great new albums

au revoir simone's new album, "still night, still light" is my favorite of theirs yet. if you like soft sweet female vocals mixed with some great electronica beats, you'll like them.


i love grizzly bear's music. they have such a great sound. i love how innovative they are without being too intimidating. and anything that even faintly reminds me of the beach boys is ok in my book!
suggested track: two weeks. (listen for free on their myspace page.)


and now the best of all the game. i've seriously fallen in love with fanfarlo. seriously. i heard about them on npr's all songs considered podcast, on which they played "the walls are coming down" from the new album reservoir. on a hunch i went to itunes and downloaded the entire album (only 5.99 for the entire thing!) and i am so happy i did. every song is amazing. the more i listen the more i love, which to me is the hallmark of a truly great band.

what are you listening to lately? do share!

proust questionnaire

have you heard of the proust questionnaire? if you like "inside the actor's studio" then you're familiar. they also run it in vanity fair. here's the description from vanity fair's website:

Since July 1993, the back page of Vanity Fair has been devoted to the Proust Questionnaire, in which a noteworthy person answers a series of personal questions. The questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust (1871–1922), the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature.

and here are some of my favorite answers that various celebrities have given

-which living person do you most despise?
generally, i tend to despise human behavior rather than human creatures. -sidney poitier
-what do you consider the most overrated virtue?
no real virtue, if such, can be overrated. - umberto eco
-what are your favorite names?
aureolus theophrastus bombastus, and jim. -umberto eco
-what is your greatest fear?
finding a panther in my bathroom. -ellen degeneres
-what is the quality you most like in a man?
uxoriousness. -emma thompson (uxoriousness is defined as having or showing an excessive or submissive fondness for one's wife.)
-how would you like to die?
improved--and loved. -marcel proust
-what is your greatest regret?
not telling my husband I loved him 20 times a day. - katie couric
-how would you like to die?
i would not like to die. -david mamet
-what is your motto?
my motto is “be prepared.” I am told this is also the motto of the boy scouts, but, if so, this only proves that they were acting according to my motto earlier than i. -david mamet
-which historical figure do you most identify with?
columbus—if it’s true that he knew where he was going, got lost, and found a place that was better. -dustin hoffman


and here is the basic questionnaire so you can play along! if you want, leave some of your answers in the comments. i think it's a fascinating way to get to know someone...
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
2. What is your greatest fear?
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
5. Which living person do you most admire?
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
7. What is your current state of mind?
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
9. On what occasion do you lie?
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
11. Which living person do you most despise?
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
16. When and where were you happiest?
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
21. Where would you most like to live?
22. What is your most treasured possession?
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
24. What is your favorite occupation?
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
26. What do you most value in your friends?
27. Who are your favorite writers?
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
31. What are your favorite names?
32. What is it that you most dislike?
33. What is your greatest regret?
34. How would you like to die?
35. What is your motto?

hail the conquering graduate!

yesterday was sweet m.'s kinder graduation. both sets of grandparents and one aunt came to celebrate! it was so sweet, a real rite of passage.

somebody apparently told lil' c that he was the entertainment for the evening.

they had them walk in like they were in a wedding, you know "step-together, step-together" but they didn't walk in to "pomp and circumstance." i think it was "start spreading the news..." much more festive. try telling sweet m. that. she looks like she's in church. or prison. don't worry, it gets better...

finally, a smile! hooray, i knew she could do it!


ok, i am a silly mommy, i put up two pictures of the singing gestures, but let me explain. at the christmas concert a few months ago m. was not the most excited performer. she barely moved her lips, looked like she was in physical pain, and wouldn't do any of the hand gestures. so this is major steps forward, my friends!

she got her diploma! and i took a really bad picture of the back of this kid's head with m. in the background!

sweet m. with her teacher, mrs. d. she was such a great teacher.

i think my favorite part of the whole experience was a slideshow that they showed in between the songs and the diplomas. i was really trying to hold back the tears but man, did i bawl like a wee tiny baby! i just kept thinking, i put her on a bus, and she has this whole other life, this whole other world that she's a part of without me. and she's getting so big!

