The Dead Weather, Screaming Females, Death Cab For Cutie, Ra Ra Riot, Iron and Wine, Cold War Kids, Pinback, Jack's Mannequin, Fun, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Bright Eyes, The Magic Numbers, Feist, Jason Mraz, All American Rejects, Ozomatli, Hoobastank, Paramore, The Juliana Theory, The Spill Canvas, Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Wilco, Kanye West, (25)The Raconteurs, The Black Keys, G Love, Brand New, Girl Talk, Brazillian Girls, Chromeo, Rogue Wave, MGMT, Ludo, Dr. Dog, Manchester Orchestra, Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Modest Mouse, Muse, Ben Harper, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Regina Spektor, Amy Winehouse, M.I.A, STS9, Bassnectar, Motion City Soundtrack, Senses Fail, (50)Underoath, Family Force 5, Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is, The Wreckers, Cake, Tegan and Sara, Calexico, Corey Smith, Dashboard Confessional, Say Anything, Fear Before the March Of Flames, Gavin DeGraw, Tyler Hilton, Hanson, Maroon 5, John Mayer, Mae, Meg and Dia, My Brightest Diamond, Relient K, Sufjan Stevens, Waking Ashland(72). And whoever else I can't remember. This was just for me. Sorry if anyone spent any amount of their life reading through this and/or thinking it was important.

The words she knows, the tune she hums.

I really don't even like Elton John that much, but "Tiny Dancer" is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Also, the Dead Weather rocked my body tonight. Seriously, the best musical experience of my entire life.

Today I feel strangely adult-like. I woke up at Mary's way too early, and instead of going back to sleep, drove home to have coffee and breakfast with my mum. Since then, I have counted and separated the rest of my money to be taken to the bank, set up our electricity in Chicago, and collected and signed all the necessary paperwork for my cell phone rebate. I have my own address. I have bills and cell phones and bank accounts in my name. This is a weird and wonderful feeling.

First adult task when I get to Chicago that really is refreshingly not adult-like at all: find a cheap bike.

Headrush.

Packing, Food Network, packing, packing, packing, fudge pie, packing, Where are my coffee mugs?, bank, packing, packing, rain, Food Network, packing.

A butterfly flew over my head today and I instantly wondered how you were doing. Also, the most vibrant cardinals I have ever seen have been spending time in my backyard lately. I wonder what it is I'm emitting.

At Famous Dave's earlier this week, I waited on two men who were on their way home to Huntsville, Alabama, making the last few miles on a Harley trip/caravan that began in Milwaukee. I don't remember how, but school came up, and I told them I was going to school in Chicago and that my ultimate goal was to make a living doing photography. The one on the right smiled politely and wished me luck, and the guy on the left just stared at me. I smiled, because I thought I knew what was coming. "Can I ask you something? Why in the HELL would you want to do that?" It's hard, obviously, to portray via internet, but as serious as his question was, his tone of voice was not menacing or offending at all. Long story short, I spent most of their meal doing what I hadn't had to do in months- convince someone that I can do this. Convince someone that I am doing this. They were nice, southern gentlemen (ha), and at the end of the meal, I gave them both my Flickr url. After having said all that I could, I told them that I wanted them to decide for themselves if I was wasting my time, or if what I was doing was going somewhere. Since, there's been a few extra views on the pictures that have been sitting on my website for a while, and I can only hope it's the Harley guys from Huntsville who told me I would "make a great computer engineer."

This is what it's all about. Convince people, friends, family, neighbors, competitors, strangers, that you're going to do what you say you're going to do. Make them believe in you, even if they want to think you're crazy.

Yes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8e6-IeQ0aw

I'm frustrated. As all humans do and should, I am constantly thinking. Constantly questioning, constantly deciding, constantly wondering, constantly imagining. And as I go about my day, doing mindless and not so mindless things, working, spending time with people, not spending time with people, I constantly...... all this is leading to is me saying there's always so much on my mind that I want to share, but by the time I get here and am able to write, I've forgotten everything of any importance. Someone share a thought with me, an experience, a question. Can you make annonymous comments on Blogger? I don't know, someone. Anything.

There's a wrinkle in the water.

Even poaching salmon makes me miss you.

The sky could be blue, could be gray,

without you I just slide away.

The sky could be blue, I don't mind,

without you it's a waste of time.

Volair tonight; I'm hoping it inspires some writing as satisfying as that which stemmed from their last show in January. I just want to sit on the floor and soak in every word and melody they'll share. 

And then, HP6 at 12:06. Good gawd.

Beat Repeat.

Last night was crazy and incredible and ridiculous and cleansing and exactly what I needed. I don't even know what else to say about it. But, making the most of these last TN days is going extremely well thus far. I feel good about it. About everything.

French Vanilla.

Up way too early, waiting to be picked up by Kim in a mini van so we can conquer every Goodwill in the area. I'm praying to the dining room table gods.

Inspiration, aviation.

Patrick flew away from me this morning, leaving me unbalanced and with a dozen empty spaces to fill. This is my first attempt at filling some.

I've been inspired by Jess Santrock more times than I can count in the last nine or ten months, and this blog is the product of her most recent inspiration. To write. About anything and all things, because language is a gift. And because sharing ourselves with each other is an even greater one. 

These are my last twenty days in Tennessee; I'm going to do all I can to fill the spaces, and to make them count.

p.s. I drove nearly straight into the moon on my way home from work tonight; I'd never seen it so low and so HUGE in the sky so late at night. It was incredible.