Saturday, February 7, 2009

a rainy day at home

this is a poem by spencer. i thought of it today as i had our windows open while it rained and a lady in high heels walked past, making clicking sounds on the wet pavement.

The poetry of the city is
women with sharp minds and pointy noses
with voices beautifully raspy
walking through the smoke from their cigarettes
cheeks blushing from the teasing wind
that conjures up the smoke from an underground beast that makes frequent stops to fill its belly with men who swallow pain for their power fixation,
spits them out once more for another helping

all the busy people with nowhere to go
and all the fashionable people with no one to impress
it has no rhyme
and It does not reason

~spencer smith

Monday, January 5, 2009

2008 in review

for christmas, spencer and i made a playlist for our cousins or some favourite songs over the last year. i wanted to share here because most, if not all, of you have received cds or playlists from me over the years. here is one more. happy listening.

"chrismix"

KT Tunstall : Hold On
Rachael Yamagata : Sidedish Friend
Vampire Weekend : The Kids Don't Stand A Chance
Gravity Show : Aching
Kings of Leon : On Call
Death Cab for Cutie : Cath
U2 : Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
Radiohead : All I Need
Violet Burning : Lillian Gish
Ingrid Michaelson : The Way I Am
Rolling Stones : Beast of Burden
Kt Tunstall : Someday Soon

download songs here:
www.spencerwsmith.com/music

Sunday, January 4, 2009

resolutely so

i know it is cheesy and probably not actually helpful, but i can't help feeling invigorated at the beginning of each new year. this year in particular, for some odd reason. i also was more excited this year for christmas than ever before. i have been thinking of all the possibilities that 2009 may hold and it keeps me up at night- like right now. what i am hoping for this year is:

going back to school- though still unsure exactly where, how and what for. the idea of buying books and school supplies come august makes me so happy. kita, i know you understand. actually, anyone reading this blog probably feels the same slightly-unhealthy fondness for school that i do.

spencer finishing his first album, hopefully followed by more shows- thank you molly for the debut- and the excitement of releasing it and seeing where God takes it. and us.

a possible trip to dc in april for spencer's birthday. hooray for travel! maybe also a summer vacation of driving the 55 up PCH and camping along the way.

growing more and more in seeing how God uses us when we relinquish everything to Him. one way is finances, but not only that.

reading through the bible with my book club. we are reading chronologically, so Job is in the midst of Genesis, and the psalms are with the events about which David -or whomever- wrote them. diagram that.

here are my resolutions. and by resolutions, i mean goals in general, not strict rules. i want to live my life this way, not be confined by my own legalism.

1. run a half marathon. this might be early next year, with this year devoted mostly to training for it. and hopefully some 8 and 10k's thrown in for fun.

2. donate blood again. or at least go and get rejected on a regular basis again.

3. eat something healthy at night when i come home starving from work, rather than a giant bowl of popcorn, a glass of wine, a bag of skittles, or all three like last night.

4. finish reading Moby Dick with spencer. its so good and i really want to finish it.

5. write more letters. i love letter writing and receiving letters, and i have gotten sadly out of practice. also, journal more. i have so many pages of me longing for spencer and relatively few about actually being married to the man. not the legacy i want to leave behind.

6. learn to cook healthy but tasty things. like quinoa, which is actually pronounced 'KEEN-wa' go figure.

7. this is the most important and the only one i am considering an actual 'resolution:' to pray every day for spencer and for our marriage. if there is any really worthy use of my time and benefit to my husband and my life, it must be prayer. more than any other thing i could do of my own strength, i want to see what happens when i go to God first and often.

8. wear my lingerie more often. i have a whole drawer full and it hardly gets used.

9. complain less. no one likes a whiner and i do it an awful lot. and though working in a restaurant is fodder for sarcasm, i don't want to be that person. i want to be gracious. no gossip either.

10. hmmmm.... i know im forgetting something, but i can't think. probably 'eat less junk' or something cliche. play guitar. we'll go with that. especially since we are about to buy a resonator which i have wanted for a long time. i guess i will put 'do something creative everyday.' that is a good thing- be it practice french, play piano, paint, knit or dance.


the end.

the beginning.

please respond with your hopes for 2009