Oh to be home again..

You've left behind endless songs and stories for all of us. A beautiful ode to the land we call home. More importantly, you ended your life as you wanted: ramblin' on with a smile on your face. Thanks for making me love music more than I thought I ever could.

 Love to you, Levon.

Three years ago I watched this video. It's been a happy obsession ever since.

Droid brain

I'm back! Internet was down for a bit..

I forgot I had a blog for a quick second. I'm under the Instagram spell and I can't seem to to tear myself away enough to post videos and songs I've been loving. It is pretty awesome though, right? It's Facebook without the ranting and bitching and baby "success stories" of the day(oh look, little billy learned how to shit IN his diaper!). Social networking through personal photos seems to be the happier avenue these days(not that I don't like a good bitch/debate session on Facebook).

I'm moving back home in June and I feel rushed to see more of Maryland, specifically the shoreline. Sometimes you need to be pushed. There's more to this state than what I've seen. I'll share my daytrippin' with you soon!

I found an LP of rare tracks from Yemen(45s) compiled by Chris Menist. Qat, Coffee and Qambus("plant stimulant", coffee and a lute) has a more traditional sound than I had expected, but I love it nonetheless. Thank you to that thoughtful soul.

I was gonna share a track from that album but youtube failed me today :(
Instead, I'll share my favorite Jay/Kanye parody. It's been floating around for a long time so you've probably come across it at some point, but I love these girls and I can't get enough!

"She said Shea can we get married at the Straaaaand.."

Trapped in the closet

You know when you go to the thrift store and you find that thing that you've been searching for forever? It's great, right? You know when you rent an apartment and you open the closet and you find old photographs in a worn out shoebox and you spend hours imagining who the photographer was, why they took them, etc? Sometimes. Well, imagine opening that shoebox and finding beautiful black and white photos of maybe Tina Turner, The Who...Yea, THAT'S A FIND.

After his photographer boss passed away, Dan Oppenheimer was responsible for sifting through his possessions. Read this and enjoy! P.S. James Taylor and Michael Caine. So Perfect.

Here are my small and pretty impressive finds from my day. I should add I've been looking for this particular drinking jar for a long time so, It's MY Tina Turner photo. Almost.

She was a tomboy

I caught Kurt Vile at Ram's Head Live on Thursday night. Their opening act was an experimental band with a love of... fruit. So much so, the lead signer proceeded to eat a banana and perform with the peel laid gently on her head(she also shared an orange with the front row). Needless to say, we couldn't wait for Kurt Vile to hit the stage.

It was an intimate show with a small audience(thanks for inappropriately screaming weird comments during the pre-acoustic moments, dumb drunk girl). His natural and slightly awkward presence was really likeable and I loved every song.

Also, I spent today at the Smith College annual used book sale. Half off day! My modest stack is below. I'm hoping my Arabic language dictionary find will push me towards taking some classes soon.











**He didn't move much on stage so the pictures aren't very..dynamic. He DOES have lovely hair, drunk girl.

Kiss my grits

I miss the no fuss restaurant experience. Small menus, cash only, honest to goodness waitstaff, simple and comforting foods. That's it.

Pete's Grill in the Waverly Neighborhood of Baltimore is just that. There's only about 25 seats, all counter top seating. Perfect place for greasy but stellar home fries, the paper and a kind waitstaff. I found my morning spot(only took 9 months) seven blocks from my place.

**There's a few shots from outside my yellow and black door. Stunning and colorful row homes which are a nice window view with a church dome in the distance. The trees are blooming and my neighbor with amazing garden fashion(I wish I could have gotten closer!) has been outside for three days.

















Finally, This Martha Reeves and The Vandellas song is a classic, BUT I love how adorable Martha looks in this video. Go ahead girl.

A Day with Charm

I realized my blog needed more personal photos. I also realized I wanted to photograph more of what I saw around Baltimore and all my other small road adventures and share them with you. Here's my day at Charmington's, courtesy of my new phone that makes my photo taking skills look pretty good(though, they are not). Enjoy!








































A good spring afternoon. Even better when seen this way.

I woke on sunday morning

Sundays have become my favorite day. They don't resemble the miserable, depression filled days of high school signaling the sad end of the weekend. Nowadays, it's my one usual day off so, I treasure it. I visited South Philly last Sunday which, I have to say, has been my favorite east coast city thus far. A warm community feeling, families, culturally diverse, young types appropriately sprinkled about(minus the neon caps and mustaches), long standing Italian cafes and restaurants, street markets galore, etc. I could go on and on. And the food. The food is beyond delicious. Make it your next east coast stop(after Baltimore, of course).

Today was a little less adventurous, but sometimes that's needed. I bought a Turkish area rug(finally), made some red lentil soup, took a walk right before sunset, got the Sunday New York Times for free(score!), bought a cheap bus ticket for NYC and listened to some of my favorite tunes. Sundays have been good to me lately.

P.S. I'll miss walking to a cafe 5 blocks from my house.


A little Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson to end the day.