Saturday, June 14, 2008

and the world was it's own psychoanalyst

Where do you find your therapy?

Are you able to self-analyze but not dwell,
introvert but not shut out?

Or rather, are you able to look at your actions, your problems, your vices and shortcomings, and understand their origin? Their purpose?

Do you always need a second opinion?

What would you do if you were alone?

...not that you ever should be. But. While echoing Donald Miller's conviction that "we are not wired to be alone," I also mean to wonder, concerning dependence, how much is too much. At what point does companionship hamper our ability to know ourselves?

By this I speak less of restricting time spent with or time invested in others than I do of harping upon the need for an underlying and unrelenting sense of self. The time it takes to find yourself also depends. The rub is that it's losable and, based on outside influence, always in danger. I've found one that I mean to hold on to. Sometimes I worry that it strongly affects the way I handle others' pleas for input.

This is the reason we all must learn to stand alone. Perhaps the only time we choose to be will exist in the late hours before sleep, or during the fitness walks around the neighborhood. But needing others to judge your decisions before you can for yourself is ultimately detrimental.

This said, I don't mean to judge how any person spends their time.

Only to judge any person on the self-determined Path to Self that chooses never to walk it alone.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Ingrid Michaelson w/ Special Guest, Greg Laswell @ Variety Playhouse 6.10.08

[my first scanned ticket! Greg wasn't listed,
so I asked him to list himself :)]
["who's Greg Laswell?"]
["ah okay. I gotcha." He was the best opening act
I've seen thus far.]
[Ingrid in her "dress/shirt" with ukelele]
["This is not a back-view dress."]
[during "Die Alone," perhaps...?]
[whole band during last, post-encore song]

My good friend Chris Flenker first introduced me to Ingrid Michaelson with this very post. I am forever grateful. You know that penguin movie? The cartoon, not the wow-those-are-honest-to-God-penguins antarcticumentary. Happy Feet! That's it. If you've seen it, you remember that every penguin has a heartsong. I've stumbled upon a handful of heartsongs and can't seem to settle on a single selection, but Michaelson's latest album, Girls and Boys, includes at least three or four. She has that voice and those lyrics. The kind that reiterate the reasons why musicians better explain your feelings to you than you ever could.

[...And the kind that, under the right circumstances, could draw a good cry. Take for example 'I am in love with a boy/manufactured to destroy' from "Lady In Spain," or 'You finished first/I must catch up with you/You have had your fill of me' from "December Baby." ]

She plays live like the CD sounds. It's beautiful. Not to mention how satisfyingly hilarious she is. Nothing ups a show's likability like a side of dry, comedic material.

Greg Laswell, who's touring with her and opened for her show, was unexpectedly great. I might have guessed that Ingrid would settle for nothing nothing less than the bar she sets with her own music. He earned the ticket price with his set alone.

And to tie it off? Yes. A little Ingrid right at your fingertips.
...well she's actual size, but this sample of her work is rather teeny.
And a sidenote: The "dorky clown that kisses her" is none other than Mr. Laswell....

Monday, June 9, 2008

Monday's Haiku (Plus An Interactive Game!)


wheel of fortune's on!
"_________________________"
what's the solution?
  • now including Andrew's Os
  • ooh and Katie's off by a hair
  • oh Rami dear. I suspect you may have
    faked the hair you're off by.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Ben Sollee @ Red Light Café, 6.3.08
[Bonus: Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet @ Variety Playhouse, 5.22.08]

[^what happens when I forget my camera and
Dad takes a cell phone picture. Pure magic, obviously.]

[Ben Sollee with The Sparrow Quartet]

Okay so here's the deal. This guy is good. And I didn't set out to like him. It's a rare CD that, on a whim, pushes its way onto my Favorite Albums of All Time after a single listen through. I credit that to the new horizon it's presented to my music tastes. Ben Sollee is a revolutionary, Kentucky-birthed cellist. At the Variety show, he was a swell classical addition to Washburn's bluegrass -- until she offered him the spotlight and forced him to surprise her audience with his all-encompassing technique and honest, unadulterated vocals. After his solo, I hopped out of my seat and purchased his upcoming release Learning To Bend. Each track competes with the one before it for the inevitably chosen Favorite Song. My favorite is "It's Not Impossible."

"And I must admit, all jokes aside,
I find some men beautiful
some women handsome
and some children wise."



{And now for a back in time bonus.}
[Marquis w/ a side of Turkish Delight s]

[L-R: Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Ben Sollee, Casey Driessen]

[They find each other funnier than first...expected]

[but it grows on you]

[note the matching men and red-strapless-Abigail -- trés chic]

*Note: One mustn't postpone concert reviews for diversity's sake. One may forget the concert's finer points and have only pictures to show for it.*

...anyways, the music was refreshing and Washburn's Chinese lyrics were interesting and somewhat amusing. I enjoyed it, but will say this: If headed to an unfamiliar act, listen to the show before buying the EP.

P.S. Check out Sollee's track "A Few Honest Words" in my Last FM playlist if you haven't already.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Monday's Haiku

chocolate pudding
break n' bake snickerdoodles
vitamin water

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Dreaming at Night

Monday, May 26, 2008

Monday's Haiku

empty nest syndrome
baby pictures turn tassels
another year gone