"I wanna do right but not right now..."  - Gillian Welch, Look at Miss Ohio

Good pain equals sore fingers from an impromptu guitar lesson with my patient husband on a Monday evening. The smell of coffee, smoked meat and peach cobbler still lingered in the air.

I took this photo at The Hideout when Lord Huron was killing it. They opened for The Head & The Heart - a band I adore. I was practically on the stage, dancing like a fool, but I only had my 50mm, which had come down with the flu, which consequently made me lose any control over the focus of the lens. I managed to get a few decent photographs, but couldn't help but regret not having healthy gear to capture the evening.

Sunshine, water, pontoon boat, a bottomless madras, diving lessons, some tunes by the fire and plenty of silliness made up camping 2011, which oddly didn't culminate in a late night scolding from a park ranger. Maybe we're all getting a bit more sensible these days.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9uuy2ZduEg-A&w=320&h=240]

I wish I knew how to play guitar. So I took an acoustic guitar class in high school. Aside from learning a few basic strumming patterns, the necessary chords, the first few notes of Bob Marley's Redemption Song and Nirvana's Come as you are, I don't know much. When I think about the necessary hours it takes to be remarkable at something, I'm often daunted and overwhelmed to the point of inaction. In Malcom Gladwell's book, Outliers he says:

"... ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Of course, this doesn’t address why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others do. But no one has found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery."

The kind of thinking that I let my mind spiral into reveals a pattern of great ideas followed by weak execution. Let me be clear- I know I'm not going to emerge as a world class expert in anything. I think if that was going to happen my path might look differently right now. I've been told I sell myself short, but hey- I'm also realistic. Back to the point- weak execution doesn't make for a very interesting life. So, I'm starting to think that it's okay not to be the best. It's okay that my photos aren't the best photos in the world. That doesn't mean they don't have value. It's okay that I don't even have a photo I want to share for this post. But tomorrow I will do my utmost to remember that just because someone else already shot the same thing or said something similar to what I'm saying and what I may say in the future, doesn't mean I shouldn't hold my camera a certain way to capture light on the lake or say that thing that sounds so similar to something someone else said before. I just want to do something I love and realize that it's not always magical. Sometimes it feels like work. And maybe I'll hit those 10,000 hours without realizing it. I feel like I need to insert an emoticon wink here.

At this point you're probably thinking, "sooooo...mmmk.... but what's with the video?" Well, I stumbled upon this train of thought when I was looking for a Hallelujah cover by a female singer that I could sing along to while cleaning and packing for the big move this weekend. I bet the girls who shot this video weren't thinking "This is going to shake up the music industry". They were just having fun, doing what they love. It's not their song, there isn't any production value, it just sounds pretty and I liked it.

I remember going to the Riv to see Eve6 in high school. I remember liking it then, but not thinking too much about it. As I looked up at the ceiling, the charming quality in the way the ceiling curves, the intricacy of the detail in the woodwork and the fabulous chandeliers outlining the perimeter I imagined how once upon a time the patrons matched the decor with their 1920's swag. The crowd at Band of Horses this past Tuesday was actually a decent balance between hipster and casually cool. Emily commented on how she'd never seen that much flannel in one room. Band of Horses wooed the audience with an intimate acoustic performance of Evening Kitchen and No One's Gonna Love You. It was one of those concerts where you can let the music swirl around you and just be happy, and forget that your feet hurt. There were some technical issues with Ben's in-ear mic, but he heroically sang through it, sounded amazing and secured his bad ass profile by lighting up a cigarette on the stage. I made an effort to fight the urge to constantly try and capture each moment with my camera, but still whipped out my hipstamatic every now and then. I wondered about my fellow concert goers standing around me who tried to record every performance and were constantly holding up there phone. Is this one of the problems of our generation? Does the ease of recording rob us of actually being present, experiencing the music, feeling the pulse of the bass and lingering on the melodies? Can you truly be "there" when you're constantly thinking about reliving the moment later via a sub-par representation of what actually happened? I don't think so. Now, don't get me wrong... I love photography, I love capturing moments, but sometimes I think you just have to live and leave it to your memory, and let it sink in instead of skimming the surface of your life experiences.

Evening Kitchen by Band of Horses

Drive out with the sun in your eyes
You wasted my time
It's true, it's true

My god, don't you hold out your hand
...I called off my plans
I counted on you, on you

And if you're ever left with any doubt
What you live with and what you'll do without
I'm only sorry that it took so long to figure out
(oooo oooo oooo)

Got lost in the places I've been
I should go out with my friends
I'd go tonight but I know you'll be there too, there too

For me, this bottle of wine
Is to slow down my mind
And forget the things that I knew, I knew

And if you're ever left with any doubt
What you live with and what you'll do without
I'm only sorry that it took so long to figure out

First email from the day was from Emily, it read "Lolla brain. Nuff said". Three days worth of booty-shakin', screaming, shouting, singing, walking, sunshine soaking, shade seeking, bumming, wandering, laughing, walking, bouncing, white wine drinking, walking, finding, sharing, searching, waving, texting, snapping, while moving to the tunes of Temper Trap, Chiddy Bang, Frightened Rabbit, The XX, Mavis Staples (Hallelujah!), Blitzen Trapper, Mumford and Sons, The New Pornographers, Matt & Kim, The Black Keys, Spoon, Green Day, Arcade Fire and yes, Lady Gaga, has satisfactorily mooshed my brain.