bittersweet symphony

sweet m. just came out of her room and said, "i can't believe tomorrow is the last day of school!" my sentiments exactly. it really is difficult to believe that she's been a kindergartner for a whole school year now, and that in a few months i'll have a first-grader on my hands.
i think m. has grown so much this past year. not just academically although she has improved so much in that arena: she can read pretty well, (beginner well), she can count to one hundred and beyond, add and subtract. but the thing i notice most is how she sees someone she doesn't know very well and she says a cheerful "hi!" when she would have looked away shyly before. and how she'll sometimes even look an adult in the eye and tell them thank you. a whole bunch of little things that probably don't mean squat to anyone else, but to me mean that she's coming out of her shell, and that she's going to be fine out in the great big world.
here is a little plaque we made as a gift for sweet m.'s amazing teacher, mrs. d. she's been so good to m. this year i just didn't know how to thank her adequately. an all-expenses paid trip to the bahamas or caribbean was a little out of our budget, so this'll have to do for this year.

it's back, it's back, IT'S BACK!!!

what's back, you might ask, and why are you getting all crazy about it?
it's

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

and it's really my favorite show of the summer, possibly of the whole year. (i am a little crazy about lost, too.) but there's just something about sytycd that makes me happy. which is weird because i can't stand american idol and haven't watched it in years ( i know i'm strange, please still be my friend!)

anyway, it looks like they're off to a great start already this year. and more bollywood dancing? yes, please!

passion pit (silly name, great music)

lately i've been trying to find music that is really dance-able but isn't typical "dance music." so i'm really glad that passion pit just came out with a new album. really fun to dance (or do the dishes) to, but also quite original.
*bonus: you can download the entire new album, manners, for $2.99 here. what a deal!

suggested track: "to kingdom come"

kid style

{twirling with the eyes closed}


do you remember what your style was like as a kid? was it something you ever thought about? what about your kids now, if you have kids?
i remember in fourth grade there was this new girl that moved in mid-year. she had clothes that i thought were so pretty, long blond hair that was always perfectly fixed, and these shoes that i really coveted, they had zippers. my style was more like sweet m.'s is now. kind of weird stuff put together, hair simply down or pulled back in a bumpy ponytail with lots of strands loose, and maybe the odd piece of kid jewelry. definitely lots of friendship bracelets. there was a certain point where i had so many they were about half way up my forearm! i thought they were so cool!
with sweet m. i usually try really hard to let her do her own thing, even when i think it turns out really crazy. the other day she wore a pink shirt with tiny hearts printed all over it, this checked skirt, and leggings with hearts printed on them. to complete the ensemble she chose her white slip-on shoes that have different color stars everywhere. pattern on top of pattern on top of pattern! but that's fun, right? right?
how much guidance do you give your kids in what they wear? do you pick out the outfits but let them choose which day to wear them?
just wondering. :)

fun, fun, funny in the sun, sun, sunny

you and i

today, may 16th, nate and i have been married for seven years. this is our favorite engagement picture--  the one we keep on our wall to remind us that we were once blissfully, can't-keep-hands-off-each-other, enchantedly in love with each other. 

of course seven years, two kids, and tons of problems later, we are different people. and we love each other differently now. neither one of us could've guessed that the shadow of depression was already falling over our lives, or how that would affect the next seven years. it's been a tremendous seven years, full of many hard, hard times, and i'm glad that he stuck with me.

i guess jeff tweedy kind of summed up the way i feel about how we stand now,

you and i, we might be strangers

however close we get sometimes

it's like we never met.

but you and i, i think we can take it

all the good with the bad,

make something that no one else has

but you and i

from song "you and i" on the new wilco album

happy anniversary, honey. however hard it's been, i'm glad you chose me and i chose you on that day. i can't imagine a better father for my kids, or a more patient and hardworking husband. and let's face it, sometimes you just crack me up. let's keep choosing each other, ok?

mini bowling

i got these vintage mini bowling pins mostly for decoration, but hey, they can be fun too!
*something you're probably figuring out from my pictures: my kids do not like pants. they come inside, off with the pants! the fact the sweet m. is wearing them in these pictures is beyond amazing.

wilco

oh, how i love me some wilco. and even though we have to wait until june 30 for their new album to come out, pitchfork is reporting that you can listen to the entire thing on wilco's website, right here!

p.s. it sounds pretty darn good.
p.p.s. track i can't stop listening to: "you and i," with feist

all i want for mother's day...

i found these on the delightful blog twig & thistle. they're offering them as a free download that you can just print out, cut, and hang on your door! (or give away.)
the post is here
and the download is here.

doesn't this movie look great?

i can't wait to see it.
p.s. sorry about all the videos lately.

i'm so glad when daddy comes home

for lunch.