music, lyrics

a few semi-related things that have caught my attention lately:

1. thanks to my internet crush, nico muhly, i've discovered david lang. i don't really like most music, for no other reason than impatience, but this is really easy to start listening to and also very thoughtful and lovely. his 'little match girl passion' is a little like tinkling bells, but voices instead.

2. national poetry month usually gets swept under the rug, but this year there are a few websites worth checking out. PoemsOutLoud has poets reading their own poetry, and the selection is pretty spectacular. i'm espcially drawn to john kinsella's reading. maybe because, to be honestly trite, every thing sounds better with an accent.
the second website is a little cheesy, but super lovable. regular ol' folks reading their favorite poems, with a couple minutes of human interest story thrown in for good measure. there's the construction worker who's feelin' walt whitman, the over-eager fifth grader, and then...bill and hilary clinton! this website is actually kind of old, but a hilarious throwback to the clinton era and the silly/sweet things politicians do. come on barack, where's your favorite poem?

3. usually i'm not a fan of these "magic-in-everyday-places" events, but since all the rest of the items on this list are sort of exceptions to my rule, i thought i'd throw this in there as well: