S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

"And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done



saturday night we celebrated our anniversary early. we drove to the big city for a night of dinner, a concert, and F-U-N. (i was hoping for some romance too, but who am i kidding. romance is not our specialty.)


on the way there, i took pictures of myself in the car...

then i promptly got car sick, and by the time we made it downtown, i was dizzy, gassy, and starting to turn green. i was also begging matthew to stop driving so crazy and park quickly so i could get out. we paid to park. we never pay to park. but the college world series is in town, dontcha know? so we paid to park.

we walked down the cobblestone streets of the old market, hand in hand. matthew doesn't really like to hold hands in public... or generally acknowledge me in public, so i knew it was a special day. we made our way to one of our favorite restaurants. Stokes. it is delicious.

he got.


and i got.
i have very expensive taste.


when matthew isn't playing with his wedding ring, or chewing his nails, he sits like this. he also apparently sits like this when he is watching sports on the bar tv. grrr... who ever thought they should put tv's in restaurants? that was a horrid idea. if i knew who you were, i would... i would...


they have wine form the alsace at stokes. i lived in the alsace, for 3 months. if ever they have alsace wine at a restaurant, i get it. no cost is too much for alsace wine.


"here matthew, take a picture of me with my alsace wine."


yuummmmmm... too bad we couldn't take our leftovers home... i love leftovers for breakfast. it is my very favorite breakfast.


it was outrageously bright in stokes. they had a whole wall of west facing windows. i wanted to wear my sunglasses. seriously.

we ate quickly, because we were running a little behind. we are always running a little behind. matthew hates that i can not be on time. it is a flaw. i try to say that is just how God made me. he doesn't buy it.

we walked to the qwest center, right down the road, and we made it to our seats. floor seats. i had never sat on the floor for a concert of this size before. the workers are nicer down there, did you know that?

snow patrol opened. they were better than i expected. he sings with such clarity. like he had been trained in music and voice. maybe he had been, i don't know anything about them. when they said they were from Belfast i was surprised.

why is it that no one has an accent when they sing...? really i want to know. you can not tell where a person is from, or what kind of accent they have. when we sing, we all sound the same. very curious.


before coldplay came out, the crew was setting up for what seemed like hours. then a rap song began to play. and then this little man with a broom walked out to the middle of the stage. the spotlight turned on him while he "broomed" to the beat. he dropped the broom and began to break dance to uproarious applause. that made me smile... and made matthew laugh.


then... it happened. coldplay came out. do you see that man with the cowboy hat... he did that all night. "excuse me, sir...could you please lower your hat, i can't see the band.


hello chris. we love you. my husband loves you the most. i fear he might leave me for you someday.


there is just something about music... what is it about music?

"It is incontestable that music induces in us a sense of the infinite and the contemplation of the invisible."
Victor de LaPrade

music binds us together, it brings together unlikely fellows. it makes strangers friends. i could have spent hours looking at the faces in the crowd. all colors, all shapes, all ages. there were old people and young people, thin people and round people. lonely people, needy people, loved people. rich people, poor people, farmers, business men. athletes and artists, moms and dads and daughters and sons. people in pain, people in sorrow, people in joy, and people in love. there were people of all sorts in that room, but we were there for one reason.


we were all there for one reason. to allow the music to free us, to allow the music to make us forget the pain, the sorrow, the confusion. to allow the music to make us feel love, peace, joy, and contentment. to allow the music to make us feel. to sing at the top of our lungs and not care. to be unashamed. to let the music take us where we could not take ourselves.

there is just something about music.

"Music cleanses the understanding; inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself."
Henry Ward Beecher

"Music can noble hints impart,
Engender fury, kindle love,
With unsuspected eloquence can move,
And manage all the man with secret art."
Joseph Addison


music can make you feel strong, invincible, true. music can make you feel weak, broken, through.

when there are no words to describe, when words can not fill the void... there is music. when the pain is too great, when the joy too abounding... there is music.

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."
Victor Hugo

"Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends."
Alphonse de Lamartine


look... there's that darn cowboy hat again...


"When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
I will try to fix you

High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face and I
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face and I

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you"

Fix You
Coldplay

"There is nothing in the world so much like prayer as music is."
William P. Merrill


people search for God in music, people search for truth in music. People find God in music, people find truth in music.

People search for love, hope, and faith. they search for peace, joy, refuge, safety. they try to find dreams, inspiration, and life. they find it all, in music.

"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness."
Maya Angelou, Gather Together in My Name

music changes lives, it inspires, it directs. music can open a heart, heal a broken a heart, help find a lost or missing heart. music can do what little else can, it can, even if just for an instant, make you feel alive.



so i end, where i began.

"And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done