minorcan, marvelous good fortune, iji and snack champion at port-a-john in asheville, august 20, 2014

only days after camp, still on a camp-high, i went to this awesome house show and added to it a just-saw-one-of-my-favorite-bands-high!!

every band was amazing!! i took a few pix but mostly enjoyed the sounds! my phone died right after the picture with zach so i didn’t get a picture of snack champion.

i got to the house at 8, no one was there. not having a smart phone, i sent a text to scotty so he could check the event page for updates…i started to think maybe it was cancelled. but knowing how very few shows start on time, i stayed calm. i had driven an hour to asheville from johnson city and had been drinking a lot of tea so i would have energy for the long evening ahead. i had to pee! so i left and went to taco bell, used the bathroom and bought a tostada. when i got back, people were setting up. 

this is when i realized something. after spending a lot of time at events that i’ve organized, i often forget how socially awkward i am in unfamiliar situations and around people in general. standing around waiting for the show was a reminder of this. there were people starting to gather while the bands set up. i got real fidgety and walked around and played with the tall grass in the field (i stopped myself from weaving a basket though). some people talked to me, i was so weird. i had so much caffeine and awkward running through my veins and the desire to flee was strong. except i had been looking forward to seeing iji for months!! i really didn’t want to leave, i knew it was just a response to a new environment. and people.

pretty soon the show started and minorcan played a lively and spectacular set, funny and charming and very smiley. i hope to see them again sometime.

marvelous good fortune was up next and they came in with their maroon drapes and an energy and good vibe that was instantly palpable. they played a fantastic set that left me in awe. the take-away from it for me was this spoken line “everything is beautiful and you are not special” and while that may sound positive and negative at the same time. i found it 100% positive and freeing and perfect.

mgf then transformed themselves into iji and started off their set with “to figure out the party” which is such a fitting song for how i feel when seeing my favorite bands (once i get past the uncomfortable). that feeling of being so in the moment but then also not. and wanting to talk to people but not. and being awkward. but happy. i was pretty delirious and just so freaked out to be there and dancing and enjoying every minute…i can only remember a handful of what they played, hammock moments, get along, magic lanes, hard 2 wait…i wanted more but it was time for the final band.

i did work up the nerve to talk to zach after their set a little and get a picture with him. i just wish i could have an actual conversation with a musician i love this much and not be so weird and nervous. anyway…

snack champion was amazing!! their set was short but completely satisfying and i really hope to catch them again too. i was disappointed they didn’t have any music for sale on the merch table, but i figured i would find something online when i got home. i didn’t. still disappointed. 

the evening ended with talking to john, the show host, and waiting for cars behind me to leave, and finally saying goodbye to zach and getting a final hug which was great.

i drove home listening to the mgf tape i had gotten and smiling a lot and replaying the night in my mind. i probably talked out loud to myself a few times too. because i was alone and i was all pumped and i was continuing to drink tea. i got home around 2 am after picking up samuel from a friend’s house on the way. i was on such a music high!! we all talked for awhile then i finally made myself go to bed. i had thought about going to next show of the tour in boone the next night but by morning i knew i was not up for more travel and new places and being awkward.

i hope iji comes back to the east coast again for more great music and dancing, i will totally be there!!!

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what a difference a year can make

last year, samuel started recording music in his bedroom. he was frustrated with not being able to find anyone to start a band with and decided to just do it all himself. he got a 4 track app for his phone and went to work at it. he played all the instruments and did the vocals and mixing. he won’t let anyone listen to those early recordings but they were an important part of the process. then he saved up for an actual 8 track recorder and started making his first demo, again by himself, which he put up on bandcamp under the name that sadie gave him for his “band”…deathly the dog.

he continued to make more recordings and eventually did an acoustic open mic show with only a guitar. it went pretty well but he was itching to play electric with a full band. shortly after that silas started showing an interest in drumming for him (there was absolutely no bribery involved *cough cough*). pretty soon they were playing their first open mic together as a band. having silas on the drums was exactly what samuel needed to make his dream of having a band come true AND the confidence to get out in front of people and not be nervous. he said that he didn’t think he could do it without him now. silas grew to really love doing it and is a phenomenal drummer.

they started playing open mic nights regularly at the same coffeehouse to very receptive crowds who grabbed up all their CDs and talked to them after their sets. when they finally decided to play another venue, the place was empty by the time they went on and it was a bit disheartening but it was a good learning experience. PLUS, it was the night they met another local teen band called war penguin (liam, joe, and emma). and they’ve all been playing together regularly ever since. samuel now plays drums and banjo for WP and liam has become the bass player for DtD.

a few weeks ago, samuel, silas and liam headed to a real studio to lay down tracks for their first professionally recorded demo. i was so impressed with their performance and competence, they knew what to do and got 5 songs down in under 5 hours. last night samuel went back to do the vocal tracks (they had just done scratch tracks on the first day). he gave samuel a couple “mini mastered” cds to take home and make some notes of anything they wanted to change before doing the final master.

