summah tahm!

list of action words whose meanings i have fulfilled this summer:

run.
jump.
hike.
climb.
smile.
cry.
love.
eat.
read.
drink.
sleep.
kiss.
drive.
fly.
laugh.
rock (out).
bike.
learn.
miss (dearly).
dream.
race.
change.
bump (set, spike).
think.
cheer (on).
hope.
cook.
notdieinacarcrash.
thank.
pray.
enjoy.
grow.
notblog (sorry).
travel.
swim.

it's been the best ever, as you can see.

imaginaaaaation

I was just reading this book by Elaine Scarry, called "Dreaming by the Book," and this particular quote stood out to me:

Aristotle said that what distinguishes human beings from other creatures is our capacity to love something without wanting to ingest it [LOL].  All animals, including human beings, he writes, have the power to smell in order to eat; humans alone have a second reason to smell; namely, to smell flowers, with no interest at all in eating them.  Our smelling of food, says Aristotle, is discontinuous and contingent -- whether something smells good depends on whether we are hungry -- whereas our smelling of flowers is noncontingent and ongoing.  Of course, smelling the flowers, seeing the flowers, touching the flowers, imagining the flowers is also a way of ingesting or at least interiorizing them, since we carry them in as objects of perception and imagining.  Ludwig Wittgenstein suggests that when one sees something beautiful -- an eyelid, a cathedral -- the hand wants to draw it.  Like smelling, like imagining, this too is an act of interiorization, the yearning to incorporate, to make a residual image.

what I like most about this book -- and, in general, about most books dealing with literary theory -- is its ability to perfectly describe certain automatic processes that I do every day.  this is also true of other books in their own ways, but Elaine Scarry's book has specifically been a joy to read for me because of it.  this chapter on imagining flowers has been extremely interesting, in the sense that, as she says, flowers are just about the most prominent objects used in poetry and other ultra-descriptive prose.  for whatever reason it is much easier to perform "perceptual mimesis" (fancy words for imagining) with flowers than with many other objects.  this is due, in part, to the fact that flowers are smaller, more colorful and thinner than many other objects.  mostly what I get out of this is that our brains are pretty sweet.

thought this was funny

Hi. Hi there. Can I have some?

Is that OK if I just have some? Just a sip. I’m just a little thirsty. I know I just had some water, but all I want is one sip. Can I? OK?

Thanks. That’s all I wanted. Just a little sip like that one. I saw it sitting there and I thought maybe you would be nice. You let me have a sip. You are nice. I thought so. It’s nice to be with you. You are real nice for that. I like you.

Hey. So, let me ask…can I have another sip? Please? I mean, you’re not drinking it right now. Maybe I could just sip it for you. You don’t have to pick it up. I can reach it just fine. Yeah, I can just sip it while you aren’t. OK? What do you think? The first sip kinda made me thirsty. Funny how that works. Funny, huh? How it works like that. Did you think about it? Hm? Just a sip while you are busy. You are so nice.

Oh, thank you. Thanks a lot. It tasted good. Yeah, I liked it. That’s a real good drink you got there. A good drink for a nice person like you. I’m so glad.

You know, I think I might take another sip. Just a little one this time. Yeah? I can’t help it. I’m sorry. Sorry. Ok, I’m sorry. Too far. I just wanted another sip, but I’m sorry. Sorry.

Are you still mad?

I hope you aren’t mad. I like you. Hey, that’s your drink, huh? It’s big. Big drink you got there. Yep, it’s a big one. Big.

So can I have some? Some of your drink? Yeah, that’s right. Just a little. You seem to not be drinking it, and I just thought I could maybe help you. You know, help you out. It looks like you could use some help. Just trying to be helpful. OK. That’s all right. Maybe later you will let me help you.

