Farewell to a Worthy Foe

He was a fighter. And a clever one. (He had eaten the food off of the trap without getting caught for the last two nights.) Clearly too smart to get caught in a conventional trap, mouse and I faced off this afternoon in a cage match. Locked in our back playroom, we determined that neither of us would leave until one of us was dead. Furniture was turned on its side. Cries of rage were sent to the heavens. (Passive voice was used.) There were boot kicks. A small toy vacuum thrown. Finally, thanks to a solid assist by JD, who bravely pushed the mouse out from behind the couch, the enemy came in contact with my broom. And, as quickly as he came into our life, he was gone.

Good-bye little warrior. We salute you.

Unsatisfied...

Parker has been sick all week. Not sick enough to stop running wild, just sick enough to stop sleeping at night. Last night was maybe the worst night I have had with that kid since we brought him home from the hospital. He has discovered that his big boy bed provides him a new level of independence. He realized he can get out of it. And out of it -he got. So many times. I lost count. Starting at 4:30am we walked him back to bed over and over and over again. For hours. And by then it was morning and he just watched a show. It was pathetic. It was frustrating. It was humbling. Time to think and revamp. Thus the post- short and simple.

What we are unsatisfied with:

1.Parker: sleeping in his bed. ( Mind you it only took one hour (so far!) tonight so we are praying that tonight will be better.)

2. Sophie : sharing her sandbox- so she made her own personal one.

3. John: the amount of yard dedicated to our garden. So today he doubled the size. I am excited. This means squash and zuchinni! (thank you erica for the good book recomendation... he took it to heart.)

4. This mouse: the outside world. So for the past two days it has been running wild in my house, across my floors, under my washer, UP my drapes. SICK! Even if it looks cute in this picture. It should help itself into the trap ASAP or I am going to go crazy. 5. Me : the amount of sleep I have been getting due to number 1 and number 4 on this list.

Lest we sound ungrateful, these are the ONLY areas of our lives that we are currently unsatisfied with.

( though my car does leave a little to be desired... :) )

The apple doesn't fall far from the horse.

IF YOU:
(A) Call Seattle home
(B) Played with Band of Horses on their spectacular 2006 debut "Everything All The Time,"
(C) Have since started your own band and signed with Sub Pop Records
and
(D) Released an album in the month of March
THEN YOU ARE OUR PICK FOR MARCH ALBUM OF THE MONTH.
What's that you say? There are two of you.
OK. We'll take both.
March had a lot of good music. (Sun Kil Moon, The Dodo's, Retribution Gospel Choir, add your favorite here...)
But, at least for now, our favorites were:


Sera Cahoone Only As The Day Is Long.
Sera was the drummer for the Band of Horses on their debut. This album, her second solo, picks up on BoH's slight country leaning and leaves behind the reverb indie rock bit. Solid Americana, great choruses, great harmony. Her voice reminds me of Hope Sandoval (remember Mazzy Star) a bit. The first 3 tracks are particularly good. May be interesting to fans of Iron and Wine, Band of Horses, and old pick up trucks. If you're only going to listen to one of these two albums, this is it.

Grand Archives, The Grand Archives.
Grand Archives frontman Matt Brooke was the Band of Horses lead guitarist. This is an indie pop album. More Southern California than Seattle, Washington. There are lots of instruments and big guitars. It's really all over the place style wise. Sometimes I hear Division Bell era Pink Floyd (on Sleepdriving.) Sometimes I hear Weezer (the guitar solo on Index Moon.) There are a bunch of Crosby, Stills, Nash-esque harmonies, particularly on the opening track. There is whistling. There's even an awkward singalong track. The kind you expect to hear on every Saddle Creek or Team Love release. But it seems a bit out of place here. Even with it's slight missteps, the album is worth a listen. (Bonus points for Matt Brooke's awesome beard. The beardspell continues...)
The songs George Kaminski, Louis Reil, and Orange Juice are favorites. Thanks Hendu for the recommendation.

And that's it. March's album(s) of the month.

Ashley is waiting for me to finish. She is starting a new book, and trying not to fall asleep.
"Almost done?" she just asked, hopefully. She's kind, even when she's tired. Once we are in bed though, she'll be noticeably less tired. She'll start talking- telling these crazy stories of what the kids did today. How Sophie wore her dance outfit, with sunglasses, to the grocery store and Parker ate spoonfuls of sand or whatever, and somewhere in the middle of it all I will fall asleep.
Then wake up to, "...aren't you?" and know, "you're asleep..." started the sentence.
and I'll say "yes" and she'll say "goodnight."
It's just about the best part of my day, most days. Falling asleep next to her.
So I'm off to do that.

