There’s an excitement that comes with visiting a foreign city or town. I’m able to look around and really see everything with untainted eyes. I tend to feel a longing to just up and move there, just to have a different life than the one I have now. A life that might actually be fulfilling. I figure I’d have better opportunities and I’d be more motivated to change the things in my life that need to be changed. I’d be in a city full of new experiences to be had, new people to meet. Maybe I’d open a cute little shop and be super relaxed and laid back about everything. I’d be a better mom. I’d keep my house perfectly clean with flowers in a vase on my counter every day. I’d wake up smiling and hop out of bed, throw on my tiny pre-mom jeans and go make a healthy breakfast…
Wait. I think I’ve watched too many movies.
Today, I woke up at 10am to my daughter wanting help playing Build-A-Bear on her Nintendo DSi. I played with her for an hour, then packed her a bag to go camping with her auntie and cousin for the next couple days. Her dad showed up to pick her up, I kissed her goodbye and sent them off. Then I jumped in the shower and dressed myself in a comfy shirt that doesn’t make me feel insecure, jeans, and flips. Threw on some makeup and jumped in the car to head out. I parked in the garage near the square where I spend most of my free time. I got out and walked downtown in the city I grew up in. The city I still live in to this day. Everywhere I look, I have a memory, whether good or bad. It’s like I’ve touched every single piece of this place. Right now, I’m sitting in my favorite coffee shop in a big, comfy, brown, leather chair. The doors and windows are all open and the breeze is blowing in at a perfect temperature and speed. I can see the playground in the park from where I’m sitting with kids crawling all over it. There’s upbeat music playing and I’ve just devoured a decaf iced mocha and a muffin while writing this. I’m looking around, trying to see my surroundings as a visitor. Pretending that I have this strong desire to up and move here because it’s so exciting. I feel peaceful. Lucky. Content. All in this usually blurred (cause I’m in a hurry), typical (cause it’s so routine), stressful (cause I’m human) city that I grew up in.
Of course, I’d still love to make a huge change and move away to a new city some day (we only live once!), but until that’s possible, I’ll try to sit back and enjoy the way I can predict the traffic flow on any given day, or the smell of the staircase when leaving my apartment complex, or the buildings I’ll pass on my way to work. I’ll try to improve what I can improve and find a way to accept what is out of my control. I want to live my life as if I’m finally getting the chance I’ve been waiting for.
Now I’m off to go shoot some photos of a special friend of mine, simply because I want to.
Wait. What?!
Matt Morris is the MATT from MMC (Mickey Mouse Club) circa 1992?!!
I can not even begin to describe the obsession I had with this individual starting at the age of 8! In fact, there was a specific performance that I had recorded onto vhs and I would watch over and over, like it was my favorite movie. I’m going to head over to YouTube and grab the video and put it right here on this very blog post so you can all appreciate what I once considered perfection. You see, my sister (god bless her), was the whole reason I started watching the beloved show. She was totally in love with Tony Luca and greatly disliked Kerri Russell for the longest time because of it. Haha. This is great. I keep laughing at the thought of what I would have done had I known I’d someday meet him in person by random coincidence. I also keep wondering if I’d have been too nervous to talk to him had I known who he was before walking up to him two days ago, getting him to sign his cd that I had just purchased, telling him he did an amazing job during his performance and that I follow him on twitter. I ALSO keep wondering if I would’ve had such a huge obsession back in the day had I known he’d end up marrying a man? Haha. Adorable. He is absolutely adorable.
After publishing the previous post (Indigo Girls in Berkeley), I decided to read up a bit on what Matt has done to land him on stage, opening for the Indigo Girls. I was on imdb and read that he was a cast member on MMC and for some reason it STILL didn’t click that it was him. Then, later that evening (last night), I was telling my sister-in-law about the concert and I said something like, “…and I guess he was on MMC. I used to watch that show and was totally obsessed with this kid named Ma……………… OH MY GOSH!” That is when it all clicked! I pulled out my iphone and googled Matt Morris MMC and on the first page was THE video on YouTube that I used to watch over and over! I immediately called my sister in England to tell her the awesome news. I figured she’s the only one that would truly understand just how excited I was. And she did. (Thank you, Tiana. Sorry I woke you up so early.)
