A Wood Pecker + Wandering = A Very Good Day

 I walked out of my house and heard a tapping sound.  I turned towards the only tree in my yard as I was going to cut across the yard to my car.  Sitting in my tree, peck peck pecking away was a giant wood pecker.  I had never seen one before, and I had no idea how big they were.  I have since googled them, and they really don't look that big in pictures either.  The one in my tree... big...huge... and scary.  He wasn't afraid of me in the least.  I inched closer and closer to him. trying to get a good picture.  I only had my camera phone and he did not sit still.  The pictures aren't great but you can get a general idea of his size.

After work I was wandering around Columbus waiting for the Women's Fund annual Key Holder to start and I discovered this.



I've lived in Columbus and worked downtown for nearly 8 years and had never seen or noticed it before.  This makes me think I should wander around more often.

 Have you had any good wanderings lately?

Bruce Springsteen Concert Columbus, OH 4-15-14

Teenagers love music.  My parents were young when I was born, 19 & 20.  That put's their teen years in the 70's.  I believe their teen and young adult attachment to music is the reason I have vast knowledge and appreciation of music. 

The 70's produced some pretty amazing music.  Among those were Bruce Springsteen's albums Born to Run & Darkness on the Edge of Town.  Rolling Stone named Born to Run 18th in their Greatest Albums of All Time. I tell you this, because when I start talking Springsteen to an audience that is not equally fanatical, I sound a little crazy.  And I am, but the does not mean the music is not worthy.

I grew up listening to Born to Run and Darkness On The Edge of Town on the record player and Live 75-85 in the car's cassette player.  The gritty world of Springsteen was the soundtrack to my childhood, the theme to teenage years, and the solace of my adulthood.

When Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band began actively touring again my parents and I were thrilled.  My dad I usually go together and sometimes my mom comes along as well.  They are spiritual, cathartic, physical and FUN.  Here are sections from Amanda Palmer's blog about her first Springsteen show.

" HOLY SHIT I WENT TO SEE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN LAST NIGHT AND HE BLEW MY MIND. why did nobody tell me???
i expected it to be a run-of-the-mill okay rock show. but the guy is an entertainer of the highest order: he’s heartfelt royalty. he and the e street band played to 25,000 australians and the soccer arena felt like a church. he carried himself with such…i dunno: STATELINESS.... just…all around, mind blown. it also made me want to throw the entire idea of this fucking book out the fucking window.

WHAT AM I DOING WRITING A BOOK?
I’M A SONGWRITER.
he made me want to write. i wanted to get back to the piano, i missed my band, i missed being on stage, i wanted to write a whole musical about my experience growing up in the psycho-superficial dark-light suburban yards and alleys of lexington massachusetts and i wanted to tell stories as simple and honest as bruce springsteen and mine that part of my soul. "

That is what he does to you.

Springsteen shows, collectively, are among the best experiences of my life.  His latest tour was no exception.  These were the most notable moments for me.

Adam Raised the Cain 

The song has this heavy base line in it that sets the dark tone and tells you were it's headed.  This is the first time I had heard it in concert and that line being played live with trombones and tenor saxophones drilled right into my soul.  A reminder that you were at a Springsteen concert, and that even listening becomes a physical, soulful act.

The River

This song left me terrified of teen pregnancy as a kid.  It lays out the consequences both from a socio economic stand point and the emotional repercussions.  It has always been one of my favorites.  Springsteen has very few ballads but The river is definitely a ballad.  His rendition that night was absolutely beautiful.  It's a song that I have head hundreds, if not thousands of times.  By the end of The River on that night I was crying.  The key he was singing in the emotion he was put into it created a beautiful moment.

Johnny 99 

Remember back when I was listing out my top two favorite Springsteen songs, and I didn't list Johnny 99?  I lied.  Springsteen has hundreds of songs.  I love the anthems, I love the folk, I even like the pop.  As a born and raised Springsteen fan, I feel like it's my duty to drop the names of the big anthems that people might not know but would love if they would check it out.  So I do, even when I don't realize it.

When I am being completely honest with myself, Johnny 99 is probably very nearly my favorite Springsteen song.  It's off the Nebraska Album, but the version I grew up with is from the live recordings 75-85.  I remember asking my dad if Johnny killed the night clerk or if he just shot him.  My dad said that was for me to figure out.  As you can tell, it's not a happy song.

Imagine my surprise when E Street band completely lit into it with a jazzed up dance hall vibe.  I fell in love with the song all over again.  My dad and leaned across my mom at the same moment to yell at each other above the blaring horns and piano  "This is awesome!"  I will never forget the magic of it.

Upon research when I got home it appears he's been playing that version live for at least 4 years, I had just never heard it or seen it live.  I am so glad I did.

Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

There is a line in Tenth Avenue Freeze Out that say's " A change was made up town and the Big Man joined the band" that was followed by a Clarence saxophone solo.  The last time Bruce Springsteen and E- Street band went on tour, it was right after Clarence Clemmons ( the Big Man), the saxophone player and main Springsteen stage foil, died.  I took the death hard, and it was hard to imagine a Springsteen show with out him.  When they got to this song last year, the arena went silent.  As I and hundreds of others cried, pictures of Clarence were flashed on the screens.  I was impressed b the amount of love and Grace that took Springsteen and the band.  This was their friend whom they knew and loved.  Every night they went out and played they held this memorial for Clarence and Danny Federici  letting us mourn and share their grief with them.  That's a lot emotion to face down, but they did it anyway.

I wondered then, if that's how the song would go forever after.  Even with Clarence's nephew standing in his old spot, would that song and solo ever feel right again?

I shouldn't have worried.  Once again showing a charity of spirit that I don't think I could muster, the band stopped playing.  A recording of the Big Man playing his solo blared over the speakers along with pictures of him on the screen.  The band came back in, and the pictures kept going until the end of the song.  It was very tasteful, very well done, and honored the Big Man very well.

The rest of the three hour show included: 

Trapped 
Born to Run
Bad Lands
Hungry Heart
Dancing in the Dark
Back Streets
Darlington County
Bobbie Jean
41 Shots
The Rising
Sunny Day
Blinded by the Light
Prove it all Night
Lonesome Day
Wrecking Ball
Ghost of Tom Joad 
Death to my Home Town
Dream Baby Dream
Shackled and Drawn
Shout

Rock, folk, pop and jigs.  Whatever your musical tastes are, Springsteen has an album for it.  I love all of them, and I will keep going to shows as long as he has them.

Photo time!

Official comments and photos:

http://brucespringsteen.net/news/2014/notes-from-the-road-columbus

http://brucespringsteen.net/news/2014/photos-from-the-road-columbus

Thinking, Feeling 4.29.2014

Feeling:  
 Excited!  My husband and I have decided to start working in a new 2-5 year plan, and I am super psyched for the end result.  I am also excited to sit down and hammer out the details and start working on it.  Not excited because tight budgets suck, but excited about moving forward. 

Watching: 
I am not enraptured by any series currently.  I dedicate a part of last week to Chris Hemsworth ( always a good decision) and we've been watching Myth Busters and Dirty Jobs to fill silent space.  Mike Rowe is a cool dude.

SOURCE

Listening:

I just went to a Springsteen concert.  So lots of new and old Springsteen.  Also kind of obsessed with the single version of Defying Gravity.  Someone needs to take me to see Wicked next time it's in town.  Just saying.

