Thursday, December 31, 2015

"You don't really wanna go when something's closing..."

Brother Christian, Jeremy and I. Looking and feeling our best in 1993.

One last little nice thing before we close out 2015 Brought to you by Brainpickings and shared with me by Julia



Just some things we could probably all do to remember this coming year.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Music for your Midweek: "Square of Sky"



Here's a song that I wrote:




Inspired/terrified by this video. It's the only really output I got after a year of trying to live creatively. haha. If I do a song a year, it will only take me a decade to put out an album. Not bad!

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Bargain" - Lizette Woodworth Reese

BARGAIN
A rose will cost you more
Than its gathering;
A song be such a price
You dare not sing. 
What must you pay for each,
Else loveliness fare amiss?
Yourself nailed to a Tree—
This.

- Lizette Woodworth Reese                                                                                      

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Sufjan Stevens - "Sister Winter"

Soon-to-be former abode. 12-15-2015

Happy Christmas. Here's a nice thing:



Saturday, December 19, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Regarding a door" - David Antin

REGARDING A DOOR 

regarding a door
its open and shut
but it is less open and shut than a wall
a wall is something to lean on
and its unwise to lean on a door
regarding a door
you can take it in hand
turning the knob of a door you can open it and step through
then its no longer a door
now in the case of a wall its a wall wherever you are
which is evident and consoling
with a wall you always know where you are
while a door is only a door from the outside
there is also something substantial about walls
maybe its the materials from which theyre made
the bricks and the plaster
but more likely is the absence of hinges
the hinges in doors are like hidden conditions
upon which everything turns
theyre like the small print in contracts
a door depends on its hinges
but it also depends on a wall
there is nothing unusual about a wall without doors
a door without walls is ridiculous
also a door is always suggesting another side
so doors seem ambiguous and appear to be forever changing its mind
but regarding from whatever angle
it is always offering you the same proposition
there are many unanswered questins about doors
why is is that there arent circular or eliptical doors
what is it thats frightening about sliding doors
and what about the colors of doors
green doors in brick walls
white doors in black walls
and black doors in white walls
this will lead you to suspect that I am talking about symbols
rather than about doors and walls
whats all this talk about doors and walls anyway
why not talk about something real
like strainers

                                                                 - David Antin

Friday, December 18, 2015

A story of freindship

Things you do when you don't have friends:

From June 17, 2014



















Inspired.


Hey "friends".

I'm really good at getting free stuff. 
Click here if you want do do the same, corporate slime.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Recap: California Dreamin'


Fitting for today, some old photos from a trip to visit Sarah.



Click here for your soundtrack.


Riding in the back of a minivan with my two moms

Our hostess with the mostest was an excellent tour guide

and took us to get the best food. I'm still dreaming about
Vishnu's Indian buffet...

Look at this cute Popchips advertisement that Google made for me.



Sarah's apartment is just like The Hills; hot tub and all! Sort of.
Where's my Justin Bobby?


Wetlands refuge

Paddle Hi-5




California tree, man.


Cuties


I'm luck to have such a generous, patient, wacky friend like Sarah. If you want to meet her, you can stay at her place. For reals. She is a hustler.






Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Music for your Midweek: "O Holy Night"


 I think this one turned out sweet and nice.


Peace on earth, good will to men.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

December Mix: Weary World

Posting on a Tuesday just to throw you off. Or maybe I'm the only one who notices these things. HA. This is a good mix to listen to if you are contemplating possible homelessness come January 1st.

1. I Won't Stay Long - Sixpence None the Richer

2. Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys

3. Lost Kitten - Metric

4. I Remember - Bully

5. Afterlife - Arcade Fire

6. I Was A Stranger - Smog

7. Souls Like The Wheels - The Avett Brothers

8. God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday

9. Impregnable Question  - Dirty Projectors

10. Class Historian - Broncho

11. Snakeskin - Deerhunter

12. It'll All Work Out - Blake Mills

13. Marken LÃ¥g Stilla - Dungen

14. Try Again - Aaliyah

15. No Viniste (Natalia Lafourcade Cover) - Carla Morrison

16. Replica - Oneohtrix Point Never

17. Sun In Your Eyes - Grizzly Bear


Click here for the Spotify version of this playlist. Some tracks missing.