So, hey. You gonna drink it all? I could help maybe. I’m good at helping. Yeah, sure am.

the problem with "brothers"

let's be honest, not very many people like this bar.  while i've never graced its interior, i can say with confidence that hardly anyone i know has any part of them that enjoys this place.  its name says it all: "brothers."  "hey brah!  what FRAT ARE YOU IN!?"  "TIGHT DAWG.  let's see if we can get that chick to do some BAHDEE SHOTZ with us!," they seem to be saying to each other when i walk by.  with popped collars, designer jeans and fake (or real) gold watches, these ex-high school super-stars keep on living it up at brothers.  that's the reputation it has, anyway.  i never really had any problem with this bar other than the fact that it's a the only chain bar in the 14th and O area that i know of - and that it's geared toward frat dudes.  (RAWK!)  that doesn't seem like a really great foundation for truly loathing an establishment like many people i know do, but then something happened to me that changed my vague dislike into full-scale contempt...

it was only last spring sometime when i was denied entrance to this bar just because i had on a white t-shirt.  that's their dress code policy: "no white t-shirts".  "seriously, read it on the window.  brah," the man said to me as i proceeded to walk through his arm thinking he was joking.  and so i waited outside on a bench for my friend who went in to look for someone.  "that's kind of a weird policy," i thought (and continued), "i wonder why they think they are above people that wear white t-shirts."  this thought seemed to resurface in my (sub)conscious over the next few weeks as i pondered what their problem with us white t-shirt wearers could be.  then it hit me: actually nothing hit me.  i couldn't understand it for the life of me except that it was an attempt to keep up the "stature" of the bar.  yep, gotta have that collar, gotta have that non-white t-shirt.  gotta keep up the image of our clientele.

be that as it may, and there may be a legitimate reason for this dress code rule, i found myself strolling in front of brothers a couple months later with a couple of my "bros," when the doorman thought we should be informed about their wing special for the evening.  "wha'sup BRAH!" he said strolling up to us, " hey you dudes know we got a wing special tonight?  ten cent wings, dawgs.  that's ten wings for a buck, man!"  little did the two doormen know that i had on a white t-shirt under my jacket.  so naturally (and sarcastically), i turned and said, "oh geez, brah!  i'd LOVE to eat some of your wings but i have a white t-shirt on.  what an obstacle between me and your sweet wing special!"  he challenged me to display said t-shirt.  i did so while saying, "yeah you won't let me in will you.  nice dress code policy!"

now, at this point i am not trying to hide my disdain for his establishment, so it's pretty clear that i'm being a snide jerk about it.  but then... before he returns to his doorman stool he whips out a classic: "well... then stop dressing like a DOUCHE!"  yes he did.  sooooo did.  to which i obviously replied, "oh yeah....ooooooh, look how douche-y i am in my white shirt!  ugggghhh so douche-y!  can't even go inside brothers..."

it wasn't until i got home that i realized:  "i just got CALLED A NAME by someone.  how ridiculous!  he called me a 'douche' just for wearing a white t-shirt.  that's so outrageous!"  the idea was spawned shortly after this night to one-up their ridiculousness with some of our own.  as it was nearing the colder months, we only had two opportunities to do so, but we have begun "white t-shirt protest night."  as many as are able meet downtown and walk up to brothers' enormous glass windows in white t-shirts, staring ever so zombie-like at those inside to stand in protest.  we stand in solidarity for the voiceless white t-shirt wearers of lincoln and the world against childish name-calling and questionable dress codes (mostly the name-calling).  we will likely resume protesting in may on fridays (or whenever).  there is a facebook group if anyone feels compelled to join.  that is all.  unite!

"which is the real one?"

i read this...thing a couple years ago and it still sticks with me as one of the most affecting little pieces of literature i've ever read. this is a translation from french.

"Which is the real one?" Charles Baudelaire

I once knew a certain Bénédicta who filled earth and air with the ideal, and whose eyes scattered the seeds of longing for greatness, beauty and glory, for everything that makes a man believe in immortality.

But this miraculous girl was too beautiful to live long; and so it was that, only a few days after I had come to know her, she died, and I buried her with my own hands one day when Spring was swaying its censer over the graveyards. I buried her with my own hands and shut her into a coffin of scented and incorruptible wood like the coffers of India.

