The Search

I spent the day washing dishes and grading Intro to Lit portfolios. I feel like I made quite a bit of progress, and because of said progress, I wanted to reward myself. Since I've bought about thirty books in the past month, I decided to splurge on some music. Right now, I'm listening to Son Volt's "The Search," which just downloaded into my iTunes.

I must say, I do heart Jay Farrar. He's the musician I always wanted to be. Well, he's one of them anyway.

The truth? I have a musical declination. I'm tone deaf. When I was five or so, the first time I remember singing in front of the church, everyone's eyes were on me. I thought it was because I was good, because I could sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" better than anybody else in my Sunday school class. Walking back to the pew, I felt the congregation's eyes on me. I beamed, flashed them my crooked-toothed smile. When I sat down, my dad leaned over to whisper, "Next time, lip synch. Just pretend to sing the words."

Years later, in music class, I couldn't even master the recorder; I butchered the four or five chords we had to learn on the acoustic guitar.

So, much later, I started writing. But I do have a talent for appreciation when it comes to music. Iron & Wine, Wilco, Radiohead, John Coltrane, R.E.M., Gram Parsons...the list could go on indefinitely.

And speaking of appreciation...I started reading Brian Evenson's The Open Curtain on my way to Atlanta. Man, is it good. And, in fact, my students' portfolios, they're pretty good, too. I'm one appreciating fool.