A gloomy gray December day sounds like the right time to sit in a coffee shop with Radiohead on my headphones, writing all day.
But two out of three isn’t so bad.
Blog
Saw a hundred thousand weary lost
Lessons from adulthood
Lesson No. 1: Apparently no one works the day after Christmas. Downtown is dead.
A broken soul finds refuge
I’m sitting in the afterglow of a Christmas Eve dinner, attempting to write some pithy introduction to my favorite CDs of 2007. The truth, though? This list isn’t all that different from the eleventy billion others you’ve read, and I really don’t care. I’m writing it anyway.
These may not be the best CDs of ’07. (That’s the beauty of music reviewing, anyway: It’s almost totally subjective.) But they’re the ones that I’ve played over, and over, and over again, with the songs I sing to myself as I walk into the grocery store. (Yeah, I really do that. No, it does not sound good.)
Derek Webb, The Ringing Bell
There’s got to be a love
That’s stronger than our fear
Of everything
“A Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fear”
Great Lake Swimmers, Ongiara
I was moving across your frozen veneer
The sky was dark but you were clear
Could you feel my footsteps
And would you shatter, would you shatter, would you
“Your Rocky Spine”
Iron and Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog
(I can’t choose favorite lyrics for this one. You just have to listen to the entire CD. Obsessively.)
The Pierces, Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge
I asked you please to leave my heart
But you refused to go
I can’t take this pain much longer
You insist on teaching me what I already know
Absence made this heart grow fonder
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Maddy Wyatt, Backdive
I will give you all the elbow room you need
I require it myself most every day
“Habits We Keep”
Maria Taylor, Lynn Teeter Flower
I finally made it, I made a clean getaway
And I miss you, I miss you every single day
“Clean Getaway”
Patty Griffin, Children Running Through
I’m gonna find me a man, love him so well
Love him so strong, love him so slow
We’re going to go way beyond the walls of this fortress
And we won’t be afraid, we won’t be afraid
And though the darkness may come our way
We won’t be afraid to be in love anymore
And we’ll grow kindness in our hearts for all the strangers among us
Till there aren’t any strangers anymore
“No Bad News”
Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
I could sleep when I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
“Is There A Ghost”
Josh Ritter, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
There’s a friend that I have
And for her I’ll go back
You see all of these empties that I’m holding
They’re too much for a man
Empty arms, empty hands
And she’ll know me by the sound of my hoping
Singing don’t let me into this year with an empty heart
“Empty Heart”
Red Mountain Church, This Breaks My Heart of Stone
Had I the guilt of all the world,
He’s able to forgive:
Why should I fear? The debt is paid.
If only I believe.
“Why Should I Fear?”
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand
Too late, too late
A fool could read the signs
Maybe baby
You’d better check between the lines
Please read the letter, I
Wrote it in my sleep
With help and consultation from
The angels of the deep
“Please Read the Letter”
Ryan Adams, Easy Tiger
He says her name, it echoes in my head like it was a canyon
He says her name, he says it and I know what’s up
You come to me sometimes when I’m thinking like a cannonball shooting out a cannon
And I forget whatever it was I was thinking about
“Everybody Knows”
Bonus tracks:
Holler, Wild Rose! – Holler, Wild Rose!
Naked Ground – The Dexateens
Wonderful World – James Morrison
Walken – Wilco (Yeah, I left Sky Blue Sky off. I haven’t been obsessing over it. But this song crawled into my head a few weeks ago.)
Killing Him – Amy LaVere
Not A Love Like This – Kim Richey
How Will You Meet Your End – A.A. Bondy
Brand New Bass Guitar – Jamie P.
Apologies – Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Videotape – Radiohead
Refuge – Matthew Perryman Jones
Take me to a place where love can mend these wounds
Where mystery can dance with truth
And a broken soul finds refuge
Daughters will love like you do
So this morning, a coworker walked into my office and announced that her daughter had written up a sheet of tips for life. “Share these with the people at your work,” she was instructed.
I think this child is the most precious thing on two feet, and the paper (decorated with hearts and an elaborate smiley face) is now hanging on my wall. Here, with all original spelling, are tips for life from an 8 year old.
