back to school time is just around the corner in my world, so it feels like summer is almost over.  here are the songs i've had on heavy rotation this summer:

I put off this new version of Blogger until they forced me not to. I'm still not sure I like it. First of all, paragraphs. I don't know the trick to making those. I'm sure I'm missing some easy thing, so if you know, please tell me. I'm still working on getting past this silly little funk that I am in. And no one wants to read about that, and I don't want to write about it, so instead I will document that since I learned of the death of Adam Yauch yesterday, I've been listening to a little Beastie Boys Spotify playlist I've made, and I remind myself of this commercial sometimes: ...but not completely. Although I think that commercial is so hilarious, I drive a Camry. And I don't dress like her. And I never toured with anyone. It's just sad that it takes someone dying to realize how long it has been since I really listened to the Beastie Boys. I have an idea for a mixed media project swirling around in my mind, and in a few hours I'm going to a high school production of Willy Wonka. Also, I bought plants for an herb garden today: dill, parsley, oregano, basil and cilantro. And the ring above was recently added to the Mirthmarket and there are more to come. Things are looking up!

I'm on Spring Break - keeping very busy, not spending too much time online...but I saw this tonight and it was so superfluously fantastic/bizarre/creative/genius/amazing that I had to post it here.

Happy viewing!



(I love everything about this. The son is playing a cheese grater hung from a string! The daughter (with awesome hair) is wearing a Smurf shirt and using her recorder to hit the windchimes! The Dad is playing at least four instruments! A garden gnome is watching them. How much Depeche Mode do you think those kids have listened to? English is not even the language they speak conversationally at home! This might be the coolest family ever.)

I am glad that I went to see the Lemonheads, even though they didn't go onstage until 10:30 p.m., after two opening acts that sounded very influenced by Mazzy Star (which was a good thing, though not good for staying up late). I went because they played the entire "It's a Shame About Ray" album, beginning to end. How cool is that? Probably worth driving home through freezing rain on an interstate with snow-covered lanes, which is one of my least favorite things ever.

Evan Dando's voice sounded really clear - the band sounded great in general, even if a man was singing the female back-up parts. And unlike their show that I saw in 1994, I felt no impulse to need to stand in the front row (or to stand at all), or to wait after the show and meet Evan Dando (embarrassing teenage moment!). Magazine clippings of Evan Dando were absolutely on my dorm room wall in college. Goodness.

Here are a few lovely Lemonheads videos. (He still has the same haircut! So the show oddly felt a little like stepping back into a 1990s time capsule.)

Rockin' Stroll-I couldn't embed the official videos

Confetti - Look at the haircuts!



And finally, I didn't even know this existed. He wrote this for her - they should always sing together.

This has been the playlist for my recent commutes from work. Every evening there is a song from Glee in the mix, as well, but those have been different. These have been consistent, good songs for driving home:

Wilco - I Might: I love the sound of this song - the keyboards remind me of 96 Tears.

Flo Rida - Good Feeling: You know that's Etta James, right?

The Strokes - Reptilia: The Strokes are one of my favorites - have I never mentioned that before? Probably my favorite band that I've never seen live.

Speaking of music, this song reminds me of this song. And whenever I hear the former on the radio, I wonder if anyone else thinks the same thing.

Have a lovely Friday!

i am moving in slow motion today. i've been working on photo editing to list some new items in the Mirthmarket, which i've neglected a bit lately as far as new content.

i'd like to give my blog a new name and it's time for a new banner, too. name ideas, anyone? i think this blog has had about seven or eight titles. i'm not great at naming things.

i visited friends this week, which was really nice. i love it when i visit with friends i haven't seen in months or years and it feels like no time has passed at all...even when there are now children running around whom i hadn't gotten to know until now.

i bought "mylo xyloto" this weekend on cd. no itunes or spotify for this one. i miss the excitement of waiting for a big album release and then going out to buy the brand new cd, looking through the booklet to see if lyrics were included, reading the thank yous, etc. the actual cd is decorated with a cool, colorful spiral. listening to it all the way through for the first time, i wondered for a split second what music critics would think about it, and then i thought about how it doesn't really matter what music critics say. what matters is how much the music becomes a soundtrack to your memories.

A daisy in Michigan, a preview of a post soon to come

Hello. I just canned pickles for the first time. It was fun, and I hope they turn out okay. I like cooking, but I'm not a strict recipe follower. I didn't see a refrigerator dill recipe that I liked well enough to copy it, so I combined a few. And now, I have to wait somewhere between three and seven days (based upon different recipes) to know if I added too much garlic and dill. Or not enough.

