"the thunder of summer is rumbling in" (The Avett Brothers' new album)

Two and a half years ago, a group of us gathered in a basement late at night to listen to a newfound band, the Avett Brothers. Tucker rode his bike to the next town over to get the album (I and Love and You), and delivered the most beautiful love-letter for an album that any of us had ever heard before.

And then we sat in the dark and listened. I cried during "I and Love and You."

And now the Avetts have a new album again: The Carpenter. (You can listen to it in its entirety, courtesy of NPR's First Listen.) When a band puts out another album after huge success on their first, I listen for what's different. If it's just more of the same, I'm less impressed, and usually don't end up buying the second album. But if they can add something new, show the world they've got expansive skills, then I buy. Frinstance, after the compilation of one-hit miracles on X&Y, Coldplay's Viva La Vida was a storybook and an epic poem--the songs could stand on their own (as in X&Y), but they were also integrated into the arc of each other. Beirut's The Rip Tide showed a more crisp, driven Zach Condon than the warbling, wandering gypsy melodies (which I love just as much) of Gulag Orkestar. And after For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon actually sings notes in the bass clef on Bon Iver.

Here, in this "next" album, the Avetts are certainly putting on some new hats. The headline song, "The Once and Future Carpenter" is cedarn and valleyed like John Denver. "Live and Die"'s clippy rhythm and rhymes are reminiscent of some of Colin Meloy's work with the Decemberists. And "Paul Newman v. The Demons" is its own beast entirely.

They carry off this foray into new styles with a tentative (and endearing) curiosity, even if the poetics and melodies of these first few songs are a little more generic and predictable than their first album's. And this is where it gets sticky: I have mixed feelings about the Avetts trying on new hats. I and Love and You was a tender, incredibly intimate peek into two brothers' hearts. I fell as much in love with their purposeful, compassionate view of the world as I did with their voices and melodies.

So I came at The Carpenter waiting for the one song that would grab me around the throat and choke me, the way "I and Love and You" did the first time I heard it. The album takes a little while to get there--it isn't until "February Seven" that I start feeling like I'm really listening to the Avett Brothers--but by the time "Through my Prayers" and "A Father's First Spring" comes around, that familiar goodhearted, bright-eyed longing is back in full force: "I have been homesick for you since we met."

Best song on the album? The last one, "Life."
"We're not of this world for long."

And that's what I love most about the Avett Brothers--they remind me of the bigger things I was born for, of the bigger worlds that exist in honesty, in forgiveness, and in loving each other.

(P.S. What's your favorite Avett Brothers song?)

i do weddings...

For a while now, I've been photographing weddings, graduation, lifestyle portraits, and other such special events for friends and family. That kind of photography takes time--significant time--and until now, I haven't had enough time to do anything other than stuff for friends and family. But the time has come, and I've decided to go big. Starting today, I am now open for taking pictures for the WORLD.

In other words, if you're looking for a photographer or if you know someone who is looking for one, I'd love your recommendation! You can check out my photographs over on my photography site.

And just for the fun of it, here are seven reasons you should let me do your photographs:
1. I am friendly.
2. I've got street cred (awards in various travel photography competitions, state fairs (yeeehaw!), and art shows, and I'm published in Inscape and Stowaway magazines)
3. I've got goooood prices.
4. I have freckles (who doesn't love a freckled photographer?)
5. I don't use profanity (your mom would like me).
6. You already read my blog, which must mean that you at least sorta like spending time with me, right? (wink wink)
7. If you recommend me to someone, something magical will happen to you within 7 days. If you don't, you will get in a really scary accident, will lose all your money and friends, and your grandma will disown you. Just sayin.

(In other words, hit that little "like" button and I'll love you forever. --->)

{dating} how do I get you alone?!

Fill-in-the-Blank:
Hearing this song makes me want to _____________.
A. Eat some tacos
B. Learn about hedgehogs
C. Go for a walk through the moonlit evening with a handsome man or beautiful woman and make jokes and laugh and then tell about our dreams and then stare magically into each other's eyes for a fleeting second and get butterflies.
D. Climb a ladder

If you answered A, B, or D, you are wrong.  If you answered C, you are right and you win a million points.  (Yes, this measure of right and wrong is totally subjective, but this is my blog so what I say goes.  And what I say is that C is the only correct answer.)

Here's the thing I've noticed: one-on-one time is a hard thing to come by these days, at least in the life of me.  Why this is I'm not sure.  I think it's partly because I avoid being one-on-one with people I don't want to be one-on-one with, and those who I do want to be one-on-one with are too busy avoiding me to be one-on-one with.  Following?

It seems like all anyone wants to do these days is be in large groups.  I feel stupid quite often for wanting to be alone with people.  I think, "What kind of a person wants to pull someone away from a group to talk alone with them?!"  And then I think, "Oh yeah, normal people."

Here's what I'm talking about: breaking away from the crowd of partyers for a little porch sit.  Not for the whole party, obviously, but just for a little while maybe. A little moment to connect, to tell secrets or share confidences. All my best friendships are strong because of such moments--because there are some things you share with only each other. There are some things that only you understand about each other.

Translation when someone pulls you aside to talk to you/sneaks out to be on the porch by you?: "Out of all these people, you are interesting and important enough to me that I want my own face-time with you."

And I'd say that's a pretty good feeling.

title for this post comes from this incredible song

let me be frank.

Current problems in my life:

Someone named Frank put my phone number on the internet. Dumb Frank. Now all week I've been getting phone calls for him.

"Hi, is this Frank?"
"Hi, is Frank at home?"
"Hello, I'm calling for..."
Lemme guess: FRANK.

