latvia
Just a little bit of snake oil, tin foil
It takes so little charm
Really been enjoying the Weepies lately, although I will say their latest album, Hideaway is something of a disappointment, being slightly more “poppy” and less “folksy” than their first. For a band that straddles the line between the two genres as well as any I’ve heard, a seemingly small shift like that is fairly significant with regard to the subtleties of their sound. Deb Talan’s voice is less affected and more straightforward (read: less interesting) and Steve Tannen sings on fewer of the songs than he did previously. Don’t get me wrong–it’s still a great album, but the first seems to lend itself better to repeated listens.
We found a new home for Brie, our kitten. Diane’s allergies were out of control, to the point where her eye developed welts and she had to visit the eye doctor, and Luke, although he loved her, was absolutely terrorized by her. Imagine being 4 years old, strolling from one side of the house to the other and being ambushed from behind the couch by a frisky, unpredictable kitten, standing on her hind legs, paws flailing. She hardly even used her claws, but loved to bite and nibble, which was enough to spook him continuously throughout the day. It got to the point where he would go into his room and shut the door just to get away from her.
Diane had had the feelers out for a new home for her for a few weeks now, and on Saturday my father-in-law came through with coworker of his who had just moved down from Michigan and whose family was looking for a new kitten. We made the arrangements, got Brie all packed up, they dropped by in their conversion van, we visited for a little while and Brie left with her new family. It was sad, yes, but like I told Diane, they really are the perfect “distance” from us, in terms degrees of separation: not so close that we see Brie frequently enough to really miss her, and not so distant that we’ll never heard about her again. It was a blessing to find her such a good home.