esprit de l'escalier

Meandering memories

My Dad just returned from a week long work trip abroad, and I just listened to him listen to voice mail on speakerphone. I flashed on my siblings and I spending inordinate amounts of time coming up with messages for our answering machine. We would come up with a silly sketches to do, to try and convince the caller that it wasn't the machine picking up, but a person. I remember one included shutting the back door and tromping heavily to the phone, and shouting, "I'm coming!" Do kids still do this?

I can see our old house in my mind's eye. Our black and white linoleum tiled floor, the blue painted, wooden file cabinet, where the phone and answering machine sat, the light coming in from the windows. That was the house I grew up in, and I don't think of it too often, but recently I found myself walking through it, remembering its rooms.

My Saturday night

I just realized it's Wednesday night and I haven't posted in a while! Sheesh! I meant to post about my *amazing* Saturday night. It started with dinner and hanging with my friend Tina. We then headed to the Wexner Center to their black box on the Mershon Theater's stage. This is the second show we've seen there and each time the artists commented on how quiet and respectful the crowd is. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that we're not in a bar and don't have beer bottles to clink. It is really nice to hear music that way though. Plus they have these awesome Edison bulbs they hang over audience's.

We went to see Mumford & Sons, who blew our freaking minds. I was expecting a good show, but damn. They were charming and funny and teasing. They even led us in several (okay, too many) of, "O-H!" "I-O!" cheers. They have amazing energy. I wish I got better photos, as I was shooting with my 50mm lens, because it's my fastest and that limited what worked. (I had major glass envy of a girl shooting with a professional grade camera and a nice zoom lens.)

After the show, Tina and I jumped on the night bus through campus to head to Skully's to see the Spikedriver's play. The night bus? Full of drunk, obnoxious undergrads, and at least one awkward date behind me. The Spikedriver's? Freaking awesome. They have so much energy and just rocked. Our friend Chip met up with us and convinced us that we needed to hit Waffle House after the show.

We learned that Waffle House is crowded at 3am and ended up at TeeJay's, a classic Columbus after hours diner which was populated by a fascinating crowd that time of night. The photo above is from our ride home. It was a very fun night.

A rainy Sunday

Today the sun actually shone, but the last couple of days have been nothing but rain. The yard is exceedingly green, but it's nice to see the sun. Here are some shots from a couple of weeks back, when I went on a rainy hike to Flint Ridge with some friends.

Be the light in my lantern

I went to Chicago this weekend, ostensibly to see Josh Ritter play at the Vic. There were friends to visit, but this was my priority. His new album, So Runs the World Away, just came out and his tour just started and he wasn't going to be back near me anytime soon. It probably seems silly to travel for a band that I've seen perform numerous times, but I know I'll come away from the performance smiling, feeling energize, and just sort of in love with the world. It's hard to miss if I have nothing stopping me.

His previous couple of shows had his wife Dawn Landes opening for him and the band and I am really sorry I missed them performing together. She provides back up vocals on many of the songs on the new album, and I'd love to see them play together. Of course, given my propensity to see him live, I'm sure I'll have many more chances. (As an aside, check out Landes' duet with Justin Townes Earle, covering Dolly Parton. So good.)

My favorite song on this very strong album might be "Lantern." It's a simple song, but to me it reflects Ritter's newly married self. For me, this song is about partnership, love, support, and inspiration. It brings me a lovely, teary sort of joy when I hear it. (Heather Browne also loves this song. She has it streaming on her site, if you want a listen, here.)

Josh Ritter, "Lantern"

Give me light for my lantern
Give me light for my lantern give me light
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, be the light
I need the light in my lantern, light in my lantern tonight

It's a hungry world out there
Even the wind will take a bite
I can feel the world circling
Sniffing round me in the night
And the lost sheep grow teeth
Forsake the lambs and lie with the lions

Where the living is desperate
Precarious and mean
And getting by is so hard
That even the rocks are picked clean
And the bones of small contention
Are the only food the hungry find

Where the thistles eat the thorns
And the roses have no chance
And it no wonder that the babies
Come out crying in advance
And the children look for shelter
In the hollow of some lonesome cheek

And the sky's so cold and clear
The stars might stick you stand
And you're only glad it's dark cause
You might see the master's hand
And you might cast around forever
And never find the peace that you seek

For every cry in the night
Somebody says, "Have faith!"
"Be content inside your questions"
"Minotaurs inside a maze"
Tell me what's the point of light
When you have to strike a match to find?