NOTES:
3. <3 p="">
5. Break your heart, watch this music video

9. Our beloved Tetons star in this video.
10. Got to see these guys at Urban Lounge last month. Big weirdo of a lead singer. Strange times.
12. Blake Mills has my heart these days. He does everything and knows everyone. Check out Heigh Ho for sure.
13. Thanks to Sondre Lerche's end of year list for leading me to this old track.
14. Inspired by one of the best Christmas gifts of all time.
17. There is a certain slant of light that makes me feel so down. Emily Dickinson knows. For me it is 3:30 on a sunny day in the middle of the winter. If that light were a song, it would sound like this. I like this song though. A "heavenly hurt" indeed.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

A New Creature

I listened to a favorite podcast in hopes of re-invigorating some long dormant initiative. I first heard this Radiolab episode a couple years ago and it stuck with me ever since. Want to know what happens in cocoon? It's not an easy question to answer:



I've spent the last little while feeling pretty gooey. Give me an exoskeleton already.

To change means not just growing an appendage. You have to disintegrate, and then become new. I imagine it's painful. Both completely natural and unnatural. Just a different form of death. It's beautiful to think that a future butterfly is hidden in every caterpillar. "What of my future self is in me right now?"

From here.


When I first heard this podcast, I did some research and found these scriptures that speak on the topic:

Ezekial 36:26-27
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them.

and another

Ephesians 4:22-24
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts:
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
and another

2 Corinthians 5:16-17
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

The butterfly serves as a symbol of resurrection and rising from the tomb.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

Thom Yorke knows. He talks about it in one of my favorite hymns he wrote:





"One day, I am going to grow wings..."


I can only hope.



Saturday, December 12, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Strange Hurt" - Langston Hughes

STRANGE HURT

In times of stormy weather
She felt a queer pain
That said,
"You'll find rain better
Than shelter from the rain." 
Days filled with fiery sunshine
Strange hurt she knew
That made
Her seek the burning sunlight
Rather than the shade. 
In months of snowy winter
When cozy houses hold,
She'd break down doors
To wander naked
In the cold.  
                                          
                                 - Langston Hughes

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Recap: The Tetons

Must be *this tall* to hike.
JK anyone can hike, but no whining.

Now that the old Facebook photo albums are sort of passe I needed to find a new place to show off. Here are some photos from a trip to the Tetons with Ingrid, Suzy, and Julie from September.

We knew the trip was off to a good start when we found these hats at the Family Dollar




First of a million selfies


The team forges ahead

Paying reverence to the mountain gods


:) :) :) :)


This is real life


Girls on the move
One of my favorite shots


We saw bears!


And bison!


This is just a fraction of the photos I tool. I was overcome by the beauty of the Tetons. None of these photos do it justice.

We all gotta get outside.





Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Ibeyi - "Oya"


"The album is about our lives. It's about losing people that we love, but enjoying life. We're still aliveand we have to enjoy every moment of life. And, remember people that are going with a smile."

Ibeyi are cool, and this music video is magic. It has me hypnotized:



Need to listen to them more. Remember this?



Image from this interview




Sunday, December 6, 2015

Something for Sunday: "Cast they bread..."

A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever it around to be loved.                                                          - Kurt Vonnegut

Bonneville Shoreline Trail, 12-1-2015
     I am not an open person by nature. Trust does not come easily to me, and I prefer to keep concerns and feelings to myself. This is incompatible with the gospel. We are required to be vulnerable. The commandment to love others as we love God and ourselves is hard one of the most difficult for me to obey, not because I don't feel love for others, but because those emotions can be difficult to process since I know they can lead to heartache. If we are to be good Christians, we are supposed to lose our lives, turn the other cheeck, and bless those that curse us.

     If that's not vulnerability, I don't know what is.

     I used to joke with some of my old room mates that I would walk into every new house/ward/job with the same thought running through my head: "I am not going to make friends. I'm not even going to try". It was a defense mechanism to ward off potential disappointment or heartache. The fact that I did end up forming friendships with anyone is a real miracle, because I've surely never counted on it. I'm lucky to have so many friends and family that I care about, but even with them, I stay aloof or put up a front about how I really feel.

