We never know what’s wrong without the pain,
sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.

I’m pretty sure I just had the best concert week ever. It’s rare that you’d get to see your favorite groups in the same time span with each other. It’s even rarer that they all hit within a 6 day period of time. Thursday night- Nickel Creek, Friday night- Ellery, and last night- The Fray. Following last night’s concert they have cemented their location in my top 3. Hands down. The concert blew me away. I went pretty early b/c it was a small venue, (actually the first place I ever saw Nickel Creek live) and let’s face it when you’re 5’1 and it’s a standing room only venue, if you’re not close you’re going to miss out. So we were close, so close in fact that no one was in front of me. And it was good. It was really really really good. A certain BF of mine who shall remain nameless ahemmennyahemm, finally listened to them thanks to a VH1 special in the middle of the night the other day and informed me that she not only liked them- she was “proud” of me. B/c yes, they’re a rock group. Or at least a lot more rocky than I normally listen to. I’m not sure what it is about adding piano to electric guitar that makes me like it that much more, but it worked with the Killers, and it certainly works for the Fray. Musically they’re phenomenal, lyrically they’re phenomenal, and in person they’re incredibly nice guys. It was the best concert I’ve been to in a really really long time.

And all this music makes my heart happy.

It’s a double post day!

My conversation of this week:
J- So are you singing at her wedding?
E- Nope. I’m totally fine with that believe me.
J- Oh, so you’re not singing b/c you’re going to do your interpretive dance routine to Endless Love?
E- Well yeah, what else would I do? Do you think the ribbons are too much? How did you know I’ve been practicing?
J- Oh, I heard your little feet in the girl’s room when you were here to visit. I definitely think you should go with the clip on hair extensions. It’s a particularly nice touch.
E- I’ll be sure to let her know you approve.

(As a follow up to the earlier conversation)
E- Watch out for the depression. I'll have to come down and drag you out of bed while I subject you to full routines from my interpretive dance. You thought my endless love routine was bad, wait till you hear my interpretation of Martika's Toy Soldiers. Step by step, heart to heart, left, right, left, we all fall down James. We all fall down.
J- I hate that you’ve been holding out on the Toy Soldier number—that has to be a crowd pleaser!
E- just wait, one of these days- you're going to go to the mailbox and there will be a videotape of yours truly performing a little Toy Soldiers. It's going to blow you away.
J- Please don’t tease me. I want ribbons! I want flaming batons! I want a drum and bugle corps! I want 600lbs of GLITTER!!!!!
E- Jamie, you know I'm afraid of fire. I'll work on sparks that fly out of the end, but if I can't get that to work, colored cellophane is going to have to get the job done.
J- colored cellophane will only work if you are juggling left over’s!!!! Otherwise, FIRE!
E- hey critical carl, i once saw great expectations at the IRT, and when Miss Haversham burned, they used a fan and colored cellophane. It worked just fine. No need to bring out the leftover chicken tetrazini to get the job done.

:) It's the little things, that's all I'm saying. It was entertaining to me nonetheless. And I’m sure to some of you who know me. Course I’m sure that going public with this is going to out my little side interpretive dance business. But what can you do?! B/t/w, there are a couple of you readers who were there with me for this aforementioned IRT performance….anyone? anyone?

I can't come in and I can't sit down
For I've only a moment's time...

Today I've been trying to think of things that actually bring me more peace than seeing Nickel Creek live. I can maybe come up with a few that are equal, including some people in my life- and the ocean, but as far as more, it's hard to say. Last night was one of those nights when I got to combine the two seeing them live with one of my very favorite people in the whole world. And today, while I'm a little tired- (the 2:30am arrival time will do that to you -who knew Evansville was an hour behind us?) I feel better than I have in a while. The show was amazing, probably not the best I'd ever seen but definitely one of the better. I was trying to tally today how many this makes, and I'm pretty sure since my first concert in May of 2001, I've seen them 14 times. And it never gets old. I never get tired of it. And it's always, always something different. Last night, they took a song that's never been one of my favorites, upped the tempo, added some full out harmonies and I was seriously blown away. That sort of music that just takes your breath away, and makes you ache in your chest. I've tried to explain that to people before, but I guess unless you feel it you can't understand. Last night we were in the second row, on the aisle so located pretty much directly in front of Sara and Chris. The tickets were a gift from one of my group leaders who happens to know how much I like them. (And is a ticket broker so he's up on the whole on-sale thing even when somehow I miss it.) Anyway, sometimes I wonder what it is about them that makes me react the way that I do to their music. I know that they're incredibly passionate, especially Chris who I think feels music with every ounce of who he is. I know they're incredibly talented. But I listen to other passionate talented groups who don't have the same effect on me. I guess it's just not something that needs explanation. So, to close, the concert, and the company couldn't have been better. With some things going on in the lives of the people that I love lately, I treasure these moments that much more. So thank you.

Top 10 for the last week in no certain order:
#10: “Holy job sharing Superwoman!”- the response I received after commenting by email, complete with superwoman graphic on the fact that some days I feel like I’m the glue of the office. (Yes, I’m being a bit melodramatic...)
#9: Flip-flops for 3 straight days in Georgia. Seriously, life is just better when wearing flip-flops.
#8: Edamame and Sushi on Saturday night. Eating sushi makes me happy. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just does.
#7: IKEA- “The thing about IKEA is everything is Swedish.”
#6: “I already miss u.”
#5: The impromptu performance of RENT Saturday in the car. That’s a show that just makes me happy to sing.
#4: Mo. It’s a side I’ve never seen before. I love it. I’ve got my bowl of popcorn out and I’m just watching to see what’ll happen next. :)
#3: David Gray live. Wow. That’s a concert everyone should see. It probably deserves it’s own entry, but for now we’ll just make it #3.
#2: Patty Griffin’s song Rain followed closely by Let Him Fly.
#1: The sermon I listened to on contentment. Realizing that the reality is that it’s sometimes harder to learn to be content when life is good, as opposed to when we need more help.


So here I am. Atlanta was fun. Work is fine. I’m ready for warm weather. I have more peace in my life right now not having any idea about what’s really going on than I have in a long time. (February must have ended.) David Gray does music the right way. People surprise me. I like to cook more when I’m cooking for someone else. For a trashy drink I particularly enjoy cherry limeade and bad vodka- (and I don’t even like vodka). Chad and Nicole make good wine. The last hour of a long drive is always the furthest. Brokeback Mountain made my heart hurt. Getting a corporate AmEx card makes me feel somehow more adult. I sometimes wish people would trust my judgment more than they do. I don’t ever want to try to fix someone, I would much rather love them broken. Some things can’t be fixed. It’s easier to have peace for tomorrow when I’ve got peace for today. I want to read The Kite Runner. Patty Griffin calms my heart even when she sings about pain. Some things take a long time to make sense. I guess David Gray puts it best- “All my words are falling short. And there’s so much I want to say.” And somehow today, that's ok.