SOTM

I cannot stop listening to this:





(It deserves the two versions... trust me....)

Or this:



Jars of Clay.... you never stop surprising me.

Also did you know there was a Canadian version?



I couldn't find the Fred Penner version but this works :)

These made me laugh.... and also want to cry....

Of course, this last one reminds me of this scene.




all belonging to marriedtothesea.com

The New Place Part 1

So the new place is sllloooowwwwwllllyy being put together but since many people have been waiting, I thought I'd at least post a few pictures.

So first of all, here are pictures of what my room at the first new place looked like- before the roommate when nutso and made me move all over again. Ridic.

So then I moved within like a week- Niki was awesome in driving around with me and doing all the formal things like calling people and asking questions. I moved my things in two days (thanks Becky for your help) and since then have been working on making this place a home. It's literally across the street from the College so I can easily walk to campus, which is awesome. One night, when things were a little slow, I attacked the house with cleaning supplies, moving things around. And no better way to do that than with bright red wellies!

I promise it looks less of a disaster now.... So here we have it! Let's start with the kitchen.

The little shelf stand was $4 at a thrift store

Table was $13 and chair was $5- and it goes with my other three chairs at home

I love the shelving on either side and the top shelf is perfect for the wine bottles

Close-up of the shelves above the sink- great for olive oil and vinegar and salt and cooking spray and such

$2 each at a thrift store

Also thrift store finds- and I know there are more like this so there's room to add

Newest aquisition from.... you guessed it... thrift stores... April's sharp eye caught them. $1 each!

The bathroom is teeny-tiny but I've managed to make it work as best as I can. I'm hoping to get some shelves for it at some point since I'm at maximum capacity for fitting things in there....

There's an awkward little window in the shower- but good for getting light into the bathroom

See what I mean about NO room!?

Barely enough room in the medicine cabinet...

Thrift store Georgia O'Keeffe and Dollar store prints to brighten it up

The hallway has a little corner closet and lots of nails on the walls, so it's perfect for hanging my purses, storing everything that doesn't fit in the bathroom, etc. There is also a huge hall closet with shelves that is perfect for pants and t-shirts until I get my dress moved up here this summer. Eventually there will be a photo collage on the wall but I'll show you that when I get my photos delivered.

The living room and bedroom aren't finished yet but this is the second bedroom which will one day be an office but for now is the homework, cello, guitar, bike, storage room. 

$15 for the both- AND somehow transported in my car.... not sure how it happened...

Part 2 coming at some point.....

TAL Live!

 Last night I went to the Live broadcast of This American Life. I love this show so much- I love the stories, I love how it makes me taught and at times makes me want to cry.

There was this great animated bit at the beginning which broadcasted all involved. I snapped a pic when David Sedaris came up because you know he's my  favorite.

Ira Glass is just adorable. Adorable. He was so excited about this live showing. He was practically giddy. He also admitted to being super nervous about all the cues and about the technological reliability of his i-pad. As he said "Apple and I don't have the greatest relationship right now..."

I didn't get a picture of him but Ryan Knighton came and talked about what it's like to be slowly going blind. It began with this great animation bit that accompanied a conversation that Ira and Ryan had about Ryan getting lost in a hotel room, not realizing that there was an alcove next to the bed and coffee table. Ryan also talked about what it's like to slowly get your child, his now five-year-old daughter, Tess, to understand that Tess can see, Mummy can see but Papa can't see. Hysterical, frightening (can you imagine being lost in a hotel room and finding a solid wall where you think your bed should be?!) and touching all at the same time.

OK Go came out and introduced a musical segment. In the picture below, you can see on the left side, colored symbols and white symbols. Everyone was encouraged before the show to download this special app which made sounds and were different colors. "Rock band" style, you would hit the color and the symbol, making a sound, when the symbol on the screen hit the bottom. If you didn't have the app, you either stomped your foot or snapped. With audiences across the country, Canada and Australia making music, the OK Go lads played along with hand bells. It was insane. I have a video but it's not downloading right now.... But take my word for it, absolutely amazing.

The whole idea for a second live show came after Ira saw the Monica Bill Barnes Dance company perform. He wanted to share them with his radio audience but ... duh... dance.... no words. So Live Show #2 was born. And he was right, these dancers needed to be shared. The choreography was nothing too spectacular but their facial expressions were out of this world. It made the entire piece. Everyone was laughing hysterically at how perfectly the expressions went with the music and with the choreography. I loved it.

Next up was Tig Notaro and I did not stop laughing during her entire set. She recounted the many times that she met Taylor Dane, late 80s and early 90s pop singer, and how their encounters resulted in Tig saying, each time, "Excuse me... I'm sorry to bother you.... I just have to tell you.... I love your voice." No joke, she was hysterical. The way that she drew the story out, asked audience members to guess who she kept running into, her facial and body movements and expressions, I loved her!

And then, because things weren't awkward enough, Taylor Dane SHOWED UP! And sang to Tig, who was so uncomfortable. I still don't know where she knew this was happening ahead of time. She did break into some pretty sweet dance moves though...

Next up was Glynn Washington. His set was slightly different because he had sound effects- his accompanist had sound effcects, a keyboard, percussion instruments and it added a heightened level of exciement and anticipation to Glynn's story about "water-witching" and how that affected his incredibly religious family. This story was a lot more tense but still had moment of levity.

The theme of the show was Invisible and Visible and the next bit was about a guy named John Maloof (pictured below in the glasses) who found a box of over 10,000 negatives at an auction and ended up finding an entire treasure trove of never before seen photographs by a woman named Vivienne Maiers. She had photographed for years, sometimes 2-3 rolls a day, but never showed anybody the photos. This fit in perfectly with the theme, as the discussion focused no only on her invisibility as she snapped photos throughout the day, but also about how Vivienne had tried to remain invisible by not showing any one her photographs and how they were being developed and put into books and exhibits. The photos were absolutely stunning- such talent! John Maloof said something incredibly profound that stuck with me: I feel like she was hoarding memories.

The most difficult story to watch was that of Dave Rackoff, who told about the cancer that essentially took away the use of his left arm (which remained tightly in his pocket) and how life, conversations, relationships, everyday practices, are now changed. Yes, there were certain moments of laughter but such a sad and touching and at the same time, hopeful story about retaining some semblance of your former life. 

Last but not least, Ira introcued David Sedaris in his everyday glory, which apparently means in full clown makeup. I've read/listened to a lot of David Sedaris but this one was new to me, which I was excited about.  The themes were similar to his other work- frustrations at annoying people, hatred at these annoyances, hope for solidarity of hatred of these annoying people. I couldn't stop laughing.

I am so so so glad that I went to this- I would definitely go again. There are some video clips that I have and will attempt to post later but if you're reading this before Tuesday, GO SEE THE REBROADCAST THEN! You will not regret it! You can always listen to the show/podcast later, but you'll miss all the visuals and those are more than half of the fun...