     I'm trying to break those bad habits now and put charity into practice. A baby step approach. When I find it hard to be kind or open, I've tried to remember moments when people had been charitable to me. Remembering kind moments can help us renew our vision and bring back some of the trust we have lost in the world. I try to remember that "even a small gift is love made visible," and it does help a bit. Once I've remembered that others have been charitable to me, then I can see it as an option I can choose for myself. There is no limit to what we can give of ourselves:

Ecclesiastes 11
1 Cast they bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 
2 Give portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 
3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.  
4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 
5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thous knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 
6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.  
7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:  
8 But if a man live many years and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. 
9 Rejoice, O young man, in they youth; and let they heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement. 
10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Bonneville Shoreline Trail 12-1-2015

     I'm hoping to extend more kindness to others, as well as myself. I'm trying to remember that part of that counsel is to be kind to yourself, and to regard yourself with merciful charity and with faith that you can also be transformed through the atonement.


Saturday, December 5, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Horse" - May Swenson

HORSE 
Finally got the horse broke in. It took years.
Now, not strong enough to ride it. It was wild,
and ornery, yes. Which came, in part, from its not
knowing it was a horse, meant to be ridden.
Wouldn't look you in the eye. Shied from looking
itself in the eye. Wouldn't look in the mirror,
especially not in back, Didn't know it had a back
Funny, how it followed. Didn't have to be caught.
It offered its back, asked for the saddle. Or, so
I thought. A joke! Throw you? That
horse wouldn't let you touch lip or nose with your
feeding hand, let alone get a leg over. Yet it hung
around, acting as if. Acting as if. Would come up
behind you, nuzzle your neck. You'd turn, grab
for its mane. It slid away. But never kept
away for long. Unpredictable. Drove you crazy.
Made you ornery. Broke you. Wish I was strong now,
and that horse not so strong. It wouldn't take long.
To have it. Gentled. Ready to mount. Eager to have
me. Eating out of its hand.


- May Swenson                                                                        

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Gretchen and Julia - "All The Time" (Bahamas cover)

I'll be honest. I posted this video because I thought I looked alright, even though the sound is a bit rough. It's just for fun! Have to keep reminding myself that. Give it a listen, but maybe not in headphones?


Check out the original here.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Blake Mills - "It'll All Work Out"

Family time during the holidays calls for this sad little number.



Read more about Blake Mills here, if you want. It's written by a major super fan, so it's funny in it's excruciating detail, at least. Anyway, Blake Mills is something else.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Saturday Verse: "The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac" - Mary Oliver

THE FOURTH SIGN OF THE ZODIAC

1.
Why should I have been surprised?
Hunters walk the forest
without a sound.
The hunter, strapped to his rifle,
the fox on his feet of silk,
the serpent on his empire of muscles—
all move in a stillness,
hungry, careful, intent.
Just as the cancer
entered the forest of my body,
without a sound. 
2.
The question is,
what will it be like
after the last day?
Will I floate
into the sky
or will I fray
within the earth of a river—
remembering nothing?
How desperate I would be
if I couldn't remember
the sun rising, if I couldn't
remember trees, rivers; if I couldn't
even remember, beloved,
your beloved name. 
3. I know, you never intended to be in this world.
But you're in it all the same. 
so why not get started immediately. 
I mean, belonging to it.
There is so much to admire, to weep over. 
And to write music or poems about. 
Bless the feet that take you to and fro.
Bless the eyes and the listening ears.
Bless the tongue, the marvel of taste.
Bless touching. 
You could live a hundred years, it's happened.
Or not.
I am speaking from the fortunate platform
of many years,
none of which, I think, I ever wasted.
Do you need a prod?
Do you need a little darkness to get you going?
Let me be urgent as a knife, then,
and remind you of Keats,
so single of purpose and thinking, for a while,
he had a lifetime. 
4.
Late yesterday afternoon, in the heat,
all the fragile blue flowers in bloom
in the shrubs in the yard next door had
tumbled from the shrubs and lay
wrinkled and facing in the grass. But
this morning the shrubs were full of
the blue flowers again. There wasn't
a single one on the grass. How, I
wondered, did they roll back up to
the branches, that fiercely wanting,
as we all do, just a little more of
life?

