life's little lulls

Men and women communicate very differently. I learned that in Duh School. But somehow it still manages to astound me when communication becomes a game of charades and 20 questions.
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Last night, Audrey and I spent some time with James and Abby Beuerlein and their beautiful adopted newborn, Tiago - one week after hearing the news of Abby's pregnancy (their two children will likely be less than 10 months apart).

After leaving and arriving back home, Audrey and I were sitting at the table, eating a late snack when Audrey broke the silence:

"I can't believe they're pregnant," she said.

"I know, that's so crazy."

"But they're doing it backwards."

With a confused look on my face, wondering why adopting and then getting pregnant is necessarily 'backwards' I said, "What do you mean?"

"You know, first comes marriage, then comes a baby.... or whatever the saying is."

"I thinks it's 'First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.'" (Despite knowing this elementary school saying, I am still very confused at where this conversation is going.)

"Right, I knew that," Audrey said. "But you know what I mean? Like, they're not doing it in the right order."

I silently produce a more obviously confused expression.

"Like, they're having a baby first and then getting married."

"Wait, who are you talking about?" I said, getting more confused by the second.

"Jim and Pam," she said, while adding a non-verbal "Duh" with her tone of voice.

Jim and Pam? Now my head is about to explode. I quickly search through the caverns of my brain and through our previous conversations that night that may have led to this very moment. Maybe there was something I missed? What could it be?

My first thought: Jim and Pam?!?! Huh? Jim and Pam Beuerlein?? We were just at James' parents' house, and their names are Jim and Pam. But they are neither pregnant, nor are they getting married, nor are they doing the two in any kind of frowned-upon sequence. Who else do we know named Jim and Pam?

My second thought: A bunch of stuff that would make no sense typed out here... Something about banjos and lava, and a rescue mission over a precarious cliff where my rock climbing skills come in handy while pulling a puppy away from almost certain death, etc.

My seventh thought: Jim and Pam from The Office? I guess we had quoted a line from an episode a few minutes ago when we started eating, but it was a Dwight Shrute quote. Not to mention, we quote lines from the show constantly, as Audrey has an extensive catalog of Michael Scott quotes from which to draw upon during life's little lulls.

My eighth thought: Yes! It is Jim and Pam from The Office! SPOILER ALERT: They did find out they were pregnant during the season finale a few weeks ago, and they have yet to be married (because they have to drag us through a few more seasons somehow). Hence, the backwards order of operations.

"Wait, Jim and Pam, from The Office?!?" I ask, about to break into bewildered and nervous laughter.

"Uh-huh," she said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

a recent rash of kidsmoke

An attempt to duplicate Jeff Tweedy's beautiful live-acoustic rendition of
"Spiders (Kidsmoke)":

the evolution of a song: poor places

First of all, I want to say that I would be remiss to think that many (out of the million that read my blog) take the time to really dig into posts like this. I know from experience that blog-reading is a daily activity that doesn't always merit the devotion of other activities like, say, tearing pictures out of Nashville Paw to tape to one's dashboard, or making a list of all the things one must do to before becoming an astronaut.

However, most of these posts are for myself and the few who might actually delve into them anyway. So, without further disclaim, the evolution of a song:



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"Poor Places" appears on my favorite record of all time, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - (I will likely be stubborn and continue to make this claim well after my own death). I first heard the song during my senior year of high school when I was amazed at how something so beautiful could be so quickly destroyed and turned into such a mess. The idea of consonance and dissonance in art was something unheard of and exciting (for me). I finally realized why I liked much of the music that I did - because it was the sound of an artist taking something (a melody, a chord, etc.) and twisting it until it broke. I love the sound right before the break. It is the sound of humanity.

I have several different versions of "Poor Places" - all in different stages of the composition and recording process. Listen to (and watch) the building up and tearing down of a song.

Wilco - Poor Places (Demo #1)


Wilco - Poor Places (scene from I Am Trying To Break Your Heart)



Wilco - Poor Places (Demo #2)


Wilco - Poor Places (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot version)


I love the way it ends - it keeps me coming back for more. I've actually caught myself thinking that maybe it will just end with a beautiful B-flat strum as I listen to it, as if the recording itself is alive and capable of change. And I have spent many a headphoned moment wondering what that haunting voice is communicating with Y-H-F.

I have some theories.

breakfast at sulimay's

This is such a great idea - get three elderly people, put them together with three pairs of headphones, play them the newest titles in rap and independent music and record their responses. Such is the internet video series Breakfast at Sulimay's.

Their responses to this kind of music (often music that I enjoy very much) are always hilarious, sometimes close-minded, sometimes telling, and often beautiful to watch - from their botched pronunciations of Bon Iver or the title of Joanna Newsom's album Ys, to their jaw-dropped-in-disgust facial expressions, to their audible groans: "This is why Pitchfork sucks."

Also: "I hope they have day jobs! (about The Decemberists)" ... "I can't imagine anybody wanting to record this and whom did they think they were going to sell it to? (about The Walkmen's 'The New Year')" ... "People could really get out and wiggle their tooshes to that one! (about Beck's 'Timebomb')" ... "I doubt that this group is gonna get far from Baltimore, Maryland. (about Animal Collective)" ... "It's not Rascal Flatts, but it's pretty good. (about Doves)" ... "That was cute! (about Eminem's "We Made You')" ...and my favorite, "That's not a prostitute song, I would know! (about Realpeople's 'My Night with a Prostitute in Marseille')"

Common & Bon Iver:

the road

Right after reading the book last spring, I told myself I wasn't ever going to see a film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Actually seeing the devastated landscapes of barren wasteland, and actually assigning a visual to the man's face from that of Viggo Mortensen instead of gleaning it all from McCarthy's stunning poetry was something I was not willing to put myself through. But that all changed the second I found out that they were actually attempting a film version. I want to see this so much.

I guess this is the Catch-22 that readers often find themselves in when a film is made based on a beloved work of literature. It's just that I rarely find myself reading the kind of novels that screenwriters often adapt. I don't really get into all those fantasy series - Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc... or all those superhero comics - Batman, Spiderman, the Watchmen, etc... so I really couldn't care less about how well the film adaptation holds up to the original work because I never really enjoyed the original work. But this is different:

(If you haven't read the book, I recommend not watching this trailer and reading it first.)


I will not like seeing the world destroyed via television news coverage. I will not like seeing any more of the woman's face than I have already seen in this trailer. I may even cry myself to sleep for a week afterward, but I will see this movie nonetheless.

Life is so hard.

playing for change

My friend David just shared a site with me called Playing For Change. The idea is to bring the world together through music. Founder Mark Johnson and his crew began filming different musicians all over the world several years ago - anyone from street performers to professionals. They basically organized an unfettered transnational jam session. It really shows why anyone ever really wanted to play music, and it makes me so happy that I can (to some extent).

These videos are nothing short of inspirational. It makes me want to globe-trot with a banjo over my shoulder.

oldies 96.3

I am currently cleaning more of my computer's hard drive, and came across a couple of old recordings - and I decided that I might start periodically putting up some of my recordings on here. They are mostly covers, and my vocals are mostly terrible, so I might not, we'll see. Here are two instrumentals, though.

The first is an original - a simple C chord progression that I used to try some different sound experiments out on.

Floating Embers


And the second is a Badly Drawn Boy cover...

I Love NYE


Again, I recommend headphones, especially for Floating Embers.

Also, I hope you mostly like the new site design. I needed to change things up a bit.