Summer Fun?

Sara 1 Comment

This month has been insane and we are hardly a week in. I’m trying to cherish every moment, the good and the bad and the heartbreaking. Let’s start at the beginning. Last Monday, that gorgeous little curly red headed boy decided to pretend to be Iron Man and take a flying leap off of a play structure (Thomas now uses the word “structure” when describing what happened). The result is a broken arm (fractured both the radius and ulna) and a green cast.

Fourth of July was great party fun, especially the Poway fireworks where Thomas yelled, “do you want a piece of me?” to the loud booming explosions. It was a little sad to see him walk towards the swimming pool asking if we had brought his swim suit. Poor thing.

This past weekend we dealt with another type of explosion… fleas. We spent all day Saturday deep cleaning our home (and the hostess cat) to rid the house of these critters. I think we did ok, but I know the battle isn’t quite over, even though she is an indoor cat.

Sunday was fun-day. While Roger enjoyed the Museum School benefit at the Casbah with The Silent Comedy (acoustic set), Rob Crow and Little White Teeth, I took the boy on an adventure around the city with a trolley ride, a ferry ride and some time playing in Old Town. A favorite place, our boy enjoys running around in the plaza as the sun sets while we enjoy quality food and the outdoor patio seating. Sundays seem to be the days we find ourselves drawn to the historic playground.

Today, Thomas started his first day at preschool. I was more thrilled than he was. The morning was tough, sleepy from the night before and not at all excited about a change in scenery, I ended up leaving him while he was crying on the teacher’s lap. Sigh. I know he is fine and will be fine. I hope he enjoys the little lunch I packed for him.

The rest of the month will be full of excitement and change. This week is Comic Con (which I am taking time off to fully enjoy), next week is my last week at Girl Scouts, and the following week is a bit of a break before starting a new journey (including a trip to visit family back east). More on the new gig soon, but for now I’m glad I wrote something down here in all of the madness. I do have grand plans to write at least weekly again. I know I can! Priorities!

Nudists, cellists and a photo booth

Sara 1 Comment

I can’t believe it has been over a month since I last posted here. *But so much has happened in the last month.* (Yes, this is me whining for not giving myself even a little bit of time to write.) Although, each moment deserves its own time in the spotlight, I don’t want to dwell on the past as I will get tripped up and forget about all of the awesome things to come. So you won’t be hearing about my fantastic Mother’s Day where I got to see Roger Waters perform The Wall, or about the success of the North Park Festival of Arts (that little 35,000 person event I help run in my community), or even reviews of the Avengers or the solar eclipse (5 stars for both). It is time to look forward towards the sea of opportunities the tides are bringing in.

Let’s start with tomorrow.

I recently stumbled across an invite for the Committee of 100’s Annual Luncheon. If you didn’t know, the Committee of 100 is a strong advocate for Balboa Park in the preservation and restoration of the historical buildings within the park. But lo and behold the speaker at this event is Welton Jones, a proclaimed expert on Zoro Gardens, the nudist colony in Balboa Park during the 1935-36 exposition… which happens to be the same topic of my attempted novel. I had no idea that there was an expert on the subject. So I will be there to hopefully secure so time to meet with him later. Yay!

Monday is Thomas Day! *What?* Yes, I gave the boy a day. There is Mother’s Day and there is Father’s Day, so why not  Thomas Day? Most parents (including my husband) I have told this too think I’m crazy. Responses range from “This will totally backfire on you” to “Why didn’t you tell him everyday is kid’s day?” Well, we have  just one kid and we were already planning on going to Legoland that day (which we have annual passes for). No gifts, just a fun day. Really, we are just labeling the day, as Mother’s Day is just that to us anyway… just a labeled day.

Tuesday, Greg Laswell is playing at the Belly Up Tavern. *Who is this character?* He is a singer, songwriter straight out of San Diego’s coffeehouses. *Like Jason Mraz?* Well… yes… no, he is way cooler and just different in so many other ways… you should really determine for yourself. He is also married to miss Ingrid Michaelson,  who I will never forget seeing at a small tent at SXSW in 2008. And to top it all off, he has an incredible touring cellist. I have to admit, I’m a little bias on that last  one.

Sea Rocket Bistro turns 4 years old on Thursday. I love our local restaurants but this one has a special place in my heart. The food is incredible, but the staff have always been like extended family to us, even understanding as we had to pack up and leave due to a screaming two year old. Thursday, there will be a special tray passed food menu plus a photo booth to capture the shenanigans that are likely to occur (their words, not mine). I will be there with the little boy in tow.

Hopefully I will treat myself to a little blogging time on a weekly basis so I can spill some of the crazy thoughts running through my head like why my cat is crazy… well, perhaps not that one. But you get the gist.

The Polyphonic Spree: cult, crazy or genius

Sara 2 Comments

Ever since The Polyphonic Spree performed last week at House of Blues: San Diego, I haven’t been able to get enough of the band. I had never seen them live before this performance and one can argue that I still haven’t seen them as circumstances allowed us only to take in the first three songs of their set. While leaving the venue, I mused with Roger regarding the band’s make up. My brain churned up a number of questions: Is Tim DeLaughter truly a genius (like Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips) or a drug-induced crazy man (like Jason Russell of Invisible Children) or a cult leader (like the man headed for another parole hearing, Charles Manson)? Did he have kids and if so, how many? What is the creative process behind the songs  – was it more like that of a composer or a regular band? Does he do all of the organizing for recording and touring? How does the whole thing work?

