this is not a concert review.

last night i was incredibly blessed to be able to see michael franti & spearhead play at the beach on governor's island. there could not have been a more perfect place to see them play than on this island between brooklyn and manhattan, with the skyline to the left, the stage right in front of me, and a gorgeous sunset behind me. it was absolutely perfect.


if you're unfamiliar with michael and his band, the first thing i think you should know is that they absolutely radiate love. it's incredible. michael is active in many social justice causes and is a living example of being love. this shows through the band's lyrics, smiles, and just general presence. i saw them open for john mayer at madison square garden in february, and after their set, michael and one of his guitarists, jay bowman, came down into the crowd to meet the fans. band members coming out into the crowd at an arena show is rare and definitely appreciated.


this love, this pure joy for living, is clearly contagious, and franti's fans are an example. the crowd yesterday was friendly, happy, and just one of the most pleasant crowds i've ever been a part of. i went to the show on my own and i certainly didn't feel alone. people talked to their neighbors, shifted around to let kids up front, and even i saw a complete stranger buy a coke for a little boy so that he didn't have to miss the start of the show. amazing!

michael and the band spent time playing out in the crowd as well as on the stage, and their energy was incredible. jay bowman, or j-boogie, as michael called him, is the happiest guy in the world. the entire time he plays, he's smiling this huge, sincere, amazing smile. when leaving the show, the crowd had to wait in sections for ferries to take us back to manhattan. people were tired, and sweaty, and some weren't too keen on waiting. jay/j-boogie/happiest-man-in-the-world came out to where we were waiting to say hi, shake hands, and thank us for coming. his gratitude definitely made the wait much better!

this is not a concert review, mostly because i am not one for using words to describe music. however, i can't leave out the fact that the music was, of course, amazing. it was one of those shows during which i couldn't have stood still even if i wanted too. the entire crowd was a dancing, smiling, singing, clapping, sweating, loving mass of happiness.

heaps of gratitude to michael franti & spearhead and all of your incredible fans. i love you, i love you, i love yoooouuuu!

while moving my mom into her new condo, i encountered many Completely Useless Items. i started mentally making a list of things i will never ever have in my home, because they are just so useless:

-special occasion dishes. my mom has an entire set of dishes just for christmas, with poinsettias and holly on them. for 364 days out of the year, they sit in the hutch. on christmas we pull them out, wash them, eat off them, wash them again, and put them away. because clearly using special dishes on his birthday makes jesus love you more.

-doilies. you know, those little white lacy things you put on coffee tables and the like so that you have something to move when you want to clean, and something to stain when you spill your coffee. doilies are dumb. and ugly.

-fake flowers. oh pretty flowers... they look so fresh... HAHA, no they don't. they look fake. because they are. there's not even water in that vase. what is this i don't even...

home. it's a weird concept to me, having moved away from the home i grew up in, permanently, in august. i may not stay where i'm living now but i'm sure never going back to the small town of my childhood in rural southern new jersey. and yet, whenever i go to visit my family, i say i'm going "home", even though i haven't felt truly at home in that house, where i lived from the time i was a few months old, since i went to college at 18. i left and my room became my sister's room, and when i visited i got to stay in the office/guest room. add that to the fact that brooklyn feels increasingly more like home every day, and home is just not really very homey.
today it grew even less so. my mom and stepdad are getting a divorce, and my mom's embarking on a new phase of her life with a new job in a new state (hello, pennsylvania!) and as of today, a new condo. now, without my mom living in the house i grew up in, it's really not home at all. moving my mom out of that house was pretty surreal. i'll definitely still visit, as my sister and stepdad are staying there, but it seems quite empty now.
even though i've moved away and settled into a new place quite happily, my life still hinged on that axis of "home". i still knew i could always go back to the house i grew up in and see my family and have that familiarity. now that all that's rearranged, i feel a little off-kilter. i guess this is growing up, living through the shifts and establishing a new axis away from that old notion of home.

