why, most of the time, summer is awesome

the air conditioning in my car appears to be broken, which is, quite literally, not the coolest thing that can happen in the summertime. on the upside, it's just extra motivation to ride my bike places. if i am going to be sweating, i might as well be getting some exercise out of it, right?

and, luckily, there are plenty of other rad things about summer that make a lack of car air conditioning ok. like enjoying a delicious, organic lunch on the sunny patio of one world cafe with dave. one world cafe is an amazing salt lake institution where there is no menu; the food is prepared fresh every day from local, organic, healthy ingredients, and you just pay what you think your meal is worth. no joke. it can be sort of hit-or-miss as far as deliciousness, but we caught it on a particularly good day and i sauntered back into work a hour (or two) later, full and happy, before realizing that we had left without paying at all.

me in a text to dave: good call on lunch. i enjoyed it so much, i decided to go back and pay.
dave in response: holy crap.

or, there was the jonny lang concert at red butte garden, after which i very firmly decided that if i am to birth children in this life, i would like them to be his. i think you can see why. he is a dream-yacht indeed, not to mention a skilled and soulful musician who makes me want to clap and dance barefoot. and have his babies.

mykel, keri and i had a wonderful time drooling.





and even chelsea, who was a little skeptical at first...



came around by the end.




outdoor concerts also provide some prime people-watching (read: judging) opportunities. there was some extreme picnic-ing...



(these goblet holders kill me. it's like the ultimate form of indulgent laziness)





and darling little kids...





(i would have put this kid in my pocket and taken him home if there hadn't been so much security there. long hair? a guitar t-shirt? painfully cute. i am also pretty sure his equally hip dad is either divorced or a widow, as a thorough ring scan turned up nothing. i told keri and mykel that one of them should tap that, but it went undone. alas.)

also some pretty amazing dancing...





check out keri's magical parking job. a jonny lang miracle!



and did i mention hardcore rocking out and a back-up guitarist who looked like he walked out of the cartoon "fat albert"? because there was some of that, too.







summer is also the perfect time to ride your motorcycle from denver to the arctic circle. if you are my dad, that is.




or, there was the free josh ritter and andrew bird concert at the gallivan center. it was my first official friend-date with anna, which i had been looking forward to for a while. i think it was a success. i hope she asks me out again. i love the gallivan center concerts because we get to watch such incredible music-making for nothing more than the price of battling approximately three million other people (many of them having given up shirts and hygiene) trying to do the same. as a highly dedicated fan(atic), nate was particularly pleased to be there. and i think he decided that if he is to birth children in this life, he would like them to be andrew bird's.

anna and i rounded out the night with mcdonald's sundaes on the porch swing. so there, air conditioning. you can't ruin summer no matter how hard you try.