So throw away those lamentations
We both know them all too well
If there's a book of jubilations
We'll have to write it for ourselves
So come and lie beside me darling
And let's write it while we still got time

So if you got a light, hold it high for me
I need it bad tonight, hold it high for me
Cause I'm face to face, hold it high for me
In that lonesome place, hold it high for me
With all the hurt that I've done, hold it high for me
That can't be undone, hold it high for me
Light and guide me through, hold it high for me
And I'll do the same for you, hold it high for me

I'll hold it high for you, cause I know you've got
I'll hold it high for you, your own valley to walk
I'll hold it high for you, though it's dark as death
I'll hold it high for you, and then gets darker yet
I'll hold it high for you, though your path is blocked
I'll hold it high for you, through the thieves and rocks
I'll hold it high for you, keep you safe from harm
I'll hold it high for you, until you're back in my arms

Blues run the game

Last week I went to see Laura Marling with my friend Tina. Marling played at the Wexner Center in the Mershon Theatre, where the stage was turned into a black box. (Which was completely awesome with Edison-like bulbs hanging from the ceiling - I loved feeling like we were back stage.) I've been a fan of Marling's since her last album came out. She was a charming performer, she whistled and sang a bunch of new songs. She did a couple of covers too, including a Jackson C. Frank song, "Blues Run the Game."

Now, at some point I was introduced to Jackson C. Frank. I think it was college through my friend Joe, who was my go-to music guru for quite sometime. He went through an English folk music phase in college. I imagine that's when I found out about Frank and then more or less forgot. Now I've been listening to this song over and over. It's perfect for the rainy weather we've been having. Enjoy!

Cannery Row

"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses. Its inhabitants are, as the man once said, 'whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches,' by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, 'Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men,' and he would have meant the same thing."

So begins Steinbeck's Cannery Row, which I recently finished for my book club. When I found out the choice for this go round, I may have cursed because I had alluded the reading of Steinbeck in high school and didn't want to start now. Man, what a fool am I to let a prejudice about a class where we didn't even get to Grapes of Wrath spoil me on a writer. Which is to say I loved this book. I think the opening chapter is a brilliant description of place and sets the stage for his meandering snippets of life in that place.

I loved following the tales of life in Cannery Row and grew to be fond of all of its misfit inhabitants. But what really sold the book for me were the descriptive chapters. One starts out describing early morning there and paints a beautiful picture of the rusty place. My favorite bit, though, describes the cats and dogs. "Cats drip over the fences and slither like syrup over the group to look for fish heads. Silent early morning dogs parade majestically picking and choosing judiciously whereon to pee." How perfect is that?

From hereon out, I solemnly swear to never scoff at the classics until I've read them for myself.

'Roid Week 2010 Ending

I never quite know what to post for 'Roid Week. I usually try and shoot during the week, but this time I had some shots from earlier, waiting to post. Plus this week I was playing around with three different cameras and films. I ended up with a lot of shots, but not any particular standouts, so it's been hard to choose.

Here are my shots for days 5 (above) and 4 (below). I have a lot more shots that will be making their way to Flickr soon. Please check out the brilliance of the Polaroid community in the 'Roid Week stream.

'Roid Week Day Three: Flowers

Yesterday I went driving around the country to take some photos. I now have a bunch of barns to choose from for tomorrow. Today I posted two photos of flowers. The top is from a couple of weeks ago and is in color. The second is from Monday morning, of our tree peony, and it's in sepia tones. I am completely obsessed with this plant.

'Roid Week Day Two: DC Edition

I went to DC last week for a bit of a marathon trip. I saw different people every day then stayed with a different set of people every night. I was able to see a lot of people this way, but I was carrying my stuff on me on my treks to and from people and I realized something. I'm a little too old for this crap. I loved seeing everyone, though. But my bags got heavy.

In my gear I also carried 3 cameras. I'm sure you non-photogs out there think that's overkill. Maybe it was as I didn't use them that much. I hauled my Polaroid Spectra around and only took two shots. I like the photos, though, so I will most likely continue to haul many cameras around on my trips. It's just who I am.

'Roid Week 2010: Day One

It's that time again - the week that Polaroid nerds wait for all year. It's 'Roid Week! I'll be posting my shots here. Check out the whole pool here. I thought I'd celebrate the first day of the week with a little ice cream and some music.