I was happy to find with just a little on Wikipedia and some Googling, that Tim is a sober man and really quite normal, just a busy creative with lots of projects (to this I can relate). The formation of The Polyphonic Spree in 2000 was a reaction to the guitarist, Wes Berggren, of his previous band, Tripping Daisy, dying of a drug overdose. So, no running naked in the streets for Tim, unless he really just feels like it.

Also in my searches, I found a documentary created by his wife (and singer in The Polyphonic Spree), Julie Doyle that was included as part of the 2007 album, The Fragile Army. The film, Raise Your Ears and Hold on to Your Heart, goes through the making of The Fragile Army in about 51 minutes. In that short time, I found that the creative process is not unlike that of a 3-piece band, just with more time recording. YouTube has the whole film in eight parts. Here is part one to kick it off.

I believe my favorite part is in the last seven minutes of the film where you can catch small glimpses of his family, with his four kids.

Overall, in this mini-research/deep-soak in the world of The Polyphonic Spree, I discovered the inspiration of Tim DeLaughter and the whirlwind he has created of good vibes that make me ecstatic to consider myself a fan of his projects.

For those who have never heard of The Polyphonic Spree, perhaps you really have. You will find one of my favorite songs, “Light and Day/Reach for the Sun” on The Lorax soundtrack (and trailer).

The Magnetic Fields, The Orpheum: 3/23/12

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It has been a  long time since I have written about music. Not to say that I haven’t been going to shows. It’s just I haven’t spent time writing about them or taking photos. But considering the rareness of The Magnetic Fields actually playing for an audience, let alone going on tour, I think it warranted at least a few words.

Needless to say, if they rarely go on tour and seeing as the tour has/had only a few American stops (16 total), they certainly weren’t stopping in San Diego (but somehow Iowa City made the cut). So, Roger and I made the Friday rush hour trek up to the City of Angels’ theatre district for this must-see-at-some-point-in-your-life band.

The Magnetic Fields have a long history and one that is so interesting to some that a documentary was made called Strange Powers. This incredible film was release last spring and I think we manged to get around to watching it in the fall. It takes you through the song writing genius of Stephin Merritt and his support system, including his life-long friend and fellow bandmate, Claudia Gonson. In the film you find that the band operates in a sort of box, filtering out the outside influences of media and fans. They play to play because they need the release. They could care less if you actually enjoy it.

Perhaps this is only partly true, or else they would never tour, never step in front of a crowd. The film follows the making of Distortion, a sort of abstract  album full of experiments. It didn’t fail, but many fans will say it didn’t necessarily fly. Fast forward four years and recently released, Love at the Bottom of the Sea harks back to the reasons why many people fell in love with The Magnetic Fields in the first place. Witty, charming love songs or even the ever so fun anti-love variety. A favorite that hit my ears first by Paste Magazine, “Andrew in Drag”, will no doubt be stuck in your head too after taking a listen.

As for the concert, it fully lived up to my limited expectations. The opener, Bachelorette didn’t grab me as it probably grabbed Stephin, but good on him for touring with a musician he loves. Full of loops and mixes over lapped by vocals, this solo artist who is part of the trend to call herself by a band name, nearly put me to sleep after days of jet lag, hours of driving and a hearty meal. Too bad, so sad because I’m sure the music is good, just not as a live performance.

When The Magnetic Fields sauntered on stage, I felt that the audience were guests to their tea party as they entertained us with polite banter and parlor tricks.  Cellist Sam Davol, guitarist John Woo and vocalist/ukulele player Shirley Simms didn’t add much to the conversation, but were integral to the music (I could have used “instrumental” instead of “integral” but I didn’t want to go there). The set list was perfect with highlights including “Reno Dakota,” “The Book of Love” (that Stephin confessed he needed a lyric sheet to remember by telling a long story about Matthew Broderick in a Broadway performance of The Producers), “Come Back from San Francisco,” “A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off” and of course, my new favorite, “Andrew in Drag.” A short encore wrapped the set up with a bow and sent us on our merry way down the I-5 with a new CD and a new shirt that Stephin had put a bird on.

For those who haven’t spent time with The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs, do yourself a favor and spend at least 69 hours with the 3-disc album. Your significant other (or future other) will appreciate it.

Lucky to be me

Sara 3 Comments

Roger and I are lucky. We are lucky to have each other,  our awesome little one, a supportive family and equally supportive friends. There are a million other reasons we are lucky too, having full-time jobs and a roof over our head are two that I true am thankful for. Everyday I appreciate the love coming from all sides. Some of the love comes in the form of hugs while others come in the form of quick facebook posts or tweets. Even others come in the form of full length articles like this one from a friend and this one from a complete stranger (who I recently met).

On my 33rd birthday, I have been thinking about all of the awesomeness around me, including the awesomely weird dreams I’ve been having lately that include large beautiful birds you could ride on. I don’t know really where this post is going, but I felt I needed to write it. Really I just wanted to say “thank you” to everyone for being amazing. I’m glad you are in our lives.