It’s only Saturday afternoon, and it’s been a crazy good weekend already. While I don’t think this Saturday can top last Saturday, I’m loving this weekend so far. (I never wrote about last weekend, but can I say monster amounts of stunning sushi, THIS MOVIE, and two very generous and awesome guys made for a way good time? Yes, yes I can.)

Anyway, so far this weekend:

- Dinner with Rod at the Malt Shoppe (haven’t been there in FOREVER). The man is very wise.

- Added a new desk + chair. Now I won’t have calluses on my patellas (patelli?) from kneeling on the floor with my laptop on the bed. Plus, a completely organized room is so fantastic.

- Went to Velour to see Desert Noises (see pic from last night below) and Paul Jacobsen & the Madison Arm (their keyboardist has a voice that gives me shivers), and the show was amazing. Soooo glad I went.

- Came home at midnight to watch 30 Rock with Carlyn until 2 am – Alec Baldwin makes me laugh until I cry.

- Slept in. Ahhhhhh.

- This morning (while I was still sleeping) Carlyn made chocolate chip cookies. I don’t generally care for cookies in any form, but these are the bomb.

- Cleaned out my car. It was looong overdue.

- Made a massive trip to the Pleasant Grove Walmart – which was the usual soul-sucking big store experience until I dropped a large container of blueberries at the checkout stand. Carlyn ran and got a broom and dust pan and we had to herd blueberries – which, did you know, is hilarious and really difficult? We got the giggles and then so did everyone else in line. Blueberries ricochet!

- Got lunch from Zupas – we split a Yucatan Chipotle Chicken Salad, panini with ham, honey mustard and muenster cheese, and the lobster bisque. YUM!

- Cooked. There’s a ward dinner tomorrow, and we’re supposed to bring something from our home, and I initially thought of making Thai food (because it’s a little funny), but China is as close as I get to having a home, so I’m thinly slicing beef to marinate in soy, brown sugar, chili, and huge amounts of garlic. I’ll stir fry green beans until they’re vibrant and just the right amount of crisp, and serve it all with steamed sticky white rice.

- Went to Lehi Roller Mills to get a bucket of wheat that we will grind, so that I can make bread that we’ll eat with the peach jam from our tree.

And then, coming up:

- My friend Heather is headlining a show tonight at the Grove Theater in Pleasant Grove, so of course I’m going to that.

- Dinner with friends afterward to celebrate the star of the show.

- A late run to Einsteins to buy a box of bagels and smoked salmon schmear.

- A midnight drive up the canyon to see the stars.

- Church. Carlyn is teaching this week, yay! Church dinner, and then ward prayer later on.

- And hey – maybe a Sunday afternoon walk around the lake can be squeezed in there.

On NPR, Reverend Samuel “Billie” Kyles was talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. And he said this:

It is said that Robert Louis Stevenson was a man who never enjoyed good health. He spent a lot of time in his room even as a child. He was always looking out the window. His nurse asked him one day, Robert, what are you doing? He said, I’m watching that old man knock holes in the darkness. She said, what are you talking about?

He would climb up the ladder and light the light, come down, move the ladder to the next pole, climb up, come down, move the ladder. And everywhere he would light a light it appeared to him with his little quick mind that a hole was being knocked in the darkness.

And so I’m suggesting that those of us who have the strength and the ability, we should be knocking holes in the darkness. So, Martin Luther King came to Memphis – it was a dark place to come, but he came and he came knocking holes in the darkness.

Photo taken from the Y Mountain parking lot in Provo on a cold night last November.

How long can I dodge writing about life by posting music?

Lately, I’ve been … off.  In the past, at this point I’d pack up and move, just to escape the restlessness. I’ve learned though, that it doesn’t matter where I’m living – the feeling catches up eventually, and I’ve decided that once and for all, I’ve just got to turn and face it. A change of scenery is not the answer.

Besides, I genuinely like my life. I really like the people in it. Even if sometimes I’m really bad at showing it.

It’s a glitch I’m working on. Tai 2.9 will be friendlier, sweeter, cheerier. Man, I’m a nerd.

I need an infusion of sunshine.

*Photo taken in California over Christmas.

Enough music, already. But just… one more.

Also, I know it’s February. But I just got back from a walk, and the skies outsides are  blue blue blue, and the air is clean, and this song is just right for today.

I’m sorry for all the music posts lately, guys. But really, not much else is going on. Life is great, work is fine, the people are good. I haven’t taken any good photographs lately – everything is grey and snowy – so I can’t post any pictures. If only for the purpose of photography I am so excited for spring to come! I could use more sleep, but that’s not news. I basically spend all day at work designing and listening to music – hence the deluge of music related blog posts. Today was all Radiohead, all day. On a design note – I’ve been loving Stanley Donwood’s artwork lately. He’s done all of Radiohead’s album covers (except Pablo Honey, but I’m not 100% on that) and has even collaborated with Thom Yorke (who I had no idea was into visual arts) and they do some pretty sweet stuff. I’d say my favorite of Donwood’s work is the stuff he did for The Eraser – very cool black and white apocalyptic lithographs.

ANYway. Here’s an oldie but a goodie for today:

Neon Trees’s new single “Animal” is now available on iTunes!

Elaine – the drummer (and only girl, duh) was my roommate until last Saturday when she got married.

I’m not shy. At all. I just don’t talk unless I feel like people want to hear what I have to say. It comes across as shy, or reserved even, but it’s an illusion. Edit: This does not mean I don’t get tongue tied.

I don’t believe in quid pro quo friendships.

A compliment on my hair will make me smile for a week.

Freddie Mercury (from Queen) was supposed to be my best friend. Good thing I believe in an afterlife.

I’m pretty strict about my bubble of space. But I like hugs.

I think that people are nicer than they let on.

I think your capacity for joy is directly proportional to your ability to accept it.

I’ll never hurt your feelings intentionally. If I knew I had, I’d probably cry.

There are maybe 5 people in this world who have an influence on how I think and feel, and can do it with a single sentence, or even an inflection of tone. They can make me feel sad, happy, pleased, angry or guilty. It can be a good thing or a bad one – depending on the person. There’s no common theme to this group of people except that they are all exceptionally intelligent.

I like using big words, but I don’t do it on purpose.

I remember the details, the offhand remarks that people think no one heard, what makes people laugh and the sideways glances. Edit: I’ve thought about this, and feel like a caveat is deserved: I’m deaf in my right ear. So I’ll remember the offhand comments that I hear. No promises on the others.

I can’t remember lyrics. I don’t learn things aurally. If I’ve seen them written down, it helps.

No matter who you are, I want to know how you think. You’ll be surprised how little I’ll judge you.

I love it when my bed is made. But fitted sheets are mean to me.

If I could, I’d solve your problems.

My greatest fear (more than sharks) is being the dumb one. I used to have recurring dreams that I was a CNN pundit, and everyone else knew the subject matter and I didn’t.

I love the Beatles songs where they’re laughing. (The title of this post is a Beatles Song – the live demo.)

Both items are from Fred Flare, and I wannnnt.

This is Steve. He’s one of the many talented designers I work with, and he’s notorious for his hair..

See that wave? That clump of hair sticking straight up that looks like it could be surfed by a little plastic army man? It just did it on it’s own. He gets frustrated and pulls at his hair, and it stays. Magic.

He didn’t want me to take these pictures. But I do what I want.

PS. have fun in California, Steve! Suckah…

I accidentally put my glasses in a puddle of toothpaste, and didn’t realize it before I put them on my head. Now there’s a small patch of toothpaste above each ear.

I’m feeling minty fresh.