And while my eyes still gazes on the spot where my treasure lay buried, all at once I saw a little creature who looked singularly like the deceased, stamping up and down on the fresh earth in a strange hysterical frenzy, and who said as she shrieked with laughter: "Look at me! I am the real Bénédicta! A perfect hussy! And to punish you for your blindness and your folly, you shall love me as I am."

But I was furious and cried: "No! no! no!" And to emphasize my refusal I stamped so violently on the earth that my leg sank into the new dug grave up to my knee; and now, like a wolf caught in a trap, I am held fast, perhaps forever, to the grave of the ideal.

three years back

you'll notice the blog archives here are mostly filled with blogging that was meant to keep my friends in the loop as to my adventures in europe. it's been three years since the beginning of my most recent trip across the pond so i thought i'd recall and rehash a few things that happened on my two trips to spain (july-august 2004 and january-july 2006).

the most enduring things from spain and europe that i continually think about if not daily, then at least weekly:
people i knew there (and still keep in contact with)
places i went (specifically bigger cities that are in the news)
spanish fútbol (most notably my team sevilla)

that's it, i guess. and hmm...that's not such a novel thing, either: to have "people" and "places" as two of my most-often evoked items. that seems pretty consistent with what traveling and living abroad is. so i guess the novelty i was aiming for has not been met; yet i am not discouraged in my blogging objective.

"people" comes up this week in particular because i talked on the phone to some of the people who were cornerstones of my two experiences. paco and pilar gómez were my host family (read: grandparents) during my summer in toledo. they were wonderful hosts and very kind. they genuinely care about the progress of the students that stay with them, and thus are very warm and encouraging for rough spanish speakers. this is also evidenced by paco's righteous anger and refusal to give students the password for his then newly-acquired (in 2006 when i returned for a visit) wireless internet. the unfortunate girl who stayed with them that spring received all of paco's ire when she would talk to her boyfriend back home on video chat programs until 3 am. you should have seen the bags under his eyes as he explained with open exasperation (as the spanish are known for) how little sleep he had been getting with all her chattering down the hall. he just wanted her to speak spanish! "es que estos americanos creen que están de vacaciones cuando aquí. ¡y no es así, aarón!" [these americans think they are on vacation when they come here, and that's not true!] he told me yesterday. paco's grandpa tendencies only make him more adorable though, as i could go on for hours.

the second "people" that i talked to this week was bahiya, my friend from sevilla. we arrived in sevilla from different parts of the world: she being born in morocco and having studied in pennsylvania, was preparing to enter a masters program at georgetown. and i, of course, from the midwest with no real aspirations for anything post-college. there are a few people in life that i have found that i can be friends with without the slightest effort or intention. that was a special connection that i shared with bahiya. i guess i don't know about her end of that, but my view of our friendship was (is) one of effortlessness. i think we just understood each other very well. both our senses of humor and our more serious moments of conversation meshed with ease. so we caught up with each other last night. it had been a year or so since we last spoke on the phone. it's just a genuine pleasure to know her as a friend. we have lots of good memories, to be sure, but more than that we found a lot to enjoy in our friendship. the picture below shows how much fun we were always having together with our other friends.

i think that's enough for this one. i'll probably continue this series of memories on occasion as i also read through my journal from the sevilla trip over the next 6 months. below are photos of paco (and pilar) and bahiya. ¡hasta luego!

fray luis de león

this blog (from myspace) is from last fall in my first semester of grad school. i still occasionally read some fray luis. he was a poet in Spain's renaissance in the 15th century. in this photo, you see a picture of me under a statue of him in Salamanca where he studied. well, i'm studying too. for a golden age poetry exam this afternoon and i happened to be focusing on one of his poems, "En La Ascención" about the ascention of christ. it's pretty awesome, so i thought i'd put it on here:


¿Y dejas, Pastor santo, And you leave, holy Shepherd,

tu grey en este valle hondo, escuro, your flock in this deep, dark valley,

con soledad y llanto; with solitude and crying;

y tú, rompiendo el puro and you, breaking the pure

aire, te vas al inmortal seguro? air, leave to the secure immortal?

Los antes bienhadados The previously well found

y los agora tristes y afligidos, and now sorrowful and afflicted,

a tus pechos criados, at your breasts brought up,

de ti desposeídos, of you dispossessed,

¿a dó convertirán ya sus sentidos? to where will they turn their senses?