                                                                            - Mary Oliver

Friday, November 20, 2015

November MIx: Make Room



It's been a doozy of a month. And I don't think I'm alone in having a hard time coping. Maybe this will help? Or not? You decide.

1. I'm New Here - Smog



2. Wolf - Sylvan Esso



3. Breathing Underwater  - Metric



4. New Dorp. New York - SBTRKT



5. Plasticities - Andrew Bird



6. Witness Blues (Daytrotter Session) - A.A. Bondy
Sorry ya'll, you can check it out here

7. Ballad Of Big Nothing - Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield




8. Special (Garbage Cover) - Torres



9. I Can't Catch You - Sixpence None the Richer



10. Latinoamerica - Calle 13



11. Paul Is Alive - EL VY




12. I'll Be The One You Want Someday - Jessica Lea Mayfield



13. Sous Le Ciel De Paris - Ã‰dith Piaf




14. The Socialites - Dirty Projectors



15. Can't Get It Out Of My Head (ELO) - Telekenesis



16. Iota - Angel Olsen



17. Body - Karen O




NOTES:
Too tired. Coming soon.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Gretchen and Julia (!) - "Dreams" (Cranberries Cover)

After a bit of a hiatus, we're back and as embarrassing as ever. This is an exercise in not-caring, and gosh, it's really hard for me you guys. But whatever. Here we are!



All we do is sleep, and sing about "dreams", apparently.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Personal" - Langston Hughes

PERSONAL 
In an envelope marked:
          Personal
God addressed me a letter.
In an envelope marked:
          Personal
I have given my answer. 
                                            - Langston Hughes

Friday, November 13, 2015

Should have told you what you meant to me

After George passed away, I promised myself that I would try to be more like him. He was driven to create, and took joy in sharing his creations whether it was fashion, or cooking, or music, or art. George was unafraid of experimentation. He tried and loved everything.



For so much time I've been far too cautious and embarrassed. So here's a dinky little thing I recorded while I was missing George. We used to sing it together. It's breaking my heart that he isn't here to harmonize with me.


It's not perfect, but it's a start.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Veteran's Day



THE HEROES
I dreamed of war-heroes, of wounded war-heroes
With just enough of their charms shot away
To make them more handsome. The women moved nearer
To touch their brave wounds and their hair streaked with gray. 
I saw them in long ranks ascending the gang-planks;
The girls with the doughnuts were cheerful and gay.
They minded their manners and muttered their thanks;
The Chaplain advised them to watch and to pray. 
They shipped these rapscallions, these sea-sick battalions
To a patriotic and picturesque spot;
They gave them new bibles and marksmen's medallions,
Compasses, maps, and committed the lot. 
A fine dust has settled on all that scrap metal.
The heroes were packaged and sent home in parts
To pluck at a poppy and sew on a petal
And count the long night by the stroke of their hearts.

     - Louis Simpson                             

Music for your Midweek: Broncho - "I Don't Really Want To Be Social"

I've given myself a friend date activity task everyday for the past while. Sorry,  I love y'all, but these are my true thoughts.


These guys are playing at Urban Lounge tonight so if you have to be social you can say hi to me there? If you still need to be convinced, you might recognize them from this popular little song.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

All day prayer



After you start losing people, you become afraid that anyone could be next.






All day I've had a prayer


     please don't die
     please don't die
     please don't die


And now I feel silly, but I'm still relieved you're here.





The original and
Frank Ocean's

Image from this sweet sad thing I found today. 

