New albums of note: Annabelle Chvostek and Eliza Gilkyson

Since it's such a rare occurrence, I thought I'd let you know once again that I posted on my music blog about some great new albums that you must own.

If there are any others recent releases you feel I should know about, let me know here (or there).

In other news, I made it back home to Portland safely after a lovely few days in Vermont. I have so far (aside from being picked up at the airport by Holly and Scott) not spent time with anyone over three. But I can't say it's been bad. I needed a few trips to the playground.

Tea shops and Cambridge people

A picture I took last week of Harvard Square at dusk. I kinda like it.

I like to post periodically about tea houses, and the two best in Cambridge (to my knowledge) are Tealuxe, right in the middle of Harvard Square, and Dado Tea, about a block and a half from where I am staying. They are both great (but the bubble tea at Dado is less good). Unfortunately though, neither one has roasted coconut mate like my tea shop in Portland. Only five more days...

Tomorrow is my friend Emily's wedding (this is the wedding tour). I've known her since I was six. Tonight I got to see her family at the rehearsal dinner. Hadn't seen her brothers, her parents, or her lesbian aunts in years. Her father immediately remarked on what an amazing meal we had had in Paris in 1994 and her mother about what a remarkable grown-up I was (I told her I wasn't sure). Tomorrow there will be lots of high school people I haven't seen in 15 years. And I don't think I brought the right shoes.

Here's Emily and I tonight (I wish I had one from 25 years ago to go with it, I'll have to find one and scan it later). A few more pictures are here.

Cambridge and a wedding

Being back in my hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts always makes me kind of silly and sentimental. Its been fun so far. My uncle's John Moos's wedding (in Lowell) was fun. Here are some pictures, and there are more on Facebook if you go here.

Jonah, Katie, and me.

Me, Katie's friend Katie, and Katie. :)

Katie Moos.

Lisa (the bride), me, John, and Katie.

Lisa's daughter, MaryKate, Lisa's father, the officiant (not sure exactly who she was), Lisa and John.

Me and Jonah, a few glasses of Champagne in...

So other than that, I had dinner last night with someone I dated in high school, have seen a few friends of my mom's, and am enjoying hanging out in my old neighborhood. I could never live here again though. The traffic and the lack of parking are insane (so is the humidity). OK, I miss Portland. But it's great to see everyone.

Onwards to summer

It doesn't feel like summer at all here. Its a Saturday afternoon in June and its 57 degrees. Good thing I'm about to go to the east coast where it'll be really hot and humid. Its supposed to be 90 with up 77% humidity in Shutesbury, MA, where I will be tomorrow. Great.

I'm leaving on a red eye tonight, for a trip that will include two weddings, a lot of cousins, two or three states (MA, VT, hopefully NY) and a lot of high school friends. Yesterday was the last day of the school year schedule with my girlies. It was a little sad, since I tend to be sentimental about everything, but I'll see them over the summer anyway and will have two new little girls starting in July.

Above is a picture of me and Happie in front of my house last month. Photo by Willa (age 5). And here's one that I love of Willa running across the Hawthorne Bridge last week, airborne.


I have been working on some late summer/fall concerts. So far I have Lissa Schneckenburger confirmed for August 24th and Laura Love (with band) confirmed for September 25th. Both at the Alberta Street Pub. So mark your calenders and stay tuned for news about Eliza Gilkyson, Annabelle Chvostek and some other great artists.

Stay tuned for travel updates, too. :)

Obama's more perfect union

I finally got around to watching Obama's March 18th speech "A More Perfect Union" (the "race speech") in it's entirely. If you haven't already done so, I hope you will watch it, too. It is worth spending 37 minutes of your life. I was already a fan, but this really moved me perhaps more than any political speech I can remember. He really is in a unique position, and has a unique ability, to reach such a broad spectrum of the population. His policy ideas are very important, and I agree with a lot of them, but as a friend said to me last night (and I'm paraphrasing a little), what this country really needs more than anything is his demeanor, his approach, his openness. It feels kind of cheesy and almost inconceivable as a seasoned liberal to actually like a candidate for president, but after seeing him in person last week and then watching this speech, I think I can truly say I do. I think that maybe, possibly, he is a real leader and not just a politician. Surely (like our union) he's not perfect, but this is real life, and considering the context of this election, I like his approach a lot.



If you prefer, you can also read the speech here (but I really recommend watching it).