The Sound of Rediscovering

Last weekend I strolled through Streetside Records with my man and ran across an AMAZING Death Cab for Cutie DVD that I picked up – check it . After popping it in while I assembled dinner on Sunday, I was reminded just how brilliant Ben Gibbard and the boys are.

I’ll forever have a special place in my heart for this band. Their music hit me at a particularly fertile season in my musical exploration, and I've now seen them 3 times in concert (the most I've ever seen an artist). Each time I'm even impressed with their energy (the drummer almost broke his arms at the end of their Bleeding Kansas finale of "Transatlanticism") and lyrical prowess.

One of my personal marks for a great band is when it can travel with me over different events and spaces in my life. Granted, I just found them in 2003, but life’s changed a lot since then.

When I “found them” I was falling in and out of love, finding myself and relearning how to be a poet. Lyrics that captured me then were like this:

“oh, instincts are misleading
you shouldn't think what you're feeling
they don't tell you what you know you should want.”
From Lightness (Translanticism)

That line still gets me.

The other night, probably as a result of how much I’m laughing lately, this one stuck with me:

“When we laugh indoors
the blissful tones bounce off the walls
and fall to the ground.
Peel the hardwood backs
and let them loose from decades trapped
and listen so still.”
From "We Laugh Indoors"

At the risk of sounding old...they just don't write songs like that much anymore.

Ben, pleasepleaseplease hurry up with your anticipated Postal Service follow-up or get the boys back together and jam!

Friday randomness

new foods/beverages that i officially heart:
-nigiri...i've learned to like it and sushi rolls are boring now
-he'brew. "the chosen beer." too awesome for words.
-buffalo tourneados from blue bird bistro. i don't know what in the heck at tourneado is, but it's good. real good.

rediscovered tuneage you MUST check out:
-massive attack's "blue lines" album. great music to tick away a friday.
-mos def's "black on both sides." brilliant lyrics from an amazing musician

new tuneage you GOTTA get:
-common's new album "finding forever." hit up "i want you" and recognize.
-the man, the myth, the legend...Prince's "planet earth." if youself like some gui-tar, you won' t be disappointed.

guilty pleasure artist:
-r. kelly. i knowiknowiknow. what's wrong with me? i should've had my fill after "step in the name of love" and "ignition" but seriously, anyone else think that "i'm a flirt" is like crack? he's the artist you hate to love but do anyway.

movie to check out:
-superbad. it's super good, and hi-lar-ious. "i love you, kel. i want to scream it from the rooftops."

rediscovered childhood game that rules:
-clue. miss scarlet in the billiard room with the knife...kicking ass. love that game.

I love it when God shows off

In response to Bruce’s question in the comments, here’s the short answer to why I’m so happy:

1. This new job is incredibly exciting and mentally stimulating
2. I am absolutely crazy about a wonderful man…and he feels the same way about me
3. Soulfari Kenya has some big and exciting plans this year

And the long answer:

This is the time where I get to swim around in all of God’s blessings in my life.

Some days lately seem so incredible that it’s too much to touch or describe…it’s the closest I’ve been to heaven in a long time. I want to shout from the rooftops about how great God is. About how lovely this world and its people are. About how phenomenal it is that we can care and create and love and breathe and get to do it every day. I want to yell and dance and sing and spin and laugh like a child because of it.

So that’s sort of what I’m doing…only inside, because my new co-workers would think I was crazy.

All this beauty settles my heart and eases my mind. I know it won’t last forever and life is so fleeting, and I’m incredibly aware of that. Times like this are few and far between, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s damn near blasphemous for us to feel guilty about being so lucky or loved.

So that’s why I’ve had trouble writing anything of great consequence. I’m too busy smiling and dreaming and living and loving. And it's fantastic.

Dear readers, do tell me a tale or two about what’s been beautiful in your lives lately. This goodness seems to be contagious, so I’ve got an inkling that a few of you feel pretty blessed too. Shall we have a heartfest in the comments?

"Git 'er done for God"

was hands down the funniest church sign I've ever seen (en route to the Ozarks). Check these out for a good Thursday laugh.

Cleverest comparison: Moses' basket journey
Most poetic: Raise your sails
Least favorite: Tithe if you love Jesus (isn't guilt played out yet?)

Road-trippin'

All in all, it was one hell of a weekend in Lincoln for my girl Alicia’s wedding.

Fun things about this weekend:
-Cell phones with the Nebraska fight song as a ringtone
-Luna Sea beer from Laslows
-Whole Foods grocery shopping
-Amigos runs at 2 a.m.
-Red raspberry sorbet
-Watching my friends get busy on the dance floor (and subsequent bonus “splits-related” injury)
-Singing along with Prince, Maroon 5, Sir Mix-a-Lot and Simon & Garfunkel on the car drive
-Holding hands
-Dancing to Ben Folds’ song “The Luckiest”

Crap-tastic things:
-Monday
-Unpacking
-That there is no coffee shop on the way to work

...I'd say it was worth it.

Show and tail

(Ha. It was only a matter of time before I started the zoo puns. )

Story time, kiddos.

Yesterday I grabbed my lunch and walked through our Australia section. It's the only part of the Zoo I hadn't fully explored yet, and I really wanted to see our Orangutans since we're doing a run in September to benefit them.

I sat on a bench and ate my salad, listening to the birds and bugs chirrp in the 95 degree heat. Although I was sweating, I felt like such a big, lucky kid. I'd snagged an info sheet with the names and identifying characteristics of certain animals so I'd know who I was cooing at.

After lunch, I meandered down the path and didn't get very far before I ran across these beautiful guys - red pandas (sorry Kel, we don't have the big ones). Too cool.

As I continued on, I ran across our demoiselle crane. While I'm not usually a bird fan, this is a really beautiful bird that I think is so striking - especially the pretty plumage on their heads.

And although I saw these on Tuesday in our Discovery Barn (also where the koalas are...so cute!) these. are. hands. down. the.awesomest.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the blue poison dart frog.

"I painted the frogs blue because I've never seen a blue frog and I always wanted to know what one looked like."

Comfort in the middle of newness

I’m sitting in my new office at the zoo (yes, an OFFICE) and I’m getting my life in order.

As I sit at my computer and reclaim all of my old blog links and try to remember other bits of old habits, I’m drinking coffee and musing about just how important it is to feel comfortable when we're in the midst of transition.

I'm struck that the beautifully sinking feeling of comfort manifests itself in so many different ways in my life. It's present in the silent times I experience in the presence of an old friend. It's evident in loving touches I'm reveling in. I feel it in the first sigh when I start to pray.

When I've been faced with new things or change in the past, I've had a tendency to be overwhelmed by them and completely miss the bits of comfort in the storm. But with this job, I guess my spirit was ready before I was, because I'm just not feeling that way about it. I feel remarkably comfortable.

Le sigh. In that spirit of comfort, I'm going back to my coffee and Joe Purdy. This day will unfold around me as my newly plastered pictures on my filing cabinet of all of you smile back at me. I'm going to keep learning about how to plan this wicked cool event, and maybe, just maybe, I'll go eat my salad with the giraffes today.

I am one lucky kid.