I'll follow the sun

Yesterday, I returned from a trip back east to visit my mom's family home in Southampton, NY. My grandmother no longer lives there but my uncle has moved into the back guest house and we have many many many memories in the house/town. It was the first time we'd been back in August in a long time as well and all week it was 85-90 degrees and very humid. We are not used to that coming from the west coast and it took some getting used to. Overall, it was a great trip despite the heat and fact that it may be the last time we're in that house... And now I'm back! And these are the things that I remembered wanting to share. Gonna be a doosie, here we go...

1) Last night, I was at Barca on Capitol Hill in Seattle, trying to stay awake till 11 so I can transition back to west coast time faster, and a woman begged some change of me. She said she had one dollar and wanted some food. I had already given a man at a gas station some money "for a snack" earlier that day so I told her I didn't have any change. I felt a little bad because she didn't seem like she was lying. The man next to me gave her a dollar and pointed her to a taco stand where she could get a $2 taco. Then, he asked me if I had a policy about who to give money to. I said I didn't know but that I guess if I've already given once, I'm unlikely to do it twice in one day? Basically, I feel like there are places set up to give people food and shelter and hopefully people would be able to go there first. I want to help, I just don't want to support people giving up and not trying to provide for themselves. Anyway, it's hard and often I give anyway but today, I wish I had that guy's number because I saw a woman behind me on the turnpike give a homeless guy socks, a granola bar and what I think was an apple. Now there, ok, that's nice.

2)Flying at night is nice because:
- I saw a lightening storm from a little ways away and it was amazing. The whole anvil cloud lit up sometimes and then small parts of it would light up. I couldn't hear the thunder so it was just sort of magical.
-we followed the sun! It was setting when we took off at 6:40 in New York and we flew west and it took over an hour for the sun to completely disappear. It sustained much longer than a normal sunset, that's for sure.
-more stars. can't see them in seattle. went to the olympic peninsula recently and saw a bunch too...

3)My favorite m & m's are a mix of peanut and peanut butter ones. It's amazing and our candy machine at work has it. Mix them, it's the secret they haven't been telling you.

4)Danny told me to follow @shitmydadsays on Twitter and it's hilarious. I imagine the guy with a New Yorker accent. Thick, and he looks like Walter Matthau in my head, though not in his picture. :-) The son seems to provoke him a lot. There isn't much I find worthwhile or fitting on Twitter. I feel like most things/people who tweet just tweet useless information. There are a few winners, this one and @RainnWilson for two.

5)Phosphorescent is my new KEXP find. John in the Morning has played them a few times now and I really think they're great. There's a song about wolves and one on a hill in the light and it's beautiful.

6)Also, Wolfmother's song Mind's Eye is fantastic. It gets me going like Band of Skulls does. Fantastic. Also, Johnny Cash's version of Hurt is better than NIN. I said it.

7)Corn Toast R Cakes by Thomas are amazing and not sold on the west coast. I bought several packages while in NY and MISS them terribly.

That's it for now. I know, you can't wait for more. my thoughts are just soooo interesting. well, check out the music and get yourself a toast r cake and don't worry about it.