Three Good Things

My friend/roommate in college used to name her three good things about each day. She would do this every night. ( I bet she still does- I will have to ask her.) John and I try to do it when we remember. It is a fun way to focus on the good parts of the day. I already have my three for today...

1. Last night Parker decided that he should sleep in his bed instead of the crib. I went with it. He did it. And he even napped there today. I think he grew up today. Kind of bittersweet.
2. Sophie was a princess today. She got all dressed up in this big white dress, did her own hair with a headband on top, and acted like a princess all day. She even let Parker be her prince and tried to teach him how to dance. I got to be her royal cook!
3. The salmon tacos I made for lunch. It always seems that some food item I had that day works itself into my three good things. Oh well. They were divine and they made luch feel out of the ordinary.

Three good things indeed.

Best of Utah

The City Weekly, SLC's local independent news magazine, published its annual "Best of Utah" winners this week. And since, as Tyler has pointed out, this blog is little more than a vehicle for us to endorse the many things we like, we are going to list OUR "best of Utah." We'll keep it short. Enjoy.

1. Best Cool Local Pizza Place- Gabor Brothers. Who would have guessed that a tiny, old building, hidden among the antique shops of main street Layton, would have such wonderful pizza? And you get your diet coke in a mason jar! Also try the Spinach salad with warm house dressing and the breadsticks. Give yourself like 15 hours to eat there though because sometimes they can be slow.

2. Best Cool Local Record Shop- Slowtrain, 221 E. Broadway, SLC. Super nice guys. Always have this weeks new indie releases. Great vinyl selection. Very supportive of local music. You should buy all your music here.

3. Best Cool Local Music- Atherton, Band of Annuals, Paul Jacobsen and of course Cori Connors. Go to the website of all these artist. You will not be sorry. You will not regret you ever cared. And, you may see the next President of the USA (Vote Cori. See 3 AM post.)
http://www.myspace.com/athertonmusic
http://www.myspace.com/bandofannuals
http://www.myspace.com/pauljacobsenmusic
http://www.coriconnors.com/

4. Best Cool Local Art- Sunny Belliston, Leia Bell You can check both these artist out at their web pages, or better yet, if you are around, they will both be featured at this months gallery stroll. Also, look for Leia's shop opening up under Slowtrain later this month. Leia's cute prints hang in our kids rooms, and one day we will own a really large Sunny Belliston original, so help us.
http://www.leiabell.com/








http://sunnybellistonart.com/










5. Best Sandwich- Turkey with Swiss at the Dodo, It comes with bar-b-que dipping sauce. Oh, it's good. The Dodo also wins best dessert for their Toll House Pie, which is literally the first thing Ash has eaten after each of our children were born. Thanks to Big Dave for making sure the pie was there.

6. Best Hotel- Stein Eriksen Lodge, Park City. John works here during the film festival each year. They have good hot chocolate. John saw Dan Fogelberg in a speedo here (extreme low point.) He also met Neil Young here (extreme high point.) And, as of this year, Stein's is Utah's only 5 star/5 diamond Hotel. Go in September, it's a cheaper time, and the leaves are beautiful. Or go during the festival and see John.

7. Best Breakfast- Doug and Emmys, Kaysville. John used to ditch school and go eat scones here. Ash met some of John's friends for the first time over breakfast here. Casey slipped on the ice and did a full spread eagle onto the ground in the parking lot here and that image still makes us laugh.

8. Best Local Farm- Borski Farm. Based out of Kaysville, Borski has a great Community Supported Agriculture program. For under $200 you can get 15 weeks of fresh, organic produce, and you can shake the hand of the guy who grew it. Plus, (shocking personal history alert) John Borksi, who runs the farm, taught John Connors ballet when John was a wee lad.

9. Best Fine Dining- Tiburon. We have never been disappointed eating here. It's a small beautiful place in Sandy (yes, it is possible). The salmon and the squash are particularly good. John likes the steak. We will go with you. Call us. (The owners of Tiburon have another, slightly less expensive place called EPIC in Ft. Union which is also very good.)

10. Best Triathlon- Salem Spring Triathlon. Salem is a very pretty place and this race is less expensive and more fun than any race, anywhere in Utah. If you have ever wanted to do a triathlon, this is the one. The crazy bearded guy that is in charge of the race is really nice. He's got a couple other good races too. Check them out at http://www.racetri.com/.