¿Qué mirarán los ojos, What will their eyes look to,

que vieron de tu rostro la hermosura, those that saw the beauty of your face,

que no les sea enojos? that will not be but troublesome to them?

Quien oyó tu dulzura To he who heard your sweetness

¿qué no tendrá por sordo y desventura? What will not be deafness, misfortune?

Aqueste mar turbado This turbulent sea

¿quién le pondrá ya freno?, ¿quién concierto of whom will it be calmed? Who to arrange

al viento fiero, airado? the fierce and angry wind?

Estando tú encubierto, Being you concealed,

¿qué Norte guiará la nave al puerto? What North will guide the ship to port?

¡Ay!, nube envidiosa Ay!, envious cloud

aun deste breve gozo, ¿qué te aquejas? even of brief delight, What to grieve?

¿dó vuelas presurosa? Where do you fly with such haste?

¡cuán rica tú te alejas! How rich as you move away!

¡cuán pobres y cuán ciegos, ¡ay!, nos dejas! How poor and blind, ay!, you leave us!

i guess it's never occured to me the kind of emotions that must have been going on in that moment. the people that spent their lives with him and lived for only a few days outside of his light. to have to realize that they were about to return to that darkness (although this time with new-found light and hope). it must have been quite a painful moment. anyone (jeremy) that has thoughts on the translation can help me out.

the list 2008

i've decided to jump back into the blogging universe.  once again, a year-end list is the topic, but i promise this is not the extent of my blogging interests (evidence aside). besides travelling and music lists, there's not much to speak of.  i haven't used this space for much "real" blogging, but have instead used myspace, which i don't like anyway.  so, i plan to copy/paste a few posts from that blog here and maybe elaborate with some more current thoughts regarding whatever i had to say at the time.   sounds fun to me!

so...onto the list. people have said that 2008 was a rough year for music.   i don't know what that means, but i will say that this year has found me listening to more albums that i wasn't super in love with.  and so, when it comes to plugging these albums into an at times rigorous top 10 list, we see some difficulties emerge, specifically when 10 worthy albums cannot be found.  at the risk of not conforming, though, i have relented and picked the 10 best albums i heard - in particular order.

10. M83 - Saturday = Youth

this one just baaaarely sneaks on the list because it truly does have some great moments.  most notable are: Kim & Jessie, Graveyard Girl and Too Late.  unfortunately, all the good times i had while listening to this one were almost destroyed in one fell bad-concert-experience swoop.  "don't go see m83 with high expectations" would be my advice to any and all fans of their music.   this was one of my favorite albums of the year at one point.  it's sad that the show could bring it down that much, but my fellow show attenders (jeremy and kim) agree: too much pre-programed music and not enough of the great guitar tones found all over the album.  good album, m83.  i wish i hadn't seen you try to play it.  oh, and "up!" is the...worst...song...of the year.   i'm still not sure i want it on this list.

listen here

9. TV on the Radio - Dear Science

this is a good album by a better band.  there, i am now a music writer.  it's not as awe-full as their previous album, which blew me away.  so, i guess they get to be on this list because i think they have a pretty good collection of songs here that i mostly enjoy.   there's no standout like "wolf like me" or "i was a lover", but these guys certainly caught my attention with the furious "dancing choose" among others.   their 2006 disc "return to cookie mountain" (ugh, that stupid title) is still their peak so far in my opinion.   we'll see where they go from here.  there's still lots to love.

listen here

8. Azeda Booth - In Flesh Tones

i just heard this album for the first time four or five days before this posting.  i think the cover is fairly indicative of the warm pop movements that are found here.  this is the kind of album that i can only get in to when i am actively listening, otherwise it tends to blend into the background of whatever else i happen to be doing (driving, list-writing, etc).  but when i have taken the time to sit down and hear it, and even though that time has been very little, i have found a gentle familiarity on standout tracks like "i ran", "big fists", and "well" that reminds me of all the reasons i invest time in music.  it's the subtle hooks, the changes of pace, the highs and the lows that really pull this album together.  they couldn't produce the same effect on their own that they do collectively here, and, to me, that is the art of album-craft.

