Midweek Music P.10: Ben Gibbard "Teardrop Windows"

If you didn't read last week's gush over Death Cab for Cutie, you may not see the redundancy in this weeks music... Benjamin Gibbard is Death Cab's frontman and ex-husband of Zooey Deschanel. His solo album, Former Lives, drops October 16th and I am super excited to hear 10 years worth of unrecorded, unheard, genius music. So today, the first preview from that album "Teardrop Windows". Love the references to Seattle. :)

Teardrop Windows by Gibbstack

Midweek Music P.9: Death Cab Overload

Last night I laid uncomfortably in bed trying to shut off my brain and go to sleep.

As a teenager I had many nights like that. It was a given that if I listened to Death Cab for Cutie I would fall asleep. I heard my first of Death Cab in '04 when my uncle (City Bear) of much better musical taste than myself gave me a burnt copy of The Photo Album. That CD was played to death, on repeat while I slept, in the car with my dad, when I needed to dance around numbly and thoughtlessly,  and while I struggled to make myself do homework instead of just disappearing into the complex lyrics and simple yet deliriously good melodies. When Plans came out in '05 it was the number one thing on my Christmas wishlist, and when I got it I gobbled it up like The Photo Album before it. The songs and lyrics made their way into school projects, relationships, and who I would become as an adult. Narrow Stairs was then released in the Spring of '08 right around when I graduated high school. I bought it for myself as a graduation gift, and would have loved to have skipped the graduation to stay home listening to it. "I Will Posses Your Heart" played on my myspace profile when I met my husband online in '09. One of the things that instantly grabbed my attention about him was that he like Death Cab too. "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" played on his myspace page, and we played it during our wedding ceremony as well.

Every new album seemed to coincide with my life at the time. Every song struck me, and related to something that I was going through.

Back to last night...In my inability to sleep, I grabbed my iPod (the 2008 version of the nano, with the rounded square design and the ability to view videos!) and put it on Plans. I thought it would put me to sleep and it didn't. I couldn't not listen carefully to the songs that once meant so much to me, without reminiscing on what they meant to me, and what I was going through. So I took the trip down memory lane. Some good memories and some bad. Sometimes wishing that I had let what the songs made me feel when I first heard them take more of an affect on the choices I made and how I lived.

I think everyone with a love of music has a band, album, or period of music that they feel shaped them in some way. As I've always been very affected by music, I have to say that Death Cab is and always will be that band that played a big part in my life.

Since the Cure has been a huge part of my musical life as well, here is Death Cab's cover of "Lovesong".

Listen or download Love Song [The Cure cover] for free on Prostopleer

Fancy Feast

This last weekend (which goes Thursday night to Saturday night for us kids) David's parents paid us a visit from Boise. Their trip was short, and included lots of food. Grocery shopping Friday morning spanning three cities to go to WinCo, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods. Friday afternoon was intended to be dedicated to Pike Place, but the place was PACKED! No parking to be found anywhere downtown. Instead we headed up Madison Ave. to hang out near the restaurant we'd be having dinner at. That brought us to the Arboretum and Japanese Garden. The heat and old timers kept the walk in the Arboretum short, and the garden's entrance fees were out of our range for this particular trip. We waited and played near a few picnic tables in a grassy area until Nishino opened at 5:30. 

Sushi is kind of a big deal when you're part of the Clark family. I'm pretty certain my father-in-law tried it the first time in the 70's and never went back. The first date that David and I ever went on was to the sushi restaurant his family frequents. It was my first time trying sushi, and I've been told if I hadn't liked it, it would have been a deal breaker. So, naturally, coming to Seattle (fresh fish abound) it only made sense to find a great sushi restaurant and make a night of it. 

We all enjoyed the same thing, the Omakase or "chef's choice" dinner. A nine course spread of delight! Lorelei isn't accustomed to eating out, so she made the night a bit stressful for me, but all in all it was a real treat! 

On Saturday morning we ended up going back downtown to the market. It was still packed, but my mother-in-law had never been, and my father-in-law last visited in the 70's. They were so comical to watch there, obviously tourists. They found trinkets and souvenirs to bring back to the other grandkids in Idaho. We ate at a fantastic little seafood cafe down on the pier. The weather, while cold at first, was much more tolerable for a day spent outside (I'm one of those Pacific North-westerners who really loves the cold and rainy weather typical to the area). 

We headed back to the apartment during rush hour. Oops! I made a dinner that consisted of from scratch breadsticks, pureed curry carrot soup, a salad of mixed greens with creamy miso dressing, AND a homemade blackberry pie (my first ever pie, made with blackberries picked off the side of the road). 

Sunday morning they left, and today Lorelei is still running around looking for papa. Here are the few pictures David and I managed to get while trying to soak up the experiences, enjoy. :)