Work, Joy, and The Beatles

"As I turned up my mom's record player loud, what I heard changed my life. I heard The Beatles making mistakes. I heard them fumbling around to find their genius... It had The Beatles trying different tempos, different lyrics and different ideas. It had The Beatles fighting. I heard The Beatles failing. I heard The Beatles working. 

"But learning that they didn't have perfect blueprints from their genius was a revelation. It inspired me to start to practice and rehearse the stupid ideas that I had." -Penn Jillette, in his CNN Opinion piece today, Beatles, bootlegs and Vermeer. 

Image Source: Here

I'm ok with consciously placing things on a pedestal (e.g. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds), but the danger comes when we don't stop to recognize how much hard work went into those things getting up there. Sometimes it's easy to think whatever we admire just walked into that position, inherently just being all that we look up to. But in reality, anything admirable in this world requires a lot of work. Attaining and maintaining. 

Look at how easy it is to break a bad habit vs. making a good habit. How easy it is to make a mess vs. keep a room clean. This world just demands work, constantly. It's as constant as our need for nourishment, and sleep. 

Food, and sleep. They are just so good. (You guys, I'm such a grump over here without them.) And it's the same story for work. 

I think this world demands so much work, because work makes joy. And genius. And all things good. God sent us here to be happy. He sent us here to work to be happy, because that would make the truest kind of joy.

Image Source: Here

I just kind of loved reading this perspective on The Beatles and their work today. The Beatles sing to my soul. It has a lot to do with my dad, and the way that his career in radio combined with his trivia mind placed 60s music into my roots. He'd turn up the radio anytime a different song came on his oldies station, and tell me the year the song came out, where he was when he first heard it, a fact about the recording or the band, and then he'd listen or sing. I'd listen and watch. I loved the way he loved it all, and remembered his life through those songs and the memories and moments they brought him back to.

When I lived in London, I turned up The Beatles every time I ran through Hyde Park. I mean, how could I not? That just felt right. And when Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds came on, I ran with more joy than I ever had before or since. That song will always take me back to Hyde Park, to London. To a time when I realized how big the world was and how much I loved it. 

I don't remember where that particular Beatles song takes my dad back to. But I know The Beatles take both of us places, along with millions of others. Their work, turned into their genius, changed the world.

Through the Sunday Blues

Do you ever get the Sunday night blues? That feeling of, wait weekend, why are you leaving me so quickly? Things were going so well? We get that. I am the prominent complainer of Sunday night blues, but we both get it. Sometimes facing a Monday kick off to a whole new week of dental school and work is as unappealing as having an entire package of Oreos but no milk in the fridge.

Yesterday we did, thankfully, have milk though. And I used it with my Oreos to combat that Sunday night blues. Poor Michael used them to fuel his studying streak... he has monthly tests all through his second year of dental school that cover all his classes, for all of the past month. Always on a Monday morning.

If that doesn't give you the ultimate Sunday night blues, I don't know what could.

He studied this entire past week at every spare moment, and I have a small and very hazy memory of him getting out of bed at 4:00 this morning to study even more before that darn 8am test. He's a hard worker. And he's pretty tired. He needs the Oreos way more than me.

Yesterday my family had our first Google Hangout, and that was way too much fun. We did a lot of great catching up and laughing, up until we found the features that let you "dress up". Then we completely stopped communicating and just played around the rest of the time, as seen below. I couldn't stop laughing at those tiny devil horns. Also a very good remedy for Sunday night blues. Jaren was born to wear that monocle. And Lydia the Pirate is looking pretty good, too. Ali wore that graduation cap the entire time. I think she's looking forward to finishing grad school, yeah?

A while ago we found a good deal on JOHN MAYER concert tickets, and I have been counting down the days until we could finally go hear that voice. It was kind of poor planning though, seeing as the concert was right before Michael's first monthly test... he studied the whole drive there and I think maybe contemplated bringing his laptop to the concert. We loved it though, and I think it was a good break for him. Oh John Mayer... he sang me through so many Cedar/Provo drives. I think he cures my headaches better than Excedrin. And it was way too fun seeing him just play and play his guitar. It's like it's just part of him and he's not even thinking about it. Did you know his parents took him to see a psychiatrist twice when he was growing up, because all he would do is play his guitar and they were worried about him? True story. Music is just in him. And yeah...I get that the guy has made himself known as a jerk. But I still seriously love his voice and songs.

We had so much fun watching him play. Anyone who didn't stay for the encore was crazy because he came back and played Gravity. That is far and away much better than beating traffic, any day. We inhaled a serious amount of secondhand smoke that night (some of it with a funny smell), and we were the only ones in sight with a water bottle rather than an alternative choice of beverage...but, good music. Worth it.

Oh, and this is Twinkles. She spent her weekend with us, too. She looks kind of sad? But we showed her a good time, don't worry. I don't know what's going on lately, but Michael's dog sitting business is booming. That guy... he keeps life interesting.

Here's to another fun weekend and getting through those Sunday night blues.

AND getting through Michael's first monthly test today. He rocked it!

T-Swift, in Concert.

We called the radio station at least 800 times. I wish I was exaggerating. Being caller #9 is just not that easy. It takes a skill that I apparently don't have. But we still found ourselves with free Taylor Swift tickets through other means, like I said before. And Friday finally came. 

Can you tell that I felt like I was at work for 19 hours that day? Because I did. I was a little distracted, and more than ready for concert time. We hit up Punch Burger (pun intended) before the show and it was delicious. We split those waffle fries, don't judge.