11. Best Street- Quail Run Road, Farmington. Come up in a few weeks, when the trees are blossoming. It's awesome. We'll give you a cookie if you come.

Feel free to add to the list.

"You don't need a weather man...

...to know which way the wind blows."



Congrats Bob, the first rock and roll man to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music. He recieved the honor today in New York.

IT'S 3 AM* and I'm ready to make an endorsement

It appears that Matchbox Twenty lead singer Rob Thomas isn't the only one who thinks a persons very late night/very early morning behavior is important. 3 AM, according to ads run by all three remaining candidates for president, is to presidential politics what 4:20 is to potheads. A time more solemn than the rest. Your actions in that sacred hour are a foolproof reflection of who you really are. (A brief recap of the 3 am ad series is included in the footnotes for anyone interested and/ or really bored.)

And, as far as I'm concerned, they are absolutely right.
America is at a critical crossroads and this election is of utmost importance. Late night phone comfort is a tried and true presidential litmus test.**
I can be quiet no longer.
I must endorse.
There is no doubt in my mind that one person is more comfortable and more qualified than the rest to answer that 3 am phone call- my mom, Cori Connors.

Cori's experience is second to none. She served faithfully as the wife of Farmington city councilman and mayor Dave Connors (happy birthday last Sunday, dad) for 12 years.
She learned from these tough years. Many times she has told me the story of her goodwill trip to Centerville. Under a storm of gunfire she had to run, head down, from her minivan to the Target Superstore, where she bought grapes and gave them to the troops.
But, to be frank, none of that matters.
All you need to know about Cori Connors is she is always up a 3 am. And comfortable on the phone.
In fact, just yesterday I was up late reading A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Towes (pretty good book, though not recommended if you are a practicing Mennonite.) It was about midnight. Ash and the kids had been asleep for awhile. Suddenly the phone rang. Who would call this late?

Me: Hello.
Cori: Hey, it's me.
Me: Hey, is everything ok?
Cori: Yeah. Ani Difranco is on Letterman.
Me: Oh.
Cori: Gotta go. love you, bye.
Me: Bye.

Yep, Cori will call her son, even in the long hours of the night, to transfer data that she thinks may be interesting to him.*** It may have been years since I spoke the names Ani Difranco or David Letterman to my mother in conversations. Yet, she thought selflessly at that late hour, "John might like this." That's the type of woman we need running this country.
So there you have it, America.
You want someone ready at 3 am?

I give you Cori Connors.


The "it's 3 am I must be lonely" Presidential ad campaign recap

The 3 AM ads are a series of ads run by this year presidential candidates. Hilary's first ad is widely believed to have slowed Obama's growing support in Ohio and helped her win that State's primary. It pushed the "does Obama have enough experience to be president" debate to the front page. Should she win the democratic nomination that ad will be talked about by pundits and idiots like me for years to come. To this point there have been four other ads responding to that original ad. They have been run in Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania mostly. But, you can see them on you tube. All of them are very strange.

First Hillary ad- (intense, but still presidential, music in background) It 3 am and your kids are sleeping safely, but in the white house a scary red phone is ringing, who's ready to answer...me! because red is my favorite color and I put that phone there when I was living in the white house last time. I have the experience. Roll that up and smoke it Barak. Vote Hilliary.
Obama response- it's 3 am and Hillary is crazy. She voted to give the president power to start the war in Iraq. Don't vote for her. We don't need experience, we need good judgement.
Girl in footage from original Hillary ad response- Hey, remember that Hillary Clinton ad with the girl asleep at 3 AM? That was me 10 years ago. I think I shot it for a cough syrup ad or something. Anyway, The Clinton Campaign bought it as stock footage. Now I'm 18 and I'm voting for Barak. Trust the sleeping kid, she knows best. Hillary is just trying to scare you. Vote hope, not fear.
Second Hillary ad- It's 3 am and the red phone is ringing again. But now it a major economic crisis. Yeah, they sometimes happen at 3 am. And Jon McCain would never answer that call because he is an idiot when it comes to money.
McCain Response- it's 3 am and Hillary is crazy. She'll raise your taxes. Vote for me.
to be continued....

*really it's 8 pm

**not actually true.

***Earlier versions of this post wrongly accused Cori of calling "past midnight." These comments were the source of popular outcry (see comments by Cori and Brandi.) Historical records show Letterman ended just after 11:30 pm on April 1st. And Difranco was actually on Leno that night. (still, I think mom said Letterman) Anyway, changes have been made in the name of historical accuracy.