"Words Fail--Buildings Tumble"

I went out stargazing with some friends last night out at Lake Thunderbird (Lake Dirtybird to the locals). We were going out to see the aurora that we were supposed to be able to see because of the massive solar flare that was going on the past couple of days. Unfortunately, the aurora wasn't viewable at the time we were out there. But the view was beautiful nonetheless.

What does that have to do with anything? Not a thing. I just wanted to relate that to you. Having grown up in a town that thought it was a city, I never really got to see many stars. There was always too much light pollution from the surrounding area for the sky to be very visible, even on a clear night. Sure, I know what the stars look like, and I can even pick out a couple of constellations. But for the most part, I never really looked at the sky that much. My eyes tended not to stray above the horizon. Hell, I was lucky if they even strayed beyond the square of ground under my feet.

So being able to go out into something that felt like the middle of nowhere (and apparently a creepy middle of nowhere, to hear Beth and Jess talk about it) and be able to see the stars was nice. It was like being back in Yellowstone almost, though the scenery below the stars wasn't quite as impressive.

I've been listening to two things lately--well, three if you count whining athletes. But I'm talking about music here. The first is the Beatles. I borrowed four or five of their CDs from dad (despite being what you might casually call a Beatles afficionado, or even a Beatlemaniac, if you will, I only actually own a couple of their albums myself. There's never been a reason for me to purchase the rest, as dad's had them), and I've been spinning them in the CD player in the car pretty much constantly. The other musician I've been listening to is the great Bob Dylan. I just go through cycles--last week, I ended a Van Morrison cycle after playing his latest opus, "What's Wrong with this Picture?" about a dozen times. Now it's the Beatles and Dylan. For the Dylan, I've been listening to basically everything I have of his, from his early folk stuff ("Freewheelin' Bob Dylan") to his three masterful mid-70s albums ("Blood on the Tracks," "Desire," and "The Basement Tapes"), his revelatory mid-60s electric stuff ("Highway 61 Revisited" and "Bringing it all back Home," mostly), his mellow country-rock duo of "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline," and his latter-day masterpieces ("Time out of Mind" and "Love & Theft"). I've also been listening to the "Live 1975" double-disk set every day, just for the fun of it. What does any of this have to do with anything else? Absolutely nothing. I just really didn't have a whole lot to talk about today.

~chaos cricket

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Love Minus Zero/No Limit"