Ólöf Arnalds – Innundir Skinni
you’ve gotta run away; you’ve gotta spin a web
July 30th, 2009 -
I think that for the most part, I’m a pretty good sport about making adventure out of things. But this week, I’ll admit it — I’ve met my ultimate match. This opponent can be neither bribed nor beaten into submission. Even the most optimistic individual, the most tedious planner, the most resolved of character: all will grow faint and wobbly-kneed at the sight of the Terrible Task. It is time for me to go car shopping.
Some of you may have heard me explain at some point why I have such an aversion to shopping at WalMart. Aside from all of the common socioeconomic arguments, which I feel do have credibility, my primary reason is simple and much more personal — whenever I am in WalMart, the place slowly drains all optimism, energy, and happiness out of me. Weird, yes, but very true. If But if WalMart is a mood-zapper, car shopping is like WalMart Headquarters. The WalMart other WalMarts shop at. I’m usually fighting back the tears by the time I set foot on the car lot. It doesn’t matter how much I try to prep myself for the excursion, throwing a few punches and roundhouse kicks into the air and telling myself such encouraging things as I imagine a boxing trainer would shout at his best fighter while prepping him for the ring. But the second I see the rows of shiny new sales pitches, every bit of motivation drains from my body, leaving only fright and insecurity. As I see the salesman approaching, I know that this is finally it: this is the end. This is how I will die — heart attack in a used car lot. I guess that means this may be my last blog ever.
Things have been good. Maybe a little predictable some days, but not so much others. I’ve had the travel bug lately (when do I not), which has led to a) a trip to Chicago and Ohio with Abby next week, and b) a work-in-progress planned trip to hike the Grand Canyon in December. I’ve never been to Chicago or Ohio, which is where Abby’s family lives, so we’re taking a trip to visit them. I have always really enjoyed visiting other families. I love seeing how people interact with one another, and being around people when they are most like themselves and comfortable. I can’t wait to meet the family of Abby’s oldest sister, and their new baby. I’m also excited about Chicago — it’s Mandy and Brian’s favorite vacation city, and I’ve never seen it. We’re driving up and staying with friends and family of Abby’s the whole time, which is my kind of trip. Only until now, I haven’t actually thought of it — at least not in the context of “I’m leaving for Ohio in four days.” I guess I have more productive things I could be doing rather than blogging. As for the Grand Canyon, this is absolutely, positively something I really want to do. I’m not the most physically fit person in the world, but I think I can hold my own well enough. And I fully intend to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up. Right now, Troy and my old England travel buddy Cameron are planning on going, too. If you’re interested, please let me know — I’m going to do this and want to take as many people as possible, but in order to get the campground passes we need in time, we have to apply really soon. It’s a hike to the bottom, setting up camp for a night, and hiking back up the next day. A road trip there and back, and we’re planning it for the second full week in December, so that school shouldn’t get in the way. So let me know if it sounds like something you’ve always dreamed of doing. Ok?
I’m in a bit of a reminiscent mood these past few nights — I’ve been listening to old songs, reading through old blog archives, and digging through boxes of old photographs. It’s a bittersweet mood, and sometimes I feel as though I’m looking at the past of somebody else. It’s funny the tricks time can play on us. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m realizing more every day what God means when he says in Luke 12 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. [...] Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Being more of the obsessive-compulsive type A personality, I tend to worry out when I don’t know or understand where things are headed, and admittedly my tendency is, well, to freak out a bit; to want a timeline and control over the situation. God has been working on that in my life, and has been blessing me with patience and trust in Him. I used to think that looking back on the past was pretty depressing and counter-productive, but it has its benefits — I never saw at the time how God was working in things, but now I have glimpses of what might have been a bigger plan. God has numbered every hair on my head, and has already shown me how He intends never to abandon me. I am so much more blessed and loved than I deserve.
On a less spiritual note, if you’re the traveler type, you should start paying attention right about here: I found an incredible blog/resource today, and learned something I had never heard of before: the round-trip travel ticket. This is apparently something that airlines sell, which allows you to build itineraries containing several, sometimes dozens, of destinations, and book them in one place. If you set it up carefully, you can save tons of money, since you’re paying based on either the total miles traveled or the number of stops on your itinerary. You can also change dates or destinations without as many fees as standard round-trip airline tickets. You can read more about it here. The blog belongs to Chris Guillebeau, and he has some other interesting ideas and topics on his site, if you want to browse around a bit. I haven’t played around with these travel resources much yet, but I really want to — a dynamic Asian travel itinerary is probably something I need to be making right now.
Ah — concerts. Dylan was fantastic (beautiful, heartbreaking) last night, and even though he didn’t play anything from Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, he played a lot of great songs, and a very impressive show. Willie Nelson’s voice is amazing, especially considering his age, and even John Mellencamp and his very-talented band impressed me. Bele Chere in Asheville last weekend was a ton of fun, and the Old 97’s played an energetic live show, with a good setlist. And as for last last weekend, Pete Yorn is a great entertainer. Speaking of great backing bands, his group is very tight and had some just-different-enough arrangements to provide variety without losing the crowd. The venue (Center Stage Theatre) wasn’t quite what I expected, and was refreshingly comfortable for a mid-sized venue (my preference is for smaller club shows). But then after two great outdoor shows in a row, I sort of think i could see myself becoming one of those summer music festival addicts. There’s something there, I’ll admit.
