Dear Paul,
Today’s a very special day, and I’ve been looking for you everywhere.
taste of summer
summer songs: something sizzling this way comes
photo of Jakob Dylan by Herb Ritts for Vanity Fair.
So, how’s your summer going so far?
Behold, a young blue-eyed musician — talented, sensitive, good-looking, and bound to set your heart a-flutter. Yes, whether you need to mellow out in your hammock, or spice up your salsa, Jakob Dylan’s your man.
I shamefully admit I overlooked Jake’s music entirely. Didn’t pay any attention to his albums with the Wallflowers. I thought, well, he is Bob Dylan’s offspring, yes, but how good could he be? He could never come close to his dad’s music; I would only find myself comparing the two and be disappointed. But earlier this year, I heard about Jakob’s first solo acoustic album, Seeing Things, and gave it a listen.
photo by josh c.
I fell into it right away. Love his smokey vocals, crisp guitar, lyrical songwriting and relevant themes. In this age of over-produced teeny bop mediocrity, it’s refreshing to hear a record that’s pared down to the basics of accessible emotion and honest, personal vision. Seeing Things gets better with every listen, and its subtle messages will sneak up on you. I’m one of many who have underestimated Jakob’s talents. He looks like Bob, some of his music harkens back to Bob, but Jakob is Jakob.
I’m happy to share some of his goodness today. Listen with an open mind, and take the time to let his sound wash over you, easy and clean. Be sure to click over to the PBS website featuring two videos of Jakob on Austin City Limits. One features a track from the album, “Something Good This Way Comes,” and the other is an interview. When you see Jakob talking, you will see for yourself just. how. hot. he. is! For the record, he’s also one of 18 beautiful male specimens vying for the title of Handsomest Man in the World in Vanity Fair’s June poll. Guess who I voted for? Good genes, all around. ☺
Here’s one of my fave songs from Seeing Things, “Will it Grow,” :
Click here if you wish to engage in more unabashed swooning and drooling over Jake on this fine summer day!
how does your garden grow?
Are you lucky enough to have your own vegetable garden this year?
Right about now, I’m envying those of you who are enjoying homegrown lettuce, beans, peppers and zucchini, with the promise of juicy red tomatoes yet to come. Since we moved to the woods, we don’t get enough sun to grow a decent garden, and because of the deer, we don’t have any flower beds or anything.
But I can certainly get into the gardening spirit by reading picture books which focus on the miracle of growth and cultivating a love of nature. Whether you fancy flowers, shrubs, or veggies, you’re sure to enjoy dipping your trowel into these stories.
friday feast: worry wort on a roll
Egads, what is it now?
As Gilda Radner used to say, “There’s always something.”
Of the thousands of thoughts I have each day, I would say at least 3/4 of them stem from fear, anxiety or worry. They run the gamut from silly mind clutter, like:
Is the eye doctor going to dilate my pupils?
What if I wear the wrong thing to the party on Saturday?
Am I getting even more freckles?
to work-related, self esteem issues:
What if I never publish another story ever again?
Why can’t I find the right plot for this story?
Shouldn’t I be a better writer by now?
All the way up to some heavy duty fears:
Why is North Korea so focussed on nuclear weapons?
Will we ever recover from this recession?
We’ve been lucky so far, but what if something bad happens to us?
Is the end of the world coming soon?
I never really took stock of how much time and energy I spend worrying about things that never materialize or over which I have no control, until I read this poem by Jeanne Marie Beaumont. The list of things sounded so familiar. I guess none of us are immune. We cope with anxiety in different ways, but we all want answers, reassurance. Wouldn’t it be grand if someone with real authority could just come up to us and say:
photo by dinning under a windmill
My only comfort is knowing there are other worry worts like me out there. *gulp* Aren’t there? What if no one reads this post? What if no one cares?
See what I mean? It’s enough to make you want to curl up into a little ball and never come out:
AFRAID SO
by Jeanne Marie Beaumont
Is it starting to rain?
Did the check bounce?
Are we out of coffee?
Is this going to hurt?
Could you lose your job?
Did the glass break?
Was the baggage misrouted?
Will this go on my record?
(Rest is here.)
Just in case you can relate, here are some worry dolls from Guatemala. The Mayans believe that if you tell your worries to them, then put the dolls under your pillow at night, by morning they will have taken your worries away.
photo by catclawtub
Yeah, right. What if the dog eats the worry dolls while I’m asleep? Jama, you don’t have a dog. Okay, why don’t I have a dog? I like animals, why don’t they like me?
Egads.
Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup is being hosted by Brian Jung at Critique de Mr. Chompchomp. OMG! Will he bite us?
P.S. I think writers are more predisposed to worry than most people. We are in the business of creating stories based on a lot of “what-if’s.” Always looking for conflict, needing to add dramatic tension. Thinking of worst possible scenarios for our characters. What say you? You ARE out there, aren’t you?
*Worry coccoon courtesy of Amy Ng.
thankful thursday par-T
#8 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet
from bjensen2008’s photostream
Awhile ago, poet extraordinaire, Julie Larios, gifted me with the letter “T” on a Poetry Friday when I posted about James Taylor.
So now, I’m sharing some of the things I love that begin with T, the most commonly used consonant in our alphabet, and the second most common letter in the English language, after “e.”
Jama's Alphabet Soup 