Under a Red Roof

Music, perspective, architecture, etc. Embroider time, embroider space.

Joseph Joubert

I don’t normally add my own thoughts to the quotations, but this idea struck me so deeply that I felt compelled to put it down on paper (albeit figuratively). Perhaps it is my profound love for music and architecture. I am constantly inspired by the pleasing and sometimes discordant lines of objects, trees, and buildings, equally so by the sounds associated with them. It need not be composed, either. I love hearing the echo of footsteps in a long corridor, the sound of laughter, birdsong, or a whisper in a revered space. I love that years later they resonate with me, sometimes a mere spark of a note, or a glimpse brings me to that spot embroidered on my heart so long ago. The stitches may have faded and frayed beyond recognition, but something of it remains: one of the purest forms of pleasure.

Happy New Year, gentle readers! I hope you had marvelous holidays. Ours were fun, sometimes raucous, and blissfully peaceful – that’s life for you.

One of our ever-so-generous and much appreciated presents was a gift certificate from my parents for Amazon (Thanks again!), and we spent more than half of it buying up songs for the I-Pod: click, click, boom! In honor of that, here’s a playlist with a wild assortment of the old and new to start the year off with an optimistic shake and shimmy, just the way I like it.

Also, just in case you’re not a local, the bridge is the St. John’s in North Portland. It is not an overstatement to say that it is my favorite bridge in the world. Sure, there are others that are more marvelous, spanning greater lengths and heights, but none of them give me the sensation of seeing this bridge. I can remember the first time, sitting so stately and serene to the north on Highway 30. I gasped at the exquisite color and the fantastically Gothic arches, just wanting to hover, hummingbird-like and admire its beauty.

Back to the music – it might just make you gasp, too.

“Well You Needn’t” – Chet Baker

“Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + the Machine

“God Only Knows” – The Beach Boys

“Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo” – The Rolling Stones

“London Calling” – The Clash (also one of the greatest album covers ever)

“Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” – Paul Simon

“Riga Girls” – The Weepies

“Up on Cripple Creek” – The Band

“Let ‘Em In” – Wings

“Them There Eyes” – Billie Holiday

“Fidelity” – Regina Spektor