today, we put it on the bose and cranked it up. we talked about the early versions and how different these are. these new recordings sound amazing even in their work-in-progress state. when i took samuel to work we played it in the car and even with my slowly dying speakers it still sounded fantastic. 

i’m really excited about this demo. it shows how much they have learned individually and as a group in the last few months alone. how playing live shows has made their performance stronger and tighter. i’m blown away by the talent of these young people and i agree with what my friend who recorded them said “i can’t wait to see what they do next.”

photos taken by ren allen at the down home on march 6, 2013

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memory lane this morning

scotty left for the first day of classes this morning on his bike. he returned within half an hour with a broken chain. he was going to drive to class but i told him i'd take him as he would never find a parking space in time. and i was right. i can't believe the number of cars on campus now. they keep making more parking lots and still there are not enough spaces. what is that about?? when i was going to etsu, it was tough to find spots but there weren't as many cars actually moving about on campus searching for spaces or dropping people off. just seems to be TONS of cars now. it looks like every student has a car. ah well...

so anyway, i got the chance to drive by ball hall, the art building...MEMORIES!! and i saw veda hull walking across the street. that really took me back to the days of art history classes. just so happened that i was listening to some camper van beethoven (telephone free land slide victory)...it got me thinking about those 4 years i spent as an art student at a university. if i could do it all over again, i would've just gone to an art school. or not gone at all. no, i would've gone...having access to so many types of art, people, and different mediums gave me a chance to explore more than i might've on my own. probably wouldn't be the same person now if not for those experiences.

i don't remember thinking about what i would do in my life...i was very in the moment and didn't have any visions of being a professional artist. i thought i'd just work at kinko's forever and do art on the side i guess...i really can't remember.

as i'm writing this i'm listening to a bob mould song that i pulled up because it came into my mind after reading a facebook post that mentioned husker du...and it's funny how it just fits with this moment...

bob mould, see a little light video

Listen, there's music in the air
I heard your voice, coming from somewhere
But look how much we've grown
I guess i should have known

As the years go by, they take their toll on you
Think of all the things we wanted to do
And all the words we said yesterday
That's a long time ago
You didn't think i'd really go, now
Are you waiting? (i know why)
You're already saying goodbye
Are you ready? (i know why)

I see a little light, i know you will
I can see it in your eyes, i know you still care
But if you want me to go
You should just say so

there is no real point to this post...just meandering thoughts from this morning. no revelations. no insights. just my brain. on display. like it used to be.

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catching up...

so, yeah...3 weeks is a long time between posts. but i've been buuuuusy peoples!!!

okay, obviously these pictures are older but they are part of my "catching up". i took pictures of my garden 3 weeks ago after putting down straw mulch...

one of my watermelons...which has little melons growing on it now:
this is the back yard area where we put in the melon garden. you wouldn't believe how different it looks now! just the other day all the little plants were big enough for me to go do some thinning. it was like frikkin' sophie's choice out there!!! which to keep, which to pull up. but finally i got it down to a good amount per hill. and they are growing strong. see my compost cage in the background?? it's covered in morning glories and one little volunteer tomato plant sticking out the side that i still need to stake.
these are some apple or orange trees that were coming up in the garden that i couldn't stand to just throw out...so i put them in this pot to see if they would grow and they have.
this is a walnut tree i found growing in the garden (of course, it was much tinier than this then) and, again, i couldn't just toss it!! i'm thinking about finding some books on bonsai to see if i'm up to making this a mini tree. i have stopped saving all trees i find growing now...i ran out of pots!

one of my succulents from kelly:

okay, so last time i wrote, we were getting ready for a weekend of camping, swimming, and birthday celebrating! we went to the nolichucky river to hang out with friends and wish nesta a happy 14th birthday!!! we had a lot of fun!!! and the view ain't too shabby either:

riding the "rapids"...

grown up type people sunning...

searching for mica in the water...

BEFORE she decided that getting in the water fully dressed was better than baking in the sun...

i birthed a sierra...

ren leading a troop to ride the wild river...

coming back from a rock climbing expedition...

cake time!!!! happy birthday nesta!!

nesta got a new lizard!!!
sweet friends!!
this crowd is saying "hell no! we are not getting in that pond!"
this crowd is saying "oh hell yeah!!"

there was a lot of fun that night, movie watching, a camp fire. and then...a little walk in the dark to the pond to check out the frogs and sleeping salamanders. this resulted in the finding of two frogs mating and laying eggs on the surface of the water. we accidentally scared them and they jumped, splashing the eggs all over samuel's and sierra's legs!!!! lots and lots of screaming and laughing!!! samuel totally freaked, as you can imagine! i said the mating frogs looked like a slimy, giant, green vagina. aleah thought that was disrespectful to women!! ren thought it was funny and almost peed her pants during the whole episode!! okay, i almost did too. we also got scared of our flashlight reflections in the glass across the pond ("samuel, there are people over there...shhhh"...."oh wait, that's us"...more laughter). duncan declared it the best camp out ever!! this was mostly because of samuel having frog eggs splashed all over him!! they both went into the girls bathroom and when i found them, duncan was laughing his ass off and samuel and sierra had their legs in the shower spraying them off!! it was quite a sight!!

