It's Better in Wyoming.

Last night I checked out the free Murder by Death show on campus.  I'd heard of them, a little bit, through my roommate and his girlfriend, but didn't really know what to expect.  But a few of their songs on myspace music seemed pretty alright, so I figured it was worth a drop-by. With a name like "Murder by Death," I kinda figured it would be all angsty goth stuff, or something.  I didn't really know.  But actually a good bit of their stuff reminded me of the Old 97s, kinda, and Maggie said they reminded her of The Pogues, the Killers, Flogging Molly.  So, yeah: somewhere in that range.  I also like the term "vampire rock" for their stuff because of their Eastern European rhythms and because of the really fantastic dark cello.  If I were a vampire, I would want MBD as my soundtrack.  Fo' sho. Melissa dropped by the show too (I learned this morning), and here's her completely awesome and accurate description of the lead singer: "i ...

Here are a few photos from my recent trip to Phoenix.  The first is Grandpa at the Roosevelt Dam; the second is south of here, on the Apache Trail, which was the supply trail used to get materials up the canyon to the damn building site. The trip was great.  Eighty-degree weather most days, some nice walks, lots of great scenery, and a chance to catch up with my grandparents, David, and Peter all in one quick trip.

Snowy Range Ski Area hosted a free potluck and full moon ski/snowshoe this past weekend.  My friends Melissa, Amarina, and Maggie and I went up the hill to check things out.  All in all, it was a great time, with good food and a good turnout.  I nearly missed the moon's emergence since Maggie let my water bottle go sliding off the backside of the ski-lift hill while we sitting waiting for it.  Of course, as soon as I headed down into the gully to see if I could find it (I couldn't), the moon decided to make its appearance.  Here's a decent picture I got as it was coming out of the clouds.

pandora just queued up pearl jam's "just breathe" on my avett bros. channel. i like "just breathe." i like the avetts. but i'm not sure that the two belong together.  it's interesting to hear them together and to wonder about the connections.  here's pandora's explanation about why eddie is hanging out with seth and scott: yep.  i guess i'm okay with that explanation.  extensive vamping indeed.

i feel like i should have something to say.  thursday i spent with my sister and niece and brother-in-law.  friday i got up at 2:30 to drive to dia to spend the day with my grandparents.  saturday i drove to prescott to spend the day with my friend david.  today i drove back to phoenix to have dinner with peter.  tomorrow grandpa and i may go check out tortilla flats. despite a lot of doing , however, i'm not sure what to say or feel or think about it all.  i'm not numb, really, but also not very contemplative or articulate either, apparently.

tonight was music night with melissa and amarina.  amarina was my almost-roommate this year, and since she's a botany person she now knows a lot of other people i already knew.  like mark, from the walden ski trip.  but, weirdly enough, melissa and amarina also both lived in moscow (idaho) before, at the same time, and they know several of the same people from there, too.  crazy!

asshat : that's a word that i rarely find use for in conversation or writing. What i really don't understand is how a clown like this could get more airtime than, say, Libya.  Maybe that's an overstatement.

i realize it's probably not very manly of me, but i like some of dar williams' stuff : we walk in the world of safe people and at night we walk into our houses and burn. that's a good line, that captures a lot of the things that we don't bother to say sometimes, out of fear of judgment, or threat of violence, or worry of ruining a relationship that works well enough, or whatever.  serenity, courage, wisdom. whatever.