Playing:

Pocket Stables is one of my absolute favorite games of all time.  It's in the Droid and Kindle store.  You buy, raise. train race and breed horses.  The breeding is the fun part because it's all about strategy and timing.  I pretty much play it constantly.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kairosoft.android.horse_en

Reading:  

Duty To The Dead.  I am not loving it, but it is a mystery and I want to see how it ends, so I am holding on.  I am about 1/2 through and it feels like I should have been done days ago.  However, I've been on quite the spree of reading books in 48 hours or less, so that's probably why heading into a week of starting this one I am starting to get antsy.  It is part of a series that I was hoping to get into, but I think I will be one and done.

SOURCE

Looking forward to:   
Tanning, getting more information about the Masters of Business Psychology I found, lunch with a friend on Thursday... Oh and speaking of Thursday, SUPER excited about an event that day.  I am hoping to have an inspired blog about it afterward.

Making me happy:  
 Looking for tattoo ideas on the internet.  I've had 3 ish in mind for a long time, now I have a solid fourth, and I think it's about time to do something about it.  I figure I can set them up as weight loss rewards.  Kind of obsessed with maps, compasses and the "water color" effect right now. ( Sources on my pinterest board if you are interested).

What are you up to?

I Need to catch up!

I have at least 4 posts in my head that I really want to get down.  I seem to keep not writing them, however.

I am rebooting my weight loss/ work out routine.  Monday is my official soft start.  What is a soft start you ask?

1.  Be careful with food, but no hard no's
2.  Track everything I put in my mouth.
3.  Design work out plan, do not flog self for missing days.
4.  Be more active in every day life

The real start usually comes a week after.  Sooner if the tracking of food is preposterous that I say to heck with this I am losing weight!  Real start is:

1.  Be strict with food, counter any overages with exercise
2.  Track everything I put in my mouth
3.  Exercise is not an option.
4.  Be more active in every day life

 One of the blogs I read does a scale Saturday with screen shots from her scale. and her victories for the week.  I may try a version of her format here, I think it could work for me.  I love numbers, so I am always charting and graphing my weight loss but having to actually see it on the scale here has it's accountability and appeal.

Also, don't hate, but I am going to start tanning this week.  I am super white, I burn super easy, and for the last two years I have had awful  cyclist tan lines.  This year I would like to try to avoid at least some of the whole burn, tan line, burn cycle.  It's also part of a larger plot to get me to the gym when I don't feel like it.  You know, the mental mind games. I'll start with " I am just going to go to the gym to tan" and then " Well I am here I may as well hit the weights." At least that's the hope.

Today was a 14 mile bike ride at about a 13 mph average.  Not a bad soft start!  I had to take a breather and noticed this beautiful tree above me.  I might try to get my real camera out there Tuesday or Wednesday and get a better picture of it before it blooms.

How do you start your weight loss regimes?  Any tips or tricks?

Russian Winter - Book Review

(Source)

Russian Winter is the story of a Russian ballerina during the time of Stalin and what her choices have made of her life in the present day.

One of the most interesting things about this novel for me was the psychology of the people in Stalin's Russia.  In the time before the internet, and with no or restricted TV, entire generations lived under the belief that there was no other way to live.  In one scene she accidentally crosses into a non communist state and is amazed that there are Bananas for sale and no line.  One of the many examples, but I realize that I am a psychology nerd and should probably move on.

Most books that attempt dual-ling time frames fail to make you as interested in one of the stories.  For most of this book, the modern day story line was the least interesting for me.  While parts of it were very good, and would have been fine as a stand alone novel, I was still reading quickly to get back to 1940's Russia.

There is not a solid resolution to this book.  Which the older I get the more I seem to appreciate.   There are hints, and a few conflicting clues, but in the end you are left to draw your own conclusions.  This can be frustrating, but for Russian Winter it fits. 

Daphne Kalotay created two incredibly believable worlds. I have never had an interest in Russian history or the history of ballet and now I am hooked.  She provided her reference and reading materials at the end of the book and I am looking forward to reading them myself.  It is a great accomplishment for a writer to make you see, taste and touch their world.  It is an even greater accomplishment to make you want to stay there.\

5/5