we left the campground sunday morning, tired and ready for some rest at home. duncan fell asleep on the couch pretty much as soon as we came in and slept until almost 5, samuel and sadie took a nap as well!!! tired, happy kids!! the best!!!

kelly and ben came to our house on monday and we all hung out for awhile before heading to atlanta bread company for supper. we picked up taylor and karina on the way and met ren and her kids there. we ended up staying way past closing but they were really nice to us anyway.

tuesday, we went to boone dam swimming area with kelly and ren. scotty and ben biked over. no one else from sofh showed up!! but we enjoyed the sun and a picnic while the kids enjoyed the water!! but i have no pictures =(

wednesday was all about quiet and home and watching star trek that had been sitting waiting for us all week while we were too busy to watch anything! and SYTYCD too...of course! and grocery shopping...it was pay day!!

thursday was a busy one...laundry, library AND we went to deanna's house to play (we even painted our toenails!!). then it was home to get ready for our big weekend trip to georgia!!

got up early friday morning to finish packing and then woke up the kids and headed out on the road! we got to the haworth's house just after the traaseths and just in time to EAT!! in case you didn't know, this is what unschoolers DO!!

shuck that corn ladies!
mindy in all her cuteness looking like she's on the food network
a few of the awesome kids...
fun with grapes!!!!!


more eating...

the next day was the 4th and we were heading to the falls for a hike, a swim and a picnic

almost all the kids
headed to the falls, over the swingin' bridge ya'll

that water is sooooome kinda cold!!!




heading back up...
a little break at an overlook...
the picnic shelter where we ate and played tag...

on the way back to the haworth's house, we stopped at DQ. this was an idea that alec and i cooked up on the way to the falls when we passed it. alec and few others got their DQ fix and then we headed to the fireworks store...where you can also get cold beer!! me thinks this is not such a good combination!! but i found some black snakes and i was happy!! then we went to check out another ice cream place that mindy had recommended but it was closed =(. soooo, we went and picked up ice cream at the store for those who had decided to skip DQ for the better local stuff (don't worry, we still shared it with those lucky DQ eatin' peeps). and then it was back to the house for more fun...a bonfire and backyard fireworks...yeehaw!! it was awesome!!!

just hangin' out before the night's festivities began...

did i mention food?


yeah for black snakes!!
abbi showing off some of her new moves that she learned from mindy...isn't she graceful?? look at those fingers!!
having fun with night time photography
mindy has a picture of me taking this picture on her blog...LOL

we had so much fun at the haworth's. i learned a new game, rummikub. and had the best room in the house!! went for wonderful walks and enjoyed the warm weather.

sunday morning we got up and started, very slowly, getting ready for our trip the the traaseths. alec and kyra rode with us and we had a really fun ride. we got there and took saddi for a walk down to the boat dock, it was really nice out and it felt good to stretch my legs...even though they were tired from all the walking and hiking the previous days. scotty finally got there around 8 or so. it is all becoming quite a blur now!! so here are some pix to fill in the gaps!!

LOTS of rock band was played...

this is how i found silas the next morning!!!...see the empty bed???...
MORE game playing!!
and a little hair dyeing
one of many awesome performances by abbi...

silas was always right there to listen to her play...
then the dads got into the wii action with some warioware...
the colorful ladies. i cut kelli's hair but you can't see it very well here...
AGAIN with the games...
and the rock band...


and the over doing it...
and YES, scotty finally gave in and played "fake" guitar!! this was his first time on any kind of instrument game. he had never even played our guitar hero at home because he said he would NEVER play those kinds of games...never say never is what i say!!!
sadielicious
on tuesday, wendy and shelby came over to hang out with us for a bit. we got wendy to play some games too!!!!

the kids were playing some kind of crazy game, i have no idea what...

finally, we packed up and headed home. happytiredhappy!!!

wednesday was another quiet, chill out day and watching SYTYCD. this seems to be all wednesdays are good for now =).

thursday was scotty's 40th birthday!! he didn't want any parties or anything special. that's just how the man is. but we love him anyway!! i didn't take any pictures that day but a few days later thought to take this one of the banner sadie made:

friday we went to MOTS with ren and her crew. we only halfway listen to the music when we go to these things. mostly we hang out on the big blanket and talk. it was really nice to just relax awhile!

saturday, scotty helped me cut my hair!! i had been wanting to do this for awhile so i finally got around to it. well folks, there is more to add but this was the latest i had gotten to when i first started the draft of this a few days ago. i'll get to the more recent stuff real soon...i promise.

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