Effervescent In Pink

Seems as good a place to start if any...

• The job is in the Planning Department in Maple Ridge, working on a feasibility for garden suites, as well as a development application or two;
• The client is none other than my beloved Girl Guides, looking at how the provincial committee can better plan and deliver the development education components of their programs; and
• The internship is in London for 3 months working with WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides/Girl Scouts) working on Leadership Development programs in developing countries and reviewing the development education programs offered at their world centres.

But first I must plug the fantastic opening act, New Zealand's The Brunettes. Handclaps and actions, random percussion instruments, a horn section, dancing contests - they're definitely my kind of band! Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks was fantastic, but my (obvious) favourite was the closer 'Mary-Kate & Ashley' during which the entire band wore masks of MK&A from the Full House years (a picture says a thousand words...)

The crowd now upbeat and goofy, Rilo Kiley took the stage. I was expecting to hear mostly tracks from their latest album, 'More Adventurous', so I was delighted that they played so many tracks off their earlier album 'The Execution of All Things' (Jenny rocking out on Portions for Foxes straight into Paint's Peeling and all of us singing along to With Arms Outstretched were definite highlights.)

Why I am going on about this show if this isn't a music blog? Well, see, I found Rilo Kiley during the past year and a half of less-than-stellarness and their two albums quickly gained a special place in my heart. And to hear these songs performed that night to such an upbeat crowd reminded me of how I feel (as A Better Son/Daughter commmands) more grown-up and happy. The Execution of All Things' dejected lyrics accompanied by a frenzied dancing crowd seemed, well, perfect. And though I very much remembered relating to the despair in The Good That Won't Come Out, I happily tapped the dancing girl next to me on the shoulder to welcome in the long-awaited drum entry.

To complain that they didn't play A Better Son/Daughter or The Absence of God would be nitpicking. The night was the perfect celebration of how different one year can be from the last, how a certain song can touch you at a certain point in your life, and that rare synergy that happens when those two come together.

So, to sum up: your friend Aleksandra is in an excellent space right now and enjoying every minute of it.

posted by Aleksandra @ 9:38 PM