summer wrap up

it was a great one.

books read:

"big sur" by jack kerouac
"mexico city blues" by jack kerouac
"the red pony" by john steinbeck
"the tao of pooh" by benjamin hoff

shows played:

linnaea's (with tin cat, nate bridges)
the porch (songwriter showcase) x4
linnaea's (with your yellow dress and existential hero)
mitchell park (with cecropia, charlotte cornfield)
boo boo records (with stephen steinbrink, foot ox)
boo boo records (with paul baribeau, the boy who could fly)*
91.3 kcpr sessions
linnaea's (with spooky horse, existential hero, my name is circus)
the clubhouse (as a member of your yellow dress)

shows attended:

port o'brien (with the wheel and papercuts) @ downtown brew
sparrows gate @ the clubhouse
mika miko (with audacity, the secret tones, fun, shake sheiks) @ slo art center
dustin and the furniture (with wabash and y lime) @ linnaea's
black francis (with gardening not architecture) @ downtown brew

it was a whirlwind of music and relationships and new friendships and bike rides and wonderful things.

in other news, i am pretty depressed with my classes this year.

*defining moment

a shoreline

you can't hide in trapdoors of spines
all tied down your wings and blossoming bright
you will build and fell yourself tonight

spill out like a shoreline or a saltwater sigh
your splintering bones from crooked flights
far from widest waters and blackest land

would you stay beside or be divided, fed alive
to sink through feathered skin so white and killed
in your worst of weathered ways
in heavy weights of starry banks
my cold farewell will set your ship to sail, (sail on)

i feel me wash forth to pillowy shores
of stones and dreams and opened doors
you've traced yourself alone and far away

a million spans of a million hands
will leave you locked away
and at a shoreline i will always wait
your shoreline waits

8/20/09 thinking

i've been listening to nothing but okkervil river's "the stage names" recently, and possibly the biggest standout is the closing song, "john allyn smith sails". the themes of suicide and memory are so amazingly poignant, and the second half, in which the band breaks into a lyrically modified jam of "sloop john b" is one of the most stunning, epic moments in any song i've ever heard.

i just got back from seeing sparrows gate at the clubhouse - they were truly wonderful and it was great to spend an evening with rob and ryan again... great laughs/conversations.

i just realized i rely often on dates to categorize my thoughts. maybe that explains this running theme in my "blog" headlines.

i'm reading big sur by jack kerouac... it's incredible, one of the best things i've read in recent months. he has been influencing much of my writing style.

i miss giulia. really bad. i saw this random woman walk into the clubhouse tonight who deeply reminded me of her in some anti-explainable way. it made my heart jump. i don't know.

so hoist up the john b. sail
(hoist up the john b. sail)
see how the main sail sets
(see how the main sail sets)
i've folded my heart in my head
and i wanna go home
with a book in each hand
in the way i had planned
well i feel so broke up
i wanna
go

home.

8/15/09

We turned at a dozen paces, for love is a duel, and looked at each other for the last time.

8/10/09

if this week doesn't go right,

what will i do?

lately 8/08/09

black sheep boy
david lynch
tom wolfe
annie clark
wes anderson

seeing black francis again tomorrow, YES

the words

of will sheff are screaming through my mind right now;

8/3/09

i won't forget this

soundtrack;

this summer can be musically represented in the following ways;

grouper - dragging a dead deer up a hill
dreamlike states, letting myself be, inexplicable love

broken social scene - s/t
turn it up!, coffee shop shows with alex and steven, east of eden late at night, it's all... gonna BREAK!

sun kil moon - ghosts of the great highway
stuck in my room, feeling crushed and unsure; a concept album loosely based on dead boxers, how novel, the fleeting desire to be an americana slo-core artist, slow hypnosis, reading house of leaves alone at the book store

okkervil river - don't fall in love with everyone you see
being way over my head, feeling attached, something is being taken away; "i'm full of fictions and fucking addictions"

the velvet underground & nico
i am tired and i am weary

grizzly bear - veckatimest
washing my parents' car at night, reading the tao of pooh, the big city (santa barbara), detachment, distance

wilco - wilco (the album)
therapy through pop, play it nels

8/1/09

oh summer

today i saw adam pasion and ryan delmore with friends lauryn and olivia as well as new musical pals alli and cole. it was an enchanted evening. other shows have been attended and or played... mika miko at the art center, my name is circus at linnaea's.

and a week or so ago i had a lovely bike ride with marissa and then went to hunter's house for this jam session thing he had going in his living room. it was... loud

i've been making so many friends, so many connections, it's wonderful. as well as being able to tie up the old confusions and awkwardness with certain people...

here's to a wondrous season