books and music

Lately I have been reading incredibly beautifully written, harrowing, depressing/uplifting books, the kind of reading that makes me feel hollow and serious and full of deep, disturbing, exhilarating thoughts.  First I read "Let's Take the Long Way Home," by Gail Caldwell.  It's a memoir about Gail's friendship with the author Caroline Knapp, and about dealing with the death of Caroline, from cancer.  And then I jumped right into "Bastard Out of Carolina," a novel by Dorothy Allison.  It's about a girl who notices everything, growing up poor and outcast in the South, abused by her stepfather.  

Both books were so gorgeous.  Both required me to have tissues sitting by me at all times, just in case.

I'm so glad to have read them, but I think I need to immerse myself in something light and possibly cheesy next.  

Books and music - I have been on a tear lately.  On Tuesday I saw Brandi Carlile with Julia.  The concert was supposed to be at Babeville, but it was moved to the Tralf, and it ended up being so nice, so intimate.  Katie Herzig was the opener, very enjoyable.  Then Ms. Carlile came out, and was laughing and joking with the crowd, taking requests that people would yell from the audience.  At first I was distracted by the extreme tightness of her jeans (they may have been jeggings, to which I say, "NO!"), but by the end, I had a bit of a girlcrush going on.

Then last night I dragged my friend Jon out for some indie rock at Nietzsche's.  I wanted to see Bearhunter.  The show started late, so we had some beers and chatted, and caught the first 20 minutes or so of SNL (it looked hilarious).  I forget who the first band was, but they were good.  Bearhunter was great, and Handsome Jack sure was... retro.  Then we stopped in at the Pink.  And today I'm feeling a little old and rickety, and that's ok.  

Today I managed to sweat out some of the beer I drank last night, while I swept floors and emptied garbages and cleaned and disinfected.  I'll never be one of those people who cleans on a regular basis, but sometimes it is so, so satisfying to have a gleaming kitchen, clean floors in the living room.  Then again, with my roommates, I doubt the house will stay pretty for long.