Minimalist Edamame

I made edamame tonight using this Mark Bittman recipe. It was delicious AND nutritious!

Covered Elliott Smith / Played in a Chapel

A Twofer! I just finished up a tour with Kaia Wilson (Team Dresch, The Butchies). It was great times all around, but at the last show in Philly, I had two new experiences. I played in a small chapel - which I have to admit was kind of disconcerting - and I covered an Elliott Smith song. I had never done either before.

Elliott is one of my favorite songwriters of all time - and in fact, I have written a song inspired by him ("Hole In The Road") - but have always been a little too intimidated to actually play one of his songs live. But I did it on Thursday night in the little chapel. "Baby Britain" - it felt good.

Watt/Grohl/Vedder

I just saw this video on Pitchfork of Watt and Grohl and Vedder playing together in Seattle last night and it made me think of this:

I saw the tour Watt/Foo Fighters/Hovercraft tour in 1995 at The Masquerade in Atlanta. The Foo Fighters had yet to put out a record and Grohl and Vedder were also Watt's band, just as in the above video. I also met Jeff Buckley at that show. I was more excited about meeting Grohl, as Nirvana had changed my life, along with just about everyone else in America. (Side note: I saw Nirvana at the Omni in Atlanta in 1993 - The Breeders and Come opened!) Anyway, Grohl was the nicest, coolest musician I've ever met. He put me on the guest list for their show the next night at the 40 Watt in Athens because it was sold out. He also asked me if I wanted a "plus one" (my first time hearing that expression). It was pretty much all over for me after that weekend, as far as wanting to become a rocker goes....

My Week So Far

I Ran 7 Miles!

As far as, "Things I've Never Done Before Today" goes, running 7 miles is a big one for me. I started running about 2 and a half years ago, two minutes at a time. I did it, primarily, to lose weight. I never thought I could be a runner but my friend Zack told me I could and gave me a really workable program to get started. He told me to leave the house, run for 2 minutes and then come home. The next day I was to run 3 minutes, and so on and so on. I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving that year (5 miles) just a few months after I had started running. It felt like the hardest thing I had ever done, and possibly the most important. I stopped for awhile here and there, but I keep coming back to it. I ran the Turkey Trot again in 2010 (about 15 minutes faster than the first year).

A couple of months ago, I decided to start training for the Brooklyn half-marathon. I found out a few weeks into my training that the race was already full and had filled up only two days after registration began. I was disappointed but unphased. I have continued my training and plan to run my own half-marathon on the same day as the Brooklyn half-marathon at the track in McCarren Park. That track is where I run most days lately. I love it there. Especially on weekend days, like today. I watch little kids run around while I run. I watch the soccer matches. I watch the teenagers smoking and trying to out-cool eachother. Everything seems so vividly alive as I make my way around that big circle time after time. The sun came out while I was running just in time to go back down for the day. Overcast all day long and then out for a brief minute and then gone.

I am happy. Running makes me feel like I can do anything and like I can see everything more clearly. I ran 7 miles today without stopping. It took me 1 hour and 28 minutes. I am not the fastest yet, but I am committed and I am capable and that is more than enough for me.

Morning in Greenpoint

The sky was lovely this morning. Paco liked it too. I'm going to start writing here again. I'm starting a temp job today in Hoboken. I'll be typing for and generally assisting a lady prez of a company who just had shoulder surgery.

The Arcade Fire won album of the year at The Grammys for what I thought was actually album of the year. Imagine that.

Hip Hop You Saved My Life

I heard this song at the gym this morning and it is really good. Happy Labor Day!