A few other favorite finds of late: The Blue Magnolia in Augusta, Georgia — this is the most addictive strange-finds boutique type store I’ve seen in a while, if not ever. If you’re in the area, stop by; I know you’ll find something entertaining (including Tokyo Milk fragrances. Trendy, yes. But they smell so nice.) Also, my new all-time favorite card printing company: Fomato. Just so funny, and I love original prints. And finally, well, I wish more of you used Twitter.
listening to: The Spinanes – Kid in Candy
winter skies and a great time for new music
November 12th, 2008 -
1. So I have my mechanic’s phone number memorized. Why is it that car problems always happen in great big bunches? I love my car, and I have tried so hard to be good to it — regular oil changes, tune-ups, annual car wash, the usual. But these past four months have seen SIX visits and almost $1000 go to the mechanic, the vast majority of that just happening in the past four weeks. It seems like every other day, I’m either picking up my car, finding something horrible has gone wrong, or taking it back to my mechanic. I’m starting to think that either I have a really bad car, a really bad understanding of car maintenance, or else a really bad mechanic. But despite all of the complaining (and I’m sorry guys, I know it’s been a lot), I love my car, and I like ol’ Ted pretty well, too, so it must just be me. What am I missing here?
2. It is never too late to learn new tricks, even if it is terribly embarrassing to be learning how to ride a bike in public. And trust me — it is embarrassing. But once I get over the initial “I am far too old to be wishing I had training wheels” stage, it’s actually tremendously fun. I stole Mandy’s bike while she and Brian were in the mountains last weekend, and it was a blast, even those times where I almost died. I like it lots better than running, as far as exercise goes (but that being said, I can now run a 5k! Whoo!), but unfortunately bikes cost money, and therefore will have to wait, thanks to the splurge macbook purchase.
3. Which brings us to: Macbook. I love it. That is on the record, for all of you who, like me, thought “hmm… could I really buy a mac?” Yes, you could, you can, and you will love it. I really wish life in general would slow down enough for me to play around with all of this software (did I promise a new website? I think maybe I did…), and internet at the house would be a bonus, but I’m getting there. I’m hoping for some ideas soon, especially since I’ve been thinking about screenprinting a lot lately, and maybe that will lead to some other two-dimensional inspiration? Who knows. Just earlier this evening I decided on a whim to dig through a stack of old burned cds, and came across one labeled “2003 backup, fonts, old mp3s.” I put it in because of the “old mp3s” label, which turned out only to be a couple dozen Radiohead songs, but the “backup” category turned out to be a veritable goldmine of old files. Literally dozens of my old website templates are on this cd, not even including the multiple revisions of “TheStags.com,” Everworship, and various other photos and web design ideas. I had always hoped these files still existed somewhere, so it’s basically like Christmas. If you see cartoon pink flamingos littering superamy.com in a few days, don’t be surprised. These things make me unpredictable.
4. On a more serious note, my grandmother needs prayer. She has been undergoing treatment for liver cancer for a while now, but it has progressed to its final stages — it’s in her brain now, and she was admitted to Hospice this morning. They’re stopping treatments. She and I have gotten especially close these past few months since I’ve been staying with her regularly, and it is very hard for me to see the mental affects it’s having on her. Please remember her in your prayers.
4. While I’ve enjoyed the refreshing feeling of getting my old music collection back, it turns out that most of the old music I didn’t already have is music I don’t really feel like listening to anymore. My car is really the only place I get to listen to music anymore anyway, and since I haven’t HAD my car half of the time, I’m feeling deprived of any kind of variety. I never have time to hunt down new music, and instead have to rely on the recommendations of my more musically-inclined friends (when they’re in town at least — you know who you are.), which is just tricky and unpredictable. Lately though, I’ve had a strange craving for old country/folk music (Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch, Kelly Joe Phelps and the like) and also for new pop music. I re-discovered that new song by Ben Folds and Regina Spektor at the Village Grille tonight, and realized that it reminded me of this song by Hot Chip. Which reminded me of the muxtape I discovered that song on, which reminded me that muxtape was shut down, since music is not allowed to be shared, and now I don’t know what I’m supposed to do to hear new music. I guess the short-term solution would be to stop overthinking things, but this whole lack-of-music thing is really starting to get to me. It’s a good thing I like my job, or this whole 40+-hours-a-week thing would really be a bummer. (**Another really great song I remembered yesterday: The Rolling Stones – “She’s a Rainbow”. Maybe YouTube is the new Napster?)
5. The sky looks differently mid-November than it does any other time of the year. Please look at it as often as you can, because it won’t last for very long — try to catch it when it’s full of blackbirds. I am enjoying Autumn so much this year, and I think it’s because I was in England this time last year, and missed seeing this. It works both ways, though — every time I add a sweater or a scarf or a coat, or when I stumble upon one of Kelley’s photos of Winchester, I get pretty nostalgic. But it’s a good thing, and not a bad thing. And it’s good to have those photos back, too.
listening: Julie Miller – Maggie