esprit de l'escalier

Can't wait hardly wait

I am currently obsessed with this song. I blame Justin Townes Earle and his excellent cover of it on his excellent album (Midnight at the Movies) and Heather Browne of Fuel for Friends. (I *love* and *adore* this blog. Thank you to my friend Stacey for turning me onto it. Heather is one of my current music gurus - I love her taste in music.)

But back to the Replacements' cover. I'm listening to it a lot right now, both the original and Earles' cover. I thought the cover was just a one off, but then I heard him on World Cafe one night and I was a goner. I needed to have his album immediately. (His interview with David Dye is also great - Earle is personable and open - definitely check it out.)

I've been trying to pick a favorite song, but truly I love the first eight songs and just can't. Back in the days before you could buy single songs, I would have purchased the cd for any of them. There is something about the songs on this album that harks back to the past without being nostalgic. Here's the title track from the album. I'm so mad I missed his pass through my area on his tour. Enjoy!

Weekend fun

This weekend, my dear friend Natasha hopped a megabus to come visit. She came ostensibly to attend a little graduation barbeque my parents and I hosted on Saturday. Her visit was much needed and much, much too short. I'm so happy she squeezed in a trip in her extremely busy summer.

The party was a success. I wasn't sure who was actually going to show up, since we live a little far from town, but it was a nice mix of old, older, and school friends. A couple of my musically-inclined friends were finally able to get together and play. (I've been wanting to throw these ladies with their instruments together forever.)

I hope you all had excellent weekends/Father's Days/summer solstices.

Oh dear.

I forgot my blog's birthday. Again. Last year I was in Ireland for my dear friends' wedding (which I was in), which I thought gave me a pass. This year I really don't have the same excuse. I mean, I've been a little distracted and out of touch with this space, but I should have remembered.

I have been absent from this space, as grad school kept me otherwise occupied. I hope to get back into blogging, though. I miss this place and writing. I want to thank (again, and because I can't hug you all and I would) all my blog friends and readers. I know I don't know all of you, but thanks for continuing to read. Say hi.

Oh, and I hope you like the agrarian photos - I took them today on my drive home from work. They are so summer to me. Click them to see them bigger.

Brief recaps and some links

Sunday I graduated. I did not attend the ceremony, though, much to the chagrin of pretty much everyone I told. Sitting in the heat with several thousand people for several hours did not sound as appealing as brunch with my parents at Spagio (even if we were too early for booze in our bloody marys). We did attend a little do at my school within OSU, which was nice, if poorly organized. It gave me the finality I needed.

Later that day I attended a high school graduation party for a girl I used to sit for. Back in the day, you see, I was a babysitter extraordinaire. I'll have to write about it sometime. I haven't seen her or her family since I left for college, ten years ago. It was really great to see her and her brother and parents. I do enjoy reconnections.

I also talked to my dear friend Bertie, which was fabulous. She lives far away and I miss her. I promised her to blog more regularly now. So here I am, trying to get back into this thing.

A couple of links: The odd link: I can only say, wtf? I've discussed weirdo squirrels in the past, but this takes the cake. (Hat tip to Shea'la at Tiny Showcase.)

The interesting link: As a reaction the ubiquity to the Disney princesses, Dina Goldstein has created a series of photographs depicting them in more modern day scenarios/problems. (Hat tip to Jezebel.)

To tide us over

After today I'll be done with school. I have a couple of posts brewing, so please stay tuned. To tide us til then, here's a donut and some fruit. Please enjoy.

In the thick of it

I am in the thick of it friends. The "I can't see the end, even if it's only a couple days away" thick, the "I was in an empty computer lab until 9pm while the world was enjoying the sunshine" thick of it. But I'm almost there. I've actually reached a somewhat zen place and I'm focused and ready to get this stuff done. But group work? Oh, I am so over group work. Next time I work in a group, we better all have salaries on the line, because I'm over this scrambling mess that I'm currently in.

I hate to leave this place hanging, so I'll share some photos (my go-to blog save). Thursday night I met up with a Flickr friend and we went on a photo walk of German Village, one of Columbus's beautiful, historic neighborhoods.

The walk was exactly what I needed to clear my head and get ready for all that I've been dealing with this weekend. Plus it was fun to chat and take photos. I love a good photo walk. See all the photos here, and click on the ones below to see them larger.