Turns out he’s signed to Justin Timberlake’s record label, Tennman Records. JT was one of his fellow cast members on MMC, along with Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kerri Russell, Tony Luca, and JC Chasez, just to name a few.
Ok, you can watch the video now. Yes, he’s wearing jean overalls.
And here he is NOW.
Indigo Girls in Berkeley
An Indigo Girls set is like a Radiohead set (except, obviously, totally different). I mean, it’s not like I can be like “gosh! they played such a good set last night!” as if it’s possible for them to not play a good set? It’s a given that I’m going to walk away having known and sang along to 97% of the lyrics and feel completely satisfied with the performance. The Indigo Girls, of course, lived up to this last night (Wednesday, May 13, 2009) when performing at the Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA. They truly are amazing women and extremely talented artists. This is my 4th time seeing them live and definitely not the last.
I took my friend with me to the show who hadn’t heard much of their music and I’m pretty sure he’s convinced of their greatness now (finally!). In fact, his facebook status this morning was “Jon is down with lesbians.”
Me too, Jon. Me too.
Matt Morris was the opener. I have high hopes that he’ll make it really far in his career. He has an amazing voice, a funny sense of humor and a great stage presence. Check him out here: www.mattmorris.net. As usual, the Girls had him come out on a couple of the songs at the end of their set. It was obvious he was loving the experience.
I was disappointed that they were sold out of the Indigo Girls t-shirt I wanted, but I did purchase the latest album, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug, on vinyl and also bought Matt Morris’s EP, Backstage at Bonnaroo and other Acoustic Performances. He was hanging out by his merch booth, so I had him sign it for me and let him know I enjoyed the show. He was really nice.
The Girls are going to be playing close to home again at The Mountain Winery on July 18, 2009. I think I might take Katie to see them. It’s never too early to introduce children to great musicians, right?
I open my hands up to see what I’ve got. My days slip like coins into a slot they are gone. The shadows lie long. I’ve been banking on a broken machine, Left unattended like most of dreams. Rusted components of an unmarked song.
We’ve been staring down the brilliant dream, The sun burns our eyes. We’ve been fighting for the love of our lives.
All around us things come apart. Broken pieces broken hearts. Fix me, oil me, match me with the next best thing. Person to person or nation to nation. Heels dug in, no communication. Wily time sneaks her weathering. We’ve been wanting to be held by binding ties. We’ve been fighting for the love of our lives.
And when it breaks down, I beg you don’t go. I circle your ship, I’m ready to blow. Try to outflank you with an army of words, I strategize. I am fighting for the love of my life.
Iron, water and oxygen, Scotch and soda, or any combination. Starts the reaction. Is there no mastermind of modern day, Who can blueprint a plan to make love stay. Sturdy and weatherproof, ushering in a new revolution? At the drawing board the hopeful ones still try. How can we help it when we’re fighting for the love of our lives?
It’s amazing to me how they sum up the frustration of love in humanity. I honestly can’t say much more than this: I completely live this out on a daily basis.
My beautiful sister-in-law, Shannon, at the bunkers on the North side of the Golden Gate Bridge.
(This was a 4 hour shoot in the freezing cold and rain, mind you!)
Katie’s dad is a firefighter. The other day, when I was dropping her off, we stole his turnouts and took over his backyard for a few minutes. LOOK HOW CUTE SHE IS! Gahhhhh… I love her.
Like father, like daughter. (But mostly, she’s like mom.)
I'm Shalina, a 28 year old single-mama living in Concord, CA. I'm a graphic designer by day and a lover of creativity by night. This is just a small peak into my life.