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Yes, the mystery" - May Swenson

YES, THE MYSTERY
Yes, the mystery
the mystery of life
the horrid mystery of it
Many have seen it clearer than I
have sat in it
been stuck in it
stood in it up to their nostrils
and chose not to breathe
rather than suck in its stench
And not breathing is most difficult
To stop to refuse to not-respond
is most difficult
Why even in the abstract
it's enough to make you vomit
Thank if those roses
were dipped in tar
Thinking it they are
and your eyelids drop off
your neck will never turn again
and you must stare
at the black leather petals forever
Oh Heavenly Father leave us the illusion
of the flies who cluster the lake of urine
gushed by the horse in the fetid prison
of his stall
and the bliss and energy that spins them
as they bathe and dip their sugar there


- May Swenson                                                                               

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Music for your Midweek: SOAK - "Blind"

I've revisited SOAK over the past month, and she's great as ever. I especially like this Spotify session version of "Blind". It's lovely.I'm not able to embed the song, so I encourage you to click through. Otherwise, check out the album version here:



Saturday, October 31, 2015

Satuday Verse: "True Romances: 1" - Margaret Atwood

TRUE ROMANCES 
1

When I knew them them they were an ordinary couple, she
smiled and laughed a lot, she was a physiotherapist I
think, and there was nothing wrong with him either,
that you could see, except he was a little, you know.
That summer they went on their vacation together,
they always went on their vacation together, to Spain,
that was back when you could still afford it, and
everyone thinks he but her up and left her in four
garbage cans around the city, or maybe not in cans,
do they have cans there? In Barcelona, except it
wasn't Barcelona. It's like that guy who was keeping
his wife in the freezer, you know? And a couple of
kids went looking for some popsicles or whatever.
He didn't even have a lock on the freezer, some
people are pretty dumb. He said they'd gone to
Madrid, except it wasn't Madrid, and one day she just
went out for a walk and never came back, but the
landlady, in Barcelona or whatever it was, says she
saw him back at the flat or whatever it was they'd
rented, after the day he said they'd gone to wherever.
And the cans with her in them were in Barcelona, not
Madrid. So they're there and he's here and naturally
they want him to go over, for questioning they say,
and naturally he won't. He says he doesn't need the
distress all over again. I'll bet. Not that I would either
if I was him. I saw him in the supermarket last week.
He was holding an eggplant and said, Aubergine,
It's a much better word, don't you think? He was
running his fingers over the purple skin. He hasn't
changed a bit.


- Margaret Atwood                                                         



Happy Halloween                                                                           

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Billie Holiday- "Strange Fruit"

Spooked by this haunting track by Billie Holiday. This has always been a favorite, and it never fails to make me sick to my stomach.


Aren't we lucky to live in the year 2015 where things like this never happen anymore? Nothing imagined could be more terrifying than our reality.




Saturday, October 24, 2015

Saturday Verse: "The Dream Keeper" - Langston Hughes

THE DREAM KEEPER 
Bring me all of your dreams
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.
                                                  - Langston Hughes 


Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Drake - "Hotline Bling"

Drake released his video for "Hotline Bling" yesterday.

Guys.

I think I'm in love (insert heart eye emoji here)


I mean those MOVES.


Saturday, October 17, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Weather" - May Swenson

WEATHER
I hope they never get a rope on you, weather.
I hope they never put a bit in your mouth.
I hope they never pack your snorts
into an engine or make you wear wheels. 
I hope the astronauts will always have to wait
till you get off the prairie
because your kick is lethal,
your temper worse than the megaton 
I hope your harsh mane will grow forever,
and blow where it will,
that your slick hide will always shiver
and flick down your bright sweat. 
Reteach us terror, weather,
with your teeth on our ships,
your hoofs on our houses,
your tail swatting our planes down like flies. 
Before they make a grenade of our planet
I hope you'll come like a comet,
of mustang — fire-eyes, upreared belly —
bust the corral and stomp us to death.


- May Swenson                                                                               

Friday, October 16, 2015

October Mix: Children of the Dirt

Isn't it miraculous that anything ever gets done? There's no cure for my anxious nature, but at least this mix numbs it a bit. Big thanks to Julia, Ezra Koenig and the SLC library for leading me to all this music:

1. In the  Morning - Angel Olsen



2. The Way It Goes - Gillian Welch



3. Rotten Human - Youth Lagoon



4. Falling Man - Blonde Redhead



5. Going Underground - The Jam



6. Weather Report - The Tennors



7. Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark) - Unknown Mortal Orchestra