listen here

7. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

so this is what sigur rós has come to: butts.  first (well, second) it was an alien fetus.   SHOCKING!! then it was the "two sausages kissing" cover.   THEY ARE WEIRD!  then it was a nicer little boy stencil.  OH THAT'S PRETTY.   and now we get butts.  well, let's all be grateful that the album cover doesn't have much to do with the sound.   no farting here.  there is, however, a nice reinvention of the classic sigur rós formula that often included: slow build, high peak, long fall into nothingness, slow build, peak, end of song.  instead of 9-minute rises and falls, we get our sigur in bite-size form.   and they taste good that way.  you'll just have to hear it if you haven't.  i'd recommend "gobbledigook" and others.

listen here

6. Beck - Modern Guilt

thank god that beck hasn't given up on us yet.  if i were him, i would be so sick of people telling me how past my prime i was, that i'm not creative anymore, etc etc etc.  this album should shame them a little bit.  it feels like beck is finally comfortable with himself.  tracks like "modern guilt," "profanity prayers," "gamma ray," and others showcase beck's unflinching song-craft skillz.  i'm pretty content with this album.  maybe six is a bit too high, but i'll give him this vote on track record alone.

listen here

5-1 to come sometime soon...

top 5 of 2008

i actually posted this one after the previous one, but for the sake of going in reverse numerical order this post is now second.

5. Deerhunter - Microcastle

i like liking music. i say that to be kind of contrary to the kind of hipster idea that it's cool to not like certain music just because. it keeps up the image of a discriminatory listener. but really, liking music you hear is so much more satisfying. that brings me to deerhunter and all of last year's megahype that i really didn't get in to.  i decided to give this one a go and have been very pleased. this is what i think of when i hear the words "indie rock". it's pop music but with a hitch in its step. whether that hitch is production quality, off-kilter vocals, angularity or ambience, there's always some kind of quirk that either draws you in or alienates you. in deerhunter's case, that hitch is one of a couple things: bradford cox. wait, that's only one. either way, this music is my little shiny pearl in an otherwise underwhelming year for indie rock.

listen here

4. Cut/Copy - In Ghost Colors

i've never been to a rave. wait, yes i have: when i listen to this album! hooo! never ever has my love for the 80s been much more than some kind of nostalgic irony. cut/copy made my butt shake in a way that all the 80s songs i "love" only made my head bob.  i could seriously see myself almost wanting to take ecstacy if i were at their show.  well, kind of.  let's just say that this album makes me *that* out of control and high on life.  the best ones: "out there on the ice," "lights and music," "heart on fire" and several others i can't remember now.  every once in a while, it's really nice to hear such an immediately pleasing album.  i can't say that i loved every album on this list the first time through, but this one will definitely be on heavy rotation into 2009.

listen here

3. The Dodos - Visiter

i already wrote a review of this album for the Forge journal, so i'll (cut)/copy/paste some parts of it here:  "I have thought the dynamics of the relationship between melodic and percussive elements to be the opposite of what I hear in the Dodos.  Whereas I would normally assume the melodic element to be the dominant, attractive force of the music, I have come to recognize the irresistible rhythmic pull that this album has over me.  Besides the guitar and percussion, almost all of the additional instruments (of which there are very few) seem to have less melodic impact than rhythmic.  This is the kind of album that opens its listener up to new musical possibilities, and just like all great albums, it clothes its unique pop in a recognizable form."  Standout songs are: "Fools," "Jodi," "Ashley" and many others.

