Friday, January 30, 2009

City and Colour Concert


Slim's, located South of the Market district of San Francisco, opened in 1988 by R&B artist Boz Scaggs. Live music is played against a backdrop of a New Orleans's Manor complete with brick walls and chandeliers. This was the setting of City and Colour's first SF show on 1/27.


I was immediately surprised by the line outside of Slim's at 7:15 almost the length of the building. By 8 p.m. the line curved around the side. For a band who's ticket's sold for $15 a piece you would hardly imagine such a turnout.

Skinny jeans, scarves, v-neck t-shirts, and ballet flats were in high fashion for the women amongst men dressed in – well, the same. Inside I quickly found my way to the left front directly in front of Green's mic. To my right, a Kat Von D look-alike sharing with everyone her troubles with weed. And although she would love to smoke it, it messes up her body. This is news? 

Behind me, three teenagers bent on being the loudest in the club giggling and snapping photos from every angle. I immediately regretted my decision to leave my ipod in my purse.
Finally making their way on stage around 10 p.m. after opening act William Elliot Whitmore, City and Colour's Dallas Green opened the set with "Sleeping Sickness." Tattoos covering his arms and neck, Green stood on stage with Dwight Schrute glasses adorning his face, a light blue button-down shirt and "tube" (beanie) atop his head.

Switching between old and new, Green brilliantly played through a two-hour set and still left his fans hoping for more. As he played through songs from "Sometimes," Green added new rifts and sped up the tempo because "I hate those songs I wrote them like 15 years ago," murmured Green.

Half-way through the night Green's band left as he strummed through a few songs on his own. Best song of the night – "What Makes a Man?" As he sang the crowd, backed him up singing the back-up vocals heard in his album. "What makes a man? What makes a man? What makes a man? " With eyes closed, a large smile formed on his face as he continued the lead vocals.

We later found out that while he always assumes the audience knows what he wants them to do they have never echoed the backup vocals during a tour. He praised SF. I felt proud.
Since Green's first album "Sometimes," it is obvious that Green has redefined himself and his music. "Sometimes" played through melodic ballads with wispy vocals; the perfect setting for a rainy day drive. In "Bring Me Your Love," Green enters into a more rock-oriented acoustic sound that not only enhances his music but shows his versatility. While two very different albums, "Bring Me Your Love" is just as impressive.

City and Colour ended their night with an encore as most bands do. Green laughed at the idea of an encore saying "I don't get the idea of an encore, what's the point of me leaving the stage for 30 seconds then coming back to play? I'm not Bono."

While he's not saving Africa by each concert played...we still appreciated the extra songs. Overall the concert was one of my favorite by far.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

my bags are packed

I guess I knew after my first trip to Costa Rica that I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I wanted to travel and experience life but I wanted to help people who were suffering. In highschool I never fully understood what that would mean for my life or where it would lead.

Throughout highschool and college I went on many mission trips and led a few of them as well. I always found my strength as a leader when I was on those trips. I knew that I was at my best when I was serving others in other countries.

So now...I'm 25 and I'm sitting in a cubicle working as someone's assistant. When I was getting my degree in journalism I'd always hoped it would be to write about issues that our world is facing, i.e. social injustice specifically in third world countries. I wanted to be their voice.

While I haven't found the right opportunity yet, I think that God is once again tugging at my heart and calling me to a life fully surrendered to Him. At this time I would be willing to go where He calls. The problem is I have no idea where He is leading me. Should I stay in Cali? in the U.S.? In another country...which country?

There are so many unanswered questions and I know that I need to just be silent and pray. God will show me in His own time. I guess I've never been a patient person and I've moved around alot since college never really finding my niche. I love SF but I realize the comfort of this place is nice but I was meant for more. God gave me a heart for his hurting people. I can't sit back any more with closed eyes and ears.

These are some organizations that I have been looking at:

http://www.ijm.org/
http://www.chabdai.org/Home.html
http://providenceworldministries.org/
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php


I trust God will direct me to where He wants me to be when the time is right.
I'm ready. My bags are packed.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

1000 journals

yesterday i went to the sf moma during lunch. i was able to see the 1000 journals project. it was pretty amazing.

this is how it started:

"I've always been fascinated by what people scrawl on bathroom walls and in public spaces. I had been taking photographs of this writing for years, and wanted to put together a book. It seemed appropriate to encourage readers to become contributors, and join the conversation by writing in the actual book. From there, I decided that a blank book might be more fun... especially one that traveled around, to gather a variety of thoughts and opinions. And then, why not 1000 of them? It's such an absurd number."
at the moma they have some of the journals and i was able to be a part of it and write in one of them and leave my mark. so i decided to do the same with my four of my closest friends. we all live in different parts of california except for one in wisconsin. since we never get to see each other i thought passing this journal around to each other would be the perfect way to keep involved in each other's lives. they are all very creative people and i'm excited to see how it turns out. i'll make sure and post pics of a few of the pages that we create.

try it out. rediscover your creativity.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

weekday romance

every morning i wake up at 6:30, hit the snooze button and wait for it to go off again.
every morning i put my make up on
every morning i pick out my clothes
every morning i walk to the bus stop to ride to BART
every morning i sit on BART and people watch

most mornings are the same
the same coffee mugs

the same people reading books
the same loud
the same quiet

sometimes i stand
sometimes i sit

but this morning...
this morning i fell in love

he sat there in his black ironed pants on his small frame
short brown hair
boyish charm
i bet he's from nebraska

only five stops before i get off
i love him
i fall in love too quickly
i wonder if he's noticed me
he gives up his seat to a woman

he stands close to me but i'm sitting
i look up and as he turns my way
i look away

i'm too shy

maybe he's a musician
maybe he's an artist
ernst and young embroidered on his bag

he's probably a brilliant accountant

just look my way...

maybe he's hoping for my number
probably not
i wonder if he thinks about me

three more stops til i get off
he reaches in his pocket
i can imagine he's grabbing his business card
"call me"
i smile because my daydreams are always more wonderful than real life

montgomery street
he exits
my romance is over

every morning i get off at powell
every morning i take the escalator to the main street
every morning i walk to work

every morning i sit at my desk and do my work

today was no different