Summer Breeze (Brr!!!!)

Is it technically summer in the 'Wood when the high is 88% and the low is the high 40s!!! Man, the breeze moving through my open kitchen door is downright cold! The kids are running in and out of the house with their toys and I'm stealing away this little slice of free time to reconnect.

School's out; has been for nearly a week. I missed graduation, my first since returning to my alma mater, and it was a bit odd to do so. My wife was also out of town for four days and the kids were completely thrown off-track. I nearly called CPS, the police and Craigslist last weekend. Would have waved shipping costs on three young children.

Scooped up tickets, albeit nosebleed cheapies, to catch Macca hit ATT Park next month. Another 'bucket list' performance which will be, well, Sir Paul.

More Truth & Salvage Co. Here and here. The boys are continuing to knock people's socks off. Countdown is three weeks until they open for the Crowes at Saratoga and hit the Cafe du Nord in the City. Will be seeing both. The album's still spinning continuously and getting better with each spin. This band is so good because it is a band I can believe in. These guys are guys I can believe in make music we all love.

Enjoying the first of my summer reads. That's the best about what I do. Curling up with a good book, music and whatelse makes for a relaxing if not engaging bit of summer. The 33 1/3 series of album analyses is always thought provoking and I completed the dissertation on Joni Mitchell's Court & Spark. Joni hit so many homeruns in her first decade, from her first folkie-cum-poet album to Hissing of the Summer Lawns. My three favorites are Blue, For the Roses and C&S. This book examines each of the songs on C&S and while not giving too much history about the early 70s LA music scene, the text paints the album as a magnifying glass into the life of one of music's greatest voices at that time. I don't think it's going to do much for my love of this album (nothing can, unless Joni comes and performs it in my living room) but a thoroughly fun read.
I'm nearly finished with New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik's collection of essays of life in New York City. I've rumininated many times here about my love affair with NYC and all of its myths. I'll never live there as I can't afford it and couldn't ever really make the switch from the 'burbs to the world's craziest city but reading all I can makes me love it all I can. Gopnik's essays about family life give insight that no film, piece of music or historical era can, that of the human qualities of the city.

It's time to put on night-time pull-ups and jammies, brush teeth, read stories and say prayers. Rugrats, off to bed!!!