

I'm having major issues today. Good issues, not bad ones, but issues nonetheless.

As most of you know, I work for a youth non-profit organization as the International service and development director. We put high school students through a year long service program involving local and international service. We work in 4 countries, take about 140 students abroad a year and our goal is to create life-time humanitarians. It is a great job. I love what I do. I work lots of hours and I don't get paid much. You know that going into non-profit. You don't do it for the money.

Here comes the dilemma: I was just offered a new job yesterday with a new company. They are a web development company, they develop all of the on-line applications and such for the government and state of Utah. It is a cool company. Good people. The position is a marketing position. They have offered me more money, great benefits and a stable work environment with lots of room to grow. A good friend of mine works there, and she really enjoys it.

So, what do I do? More money? More stability? Or, my little non-profit. Both are good options, but I don't know what is best. I need help. I need opinions. I need advice.

I welcome your thoughts.

Please advise.

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.