Thankful

We head to the San Juan Islands tomorrow morning (early!) to spend Thanksgiving with friends. The rest of the sibs will gather in NC and we'll pass the phone around as is the long distance tradition. Wish I could be there with them, but will be surrounded by people I love nonetheless, and counting my many blessings.

Happy T-Day!

Music Documentaries

So, part of the reason I've been goaded into having a 'blog' (despite the persistent feeling that I don't have much to say worth reading) is because of the impromptu, late night conversations that start innocently enough with a recounting of what I did over the weekend and quickly spin into lengthy recommendations of movies that must be seen, books that ought to be read, music that really should be listened to, food that begs to be eaten...

This weekend we bought Leonard Cohen's newly released Live at the Isle of Wight (1970) cd/dvd - it blew our minds (audio and concert footage dvd), and put me to thinking about some of the amazing concert films and music documentaries we've seen in the past few years. I sent a brief list to a co-worker, and so in the spirit of 1 Trinity, here is my inaugural blog list:

Music Documentaries/Concert Films That I Love - A Sampling

I'm Your Man

Festival Express

Tom Dowd and the Language of Music

Fearless Freaks

Some Kind of Monster

The Last Waltz

Be Here to Love Me

Heartworn Highways

Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus

It's quite late, so I'll leave it at that.

The Fun Theory

Yes! More of this sort of thing, please...

Local radio

Sometimes there's a particular show on your local station that really brings it home - a shining example of why the independents [record store/radio station/coffee shop/farmers market/insert your favorite local-indie business genre here] are so essential, so precious - real humans, living their life out there in all its messy glory and misery, showing us we're not the only ones.

So, listen to John Richards (our morning DJ here in Seattle) whose show today is dedicated to everyone who has lost someone they love. His mom died 5 years ago today, and he spins the tunes that matter to him and shares his experience with the world. It's a deeply personal show - I'm crying as I listen, remembering a year ago in my own life, as my heart goes out to my brother's dear friend who lost her grandmother today.

Go to this link at KEXP, and under 'Listen By Show Time' and pick Friday 11/13/09, 6:00 am start time. I think they keep 2 weeks worth of shows up on the streaming archives, so there's a bit of time to check it out (they also post the playlist for the show on the site).

So much to be grateful for - imagine dealing with these things without music...Unfathomable.

Hang tough, Melissa.

This blogging thing...

So, I've got the day off and sit here listening to the Avett Brothers The Weight of Lies on KEXP. I'm not practiced at jotting off a note here and there to say hello to the world, but will keep after it and see if I've got anything to say that's worth the time it takes to type.

I've been lately consumed by knitting - took a class last winter and finally learned how to make something substantive out of a long piece of string. It's funny how you say I'm learning to knit and suddenly learn that most of your friends and acquaintances are avid knitters! So, we've got a small group that tries to gather once a month or so, and I've been learning my way around yarn overs, slipped stitches, binding off, and the various attributes of different yarns. It's the perfect activity for an agitated mind, which mine has certainly been on and off this past year. I love the focus it requires, and how tactile it is, and by the end of a little session of course there's a little something to show for your efforts - for example:

a little merino/angora scarf for Julio

another scarf from some handpainted homespun WY wool I picked up this summer

and another in-progress, I'm figuring out lace pattern stitches on this one

There you have it, my day has been spent at home puttering about, cleaning and knitting, pondering and planning. A very good day, indeed.

cw

I haven't forgotten...

This time I post from Seattle - fall is here indeed, just returned from a morning walk in the fog and am getting ready for work. I don't have a movie list this early in the day, although we did watch Brothers Bloom on DVD this weekend, and went to see A Serious Man in the theater. The former was fine, heavy-handed direction sadly diminished what could have been a much better film but I liked much about it. The latter is the latest from the brothers Coen, and is a lovely character piece about quiet lives of desperation circa 1960 Anywhere, USA suburbia - from the Jewish POV. Incredible acting, great scene setting. Love those boys. Oh- yes, we rented Land of the Lost (Bob picked it up to cheer me up while I nursed a cold - I have a little thing for Will Ferrel)...Have to say, I liked it quite a bit - key to enjoying this one: low expectations. Great set, makes me want to rent the original TV show and take a look (the Sleestaks always terrified me as a kid)...

All is well as we begin the end of 2009 here in the NW. I had a good visit home, and am perpetually grateful for my family and friends and all the love they've sent my way this past year. Lord knows how I would manage without them!

cw

november rain...

or should that be pain? 80s on Saturday, to say good bye to October, overnight tomorrow in low 30s. Fall, I take it, is here. Weeeeee....



good times, bu that tree went from lush yellow leaves to toothpick like in a night! I do love to wear layers, though.

Huh - what else should I talk about here -
10 things you didn't know about orgasms? Perhaps - Morgan thought it was a good link. Probably will change your views on the fun and excitement of pig farmers...

Well, I'm just posting to make sure we're not forgetting this wonderful place. Hopefully Blood has a movie review - me, I'm gonna try to make it through this weekend just like I made it through last weekend. wish me luck.

ciao,
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