Momentary Relief

Behold the beauty of Elliott Bay. This is the spectacular sunset Joel and I witnessed from the upper deck of the Elliott Bay Water Taxi from Pier 55 downtown to Seacrest Park in West Seattle. This picture, taken with my ancient camera phone, doesn't even begin to convey the delight of that moment. That is because the ride was not only beautiful, but cool. The air off of the water felt absolutely amazing after the scorching hot day we had just endured, providing 15 minutes of blissful, however momentary relief. Only on alighting did I notice the freezer case full of Häagen-Dazs. Mmm. Next time.

If it's yellow, let it mellow...

In the last couple weeks before I leave for Switzerland, I am staying at my sister Amy's house with her, her husband Tod and her stepson Henry. I am having a great time here. We eat dinner and then we play cards and watch some Buffy together. They have a nice family unit and it feels cozy and safe. If it's yellow, they let it mellow. I've gotten used to this.

I'm in a real lame duck period here. I haven't left yet, but I feel strangely transient, strangely rooted. I've been painting at my sister Juliet's house. When it comes to painting, it's probably better to pay a professional than leave it to me, but I'm getting better. Today I got a large amount of paint in my hair. Given that I tire of taping and painting after 2 hours, I would make a pitiful laborer. Not that she doesn't like some really great music, but Juliet likes some really bad music. On track 11 of Sarah Douger's latest my mom finally screamed out, "Juliet, who is this horrible girl?" and being in agreement with my mom's opinion, though not her tactics, I took the liberty of pressing stop. The silence was beautiful.

On an exciting note, my visa arrived from the Consulate on Friday. It's very pretty and takes up a whole page in my passport just like my French student visa did. However, this one is much prettier. As it turns out, the beautiful thing is just my entry visa and I will get my permanent visa the day after I arrive.

That day is drawing near and I'm incredibly anxious. Incredibly so.

Good Music & Reunions

I continue to be enamored with Worlds Apart by Trail of Dead. I swear to God, every time I listen to it, it gets better. The lyrics are emerging from the music like never before and this is probably my favorite part about any piece of music, how it hits you in layers. Mmmm, good.

MySpace is something I have only taken seriously recently. Today I got a "friend request" from a girl in highschool whom I have not been in touch with or even really thought about in years. It's the weirdest thing to see someone's face smiling out at you from their picture and remember them. It's neat, actually. For the first time I am actually looking forward to the highschool reunion I swore I would never attend.

So that's that. We all need good music and reunions. They keeps things in perspective.

Summer of Thunder

A storm is going outside. The raindrops started lightly and now they're pounding erratically on the garden. Lightning illuminates the room, thunder claps loudly and the raindrops soften. A break. This has been the summer of thunder tumbling through the clouds, the summer of the smell of fresh rain. Of rapid, sky separating lightning. And the raindrops pick up again and the thunder claps once more. It's all happening in succession. It's release yet it fuels more of the same.

Thank God for ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

I have had this album for what, a year now? And only recently, in the last few weeks, have I become completely addicted to it? It's so weird the way that can happen, but it has. I feel like a teenager again with this album. In these days of iPods and iTunes, a person rarely buys a cd and proceeds to listen to it in order from beginning to end, but despite the fact that this album is on my iTunes, I do just that. Trail of Dead has music for every feeling, every occassion and it's almost all present on this single album. The only thing that's missing is a song for when you really need to rage and you're so pissed off all you want to do is scream along with something aggressive. The only song for that is "A Perfect Teenhood" from Trail of Dead's album Madonna. Last year Joel saw Trail of Dead in Köln where they put on what sounds like a stellar performance they finished off by breaking all of their stuff to the aforementioned song. He sent me the song right away claiming Trail of Dead was the most amazing band ever, or something to that degree. I listened, but it was way way way too heavy for me at first. The sort of thing that really puts you on edge and makes you want to grind your teeth before bed at night. But then it grew on me in a major way and when I got World's Apart, I got ready for more grinding and edginess only to be surprised by the most diverse, quality album I've heard in a long time. My favorite songs are Caterwaul and Let it Dive and I almost got a speeding ticket last week listening to them while driving.

I have my fingers crossed that they will play a show in Europe while I'm there. Sadly, they'll be in Austria, Germany and Belgium this weekend. They're two weeks early!! I don't leave for Switzerland until August 1st. But, with a new album due out in October, they'll be back on the continent again, for sure. Check out their fansite blog at www.trailofdead.org. It's some of the more hilarious writing I've encountered and I'm pretty sure it's all penned by Conrad Keely, Trail of Dead's own frontman.