Two days before the show Keds was SO nice to give me four more tickets that they weren't going to be using that night. !!! I had to have a drawing out of my friends who could go...no way I was choosing. Everyone was nice about it, although there was some attempted bribing afterwards. (Summer held strong and kept her ticket, even with offers of a month of babysitting and movie passes. Taylor Swift, people. You don't just give that up.) Michael and I got there early for our backstage tour. !!! (So many exclamation marks are justified in this post.)

Taylor's MOM (!!!) took our tour group around and told us all about the RED tour. We learned some crazy stuff, like...the tour hires 120 local people at every location to help unload everything, they have "toaster" elevators under the stage that literally pop dancers up on top, 70 people are on the RED tour, Taylor has 11 costume changes that night with the fastest one at 4.5 seconds, there is no auto-tuning or lip syncing in her shows and there never has been, she is crazy involved with almost every detail of the concert, and after their 66 stops in the states this summer they are headed to Australia, then Asia, then Europe. Full on world tour, people. She sings about all these boyfriends and break ups...but when does she have time for either of those?

One of my favorite moments of the tour was when Michael recognized an announcer from Hank FM (the radio station of caller #10 haters). I saw his name tag and knew his name all too well...

Me: "Hey, Dave O'Brien!"

D: Turned around, acting innocent.

M: "Oh, I've called you sooooo many times!"

D: "Really? Did I answer?"

M: "No!"

D: Laughed as though this was ok.

M: Continued on with the backstage tour, no thanks to Dave O'Brien or his impossible contests.

(We still listen to Hank FM.)

Ed Sheeran opened for Taylor Swift, and he was crazy talented. He was a one man show - recorded his own beats and guitar, then kept them playing as he sang and even rapped, all while fading music in and out with foot pedals. I thought he was incredible. And not just because I loved his English accent.

After his performance, there was some ultimate anticipation in that room that we shared with 18,000 other (mostly female and mostly screaming) fans. Then, Taylor. Everyone talks about how her performances are over the top productions, and it's the truth.

At one point her dancers carried her in front of our section to a smaller stage right by us, and we were just a few rows away from her. Poor Michael, all that screaming. 

He wasn't the only guy in the audience...maybe the only one in our section though. Good sport. He really did enjoy it. You couldn't not have fun though, it was hilarious how much people just went crazy every time she would somehow announce the next song.

I loved having friends there with us. Becca had only been to one other concert, so I think the bar is set kind of high for her third. 

On our walk back to our car, we saw this semi along with a few blacked out cars and limos. What a crazy life, right? She did Cleveland Thursday, Indianapolis Friday, Lexington Saturday...and that is just three days of one country of her world tour. How do you even have a voice after all that?

Had to get the shirt. The whole experience was just too fun to not remember. It was my first time actually applying "the secret" to something very specific in life, which is random and a little too cosmic for me, but there's definitely something going on there. We read the book in book club, but I won't go into details about it. Just know that I put this concert on my calendar in December and I just knew that somehow we would get there (preferably for free because dental school is such a money sucker). Then through a random string of events, I suddenly had two backstage passes, six tickets, and a freaked out husband.

!!!

Best Day.

I planned on posting all about Thunder Over Louisville and our fun weekend in Kentucky... but we have to interrupt previously scheduled programming for an important announcement. Important as in, absolutely made my day and made me dance around and around. 

Today I won two tickets to the TAYLOR SWIFT concert this Friday! And two backstage passes! Thank you thank you to Keds for sending us to to the show and giving us the backstage tour.

There was a time in our lives when Michael loved Taylor Swift more than I did, it's true. But that was long before "We are Never Ever Getting Back Together" which almost took away his fan card. Me playing it on repeat while cleaning could be to blame for that. . .

But don't worry, we're both big fans still. I just admit it a little more freely than he does. We both just love how Taylor Swift knows how to be famous while maintaining who she is and what she stands for. Apparently that's harder than any of us realize, because so few stars manage that. I just think she's refreshing. And who doesn't love her lyrics? Don't try to tell me there isn't at least one Taylor Swift song out there that hasn't hit you, or hasn't made you sing loud in the car on that I-15 stretch driving home after finals and feeling like there is nothing you'd rather be doing than driving that road and heading home and...ok wait, that one's probably just me.

I'm excited.

Good good music

Anytime you make Thursday feel like Friday is a good thing. Until you go to bed at 12:30 on Thursday, and remember that you do still have to go to work the next day because it's only Friday in your mind.

Still, no regrets. Our good friends/neighbors introduced us to Josh Ritter and told us that we had to come see him with them. So glad they did!

After some faithful listening to the mix they gave us, we were excited to go see Josh and his joyful ways. He really is the happiest performer, just completely smiley and genuine the entire time.

It was impossible to not enjoy watching him. It's so fun to see people doing what they love. His band was loving it, too.

Thanks for introducing us to him, Toblers! And thanks even more for convincing Michael to come even though it was the night before one of his infamous tri-weekly Friday tests. That took some work.

But, he still rocked it guys. Maybe the concert took some of the pressure off? And made all the studying more effective? This could become a pre-test tradition!

(Chances of that happening: 0%)

Real Time

Last night he...

Studied and studied and studied. And studied. This week, he studied and studied. And studied. And ate a lot of chocolate chip cookies and the last Easter bunny of the Easter stash. So that he could keep studying.

Last night I...

Studied and studied....a new skill? No, I didn't study. But I appreciated Michael's studying, and told him so, and worked hard on this new found [developing and not quite yet a] skill. It makes me feel very...mature? And kind of like I have ADD. And no, I'm not crocheting a Yamaka.  The beginning stages are just a little deceiving.

And tonight we...

Are off to see and hear good music. With good friends. Then we'll get home so Michael can study and study...

And study.

Can you even handle the excitement that is our lives this week? This weekend looks promising though.