Caren Cleans Her Car

Yesterday I cleaned my car.

This was a huge ordeal but a necessary one, especially after Gigi (my car) got stuck in the mud at 3:15am on Saturday morning in the Bonnaroo parking lot. The next day it was still covered in this thick mud, both on the inside and outside of the car.

You would never guess what I found in the trunk and backseat (both now completely empty) so I'll go ahead and tell you, then we can all have a laugh at my expense...

- 85 CDs in their jewel cases
- 15 pairs of high heels and flip flops (even a pair of Jellies)
- 10 tubes of oil paint
- 7 Christmas cards I meant to mail in 2006
- 4 pairs of scissors
- 3 sweatshirts
- The Audacity of Hope and The World Is Flat
- 1 air filtration unit
- 1 neon green Paula Abdul slap bracelet

... oh, and a Red Cross Emergency Survival kit... though with all of the stuff above, I'm sure I could've played MacGyver and survived on my own, using the slap bracelet as a tourniquet.

Thanks to a nap I'm hangin tough at Bonnaroo for My Morning Jacket's 12am-3am set. There is so much walking and crowd shuffing that the exhaustion will sneak up on you, kinda alike the sunburn stripe I have on my forehead. But this set is energizing! Jim James is covering James Brown, backed by horns and his tight band. Metallica's guitarist sat in for "One Big Holiday" too and shredded it like he wrote the freakin song.

Quite an end to the day, onein which I saw a joyful Glen Hansaard make The Swell Season a festival standout. !!! was fantastic too, with on stage charisma similar to that of Of Montreal. Rilo Kiley also impressed and I realized while taking in their set that "A Better Son/Daughter" might be the soundtrack to my life in recent days (well, maybe just the chorus and not the lyrics about the mother being high all the time). I wonder if I could pull off Jenny Lewis bangs? And learn to play guitar like her? The songs are keyed right for my voice... hmm, maybe I should stick to what I know.

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Lessons From Bonnaroos Past

I'm currently in Manchester, TN, for my third Bonnaroo experience. Unlike Rachael, my excitement for Bonnaroo does not translate into the kind of anxiety that requires me to curl up in the fetal position or overrun the falafel vendor. That is because I now know that Bonnaroo is a game of survival. To get the most out of it, you have to be prepared. Sunscreen, hand sanitizer, granola bars, sweatshirt for chilly evenings, good attitude, phone charger... read press bios in advance, know the line-up, walk around like you own the place...

Here's a recap of previous experiences.

2005: Helped distributed 8,500 copies of the magazine across the site; walked 132 miles (rough approximation) to get across the site and distribute said magazines. Discovered Sweetwater Beer. Lost phone... this would be the first of many times this happened in my adult life. Saw Iron & Wine for the first time and had a quasi-life-changing experience.

2006: Took a year off. Still shuttering from memories of Bonnaroo 2005 and subsequent exhaustion.

2007: Went for 36 hours but did way too much in those few hours. Camped and discovered a whole new world called Tentaroo where people miraculously wander back to their tents while on substances of various origins. Waited 3 hours to see Flaming Lips and watched people around me pee in the grass to avoid losing their coveted spots in the front of the crowd. Allergy attacks (big attacks). Mistook John Paul Jones of Led Zep for John Bell of Widespread Panic (big mistake).

So that brings us up to speed. Last night I interviewed Lez Zeppelin, which does not make up for my mistaking Led Zeppelin for Widespread Panic, but it's a step in the right direction.

Can't wait to see what this year holds.

J.K. Rowling's Harvard Haters

Photo by Robert Spencer for NPR

Thanks to Katie for bringing me this NPR story about J.K. Rowling's keynote speech at Harvard's commencement.

Can she come back in 2010?!? I would be THRILLED to hear J.K. Rowling speak!

But not everyone shares this enthusiasm...

"I think we could have done better," shrugged computer science major Kevin Bombino. ..."You know, we're Harvard. We're like the most prominent national institution. And I think we should be entitled to … we should be able to get anyone. And in my opinion, we're settling here. "

You know what I think, Kevin? You're like the reason that, like, recruiters are hesitant about hiring graduates of the "most prominent national institution." And I think we should be entitled to slap you. And in my opinion, NPR just did. Snap!

Okay, maybe that's harsh. But yikes! As Jason Mraz once told our office, "Practice graciousness!"

Props to 10-year-old Allister Beeson for this excellent commentary:

"That was a terrible thing to say! They're just a bunch of Muggles!"