SlyBrand

Dear God, please let something like this happen.

From the car ride this morning, listening to NPR Morning Edition’s story on Diana Krall:

She demonstrated her version of the song at the grand piano in the suite. Afterward, in spite of her exhaustion, Krall had more to share.

“I’m on the road with 2-and-a-half-year-old boys who, before I came here, they wanted to go outside and play outside,” she says. “They wanted to go down the slide. And I’m like, ‘Where can I find a slide?’ “

But for Krall, that gives her a renewed sense of purpose.

“We’re moving house every day, and like I said, I’m probably as fatigued as I’ve ever been. But in some ways, it’s that fatigue that gives you a strong sense of self — what you want to do [makes you] more relaxed, focused,” she says.

Here are a few highlights from a story about Bethesda, Maryland artist Jean Shin I heard on NPR this morning.

“In Jean’s hands, the process of making these objects new again, of giving them life [and] restored purpose, and making us look at them — or asking us to look at them — in a completely new way is very artful,” says Joanna Marsh

Used lottery tickets form the basis of another piece, Chance City, where the losing tickets become colorful houses of cards — an imaginary city full of chance and, Shin says, optimism.

“Picking up your life and moving to the city and giving it all you can, your dreams may change — transform,” Shin says. “But somehow, I think all of us retain that memory of something that they really wanted to do, and against all odds, are able to succeed.”