I'm Mobile and Moving

Hurrah for the rental car. This is my very own (until Saturday) Hyundai Accent. Lame enough, but oh so essential for traversing Maryland and more specifically the Baltimore, Ellicott City, Columbia landscape everyday. It has a cd player and I've burnt many a cd since acquiring this little vehicle. Nothing like freedom to go places, see things and meet up with people.

We have a huge party planned for tomorrow night and the wonderful Dr. Snow of ED600, Educational Research has said he plans to come. He is by far the coolest professor on earth - continues to surpass his coolness with each day. Our last class we did wine tasting and let me tell you that 8 bottles of wine is more than enough for 15 people to have a taste. Yum.

Freedom is Ringing all Around

Last night I went with Sarah, Joy's roommate, and her friends Katie and Megan to see the fireworks display at Catonsville Highschool. Catonsville is a few towns down Frederick Road (the road that goes all the way to "the west") from Ellicott City. I was impressed with their fireworks display. It was mostly impressive because we were right underneath them and they made my whole body rumble as they exploded overhead. We got there early, laid out a few blankets and played cards until the fireworks started. I really suck at cards. Maybe that is a skill I will have to refine in my repertoire. Cards can be fantastic fun and the perfect social activity.

Katie has a little white Cabrio like my beloved Cabriolet only newer and still operative. We drove around with the top down and when the traffic was so heavy we were barely moving, Sarah and I sat up on top of the back seat like we were on an Independence Day Float in a parade and waved to lookers on as Katie blasted an Ace of Base remix from the stereo. That was definitely the highlight of the evening.

One thing I'll really miss about the east coast is being able to wear a tanktop and skirt after dark and not get cold. Not even going fast in a convertible. Awesome.

The Slightest Pang of Regret

For the past few days, I've been hung up on this daytrip Joel and I took with my niece and nephew last summer to Tubb's Hill in Coeur d'Alene. I remember going to Tubb's Hill (we called it Tubb's Mountain) as a little child to hike and swim so it made me happy to take these two there and share that experience. As a child, it feels much bigger than it really is and it was exciting to see it through their eyes. We had a fantastic time and on the way home, while Joel and I talked in the front seat, I could see them asleep, worn out from all the fun in the rearview mirror.

4th of July marks the height of the summer, the point when it gets really hot and the beginning of the school year feels so far away even though it's inching nearer. This year, I have not yet had any summer. I was working, now I'm in school. When I get back to the west coast, I need to work more. It makes me mad, upset, disappointed that this year summer will likely go by and I won't be able to spend any days like this with Joel and these two kids. This is turning out to be the hardest part of going to Switzerland. Knowing full well that I will miss out on two years of these children's lives. This afternoon, looking at this picture, I felt the slightest pang of regret. I'm sure going to miss them.

More Chick Lit

I have been in Maryland three weeks now, and in that time, I have finished three chick lit books. That is why I love these books. They're quick reads, they're mindless, they're about nothing of importance, they completely distract me while burning fat on the reclined stationary bike at the gym. They're also in high demand because women go through them like chiclets. Really, no pun intended, and in all seriousness, I've decided to write one. But first let's discuss the work of one Lauren Weisberger.

The Devil Wears Prada is an entertaining read but there were two things that bugged me about this book. One was that it started out midstory, went back in time to bring the reader up to date, and yet never revisited the day the novel started out on. The whole time I was thinking there must have been something of real significance in that first scene that would be revisited and revealed and everything would come full circle. But then it was November and the book had started in Summer. Darn. Bugger number two was that in the last 50 pages the narrative stopped, pretty much all dialogue stopped and it was just a quick summing up of the many plot and subplot lines. Lame. The story was cute, the situational comedy funny, but those two things ticked me off enough that I'm still thinking about them.

The two buggers in Devil didn't tick me off enough, however, to not read Weisberger's next book, Everyone Worth Knowing and I picked it up right after I finished Devil. I enjoyed this book much more than Devil. The story was really romantic and the idea was creative. Perhaps the reason I liked it more was that the character was my age, so it was easier to relate. All of Anna Maxted's characters were my age and somehow, that matters even if it's only a few years' difference. I found the cast of characters full, from the anorexic, shallow Elisa, to the soulful, yet gorgeous Sammy. By the end, the characters exhibited real growth and discovery making it not only entertaining, but satisfying as well. Most importantly, Weisberger tied in all of the little things to make the plot, subplots and storyline a cohesive whole. Two thumbs up on that one.