February

Where did you go? Shortest month, I know, but still, I can't believe that tomorrow will be March. What did I do with my February, second and shortest month of this here 2011, I ask myself? A fair bit, now that I'm reviewing it.

First of all I have been trying to get back to my healthy habits, there's still a lot of room for improvement. I need to work out the majority of days in the week and count calories.

I volunteered at 2nd Harvest for the first time. They put me in the cooler, sorting baked goods donated from the bakeries of various grocery stores. It was like my worst nightmare, sorting delicious baked goods that I don't get to eat in a 30 degree box. Definitely made me appreciate my cushy life. But really and truly, I now understand the whole poverty/obesity conundrum. We sorted pallets stacked seven boxes high full of pies, cookies, cakes, bread, brownies, tarts, tortes, cupcakes, you name it. It was astounding. It was also quite the work-out.

I saw The Head And The Heart. They were awesome, the show wasn't long enough.

I went to Michigan for the 1st birthday party of my favorite cousin's first child. I saw most of my family and a couple of friends. Spent a lot of time with my brother, and I got some real quality time in with my bff.

I saw Jimmy Eat World in concert for the first time. They put on a great show.

I watched about 8 million movies. My favorite of which was Winter's Bone. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes were superb. It sounds odd, but it reminded me of watching The Wire. It was like a secret view into a world that functions within completely different parameters from the lives that many of us live, and yet the whole thing was totally believable.

I went hiking for the first time here in my area. We got some amazing weather here and I couldn't think of a better way to take advantage of it.

I went to three birthday parties in one weekend. Dinner at Kobe Steaks was a definite highlight (especially having to exhibit my fluffy, non-matching socks to the twenty people at our table), as well as enjoying the Hand Of Buddha drink from Bound'ry. Then there was a skating birthday party for my favorite 7 year old.

I went to the Nashville Flea Market for the first time in a couple years. Had the best time just walking around looking at wares by myself.

The Oscars were fun to watch, due more to the company than the show being all that entertaining itself. Really, James Franco? I never thought that you were much of an actor, but it turns out that you're even less interesting (charismatic, entertaining, engaging) live.

Cash-shoe

My brother told me that I had a decent shoe game. I listen to enough rap to be flattered. Who knew he was paying attention?

The Curse

"After thousands of years what a face to wake up to.

Josh Ritter

This song made my heart fall apart. And then I found the video. And it was too much.

I Forgot

I forgot to tell y'all about Garth. He was amazing. I think that his talent lies in his ability to make you believe that he loves doing what he's doing as much as you love watching him do it. Three nights into a week and half of shows, and this almost fifty-year-old man is running around the stage, sweating buckets of water, singing his voice out just for you. That's how I felt anyway.
At the end of the show, for the second encore, he did what he called "house-keeping" and played some of the songs that people were holding up signs for. Most of these were either older or more obscure songs. He didn't really play any of my secret favorites, but I saw signs for two or three of my favorite songs. So even though he didn't play any of the unexpected ones that I was hoping to hear, there was something just as special about seeing signs for "When There's No One Around," and "Learning To Live Again," and "You Move Me." Cheesy as it may be, just knowing that one other person loved that song as much as I do, that that is the one song they would choose if they were asked, it made the night almost as moving as if he had played them.