listen here

2. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie

deerhoof have the unique position of being the only band that always surprises me.  their music is such an odd rock 'n' roll circus that purchasing every new album feels like a crazy adventure at the check-out counter.  this album, however, is filled with as much instantly gratifying, chair-kicking rock satisfaction as it is with subtle ear worms.  "my purple past" has the best rock hook i heard all year.  second and third place are also on this album: "the tears and music of love" and the bombs away coda of "numina o".  it's no wonder if i ever felt the primitive need to ...just...rock...out, this was the album i turned to.  i gave myself plenty of neck aches from these tracks and probably nearly caused several car accidents all with sincere intentions of keeping up with all the RAWKING OUT deerhoof are doing here.   that's not to say that "family of others" isn't the most sublime harmonic soundscape of the year, because it is.  deerhoof has always been a rather diverse-sounding band, and i think those endless possibilities are what keep me coming back.  i never know what i'm going to hear, but i always know their deviant song-writing and allegiance to RAWKING OUT will rattle my cage and make me wish more bands could make music this free and creative.

listen here

1. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

this album did not come out of nowhere.  i've been building a steady admiration over the last couple years for DoE's main band Grizzly Bear.  one of the main songwriters for that band is Daniel Rossen, who has written the majority of the music for this album with some help from fellow Grizzly Bear members.  i have a hard time saying exactly what it is that makes this album so stunning.  Daniel's vocals are haunting and float effortlessly over the phenomenal song writing.  this album feels like a walk through an abandoned house: the piano is dusty, the guitar strings are rusted, the harmonies are ghostly, the percussion deepens the echo, the wind chime clangs out a lonely welcome, and yet there is such warmth in that darkness - a measured, slow-plodding elegance.  when i found out that the album is dedicated to the recently deceased father of Rossen, everything i had been sensing about the album's tone made sense.  the memories are audible and otherworldly present.  i have carried the weight of these songs with me more often than any others this year.  Rossen's song-craft is the shining centerpiece on songs like "waves of rye," "no one does it like you," and "floating on the lehigh."  the tracks here are the most moving i heard all year, powerful in their subtlety and eerie familiarity.  needless to say, i can't wait for the new Grizzly Bear later this year.  : )

listen here or here

that's the list.  i'll begin normal blogging later this week or next.

the list 2006

finally, a little over a month into the new year i can get this monkey off my back. i listened to a lot of music last year... but these were my favorites. i will soon post my favorite songs of the year that are not included in one of these albums, hopefully with mp3 links for you all. :) music!

10. Fujiya & Miyagi – “Transparent Things”
I can listen to this one walking, studying, sleeping, anytime. It's got a great driving-rock heart for all its electronic showing. The hushed vocals fit in perfectly here, blending in like just another piece of the puzzle. All in all, it's a groove-heavy album you'll find me listening to a lot in the next year.



9. The Flaming Lips – “At War With The Mystics”
The Flaming Lips come back with something filled with less fun-n-games than we may have come to expect, but Wayne and company’s newest has much more to offer than cool bloops/bleeps. Political undertones aside, the opening two tracks (“Yeah yeah yeah song” and “Free Radicals”) are two of the best opening tracks of the year. The zany Flips at their best and most freely produced.

8. The Pipettes – “We Are the Pipettes”
No, the sixties aren't back. These aren't 60s girls, dreaming of the one they love, tripping over themselves, and making us feel sorry for half of the planet. These are women. They aren't taking of it either. "Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me" was one of my favorites of the year. This trio of brits has some serious bite. The sounds might take you back in time, but the spirit with plant you firmly in the 2000s. Welcome, Pipettes.

7. Califone – “Roots & Crowns”
This album begins and ends with “The Orchids”. The song has truly worked its way into my life over the last few months. Tim Rutili’s rusty vocals bring to his band’s dusty, kitchen-sink folk an aged wisdom, preaching the gospel of restraint in every trailed-off line or downcast dirge. God bless you Califone.




6. Band of Horses – “Everything All The Time”
I thought this album got a little dry half way through. I thought it lost the pop sense that carried its first few songs. I was wrong. Upon listening recently over the last few weeks I’ve warmed up to the second half, especially the closer “St. Augustine”. I realized that to keep this album off my list would mean putting at least 4 or 5 songs in my list of favorite songs not from a top 10 album. So here you are Band of Horses.

