My pretend husband.

Okay, let's be honest.  Anyone in my life around the time of September-December of last year most likely knew of my absolute infatuation with Bon Iver (Justin Vernon).  I'm not sure how I even discovered him- more than likely while pouring over music blogs, hungrily  searching for new blissful tunes to fill my head and heart as life swiftly continues on.

I took a break from his music for awhile, but this evening as I was walking about; cleaning supplies in hand, fulfilled and relaxed from a summery (it's finally here!!!),  rejuvenating weekend, something pulled me back to that album.  His voice and raw passion have always made my hair stand on end, and his live performances are unreal. There is also obviously something riveting about someone locking themselves away during a Wisconsin winter to pour torment, heartache and isolation into songs. Are you kidding me?! It's really something out of a girlish fairy tale. ;) All adoration aside, when Justin Vernon emerged from the cabin, the finished product in his hand (For Emma, Forever ago), is without a doubt, one of the most intensely heart wrenching and lovely albums I've ever, ever come across. I'd call it brilliant, actually.

This gorgeous gem is my favorite song from the album.  Also one of my favorite songs of all time, basically. Sigh.

"This my excavation and today is Kumran
Everything that happens is from now on
This is pouring rain
This is paralyzed

I keep throwing it down two hundred at a time
It's hard to find it when you knew it
When your money's gone
And you're drunk as hell

On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load
In the back and the racks and the stacks are your load
In the back with your racks and you're unstacking your load

I've twisting to the sun I needed to replace
The fountain in the front yard is rusted out
All my love was down 
In a frozen ground

There's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed
And he's dangling my keys he even fakes a toss
Whatever could it be
That has brought me to this loss?

On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load
In the back and the racks and the stacks of your load
In the back with your racks and you're unstacking your load

This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization
It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away
Your love will be
Safe with me" 

Illustration source: here

Happy Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day!!!  Today I have a few things on my mind....

This gorgeous summer dress.

Charming garden cottages.  Can you imagine having one of these? :)  

These summer 2010, brand new Ben & Jerry's flavors.  How good do they look?!?! Nothing could ever be too sweet or sugary for me, and I go weak in the knees for ice cream. :)

Picnics, in celebration of Memorial Day.

Flowers in jars and pretty vases.  I just want to put them everywhere. :)

Mountains.  I have an ongoing fascination with mountains. Something about them makes you feel safe yet tremendously alive all at once.

Small cabinets.

Haunting and dreamy landscape photography by Cedric Behir.

Block Island.  I worked there for four summers from the ages of 18 to 21, and I always begin to miss it around Memorial Day.

This card.

And this song, by Broken Social Scene.  Sad yet... sexy.

"I thought you were the sweetest kill
Did I even know?
And all the time we thought we did
Was it just for show?"

Have a wonderful day, friends, and ps....... 

Source: here, here, here, & here

Don't wait to be sure.

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday weekend! It's officially the beginning of summer, and it's finally warmed up here in San Francisco.... at least for the time being. ;)

I started off the day hiking to Twin Peaks with a good friend, and certainly got a workout out of it, given my dog Rosie decided it was too hot to possibly finish the walk, so I ended up carrying all 25 lbs of her nearly 8 blocks.  Yes.  I really love my dog.

The hike was followed by a little trip to an amazing, amazing organic grocery store downtown, and then we'll be heading to the movies tonight. I think we're going to see Sex & The City.  Yay!

I heart my walks. :)

Anyway....I have many decisions coming up in the near future and have recently been gathering up some courage to jump in and make the changes that may be necessary. That is to be continued of course, but I'll leave you with this quote:

"Don't wait to be sure. Move, move, move."

-M. July

Source:

A lyric girl.

So about last night. :)

 Last night I think I nearly melted into the floor, standing about 10 feet from one of my favorite bands on earth. For ninety minutes I watched wide-eyed, as they crooned the brilliant lyrics, perfect metaphors and gorgeous melodies I've been listening to for weeks on end. My sister and I often say that after particularly great shows, the feeling you're left with is almost similar to a slightly broken heart. You want to live in that one song, or that feeling endlessly, and for the time being, it's over.  What I do know is that I will loyally see The National whenever they are even remotely close, and continue to fall in love with them.... again and again and again. :)

"Life, I really believe, is about falling in love. With ideas, with stories, with experiences, mistakes, adventures, poetry, imaginations, old books, new books, movies, music, and, of course, people. Everything that is worthwhile in this world is worth falling in love with, and I can’t imagine a better way to live one’s life than to be always head over heels."

- herquotes.blogspot.com

Off to work....and to daydream about the next National show (Austin City Limits!).  Have a

good day.:)

Sources: here & here

Living in color.

Let's start today with some energy.

"When you consider things like the stars,
 our affairs don’t seem to matter very much, do they?"
-V. Woolf

"I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, 
I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages.
In the tranquil landscape,and especially in the distant line 
of the horizon, man beholds somewhat 
as beautiful as his own nature."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I had the wind knocked out of me, 

but never the hurricane."

-J. McDaniel

"When you realize how perfect everything is,

 you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky."

-Buddha

"In our day we need to recapture a sense of mystery. 
Pascal made the distinction between a mystery and a problem, 
and it is one we have tended to forget. 
A problem is an obstacle, a conundrum, 
something that can in principle be formulated and solved. 
A mystery is utterly different. It lies beyond us, 
it is too rich for our understanding.
 It can be entered into, explored,
 even inhabited; 
but it can never be 
exhausted or fathomed."

-Basil Hume

Have a good day, and do remember.....

Sources: here, here, here, & here.