So I've started messing with these telemarketers.
"Was that Frank Lloyd Wright you wanted, or Mr. Gehry?"
"Sorry, who? Frank who? What did you say? Who do you want to talk to? Frank? Frank who? What did you say?"
And my personal fave: "Yes, this is him."

Here's what I know about Frank:
He signed up to take online college courses.
He registered for job training online.
He has no last name (at least not that anyone knows of).

I picture Frank as a 43 year old man who is actually named Anthony. Two kids, avid cyclist, believes in freedom of speech but not gun rights. Probably got bored one day at work and on a whim started signing up for classes online, trying to boost his marketability. Not that he needed to be more marketable, what with his job as a court stenographer in Indiana.

Either that...or he's a 22 yr old young man in Utah who is trying to get back at me for The Most Brilliant Prank in the World.

This is to say nothing of someone signing me up for BabyCenter.com, which = me getting weekly emails for the past four months about how my pregnancy's coming along: "38 weeks and what that means for you," "Four more weeks to go!" I was informed this morning in an all-too-perky email that my "2-month-old" is now learning to talk:

Coos are your baby's way of expressing delight, as well as exercising his vocal cords. You can carry on a "conversation" with your baby now. When he gurgles or coos, say something brief or coo back at him. Then wait for him to "say" something back to you.

First of all, my baby is a her not a him. And her name is probably Frank, so...

Other notable subject lines brought to me by BabyCenter:
"What Your Food Cravings Mean"
"Win Cord Tissue and Cord Blood Banking " (I don't even know what this means.)
"Secrets to Raising a Bright Baby"

Secret number one: actually have a baby.

I figure it's karma.

music monday

1. "Kids" (Lady Danville)
2. "Dahl Parts" (The Theater Fire)
3. "Follow Me" (John Denver)

goodbye, best job in the world

(thanks go to one awesome Aussie for this photo)

Today I said goodbye to my summer internship. Everyday was more or less an adventure in doing the things I love most. In fact, I'm pretty convinced that every person in the world would be happy if they had my job. Frinstance, do you like:

• Making photo galleries?
• Riding public transportation into the city every morning?
• Reading other people's most heartfelt stories about the the hardest times in their lives, the most hopeful times in their lives, the profound lessons they've learned?
• Putting together lists of inspiring quotes?
• Searching for cool videos, articles, and studies online?
• Reading up on random countries' traditions, history, and recent news events?
• Messing around on Google Translate to compose letters in foreign languages for contacts in far-away countries?
• Reading the scriptures?
• Having a security badge that you have to use to get in and out of the building?
• Working at the top of a highrise?
• Tweeting (on a much bigger scale though--30,000+ followers)?
• Google-stalking people to find contact info?
• Interviewing said-Google-stalked people?
• Looking through pictures from the 1920s?
• Looking through pictures from the 1970s (we're talking bouffantes and glowy vignettes)?
• Taking pictures?
• Going on film shoots?
• Being an extra in said films?
• Dressing fancy everyday?
• Knowing what will be on a major website before it is actually published?
• Writing stuff for a major website?
• Talking with people all over the world?

If you answered "yes" to 10 or more of the above, then you would love my job.

If you answered "yes" to all of the above and happen to be male, then we are made for each other and should probably look into getting married.

In other words, my internship was all the things I love doing anyways, put into a job.

This says nothing of the incredible people I worked with--experts in their field and kind beyond belief (only 5 of whom are pictured here).

Well, onward onward! Let my "summer" begin! (60 hours until school starts.) But first, a celebratory chocolate croissant, in memoriam of all the mornings I ate one.

the NPR Name Calculator

Now don't get me wrong--I'm all about NPR. It's one of my favorite things about driving to the bus stop every morning...nay, it is the only good thing about driving to the bus stop every morning.

But I mean, come on...are NPR correspondent names even real? Dee Dee Bridgewater? Lakshmi Singh? Starlee Kine? Yuki Noguchi? Vicki Valentine? Ira Glass? These names are too cool to be real. Everytime I start thinking, "Hey, I could work for NPR," Lakshmi Singh just has to say her name and all my fanciful aspirations come crashing down.

Either NPR only hires people with already awesome appellations (alliteration: intended), or there's something more sinister at work here....

ahem

...like THE NPR NAME CALCULATOR!!!!!!!!.

(And yes, those eight ! marks are part of the patented title.)

See, I'm pretty certain that when NPR hires you, they take you into a back room (probably one with big world maps and pictures of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World on its walls), then they plug your name into said CALCULATOR!!!!!!!! and decide if your new name is good enough--if it's worthy of being broadcast on the same airwaves as their illustrious programmes.

Now some of you may be wondering why I haven't blogged since Monday. Well, people, this is why: because I've been too busy working out the algorithm for the CALCULATOR!!!!!!!! And this I will share with you, because I love you, and because I think everyone deserves to have a name as cool as Starlee Kine.

THE NPR NAME CALCULATOR!!!!!!!!

The last vowel in your first name 

+ the last consonant in your first name 

+ the first vowel in your first name 

= NEW FIRST NAME
*if a longer first name is desired, repeat the above using your middle name's vowels and consonants. Tack on to end of new first name.

The first verb that comes to mind 

- the last letter of the verb 

+ the first three letters of the city you are currently in 

= NEW LAST NAME

I am now Yna Danchig.
(It's pronounced "I-na Dan-cheeg.")

NPR, I'm on to you. (And please note my excellent sleuthing skills--wouldn't I make a great correspondent?!) You'll be receiving my (I mean Yna's) job application shortly.

(What's your NPR name?)
photo via