I feel blessed tonight.
I got to go see/hear The Listener (a.k.a. Dan Smith) at the City Coffee Co. tonight. He is one of the people who forces me to appreciate rap. It was a weird experience all around. This one event (a free pot-luck!) pulled together so many of the JBU alumni still living in this area - some people I hadn't seen for years and, in some cases, had no clue they still lived around here. Vance, A.J., Paul, Caleb, Dave and Melody, Ben and Vinny, Casey and Tracy, Libby and John, etc., etc..

Dan's rap is truly artistic. So different from most of the mainstream, unsubstantive crap. And it's odd for me to view him as an artist, now. I can still remember him and half the rugby team getting into the shower with me my freshman year. He was a meathead rugger, not a writer/performer. Fascinating.

The opener, Jamie Clayburn, played a type of music like an electronica U2. He performed most of his set with 2001: A Space Odessey silently running on a sheet behind him (though a music video, done by the brilliant Vance Reeser, accompanied the last song), and then Dan played his set with infomercials running behind him. The visual effect on Clayburn's set was stunning, the effect on Dan's was distracting (though humorous). Both of them used Ipods to back themselves up musically. Dan said he had the flu, and I suppose that may have affected his comedic timing a little, but his in-song energy was captivating. This was his final show of a 58-day, 58-show national tour, most of which he performed in peoples homes! Impressive.

In other news, Heather and I are moving. There is nice house accross town with our name on it. It is smaller, the rent is higher, but, unlike our current house, it's not falling off it's foundation and it won't cost an arm, a leg and three heads to heat (all praise the wood-burning stove). Plus it has a fenced back yard for Tigger to run in - he already loves it.

I'm trying to view this move as a step forward, not a step sideways, but my brain, as always, fights with me to make it so. At least Heather and I were able to come home and invest our coffee-high into packing. In the microcosm of this move, thats progress. And that will have to suffice for now.