5. Islands – “Return to Sea”
Thankyou Mr. Diamonds. : )










4. Mew – “...And the Glass-handed Kites”
This album caught me by surprise so much. I couldn’t believe for a long time that I was actually listening to lyrics like “We are the defenders of jazz ballet.” Seriously. The music was just too good for me to forget it throughout my rotation of 2006 albums. “Special”, “The Zookeeper’s Boy”, and “A Dark Design” are all top-notch songs with great rhythm tricks, timely dissonance, and pop payoff.

3. TV on the Radio – “Return to Cookie Mountain”
I knew this album would get me from the moment I first heard the opening muted horn section. It sounded like the deconstruction of music. The vocals tend to be a little more reserved on this album, letting their song-craft speak louder. It’s art-rock at its finest – reminding me that I haven’t heard it all.


2. Sonic Youth – “Rather Ripped”
Sonic Youth, this is the album by you I’ve been waiting for. I’ve grown into “Daydream Nation” and older era SY, getting accustomed to five-minute jams in between hooks, and then you drop this song-heavy album on me. Thurston Moore is the best 50+ rocker. Evar.



1. Peter, Bjorn & John – “Writer’s Block”
There’s not much I can say about this. It blew me away unlike nothing else has since Broken Social Scene’s “You Forgot It in People”. An entire album of seriously focused pop hooks that somehow came out absolutely loose and natural. “Objects of My Affection” is a great anthem for living! “Let’s Call it Off” is superb in its sour-turn groove! PB&J won me over with “Young Folks”, but had much more melody and off-kilter Bowie-esque pop than I could handle. This is the kind of album I dream of.

home

where my thoughts escaping, my music playing, my love waiting silently for me.

my cell number is the same. give me a call.

USA USA USA!

happy independence day, internet blog site that is doubtlessly hosted by a server in my native land.

tonight i had a deliciously ironic fourth of july dinner at McDonald's here in barcelona. i went with a couple friends here from the states that both appreciated and joined in the false sincerity of the night. i ordered the most american thing i could think of: a giant size big mac meal with COCA-COLA. mmmm...tasted good going down and felt even better after we blessed our meal with the most appropriate 'prayer' we could think of: singing the star spangled banner. it really was as funny as it sounds. none of us made it all the way through without laughing. but we bowed heads the whole way and made it through.

for anyone that doesn't understand: i'm not really trying to be completely irreverent here. i really do love my country, and because of that i can "play 4th of july" while i'm in spain with a sense of humor. i would have done the same thing in the states probably. maybe make a cardboard cut-out of osama and shoot roman candles at it. just for fun.

this sense of pseudo-patriotism may still all stem from last 4th of july's service-opening prayer at faith bible, including the quote:
"thank you that we live in the greatest nation the world has ever known."

i can't say for sure. i can say that it's more fun to jump on the band wagon and cheer with the masses than to be all vigilant and somber. and i'm ALL ABOUT FUN!

this post has so many levels of sarcasm. i can't even sift through it.

sweesaland

i've been in barcelona for 2.5 days now after leaving switzerland on saturday and taking a few trains to get down to spain again. i'm ready for a relaxing last two weeks here in the euro capital of chill. today i went to the beach for a couple hours. read a book, listened to some music, and basically enjoyed not doing much. no site-seeing, no travelling, no hostel booking. just sun 'n' sand.

switzerland was one of the better pure 'places' that i went to. i've been to a lot of cool places, but the people i meet tend to either make it super fun or mediocre. in switzerland i didn't need to meet anybody. i had the mountains to occupy me. and the did for the two full days i spent there. i went hiking the Schynige Platte hike on the southern boarder of the range on my first day and absolutely loved it. here's some photos:


i'm getting psyched for my upcoming hike checking out the view.



interlaken (where i stayed) is down there below the clouds somewhere. you can see the trail leading off in front of me along the ridge.

















the peaks in this photo are all part of the hike i was on.






post lunch, and i'm still doing fine as my thumb tells you. being above the clouds is cool.

unfortunately the rest of the hike was below them. which still provided coolness, just not the old kind of coolness.

my camera timer is a gem and the only way i take pictures of myself.





all in all i had a wonderful time in the alps. from the spanish bar and friends i met there in zürich, to watching the swiss win their world cup group and the madness that poured out onto the streets. the country may be more expensive than others in europe, but i'm not complaining. i got my $ worth.

