Fucking Taylor Hawkins, man. It’s been nearly a week and I can still hardly believe it. I feel so sad for his family and bandmates. What an enormous loss. He was a ferociously talented drummer and singer (the opening drum solo to “Bridge Burning” is blistering – I remember trying to master it when the album first came out). I honestly don’t see how they can go on without him – he was just too integral to the band. So fucking sad. I’m so lucky I’ve been able to see them as many times as I have, because I think this is it. This band means so much to me and my brother and I’m so grateful that we share so many wonderful memories of seeing them in concert together. Their 2008 ACL show was life-changing! I always side-eyed people who said that a concert was life-changing until I experienced it myself. I can probably write multiple blog posts about how much their music means to me, but that’s for another day. I will instead share one of my favorite songs from Taylor Hawkins’ solo project as a tribute. It’s the end of an era.

It feels weird to segue from mourning the loss of one of my favorite drummers to…talking about my nonsensical little life, but here we are. Are we doing this? We are. Here we go.

This winter was rough but I’m encouraged by the longer days and the prospect of interesting opportunities to prepare for, both work-related and creative projects. The theme for this year is, “Maybe overcommitting yourself is bad and you should stop because you cannot do all the things” but I’m wading through it. I guess. I don’t know.

I was (briefly) in Texas last week for work. There wasn’t much downtime – in fact, work was incredibly stressful. But I was able to see both sets of grandparents, which is no small feat, and I was back in Austin for 36 hours. Again, it was mainly work, but I did squeeze fifteen minutes to visit Brushy Creek on the way to see one set of grandparents. I had missed Austin so, so much. Being back for just a little bit fed my soul.

The bluebonnets were just starting to bloom at the start of my visit. I was overjoyed to find one there, waiting for me.

This is going to sound enormously cheesy, but I realized that no matter where I live, Texas will always be a part of me. Errrghhhhhh I hated typing that because it sounds so lame and obvious, but it’s true. It will always be home.

I came home to find a dog who had missed me very much. This little bud is turning ten in April and I’m not sure where time went.

I haven’t had much energy for crafting, but I’ve been knitting a scarf thing? I don’t know. It’s fun to knit and the yarn is soft. Yay for acrylic yarn that is squishy and cheap.

I’m going to end with a list of things for Taking Stock, and then call it a night. I hope you all are doing well and that it’s warm and sunny in your corner of the world.

Taking Stock

Making: The scarf thingy as shown above.
Getting: anxious because of said overcommitments. There are Many Things to Be Done.
Reading: A book of short stories. But I haven’t made it past the introduction, so.
Remembering: SXSW 2011, when my brother and I essentially followed the Foo Fighters all around downtown Austin for their Wasting Light/Back and Forth documentary promo. I get tired just thinking about the hours and hours we spent in line, but it was so worth it.
Listening: I’ve been listening to this song so much lately, I love it sfm*. (*I went through my expletive budget already for this post. I’m sorry! This post is where you discover that I have a potty mouth and I have just been censoring myself this entire time).
Wishing: I saw the Foos one last time when they rolled through Cinci last year. I was supposed to see them in May 2020, too. I don’t need to finish that sentence.
Enjoying: This dumbass show on Netflix called, “Is it Cake?” Oh no, there I go again. I’M SORRY. I’M TIRED. I HAVE NO FILTER RIGHT NOW.
Appreciating: Today marks one year since I received my first dose! The vaccines gave me my life back. Thank you, science.  
Wanting: to get the motivation to write.
Eating: Husband and I bought this cookbook on a whim last weekend. Omg! It’s so freaking* good! I feel like our cooking has leveled up in just a week. (*I AM TRYING).
Feeling: tired but optimistic.