Living with the Frenchman has been a wonderful experience so far. And just like I dreaded, it has changed our relationship radically. But I’ve recognized that that isn’t a horrible thing. It’s interesting how we have progressed from the enjoyable stage of being completely enamored and mushy all over each other to the random damning moments of frustration. What’s even nicer is the fact that we can snap at each other and not feel like the whole world is being lost.

Being around each other day-to-day has just given us the chance to see each other in uncomplimentary lights – and continue to love each other. In fact, from time to time I think the unappealing fragments are what help us to love each other plenty more. It allows us to be honest on a much deeper level, shedding away our need to always look flawless and unspoiled to the other and just be 100% of ourselves. The person that feels particularly lazy on a weekend or when she has a feminist moment or does something thoroughly unladylike and absolutely humiliating? She is the same creature that wakes up next to the Frenchman every day. And he knows it (and still loves me!).

Now in spells when our affectionate attitudes are swapped with slicing sentences that are uttered out of anger or sadness, it hurts less than it would have earlier. So he snapped at me over something I said, or I teasingly made sure he’ll never repeat certain behaviours. The comfort we have come into with this new chapter of our bond has permitted there to be flawed chunks while still retaining essential tendencies of love and admiration. Our link isn’t weak. And we can walk away from those horrid moments and move on with the rest of our day.....of course there is always music to be had.

“Hold you in my arms” is this stunning, gorgeous effort by Ray LaMontagne. And for whatever reason it’s been months and I still find myself coming back to this captivating track. It has been my favorite song to sing along to (alone, at work, at home, in the bathroom). It captures the essence of the vocalist. There is something throughout this song that speaks a familiar language with enough nuance and substance to keep you listening as it unfolds.

Happy 26!

While we're on a roll celebrating the joy of life, tomorrow is my friend Ruan’s 26th birthday. Ru is officially one of my closest friends, because she’s the person I see everyday at work, spend every free and fun moment with, we’re practically neighbors, we know the same people and are still currently BFF. Ruan once told me that she loved me even though she could barely walk and was having the worst possible day. This is only one of the many things to love about Ruan. She moved to my area after we passed out of college, which is great for me, in terms of friend locale and convenience. She sort of is like a Superfriend, but with more cuteness and craziness. She claims she's celebrating her day in low-key style at home with close friends and family but I suspect that's just a cover story. No doubt she's celebrating her birthday in family's traditional manner: at a sleazy joint, burning through a wad of singles, taking home some great gifts and waking up with a hangover. Happy Birthday Ru… Ray LaMontagne for you…



A real update before week's out, I promise. Until then, replaying this over and over again should keep you guys busy. Peace out!

Today, my older sister and her husband celebrate their anniversary. They went out for 3 years and have been married for 4. I would like to have a relationship like theirs, but I will not mention any names lest I prematurely terrify that particular someone.

At the moment, I feel like plucking out my throat to relieve myself of the pain I feel every time I try to eat or drink something. I rarely fall ill and when I actually do, it’s really bad. The symptoms of a sore throat have resulted in blogger's block and I’m consumed with worry that people will start finding my blog boring and then stop reading it because they've come to hate me.

Wish me luck.

Unless you've come to hate me, in which case, is there anything I can do to win you back?

And moving on to the music-

Just when I thought I was out, he pulls me right back in. For those who read yesterday’s post already know and are probably anticipating the man with the dreamy voice. It is once again time for me to dust off my spectacles and devote myself to exploring and revealing true music’s latest offering. With that in mind, onto the mystery heartbreaker.

Ray LaMontagne

For the record, he looks like this:

So there’s that.

Really, though, I’m actually pretty excited about this one.

Ray LaMontagne, the singer of ‘Let it be me’ is set to release his much-anticipated third album, ‘Gossip in the Grain’, on October 14th. His music is a fascinating cocktail of pastoral folk, railroad blues, front porch country, and plangent balladry. The song I posted on my blog yesterday proves what quality music is.

So what took me so long to write about this guy? Because he’s brilliant. Most of the time the word brilliant being associated with a track makes me want to post about it immediately, that day, on the spot. This time around, though, everyone I know agrees that it is brilliant. As such this song has been played out, heard by quite a few people, and garnered almost universal acclaim amongst my friends and family {I think even my mother likes it}. Trust me when I say that every single track this man has come up with is worth listening to and you’ll be grateful you’ve added Ray LaMontagne to your 2008's artist collection.

And that takes care of the majors. If anything caught your eye this month or week–or more importantly, if you want to talk about whether Ray LaMontagne is just radiant–feel free to let me know about it in the comments section below. Now if you’ll excuse me, the new episode of The Mentalist dropped in this week and I still haven’t watched it.
Peace out. Stay sweet. I’ll keep posting music if you keep pretending to care. That’s it today.