OluKai

Last week, we spent a few days in northern New Mexico visiting a chamber music festival, Music From Angel Fire, that I used to work for.  In addition to hearing amazing music, catching up with old friends, and generally just enjoying the beautiful NM landscapes, we were able to take some time to wander around the wonderfully wacky town of Taos for a while, too.  In one of the many adorable shops around the main town square, I ran across these sandals and fell madly in love.  They are expertly made and insanely comfortable, without looking like a geriatric podiatrist-recommended pair of boats on your feet.

Have you ever heard of OluKai shoes?  I hadn't come across them before but these sandals were all I needed to become instantly obsessed.  Here are a few other current favorites:  

Humu

Pa'ia

Hema

Since we are pretty much eternally broke, these will have to stay on the wish list for now.  But you better believe I will be stalking the sales until I can snatch a pair up for myself.  

--mel

Drugs, Sex, and…Classical Music?

I'm not going to go into too much detail here about why this topic interests me.  That would take way too much space and you would most certainly not come back to read much more from me I'm sure.  "Rambling" would be putting it lightly.  Anyway, I'll just say that classical music has been a huge part of my life since I was 6 years old and sat down in front of my first grand piano.  I love it.  Always have, always will.  

For me, there is no question that classical music is completely relevant and exciting even hundreds of years after some of it was written.  Having studied extensively the history and theory behind much of the classical music repertoire, I understand that my interest is inherently biased, but I also feel strongly that even without a musical background, anyone can find a similar interest and love of classical music.  And if that means you have to read "Fifty Shades of Grey" to do it, so be it. 

I've never read it, but supposedly, the book's namesake Christian Grey has an interest (Among other things…) in classical music.  In one particular scene, as explained in this WQXR article, "Grey turns on his car stereo and proceeds to inform his love interest, Anastasia, about his 'eclectic' taste in music--'everything from Thomas Tallis to the Kings of Leon'.  Grey says the Tallis is 'very esoteric, I know, but it's also magical'." 

Even though reading that little excerpt makes me throw up in my mouth a little (hey, we all have different tastes in men and their pick-up lines), I will say that it is pretty impressive that a "mommy porn" novel can make a medieval choral motet break through the top 10 on the music charts some 450 years later and inspire a whole soundtrack full of classical music.  I'll certainly applaud for that.


There's no question that the guiding force behind the newfound popularity of pieces like Tallis' Spem in Alium is, plain and simple, sex.  The same thing that guides so much of pop culture today is creating a renaissance for musical forms from the past.  There are countless other examples of movies finding new ways to create a link between classical music and sex (here's a good starter list, if you're interested).  And you may be shocked to learn that this link between the racy promiscuous behavior and the bland penguin-attired orchestral musicians isn't just dreamed up by hollywood executives.  It's real.

According to Amazon's new series "Mozart in the Jungle" (based on the memoir of oboist Blair Tindall by the same name), the inner workings of classical music are just as outlandish as what you'd expect from the green room at a Rolling Stones concert.  Perhaps Mr. Grey wasn't so out of line after all.

So my question to you is does the sexualization of classical music make it more appealing to you?  More relatable?  Is classical music more interesting if there is drama and scandal attached to it?  What words, feelings, emotions, do you associate with classical music?  Is "kinky" one of them?

This is a safe space y'all.  Feel free to comment anonymously if that makes you more comfortable.  Either way, let 'er rip.

xoxo-

mel

(images via here, here, and here)

The big ONE

So, NC turns 1 in a couple weeks.  

(Dramatic pause.)

That's right.  A whole year.  365 days.  8,765.81 hours.  I could go all "RENT" on you and continue this pattern but it seems in fact that there are 525,949 minutes in a year so really we need to stop supporting the lie.  

Anyway, NC is turning a year old and we're gonna party.  I'm assuming she won't really know what the hell is going on, so we're getting a lot of sweets, a lot of beer, and a lot of yard games for the adults to celebrate.  

Since she's not exactly of age yet and won't really be partying all that hard this year, a whole bunch of presents that she will be able to enjoy for the next year of her life will just have to suffice.  Here are a few things that NC would love this year:

1- Balancing Tree.  This set of balancing blocks would pull double duty since one of my Mr.'s favorite things to do is try and build the most epic stacked up pile of blocks ever, and one of NC's favorite things to do is knock it down.  

