so excited...everything that happens will happen today

One of my first great nights in New York was when my then-brand new roommate, Miss Elizabeth Benney (a stranger from Craigslist, no less!) and I went to hear David Byrne and Caetano Veloso play at Carnegie Hall.

It was my first time inside Carnegie Hall, my first time seeing both these maestros perform and the first of many magical moments with Miss Benney. Every seat in the historical Hall is a good one, but we left our velveteen chairs to sit on the crimson carpeted steps in the balcony's corridor. I just remember those two guys sparkling on that spare elegant stage with a guitar and a Brazilian bum bum drum (it makes my heart thump), and Elizabeth's shoulder beside mine. It's been there ever since.


Elizabeth was my ambassador to New York City, now my home. She's moving back to California soon, but tonight we'll be in Prospect Park for a free David Byrne show in the bandshell...a perfect warm-up for my summertime in the city, and a sweet soon-to-be sendoff for Elizabeth.
For just a little while longer, I'll get to be on a blanket next to Miss Benney--surely the best seat in the house.

where the wild things are

thanks giving: project

Begin by pressing play.

Below is a picture of a list of things to be happy about. I started keeping it when I was sad, a long time ago now, in Santa Barbara. I remember thinking that people would see it taped on my kitchen cupboard and think, "a list of things to be happy about is the work of a depressed person." But no one seemed to think so.


In fact, nearly everyone who came to my apartment regularly checked to see what I had added, or add something themselves once in a while. The list includes items like:

#9 winter sun

#56 phosphorescence

#74 airmail envelopes

The list has been tucked away for a few years now, but I still add to it mentally every now and then. A couple weeks ago (the same night I recorded the farmers and chocolate-makers playing the music recorded in my last entry), my friend Stephen Brooks sang a song wishing that everyone everywhere could be as fortunate as he was in that moment. I feel that all the time.

Just a few of the things I am profoundly thankful for this year include:

Erin back in New York, and just down the street.


CUNY
Walking away from Edun a year ago was tough, but I managed to find another place that keeps me equally sleep-deprived, inspired and surrounded by impossibly eccentric personalities. Perfect.

Which brings me to how happy I am to still have all those silly beautiful Edun people in my life.

Even though they locked my computer, purse and scarf inside the office Friday night while I was lost in the Steven Alan sample sale. (Being locked outside Edun in the freezing dark was not as scary as briefly believing on Wednesday night that I was locked inside CUNY after editing video for thirteen hours.)

So...I'm thankful that right now, I am not locked in, or out, of anything at all.
It's easy to be so free when you've got a big safety net, which is...

My family.
This year started with my sister and her babes taking care of me in New Zealand. If that music player up top is playing the song "Home" right now, that's what they gave me.

Here's my niece, Bella.

Skipping rocks will be on her list of things to be happy about one day. For now, it's just "throwing rocks," which was one of our preferred excuses for sitting together on the shore of the lake.

This photo refers back to #9 on the original list: winter sun, which is wonderful all over New York, but I highly recommend 2nd avenue. It also refers back to an entry from May when Polaroids were added to the list. I'm thankful that Tom Slaughter never lets golden light like this on the fire escape go unappreciated. I appreciate that. He snapped this on Friday.

I've been assigned cookies for Thanksgiving, probably because my cousin Judy knows there's nothing I'd rather make. So...thanks.

Click the little pencil below to leave a comment if you want, and let me know what's on your list.