Since I last wrote (almost two weeks ago!) I have been on a miniature roller coaster...lots of ups and downs, but minor ones. Still, everything seems to be rushing past. The jolt from two weeks of blissful vacation into full-speed-ahead work mode was more intense than I thought it would be. The heat wave didn't help. And recovery time is not happening, because I just went on vacation. So, I press forward. I try to sleep enough. I unplug for a little while.

There is so much more I want to share from Michigan. For instance, I went to see U2! I was here!:

(I didn't record this, but thanks to the spectator who did!)

The concert was awesome. The strangest part may have been the picketers standing outside Spartan Stadium trying to convince everyone walking in that we were about to go to a satanic rock concert. Certainly they have never listened to U2?

This was a nice acoustic version of a good song - nice, nice, nice...:


It rained today and it's already so much cooler. What a relief after such a warm week. I'm so thankful for air conditioning. I'm so thankful for so much.

this is such a lovely song. if you don't already know it, take a moment to listen to it. i hope you will find it as beautiful as i do.

(there is nothing to see here, just something to hear.)

A week from today, I'm going to see U2 in concert for only the second time. I've been reading set lists getting an idea of songs frequently included on their set lists. Almost every list includes "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" from the 1995 Batman Forever soundtrack (random?), and I know there may be some surprises, but here are some songs I'd really like to see:

"40" - and anything else from the War album, which might be the album I'd take on a deserted island if forced to make a choice.


"Two Hearts Beat as One" would be a great song to hear live:

(and of course, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" or "New Year's Day". The War album is just so good!)

I love the October album, too. "Rejoice" is one of the best from that album - I would love to hear it live:


The Joshua Tree is usually regarded as U2's finest album. The often-played singles from that album are deserving of that, but the lesser known songs deserve some set list time, too. I would love to hear this sped-up version of "Exit". That is some good rock and roll.


U2's albums in the mid 90s were more experimental and pop-oriented, and I like those albums, too. It would be fun to hear "Lemon":


I could list so many, many more. they are playing a lot of their more recent songs (like this one, so good), so there is definitely a better chance of hearing them. That will be so cool. I can't wait.

this weekend, i painted this zebra-inspired ring for a friend's daughter. it was so much fun to paint that i think i'll make more:



i also saw rock of ages starring constantine maroulis. he was perfect for the role - i think that i forgot how much i like to hear him sing.

i thought of this:


(actually, i like simon's reaction here - but i couldn't embed that version).

and then tonight my church held a passion play and it was pretty awesome, too.

good things are all around! i hope your week is good, too.

More musical nostalgia:
This. I've probably listened to this song a thousand times. I'm not kidding. And this was the song that was my gateway to that one and all the rest.

Contrasting that, there was always this, this and this.

And then, I went to college.

Thanks for bearing with me here. The moral of this story is that you, too, can have an instant mood lift just by finding your old favorite songs on YouTube.

Have a lovely week.

While editing photos tonight, I listened to last.fm, which subsequently led to too much time in the iTunes music store, which led to the rediscovery of so many songs that never made it to my iTunes library (and in some cases, to my cd collection). It was seriously wonderful.

I'm not nostalgic for middle school and high school, but I miss the songs:
Welcome to the Occupation * REM
Untitled * REM (poor audio quality, but this is the only version i could find - seriously, why is this song not elsewhere?) This ended up being the one song I purchased on iTunes.
Don't Talk * 10,000 Maniacs
Drowning Man * U2 (one of my favorites, ever)
Don't Change * INXS
Mediate * INXS This was my favorite video. I want to add about fifteen more INXS songs to this list but I'll stop now.
The Walk * The Cure To be fair, this song is in my iTunes library, but when I was looking for the other videos, I remembered this version with the kazoos. I didn't have MTV, but I had a few videos of 120 Minutes (and The Cure Unplugged) that were recorded at other people's houses and I watched them constantly.
Run * New Order I can't even consider how many times I listened to this tape on my Walkman. I also just remembered that this album cover was on a t-shirt that I used to wear to school.
Night and Day * U2 Red Hot + Blue isn't even available on iTunes, sadly.

This concludes today's Tape Collection Time Capsule. That was fun.

After spending May working on a lot (a LOT) of special projects, I feel so ready to paint again. New ideas are swirling around my head. I haven't even started them, but I am really excited to add something new to the Mirthmarket!

Above is a birdhouse that I recently painted for a friend. I think she liked it - and I liked painting it.

Even though I haven't posted anything crafty in a while, I'm feeling like I have very little to say. I'm just tired.

Also, I saw Coldplay live this weekend. It was a lovely show. Have you seen this cute Coldplay video? Maybe you have?

Sleep is definitely in my future plans. I wish you a restful evening, as well!