2- Shopping Cart.  NC is gonna be walking sooner than we'd all like her to so no use in fighting it.  This would not only help stabilize her in her early wobbling phase, but she would be able to take all of her toys around the house with her, and perhaps even clean up after herself when she's finished (don't crush my dreams here, people).

3- Family Dolls.  NC has a somewhat terrifying habit of chucking all of her stuffed animals over the side of her crib to their untimely deaths, laughing maniacally as they fall to the ground.  One of the millions of sleep books we read said we should encourage the use of a "lovie"--something that she could use to soothe and comfort her when she is in her crib alone.  I know she loves us, so maybe if we had these amazing dolls done up to look just like us, there would be less casualties in her bedroom. 

4- Stacking Toy.  Again, the stacks of things are a big hit in this house.  Plus, NC loves to put things inside of and on top of other things (and then of course, knock them all down).  Maybe this will help to curb her need for destruction.

5- Floral Romper.  Okay, so maybe this is more for me than for NC.  She doesn't give a damn what she wears so far as we can tell, but this would make mama so very happy. 

6- Exclamatory! Shirt.  A shirt with NC's favorite word on it!  Perfect. 

7- Classical Music for Kids.  As you all probably know by now, one of my life's goals is to show the world that classical music is cool and completely relevant.  I use NC as my guinea pig to try out as many different tactics as I can in hopes that she will fall in love with it as I have.  So far, it's working pretty well.  I think this book would be a good addition to my master plan.   

8- Rocking Moose.  Every child needs a rocking horse, and we live in CO.  Enough said.

Talking about all these presents has me in the mood to go start drinking celebrating early!

xoxo-

mel  

Late-Night Reading

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time laying on the floor in NC's nursery while she is sleeping because every time I walk out of the door she wakes up crying.  While this is completely unsustainable and pretty damn annoying most of the time, I have been utilizing the time catching up on some worthwhile reading.

Readability is an app that you can install on your devices (desktop included) to help corral all of those important articles and think pieces that you know you want to read, but just haven't found the time to do so yet.  When I'm nursing NC or trying to get her to go to sleep or stay asleep, my cell phone pretty much stays glued to my hand.  Inevitably I end up finding a million things that I find immensely interesting and really want to read, so Readability is an awesome way to keep tabs on them all.

Here are a few of my recent favorites:

"Benjamin Britten's 'Moonrise Kingdom'", The New Yorker.  I am a classically trained pianist by trade and a passionate advocate for making classical music more accessible to the masses.  I love that Anderson's use of Britten's "Noye's Fludde" is so prominent in the film, and not merely a backing track.

"Pope Francis, The People's Pope", TIME.  I really enjoyed reading, what is to most of us non-catholics, this introduction to their new pope.  I find the global appeal and commercial interest of this pope, regardless or religious preference, really fascinating.

"The Welfare Queen", Slate.  I barreled through this exposé on notorious welfare fraud Linda Taylor, totally enthralled with her unbelievable drive to use the system to her advantage.

"Breastfeeding: Good for babies, the environment, and justice, too", Grist.  Hot on the heels of the completely unwarranted hoopla that surrounded Karlesha Thurman's act of normal parenting at her college graduation, a great commentary on how our society does very little to help our mothers be successful in breastfeeding.  I like that it also gives us a few different reasons to support the 'breast is best' ideal that we often overlook, including the impact on the environment and social justice movements.

 
And if you're interested, I tend to find the best pieces of journalism on Longform, a website that continually updates it's list of worthwhile, slightly longer than your average FB-linked article, pieces of writing from around the web.

And if you'd like to see more of what I'm reading, you can follow me on Readability and see more of my recommendations.

Happy reading!
--mel

Father's Day DIY

I have to say, this year, my Mr. hit the jackpot with his Father's Day gifts.  

First, he got a spot in an "Artificial Rock Climbing Anchors" class with REI.  This was a sort of 'olive branch' if you will, and he knew it.  In my attempt to be the bigger person, I think I still managed to lay it on a little too thick, so I decided the Mr. also needed a less-heavy more-fun Father's Day gift to kind of take the edge off.

