Sounds like Christmastime!

So, at work, we're supposed to sign up to ride the UTA passenger van up to Park City, and you're also supposed to fill out paperwork so you can drive the van. Well, this week, I didn't sign up in time to ride the van going to my office, but there was another van going to a nearby office, so I signed up for that one instead. On Tuesday, no one was going to that office—so I took the opportunity to drive the twelve-passenger van all by myself up to Park City. I've never driven one of those vans before, and I was too embarrassed to practice for the first time with lots of people. And I made it safely. But I didn't like having such big blind spots, and coming down I-80 in the dark was a little challenging. But now I feel like I can safely drive a big van, even if I don't prefer to. (One of the regular drivers is absolutely terrifying, so I can't be any worse than she is.)

In Park City, I go running on my breaks, and there's a really nice pedestrian/bicycle path that goes up to the heart of the city. On this route, I saw the most perfect snowman ever. It's not as good as a dry trail, but it's way better than most December routes.

On Thursday, I went to the Festival of Trees with my family. It's a fun tradition, but only because it goes to charity. I would never pay to go to it if it was a for-profit venture.

But the real highlight of the week came on Friday.

Last year was a big year for Christmas music, with new albums from Ingrid Michaelson, John Legend, the Monkees, and more. But the hands-down best Christmas album was from an artist I had never heard of: JD McPherson's Socks.



This album has a vintage 1950s rockabilly sound. I don't like normally 1950s rockabilly, but this album is fresh enough that I love it. JD McPherson has a fantastic voice, and the guitar, saxophone, and drums all complement his singing. But it's not just the sound that's so great about the album. All ten songs are original. Covers are great, but I always appreciate original songs, especially when it's every song on the album. And not only are they new, the lyrics are clever, whimsical, and amusing, with songs about Santa gaining weight, getting socks for Christmas, and women with Christmas names. There's not a bad song on the whole record. This is for sure in my top ten favorite Christmas albums, maybe even top five.

Well, this week's story actually begins at Halloween. In October, I remember thinking how amazing it would be if JD recorded a Halloween song. (That's not a huge stretch, because his genre is fitting for monster songs; "The Monster Mash" is only the most famous of a whole genre of old rock-and-roll songs about dancing monsters.) Well, he didn't record a Halloween song. But when I Googled him, I found that he was touring and bringing his Socks tour to Salt Lake City. And I knew I had to see him!

So that's where I spent Friday night, at the State Room in Salt Lake.

The opener was a guitar player named Joel Paterson, who recorded a Christmas album two years ago. He also has a 1950s style, but he's only instrumental. He's a solo act who plays multiple guitar parts, which meant he had to accompany recordings of himself. That was kind of strange, but his music was really fun and enjoyable.

Then JD McPherson came on. I thought his voice was even better live than it was on recordings.

He opened with my favorite song, "Bad Kid," and played most of the Christmas album. It was fantastic! One problem with live music is that the sound quality is often bad, making it hard to understand the words; this concert started off great, but for some reason it got worse throughout the show. But it was so fun to see this wonderful album live! He also played a few non-Christmas songs, which were more of an alternative rock genre than rockabilly.

Then after the show, Joel Paterson was out front selling and signing his album. I decided to buy it on vinyl, since it came with an MP3 version, even though I don't have many opportunities to listen to our record player (it's in an inconvenient part of the house).

Then I spent all day Saturday working from home. I was only planning on working five hours, but I kept getting new assignments that required even more hours. I will be glad when the busy part of this job is over—but then Christmas will also be over, so it will be hard to be glad. I'm trying to enjoy living in the moment.