home.

It is a wonderful thing to come back from vacation to a place that you actually love to call home. I was struck by this thought as my cabbie and I zoomed up 3rd avenue late Tuesday night after returning from my whirlwind, way-too-short Mexico getaway. I smiled into the wind as we flew past the familiar storefronts and restaurants that make up the Upper East Side, not at all feeling the normal pangs of vacation's end. Do I miss soaking up the hot Mexican sun, swimming like a fish and drinking fruity rum punch by the pool? Of course!! But the cab ride home that night -- seeing my city and all the sites...*sigh*...it just felt good. I remember how I used to cry every time my plane touched down at Detroit Metro airport, taking me "home" to a place that felt so foreign and cold...so this comfort and peace and sense of Home that sweeps over me when I return to New York....well, it feels quite nice and I welcome it :)

With that said, however, it does hurt my heart ever so slightly to remember that just a few days ago I was swimming up to the bar (yes, a swim-up bar!) to order a cold corona that I lazily slurped next to my beau as we floated in the pool, staring out at the sea...and now, contrastingly, here I sit at a cold beige desk under the harsh, fluorescent glow of my office lights. ah well. For now, I will have to rely on the many beautiful and magical memories stored up in my brain to keep me going until the NEXT vacation (Santa Fe, July 4th weekend!!) and focus on all the fun summer-in-the-city events that are beginning to emerge right about now.

I will be posting some Mexico pics soon -- as soon as I can get iphoto working again (encountered some technical difficulties last night)...so be on the look-out.

The Swell Season

In reading this blog, you may have noticed that I love *magic* :: magic and inspiration and twinkly lights and introspection and really good music...I love it all. So you can perhaps imagine the sheer delight I experienced last night as I sat in the orchestra section of Radio City Music Hall listening to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (aka: The Swell Season) pour out their hearts under the soft glow of the stage lights. Grand piano, strings, transcendental harmonies, raw emotion. Yup, it was pretty much one of the best nights of my life. Or at least the best concert of my life.

There is something about their music. Perhaps it is the fact that they are in love. Their harmonies mingle and fuse together so powerfully and with such ease, it sounds like one angelic, other-worldly voice. It is not JUST the voices though -- it is everything. The emotionally raw and vulnerable lyrics, the strings, Glen's extraordinary acoustic guitar abilities mixed with Marketa's classical piano melodies...but I think part of the magic simply lies within them and their hearts. They exuded such humbleness and a child-like awe last night as they stood on that vast stage, large in their talent yet so small in their egos. Looking out over the sea of faces in this sold-out, world-famous concert hall, they exclaimed that this was "one of the greatest moments of their lives." And they SO meant it! You could feel the swell of emotion in the crowd -- we were all so proud of them! Proud of their accomplishments and so happy that their talent has reached us -- "the masses"...!

It was an absolutely beautiful night...a chance to get swept away in magic and thoughts about life and faith and art and music -- and I definitely did -- some ideas for new songs and projects are brewing inside of me now, and I *hope* to get the chance to grab that inspiration (which tends to be quite fleeting at times) and put it to use.

But for now, I must return to the half-packed suitcase lying in the middle of my room and continue my frenzy of folding and rolling and cramming. Tomorrow evening I will board a train that will take me to D.C. (and to my beau -- yay!) so that on Thursday morning we can BOTH board a plane that will take us to MEXICO (YAY!!!). There is a wedding to attend and dear friends and family to see, so I will be MIA for a bit, soaking up the sun and drinking yummy 'ritas by the pool :) I'll be back next week though, with more freckles for sure, and probably plenty of pictures and stories...

Until then...adiós!

a loss...

I'm a bit behind when it comes to world events and news, etc. so I have only just heard the sad news of artist Robert Rauschenberg's passing. I have always been drawn to his beautiful and colorful collages and prints, but his work and life became even more of an interest to me after I moved to New York and (somehow) scored an internship at the prestigious Sundaram Tagore Gallery, where I had the honor of rubbing shoulders with Mr. Rauschenberg at various events and dinners (the gallery represents his ex-wife and friend, artist Susan Weil). It is always sad when the world loses another talented artist, but especially so when that talent had such a profound influence on 20th Century American Art.

"A painter, photographer, printmaker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and, in later years, even a composer, Mr. Rauschenberg defied the traditional idea that an artist stick to one medium or style. He pushed, prodded and sometimes reconceived all the mediums in which he worked."

"Mr. Rauschenberg was instrumental in pushing American art onward from Abstract Expressionism, the dominant movement when he emerged, during the early 1950s. He became a transformative link between artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and those who came next, artists identified with Pop, Conceptualism, Happenings, Process Art and other new kinds of art in which he played a signal role."

"He was a titan whose ideas have been mined by ensuing generations. He was a herald of the conceptualism that still dominates the contemporary art world."

*tonight*

::Live music + the Village = the *perfect* NYC spring night::

Katie Arnold and Jodie Manross play Caffe Vivaldi
*TONIGHT* Wednesday, 5/7 @ 9:30-11:00pm
32 Jones Street (at Bleecker near 7th Avenue)
New York, NY 10036
www.caffevivaldi.com

No Cover, F/V Train to W. 4th or 1/9 train to Christopher Street

-- come show the love!!

spring fever

the weather has been SO GLORIOUS here in NYC -- i can't get enough!! it makes me want to throw on my flip-flops and go exploring in the park...or take a walk by the east river...or eat sushi at an outdoor cafe with my roommate. but alas, here i sit, indoors on this beautiful spring evening, with the sound of laughter floating up through my fifth story window. there is too much to do for frolicking and flip-flopping...artist statements/bios to write (for the upcoming show), artwork to package up for shipping, laundry to do, pianos to practice and set lists to work out (for tomorrow's gig)...all good things...BUT -- i just wanna play! hopefully the gorgeous weather will hold out and follow me to D.C. on friday, where there will be family-frolics and time with the beau and freedom from all the to-do's i have looming over my head right now!