bringing only empty boats
Writing about this year, at this point, is both bane and boon, as Dr. P would say. But this second semester has been, despite the six classes, really amazing. Even though I was in the hospital for pneumonia and exhaustion, these students, especially the night students, were the best I’ve ever had.
For my birthday, S got me tickets to see Josh. The concert was at the Melting Point here in Athens. It was, as are all of his concerts, amazing.
Ingrid Michaelson opened for him. I am now in total adoration of her. If you don’t own or have downloaded her CDs, do it now. Seriously. Do. It. Now.
The best moment during the show was when she played her song, the hat, and she got the audience to sing along with her. I took a video, though I wish I would have recorded more. I’ve tried to find the round on youtube, but, actually, the Athens crowed was clearly the most spirited:
So my time in Athens is at its end. It’s bittersweet. It’s sweet, even. It was the best place for me at the best time. And now, as the world demands, things are on their elliptic still and I’m moving and moving. So, after Ingrid, Josh played. I took many many videos, but Girl in the War is one of my favorite songs, and so I will post this one. This is the first encore. The audience is trying so hard to be quiet and sweet too, but by the second verse, they just seem to need to sing it, and loudly. And Josh–he is just so delicious.
the joys of the smash cut
I’ve been so drab during the writer’s strike, especially because the only news I can get is the real news, which most times seems ridiculous anyway. I’d almost forgotten what a relief it was to watch John Stewart at 11, smash cut editing at all. Until last night– and the hilarious recap of the New Hampshire primary. If you didn’t see it, here is the link. My favorite part is when he proves it was not only a night of competing candidates, but it was also a night of battling similes and metaphors. My personal favorite is from one of the pundits from CNN who ponders about Hillary Clinton: Can a souffle rise twice? That and Crazy Chris Matthews going into a long comparison between the Clinton campaign and the film, Lawrence of Arabia. Isn’t this a great season?
go girl
Still watching the pundit fall out from Hillary’s big win tonight. They’re scurrying around and trying to explain how it could have happened. Wolf Blitzer’s and Lou Dobbs’ faces are all flushed and I think that Anderson Cooper is hooked up to an IV.
Are we really still underestimating the women’s vote, and perhaps even more importantly the undecided voter? At the time of the poll opening, there were still 15% of voters saying they were undecided. Yet everyone, especially the media, bought into the pop polling that projected Hillary to lose by 8-13 points. I suppose it just goes to show that nothing is predictable in politics. Anyway I’m thrilled.
My dad pondered whether or not the clip–gone viral–of Hillary tearing up yesterday had an impact today. I can’t speak for the voters of New Hampshire, but it certainly affected me. I’ve always been a Hillary supporter, but it was really relieving to see her in this moment. I’ll post it in case you haven’t seen it yet. Looks like things will stay exciting for Super Tuesday.
some, some i’ll let go
So tonight was the Iowa Caucus. It seems like Obama and Hucklebee (as my Dad calls him) have won. I don’t really care what happens tonight, except I just want to know what Democrat to officially get behind and support. In Ohio, the only thing I can really count on (and it’s not my vote as a VOTER) is the reality that the primary district organizers will lose or misplace or misuse or misrepresent or misreport my vote. And even with this knowledge I can’t help but try try again. Get my knees into the glass, that is. It’s easy to forget tears four years in the past.
The reality is that I think that Hucklebee (as I will not refer to him) is quite a charismatic guy. He’s a great public speaker. Just enough folksiness/religion/brimstone/ah-shucks-ness/intelligence to win people over, which is the most terrifying of all of the points.
So I’ll try not to think of it.
Here is my new favorite song of the past few months. Paper Planes. It’s definitely a work out song, but I love M.I.A. She is playful and hip and not afraid to challenge convention–which is what I hope our voters will adjusted to soon. no funny business
but time was like water and i was the sea
Well, it is officially 2008. I hope everyone out there is happy and healthy and greeting the 8 well!
Rather than resolutions, every year I try to find a hero to add to my list—someone to inspire. This year that person has been Townes Van Zandt.
So I thought I would post some youtube videos of him, or tributes to him. It’s so hard to get his songs on without just posting videos. He was a troubled guy. But he respected the language. Common language. Simple, quiet chords. And I admire that in someone, albeit lonely on occasion.
That being said, I want to wish everyone well. And I hope you have a Happy New Year.
wash
A few days ago, my dad and I went through the car wash in Fairlawn (and it’s been a long time since I’ve gone through because washing your car has been a big no no in Georgia, obviously). Anyway, I decided to film it so that I could try to put a video up on youtube with my new computer. The first take was bad because I wasn’t holding my hands still enough, and the jeep was jittering around. But by some strange grace from the god of revision, the car wash broke at the very end and the soap didn’t get watered off–so we got to go back through.
Either youtube is excessively slow, or the files I’m trying to upload from imovie are extremely large. The latter is more likely the case because it took forever to upload this silly little experiment.
The song that is playing is Steve Earle’s “Fort Worth Blues.” One of my favorites.