at the reveal conference the other weekend, in sera beak's redvolution workshop, she gave us the idea of asking our divine spark to send us a sign, whether it be in the form of a symbol, a color, or whatever, just to sort of let us know that she's present. i closed my eyes and listened deep and wasn't surprised when the image of a hummingbird came to mind. hummingbirds have become something of a totem for me, and i honored my hummingbird spirit with a tattoo a couple of years ago. as of this morning, i hadn't seen any hummingbirds or heard any mentions of hummingbirds since reveal, but i've definitely felt my divine spark at work, and have been recognizing little winks and nudges from the universe left and right. this morning i was on my way to meet with the supervisor of a possible internship for next year. in MSW school, your second year field placement could lead to a job, and i was less than satisfied by my first-year experience. needless to say, i was hoping this possibility would be a good fit. my bus came late, and i ended up getting to the office about 15 minutes past my appointment, even though i'd left my apartment plenty early. as i waited to cross the street to the office, a cab drove past. not an unusual occurrence, this is new york city after all. but, across the door (in red letters, no less) was the company name - "hummingbird taxi". the internship, of course, is exactly up my alley and i couldn't be more pleased with my new supervisor.

photo (c) roberto dutesco, found here

today, my roommate tj and i wandered from our brooklyn neighborhood to the brooklyn bridge, across to manhattan, and up to crosby street. we had no real plan, but we were led to some amazing places including a gallery on crosby, one of my absolute favorite streets in new york. through the windows of the gallery i spotted these absolutely stunning photographs of horses. now, i am not a horse lover. i think they're beautiful, and i went on a trail ride once that was pretty cool, but i'm not typically overly excited by horse related stuff. i also know little to nothing about photography. however, i know that these images are amazing. i was completely transfixed and had to go inside. the photographs, by roberto dutesco, are all taken on sable island. it's an island off of nova scotia that is uninhabited by humans, but home to these wild horses. dutesco is using his beautiful images as a vehicle for "awareness through beauty", with the following mission:

Beauty has the power to inspire, to teach and to drive action.

Awareness through beauty is more than a philosophy, it is about taking concrete action to support conservation projects around the world and help protect the handful of sites that remain in a state of true wilderness.

The Wild Horses of Sable Island Mobile Project, aims to inspire tomorrow’s leaders in emerging and developing countries about the importance of natural habitats and conservation. Our goal is to establish a network of Sable Island Kindergartens where children will be introduced the incredible story of the Wild Horses of Sable Island, through film, photography and storytelling.

amazing, am i right? check out their website for more information about the project. the gallery is apparently part of a mobile museum, and i'm not sure how long it will be in new york or where it's headed next. if you're in the new york area, i strongly recommend visiting 13 crosby street while they're there, i'll definitely be heading there soon for a second look.

good food and a good show.

a couple of days ago, my friend blair and i tried a restaurant called iCi here in my neighborhood, and goodnessssss it was amazing. they use locally sourced ingredients and their menu changes seasonally according to what is most available locally, so i was intrigued by that from the start. the food is creative and completely delicious, and the portions are perfect! the prices were too high for me to be a regular patron, but as an occasional splurge, they're perfect. i want to try the brunch soon.

last night was quite the incredible night. the LRA disarmament and northern uganda recovery act passed through the house of representatives and is en route to obama's desk! YES!!! as soon as i got the news via a tweet from resolve uganda, i started my own personal dance party in times square. i am SO HAPPY and so proud of all my friends who've worked so hard to get this thing through. WE DID IT!!!

also last night, blair and i went to see american idiot on broadway, and it was pretty awesome. when i first heard about the show, i was a little confused as to how green day's music would translate on the broadway stage, but they did an awesome job of keeping it gritty and 100% rock music. it was a broadway show that acted like a rock concert, and i dig that. i also totally love john gallagher, jr and he did a tremendous job. and there was aerial dance! ahh, love.

i spent yesterday at REVEAL, a conference about spirituality for young women, and it was AH-MAZING. seriously. i am a total junkie for religion and spirituality, and the emphasis on the feminine is soooo up my alley. i also tend to unnecessarily stress myself out about my own spirituality. yesterday i finally realized that i don't have to label my spirituality. really. it may sound like a pretty obvious thing, but this realization is HUGE for me. i have spent a lot of time and energy trying to "decide" my spirituality. uh, hey linds, it's not a decision! it's a journey, a relationship, a lifetime of exploration. this is so exciting!
a highlight of the conference, for me, was hearing from and meeting sera beak, who wrote the red book, a book that totally changed my perception of spirituality when i read it last year. i strongly recommend reading the book (i'm reading it for a second time now) and poking around her website, she's just incredible. the first page of her website introduces her well - "i follow my own red heart. i listen to those who speak from their own. i question, doubt, and dare to know there's always more." yesssssss! love it.
in addition to sera there were so many amazing women in attendance as presenters, volunteers, and participants. i wanted to have a big slumber party afterward with all my sisters. big giant heaping overflowing gratitude from my red heart to those of everyone who made the day possible, it was definitely one i will never forget.