two weeks til i see most of you again!

people and places

i'm in switzerland now. interlaken, switzerland to be exact. today i did some hiking and had a wonderful time in the alps. they are very different than the rockies and i am really glad i came here. it's been kinda foggy since i got here yesterday afternoon, but just knowing there are giant looming mountains behind me is cool enough - even if i can't always see them.

i left jonas and germany yesterday. it was sad. i'm über glad that i got to meet his friends and family because now i know him better. his friends were really fun and we had a great time playing beach volleyball, watching football, skinny dipping in the public pool at 4 am... huh? jonas and i had our own adventures too. we hitch-hiked 350 km from his home to a central city and back in a couple days. i will surely cherish the time that i spent with him as it will likely be a few years before we can hang out again. the same goes for his friends too. they welcomed me and made me one of them. it was hard to leave but more lies ahead. for those of you that don't know, jonas was a foreign exchange intern with campus life this last year and that's how i know him.















jonas and i are really tough in wine cellars. step off.































this was the first stop on our hitch-hiking journey. just a little outside his town. we waited here for a couple hours before getting a ride out to the highway.













we waited at this gas station for maybe 45 minutes before finding a man that was going exactly where we were. he took us.













we spent night time under an awning of this business. we slept well, just like the hobos do.













here we are trying to get home after jonas visited a potential school that he decided against. it was kind of rainy which was unfortunate for us standing where there is no cover.













here jonas is talking to bernard our rather unfortunate friend that forgot to pay for his gas and ended up spending an hour explaining things to the police before we could get back on the road in his slowest-ever van. jonas was explaining him the gospel in this photo.

success! we toast to a completed trip. unfortunately, drinking germans are not very steady camera holders.














i regret that i didn't take more photos of his friends, but this is one of them: sam. he was funny.

i don't really know how to book-end this post. there is really no way that i will have that experience with jonas again. next time i see him he will likely be in school in a different city, will have less free time, will not have all his friends around, etc. i guess i should just be glad for the experience itself instead of continually looking toward the next one. tonight i'm watching football. the usa dissappointed today. just beat ghana. sad. disheartening. thank you ref. thank you landon. A+

an evening of football

the world cup started yesterday. and seeing as i'm in germany and the cup is also in germany i see little reason why i should not take advantage of this fact and join in the festivities. yesterday a group of us from the hostel i'm at in berlin went down to the Tiergarten park here in berlin where there were multiple big screens (think 30-foot screens) set up for free viewing to the people of berlin. there was an estimated 200,000 people there in the park. it was cahraazee fun.


























your looking at the view at the screen in front of us and those behind at the other screens.


























and here we are pre-game and mid-match. we were me and another USA girl, one irish guy, an aussie guy, two mexican girls, and two canadian girls.

















self absorbed? maybe. but that's a photo i found on the internet of me at the flaming lips concert last week. i'm here in berlin until the 14th and then i'm heading south to stuttgart where my friend jonas is waiting to hang out with me and watch lots of football. as if i haven't watched enough. three games today. basically here's my days in berlin:
get up at 11 or so.
get some pastry from the bakery down the street.
eat that pastry.
watch the first match at 3.
eat a kebap at any one of the million kebap spots.
watch the match at 6 and take a nap.
watch the match at 9.
hang out and maybe get some food.
go to bed.
repeat.

evan.

i've tried to call you several times with no avail. rest assured, i will make it work. i just don't know when yet. i hope you and the fam are well.

too much to cover

the last few days have gone by pretty fast, but i'll try to bring you up to speed. i left belgium two days ago, seems like a lot longer than that. but it's not. my time in berlin has been nice so far. last night i had some great indian cuisine, and today i had a couple bratwursts (which were not-surprisingly amazing). here's some photos of the flaming lips concert and my friends Dan and Jane that i met in Gent.





































































that's all from belgium. on to germany where i found this crazy mural drawn on the side of a building:













i also went to checkpoint charlie today and the museum there. it was very interesting. there are parts of the old wall scattered around berlin. sometimes you just stumble accross them.