(Note: if you have no idea what I'm talking about here, that's okay.  Just keep reading because the important part is coming up.)

So, I decided to go the DIY route.  I feel like Father's Day kind of always warrants some sort of DIY--a popsicle stick bookmark, a finger-painted coffee mug, a scribbled portrait of dad dressed up as a superhero.  Of course, this year, NC is barely old enough to hold a crayon so I had to take the reins.

I was inspired by this project on Jordan's blog because it was fast, easy, cheap, and way more original than the typical "painted handprint and poem".

Overall, I'd say this tutorial was pretty straightforward, but I found myself having to make a few extra tweaks that ensured success.

Here's what I did:

Happy Mother's Day

If I should have a daughter…“Instead of “Mom”, she’s gonna call me “Point B.” Because that way, she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And I’m going to paint the solar system on the back of her hands so that she has to learn the entire universe before she can say “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.”

She’s gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you to get back up so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by band-aids or poetry, so the first time she realizes that Wonder-woman isn’t coming, I’ll make sure she knows she doesn’t have to wear the cape all by herself. Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.

And “Baby,” I’ll tell her “don’t keep your nose up in the air like that, I know that trick, you’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else, find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him.”

But I know that she will anyway, so instead I’ll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boats nearby, ‘cause there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix. Okay, there’s a few heartbreaks chocolate can’t fix. But that’s what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything if you let it.

I want her to see the world through the underside of a glass bottom boat, to look through a magnifying glass at the galaxies that exist on the pin point of a human mind. Because that’s how my mom taught me. That there’ll be days like this, “There’ll be days like this my momma said” when you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you wanna save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say “thank you,” ‘cause there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away.

You will put the “wind” in win some lose some, you will put the “star” in starting over and over, and no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.

And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting I am pretty damn naive but I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

“Baby,” I’ll tell her “remember your mama is a worrier but your papa is a warrior and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.”

Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and always apologize when you’ve done something wrong but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.

Your voice is small but don’t ever stop singing and when they finally hand you heartbreak, slip hatred and war under your doorstep and hand you hand-outs on street corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.

--"B" by Sarah Kay

Hear Sarah's TED talk here.  Found via Clementine Daily.

Design Challenge: Budget Area Rugs

About a week ago,  I got an email from a friend who had reached the end of her decorating rope.  "I need a rug for the area between my kitchenette and living room area (Probably like 5x7, but I could maybe go a little bigger)," she wrote.  "I think I need something with color--my living room is mostly grays, navy blues, and white, but I also already have a lot of graphic prints, so I think it needs to be more colorful without a huge bold pattern (which is SO hard for me to avoid!)"  With those parameters, it actually seemed like this would be a pretty simple find.  Until she hit me with the price point:  "between $100-$200".

On a normal day, I probably would have just said, "Tough beans, kid.  Ain't gonna happen."  However, I recently had a similar dilemma in our own home when we were looking for a new crawling-baby-knees-friendly area rug for our living room, and much to my relief I found Rugs USA and an enormous selection of unbelievably priced rugs.  I had read a few good experiences by bloggers I trust and so I took the plunge and bought a 100% wool flat weave 9x12 rug for around $350 (including the pad).  Luckily, it is amazing and looks much more expensive than it was.

So, with my friend's instructions, I knew Rugs USA was the place to shop.  She sent me some inspiration photos of rugs she likes (here and here), as well as a couple of pieces she is buying to put in her apartment (this for a sideboard/bar and this amazing headboard), plus I know her decorating style and her current furnishings pretty well so it didn't seem to be such a daunting task.

Here's what I found:

A: Oriental Weavers Kaleidoscope Rug, $199 (4' x 5'9")

B: Rugs USA Overdye RE21 Multi Rug, $472 (5' x 8') + 60% off coupon code = $188.80

C: Rugs USA Overdye RE31 Rug, $482 (5' x 8') + 70% off coupon code = $144.60

D: Windsor Grove Rug, $399 (5'5" x 8'2") + 55% off coupon code =  $179.55

E:  Jasmine FR3 Rug, $834 (5' x 8') + 70% off coupon code = $250.20

All in all, pretty close to price point and I think pretty close to the inspiration images as well.  Whaddya think, did I succeed?

So help a brotha out--which one would you pick?

xoxo
--mel