a taste of lotus fest, anyone?

bloomington's lotus world music fest is sort of a big deal - at least in bloomington. i don't know if anyone else in the world has ever heard of it... but i suspect some have. this is a "so i don't forget to check into this band more" type of post. from sweden, i give you, MOVITS!

i miss you, i'm going back home to the west coast...

whenever i head west, this song invariably gets stuck in my head. it's a problem. coconut records, "west coast:"


today a week ago, i was so, so happy to board a plane in portland, oregon, to head back east. it was a long, excellent trip... but mostly, i missed home by a week and a couple of days in. but i saw some amazing things while i was there.

japanese gardens, portland.


steps at the japanese gardens.


i bought a new ring. cargo in portland is a fantastic store - and right by rogue pub and distillery on flanders!


i loved all the bonsai trees at the lan su chinese garden.


an old growth forest on the coast.


my second trip to rogue - i like beer.


we took a dinner boat trip on the willamette.


me at the lan su chinese garden. each of those buildings was designed and built by chinese designers and builders (duh!) in china, then disassembled and reassembled, piece by piece, in portland by 90 or so chinese workers. amazing.


CHEESE!!! at the tillamook creamery. in addition to beer, i also love cheese.


waterfall, i like your colors.


my buddy, my buddy. wherever you go, i'm gonna go.


oh man... voodoo doughnuts. serious yum for just $1.50. i was boring and got the portland cream (this little guy). i did NOT sample such wares as "triple chocolate penetration."


this is an accurate representation of my first day on the coast - classic oregon, in other words.


ominous clouds.


ominous logs.


the sun came out for just a minute at cannon beach.


so many starfish at cannon beach.


so many anemones.


and some more starfish.


and my last day on the coast was sunny and fantastic.








as they say in portland, please bike responsibly.

have i become someone who goes to the symphony?!

why, yes. yes, i think i have.

we went to the indianapolis symphony orchestra last night - my first trip - to see CARMINA BURANA. it was amazing - full choir for the final part, hilarious (and incredibly talented) operatic folks, a very talented orchestra (which was fun to watch in itself, since i used to play the cello). the coolest thing? we just got the youngest maestro ever to lead a big city orchestra, and he was showing his stuff in full force. his first public concert was a week ago, and there he was, leading the whole huge SOUND coming from the stage without using a page of sheet music. seriously - this whole piece, not a page of sheet music in sight.

i might have a little crush.

here's the indianapolis choir's flash mob of carmina burana at the airport earlier this year:


i think the ISO is going to have some exciting things on the horizon! can't wait to see more.