KUTX

Reconnecting with KUTX, so nice to have a sentient being on the other side of the sounds. Segueing from the Bangles 'Hazy Shade of Winter' to Guided By Voices 'Doughnut for a Snowman'.

Dreaming of Naples.

Approved at the new apartment.. looking forward to settling in.

Untamed Sense of Control

Let's make this a random notes post. It's been a while...

Christmas in the Sarasota sun. Kayaking in Oscar Scherer State Park and the Chassahowitzka. Days spent between beach & pool & fried fish. Then Repeat. Delicious. Then some work meetings in Ft. Myers and Miami - from Cape Coral to Coral Gables. Alligators. Pelicans. Swimming in spring-fed rivers. Now back and apartment hunting.

Random cultural notes:

• I finished the first of Elena Ferrante's Naples novels - "My Brilliant Friend" - and am spellbound. Now on to Book 2 ("The Story of a New Name") and it's getting even deeper. Richer. The texture, the way the world is changing for the characters. Seriously some of the best stuff I've read since, well, NW.

• Listening (on repeat) to Dawes ("All Your Favorite Bands") and Chris Stapleton ("Traveller"). And this:

  After the Adidas commercial that was "Facts" - this is back to White Dress-level introspection. And sonic depth.

• And this was originally going to be a blog post about Roscoe Holcomb.. And this great article about his discovery in the 60's. But I put this post in draft so long ago that I lost the thread..

Nathaniel Raetliff & The Night Sweats

Where has this band been all my life? And why am I just hearing about them now? It's been too long since I had that feeling. And I'm glad it can still happen. Listening on repeat at my desk. Wishing I had tickets for the Richmond show. Wishing I knew of their show in DC a few weeks ago.

Into the void indeed. Sometimes I fear I've lost my words, but they're there. Just bubbling underneath the surface.

Time and Love
has branded me with its claws
I had to go to Florida
dodgin' them Georgia laws.

Planning more south Florida adventures. Airboats and kayaks and salted air. Soon.

Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

I feel just like a
bird of paradise
my bad fortune
slippin' away

You know who's awesome? PJ Harvey.

That, for now, is all. Hitting the road for Ohio this afternoon. Patti's M Train tucked in my bag. And a backpacking book and (of course) Stegner - Remembering Laughter.

Winter

I get a little warm in my heart
When I think of winter

At my desk now, listening to Ryan's Ten Songs from Live at Carnegie Hall (11/15/2014), part of that sublime fall 2014 string of shows that kicked off that night at the 9:30 club.

Back from a work trip to the swampy wilds of South Florida. Spinning through the Everglades on airboats. The river of grass teeming with spoonbills, and cormorants ("shags"), and egrets and great blues. Gators on the banks and in the streams. A 99-mile wildnerness kayaking trail that's calling me.. Getting a case in south Florida in the winter isn't a bad deal at all..

Pushing forward into the unknown. A surreal mix of emotions - from relief to regret to joy to exhaustion and back again. We told J on Saturday. The house won't be on the market until late-February at the earliest, giving us time to sort out paperwork and repairs and logistics. And to make the transition smoothly, amicably.

Oh. One more thing. I was watching Master of None on Netflix the other night when the Arthur Russell version of A Little Lost played over the opening credits and, for a second, I was.

So Alive

Everybody sees you're blown apart
everyone feels the wind blow

It's been far too long. My last post references the trip my dad & I took on the Appalachian Trail - an incredible 4 days along Maryland's South Mountain ridge. A chance to just be. Walk. Breathe.

Then the roller coaster. Starting a chain of events that led to a long-inevitable conclusion. And feeling free and loose and confident. But raw and vulnerable. Real. Alive.

Now sitting in Compass Coffee. Organizing. Researching. Writing. A good mix of class Velvets and Jeff Magnum and hipster coffee-shop fare. Spent the morning at the Portrait Gallery with J's Kindergarten class. The questions. The curiosity. It's a truly magical age.

September Song

It's been too long. Funny how it took almost a year to finalize decisions I knew in my gut back then. A trial in San Francisco will send me there for a few weeks at the end of the month / early October. Then a week of backpacking the AT. Bring it.

Now reading: Purity.

On repeat: Airless Midnight - Ezter Balint.