this week has been so "meh".  overall there's been a definite lack of what i like to call "inspirado" and i just have not been totally on fire these last couple of days at all. 

that said, there have been a scant few sources of this aforementioned inspirado lately: 


i have been listening to the new Joanna Newsom EP, Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band, an awful lot.  it's gorgeous, of course, esp her harmonies with Neal Morgan on "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie".  that's my favorite thing at the moment.

  ... and there has been so much going on on my favorite show, The View, this week too, with Rosie announcing that, sadly, she is not coming back  next season and Alec Baldwin trying to explain his heinous behavior towards his daughter.  so much drama! 

one thing that has been the source of inspirado during this weirdo week  has been the new Mavis Staples record, We'll Never Turn Back.  how can anyone possibly not simply adore Mavis Staples?  i feel like this album is even more powerful than some of her older ones.

all the songs are protest songs, and she wraps her gospel voice all around them and makes them so moving all over again.  it was produced, seemingly like most things, by Ry Cooder.  Mavis's voice will never grow old.  the cd is supposed to be inspiring and i would definitely say it achieves its goal.  when i hear Mavis Staples killing it like that, i want to go back for the billionth time to another one of my favorite things, The Band's film The Last Waltz to watch the Staples Singers perform "The Weight".  it's a perfect song, to me, the writing, the performance.....the inspirado......

Joy Behar's coming to town! 

i am an avid View watcher, and Joy is my favorite personality on the show.  She'll be performing her comedy routine at the Nob Hill Masonic Center on June 16th. 

i am sure some of you out there are as crazy for The View as i am....i find myself fascinated every morning by the ladies and their Hot Topics.  Joy is my favorite because (esp before Rosie O'Donnell) she is the one who is the most blunt, the most truthful.  if she came to my family home for christmas, she would fit right in with my relatives, hilarious and cutting as she is. 


what is it about The View that is so addicting?  i have asked myself this question for many years now....for me i guess it's about what's going on below the surface on the show as much as it is what the women are gabbing about.  it seems like there is always tension behind the scenes and it's tantalizingly close to the surface at times.  i like to watch and see if it will peek out at the viewers and at what moment.  it's also refreshing to see women actually hashing out what is going on in the news, instead of watching the news and being blandly told so called facts.