8. Somebody That I Used To Know - Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield



9. My Oh My - Punch Brothers



10. Pretty Pimpin - Kurt Vile



11. UnFuckTheWorld (Angel Olsen cover) - Lowpines



12. Love Is All - The Tallest Man On Earth



13. Seein* Starz - Jessica Lea Mayfield



14. Color Decay - Júníus Meyvant



15. Kid Like You (Arthur Russell cover) - Mountain Man
(Click through above to hear the track)

16.Come Down - Sylvan Esso




NOTES:
1. Got to see her do her thing live and in person on tuesday. She's a tough one with an incredible voice.
3. Also got to see Youth Lagoon last night. Trevor Powers is something else. Came out swingin' both literally and figuratively. Bless my heart all you sweet, sad things.
4. Had to throw in something spooky for the Halloween month. GHOSTIES
6. Thanks Ezra
<3 p="">10. Be still my soul.
11. "Somewhere between midnight and three, maybe the best stuff happens"
12. For all the sensitive ones out there, only curse word is in the title ;) Also, a cover as an excuse to post another Angel Olsen song.
13. FOMO is getting the best of me. I only go to shows. Got to see this guy a little while ago and discovered that he is not really tall. Music still stand on it's own.
14. Jessica Lea Mayfield featured again. She really is a gem.
<3 p="">15. Heard these ladies for the first time in concert 5 years ago, and I'm still haunted.
<3 p="">16. Amelia Meath also making double appearances (Mountain Man and Sylvan Esso). The sweetest song to close it out.


Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Music for your Midweek: RAC w/ St. Lucia - "Ready For It"

I've held onto this song for years. And then I found this video, and had to share it. Aaron King, you are too much.


That's all.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Music for your Midweek: No Doubt - "Sunday Morning"

On Saturday, it will be 20 years since one of my fave fave fave albums was released. No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom is a soundtrack to my adolescence that will always have a special place in my heart. And it is STILL. SO. GOOD.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Antony and the Johnsons - "Cut the World"

Want to hear the most beautiful thing? Watch this video.
Or maybe watch with your eyes closed...

"This video may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. 
Willem Dafoe, Marina Abramović, and Carice van Houten star in this quiet, violent clip."


Read an interview with Antony and the director here

Find out more about the opera Antony wrote for Marina Abramovic here.

Listen to Antony talk about "Future Feminism" here.

Tired of all this heavy sad stuff? Listen to Cripple and the Starfish.

JUST KIDDING THAT WAS THE MOST HEAVY.

OK OK just watch Russel M. Nelson's talk on Future Feminism here ;)


Saturday, October 3, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Vade Mecum" - Billy Collins

VADE MECUM  
I want the scissors to be sharp
and the table to be perfectly level
when you cut me out of my life
and paste me in that book you always carry.
                                                                     - Billy Collins

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Music for your Midweek: Mark Ronson (ft. Alex Greenwald) - "Just"

The hottest cover that I forgot existed and I used to love so so so much. Features high school crush Alex Greenwald from Phantom Planet (and also Donnie Darko! He plays a jerk). I'm too obsessed with Ezra Koenig's Beats Radio show, and he had Mark Ronson on which reminded me about this track. Anyway, the video is great too. Enjoy:

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Saturday Verse: "Entre lo que veo y digo..." - Octavio Paz

 1

Entre lo que veo y digo
entre lo que digo y callo,
entre lo que callo y sueño,
entre lo que sueño y olvido,
la poesía.
     Se desliza
entre el sì y el no:
               dice
lo que callo,
        calla
lo que digo,
        sueña
lo que olvido.
            No es un decir:
es un hacer.
             Es un hacer
que es un decir.
            La poesía
se dice y se oye:
             es real.
Y apenas digo
        es real,
se disipa.
    ¿Así es mas real?

2
Idea palpable,
        palabra
impalpable:
             la poesía
va y viene
    entre lo que es
y lo que no es.
          Teje reflejos
y los desteje.
        La poesía
siembra ojos en la página,
siembra calabra en los ojos.
Los ojos hablan,
            las calabra miran,
las miradas piensan.
            Oír
los pensamientos,
                ver
lo que decimos,
            tocar
el cuerpo de la idea.
            Los ojos
se sierra,
       las palabras se abren.

                                       - Octavio Paz

English translation here.