Children tips:
Love them with care.
Play with them.
Treat then nice.
Boy tipe:
If you hear he’s dadting just forget It and be Happy.
If he’s not dadting just don’t care and then he might like you.
Parent’s tips:
Love your parent’s like they love you.
Treat them nice.
Pet care tips:
If you Have a bog walk it sometime.
Love your pet’s.
Gril tips:
When a gril go’s on a dade put makeup on and look nice. have Fun with him. Just de nice to hem he we be nice to you too.
It’s hard to be reciprocating
Some friends of mine are circulating their top 10 albums of 2007 lists, which frankly I find far more interesting than the countless lists I’ve read over on stereogum (and elsewhere). I may or may not come up with my own, but since I bought my iPod in January, it’s easy to list the 25 songs I listened to most in 2007. (And really, you can pick out at least a few of my favorite albums this way.)
25. The Heart of Life – John Mayer, from Continuum (2006)
24. Let Your Love Be Strong – Switchfoot, from Oh! Gravity. (2006)
23. Rain – Patty Griffin, from 1,000 Kisses (2002)
22. Wedding Day – Rosie Thomas, from When We Were Small (2002)
21. Three More Days – Ray LaMontagne, from Till the Sun Turns Black (2006)
20. I’m Nowhere and You’re Everything – Chris Thile, from Deceiver (2004)
19. Breathe (2 a.m.) – Anna Nalick, from Wreck of the Day (2005)
18. No Bad News – Patty Griffin, from Children Running Through (2007)
17. These Girls – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
16. You Give Me Something – James Morrison, from Undiscovered (2007)
15. A Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fear – Derek Webb, from The Ringing Bell (2007)
14. I Wanna Marry You All Over Again – Derek Webb, from The Ringing Bell (2007)
13. If the Rain Must Fall – James Morrison, from Undiscovered (2007)
12. Pearls on a String – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
11. One Last Chance – James Morrison, from Undiscovered (2007)
10. My Winding Wheel – Ryan Adams, from Heartbreaker (2000)
9. Goodnight, Rose – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
8. Tears of Gold – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
7. Call the Police – James Morrison, from Undiscovered (2007)
6. Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
5. Wonderful World – James Morrison, from Undiscovered (2007)
4. I Don’t Ever Give Up – Patty Griffin, from Children Running Through (2007)
3. Two – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
2. The Sun Also Sets – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
1. Everybody Knows – Ryan Adams, from Easy Tiger (2007)
What I did for love
Insanity = walking 1.2 miles in four inch stilleto boots for a cup of coffee.
And loving every step of it.
Let go of the worry, there’s so much nobody understands
“We are all shipwrecked. All castaways… One day we all wake on the beach, our heads caked with sand, sea-foam stinging our eyes, fiddler crabs picking at our roses and the taste of salt caked on our lips. … And, like it or not, it is there that we realize we are all in need of Friday to come rescue us off this island, because we don’t speak the language and we can’t read the messages in the bottle.” –Charles Martin, When Crickets Cry
Something I read this afternoon reminded me of this quote. Although my mom loved this book, I was really dissatisfied with it… all of it, but this one passage. Something about this paragraph resonates…
Now, I’m going to listen to some Ryan Adams.
Let go of the worry, there’s so much nobody understands
“We are all shipwrecked. All castaways… One day we all wake on the beach, our heads caked with sand, sea-foam stinging our eyes, fiddler crabs picking at our roses and the taste of salt caked on our lips. … And, like it or not, it is there that we realize we are all in need of Friday to come rescue us off this island, because we don’t speak the language and we can’t read the messages in the bottle.” –Charles Martin, When Crickets Cry
Something I read this afternoon reminded me of this quote. Although my mom loved this book, I was really dissatisfied with it… all of it, but this one passage. Something about this paragraph resonates…
Now, I’m going to listen to some Ryan Adams.
High beyond imagination
Current obsessions:
Our Little Hymnal by Holler, Wild Rose!
This Breaks My Heart of Stone by Red Mountain Church
Just thought you might need to know that.