elizalou.com

(Originally posted at Kidliterate.)

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick is the best book I’ve read in 2012.

I never thought I could love a Brian Selznick book more than I loved The Invention of Hugo Cabret but I was mistaken.

I think you should read it if you like journeys, memories, books, collecting things that mean the most to you, museums, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the stars in the sky, and New York City.

“Ben thought about … what it meant to curate your own life … What would it be like to pick and choose the objects and stories that would go into your own cabinet? How would Ben curate his own life? And then, thinking about his museum box, and his house, and his books, and the secret room, he realized he’d already begun doing it. Maybe, thought Ben, we are all cabinets of wonders.”

My love for this book is big and real. I can’t even speak coherently about it.

It is magic.

The first time I saw the Indigo Girls live in concert was my senior year of high school at Jazz Fest on the last weekend of April a long time ago. My friends and I ditched school early and drove to New Orleans and stood in the grass on a Thursday afternoon and it was glorious, even though one of my friends and I got in a giant fight on the way home because I wanted to listen to “American Pie” and she didn’t and that is the kind of stuff you fight about when you’re 17 or 18 and riding in a car full of cigarettes, first loves, mix tapes, and pink lemonade daiquiries.

Their music has always meant so much to me and to my friends and to my brothers and sister, and I never knew until today that it also means a lot to Justin Vernon, which just makes me kind of happy. As Allison said, “It makes me love him 10 times as much as I already did.”

Here’s what Justin Vernon said in 2008 about a song from Swamp Ophelia, arguably one of the Indigo Girls’ best albums ever:

Favorite Song Ever:

It’s been kind of unfettered, unchanging for about 10 years now, it’s “Fugitive” by the Indigo Girls. It’s absolutely without question my favorite song of all time. When I first heard it I was in seventh grade or sixth grade and my mom and my sister brought me to an Indigo Girls concert and I was like “Ah, whatever, I’ll go see the show” and it honestly…it just changed my life. I’ve realized over the years what kind of rep the Indigo Girls get, and I guess I’m not going to get in the business of trying to change that for people. But this specific record is super brilliant and the guitar solo is unreal and the drumming — the studio drumming that’s on the record — and it’s some of my most favorite lyrics. I’ve actually got some of the lyrics tattooed on my body, that’s how important the song is to me. I’ve got so much nostalgia attached to it, but when I throw it in and listen to it, it’s still got so much shit it in.

Here’s an old but kind of great performance of the song in question. Anyway, I know Justin Vernon gets a lot of flack, and I understand why he makes some people roll their eyes to the moon and back, but I love his music and am basically counting the days until I see Bon Iver for the first time, which will be at Jazz Fest on the last weekend of April this year. I will be standing in the same grass where I first saw the Indigo Girls, all these years later. I cannot wait.

And now I am entertaining some magical Jazz Fest fantasy where Emily and Amy will join him onstage and they’ll all sing “Fugitive” and their voices will ring out against the open sky and we’ll all cry. Which probably won’t happen but a girl can dream. In my experience, dreams come true at Jazz Fest.

Inspired by Kymm, I went to see the Oscar-nominated animated shorts on the big screen at a grand old theater in New Orleans. Of the nominated films, I knew going in that I would favor the film made in Louisiana based solely on homestate loyalty. But I did not know that hot tears would shoot down my face or that the audience would burst into applause when it it ended or how truly beautiful and magical it would be.

It is something special.

Here’s what I love more about the particular location of my home more than its proximity to lovely places in which to run: nothing.

Here’s what I love more after walking in door from work than getting immediately into hot bubble bath with book: nothing.

Here’s what kind of shoes I’ve been running in for 2+ years: Nike Frees.

Here’s what the doctor called them: “TERRIBLE!”

Here’s where he told me to put them: The garbage can.

Here’s what they gave me: Plantar Fasciitis.

Here’s what I have on my feet right now: Tape.

Here’s how much I can move my feet: Barely.

Here’s how long I have to wear the tape: 7 days.

Here’s what I can’t get the tape: Wet.

Here’s what I have to wear every waking hour: Sensible, sturdy, heavy sneakers that cost lots of money that I’d never run in or wear otherwise.

Here’s what I have to wear when I’m in bed: Weird night splint boots that are awful and cost lots of money and make me look like a crazy skiing ninja.

Here’s when I ripped them off in the middle of the night on night one: 1:40 a.m.

Here’s when I can walk barefoot, or in socks, or in other shoes besides sensible sneakers: Never.

Here’s how long that will last: 2 weeks.

Here’s how many calories are in one bottle of Strawberry Abita: 128.

Here’s how much exercise I need to get in spring or otherwise just for general endorphins surges & sanity: Some.

Here’s how long before I can do exercise involving feet: At least 2 weeks.

Here’s when my next race is for which I will not be training: 2 weeks and 3 days.

Here’s how long before I can take a proper bath: 1 week.

Here’s how many times I’ve wistfully longed to run around my neighborhood or take a proper bath in the past few days: 100,000.

Here are some of my favorite Spring things: Running around my neighborhood, running races, eating crawfish, and drinking bottles of Strawberry Abita in unlimited quantities.

Here’s how I feel about this: Sad. Mad.

Here’s if I realize that this could be much worse in the grand scheme: Of course.

Here’s what I take for granted & will try not to so much anymore: Health, mobility, endorphins, baths, lakes, feet.

For my birthday a few years ago, my friend sent me a card so special to me that I keep it out on my kitchen counter all the time to remind me of the words inside.

It’s February and warm and muggy most of the time and my pink azaleas seem to love this weird weather.

All of this is just to say that I like (a) my azaleas and (b) my friend and (c) her baby’s laugh a whole lot.