I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
February 16, 2018 - 10:48 a.m.
For the third time this week I headed down to Brooklyn for a house concert. That's a two hour trip so I'll only do that some something special. Last night it was Carolann Solebello at First Acoustics aka the home of Coco and Bruce. When Carolann thanked me for making the schlep I told her I had to, she's family. Coco is family. It's two hours from where I sleep but this was a home game. I wrote yesterday that I'd know most of the people there. It would be easier for me to list the people I didn't know expect that I don't know their names. I'm going to list as many people I know that I remember. I'll miss some. I want you to get an echo of how I feel about the crowd. This was a gathering of my tribe.
- Carolann
- Mark & Felix
- Fred
- Bev
- Allison
- Elisa & Jon
- Victoria
- Jeff & Jeff's wife whose name ran out the door when I started to make the list.
- Katherine
- Pat & Ellen
- Coco & Bruce
- Perry & Beth
- Aviv
- Dan & Phyllis
- Brianna aka "The young girl from Sunday."
- Jagoda, Catherine, & Paul, aka the band
But it wasn't for me, it was for Carolann. This was not just her CD release show it was her birthday party! She is now a semi-centenarian. I'm allowed to say that right? Yesterday I listened to her CD Shiver as I wrote about Rachael & Vilrey; I'm listening to it again today. Last night she performed the entire album in order. I love album release shows like that.
I got there early, though I wasn't the first to arrive. I brought my camera and grabbed what I think of as the photography seat, front row house left. I grabbed to seats, one for me and one for Fred. Then I decided that Fred takes better pictures than me so I'd watch the show as a civilian. I have such a backlog of photos to edit that I found the idea of taking more as intimidating. It's not just that. I like being able to totally lose myself in the music. This was music to get lost in; I love the songs on Shiver. She did one bonus song, I don't know the title, but it was on mass shootings. Sadly, it was once again freshly relevant. That is the point.
Carolann's music is difficult to write about. It's not quirky but it's distinctive. I don't know how I know something is a Carolann song immediately, but I do. It's not just her voice or her delivery. There is just a lot of her in each song. Carolann I love you but it's a loot easier to write about your husband's music.
There was post-music socializing and birthday cake. I had great music, great friends, and chocolate! I hit the happiness trifecta. I also sold the CDs because it's Carolann, it's me, there are CDs. I'd feel like I forgot to put my pants on if I wasn't doing the selling.
My plan was to shoot testimonial videos for John Platt's On Your Radar by Carolann, Coco, Dan, and Fred, but there was too much going on. I brought my camera for nothing. I'm going to make another trip to Coco's just to shoot video.
Katherine lives in the neighborhood and the subway is right on the way to her apartment so she walked me to the station. We then stood out in the rain and talked for an hour. We were under an awning, so we didn't get wet. We haven't had quality time in a while, so we had a lot to talk about. Then Jay came by. Jay is Catherine's (not Katherine's) husband. He had to work but he was meeting her at Coco's so they could drive home together. Add one more friend to my list.
There were problems on the subway on the ride home. I didn't time myself but I think it almost two and a half hours. It missed being three by just a few minutes. The City Island bus pulled in just as the train did. Usually that means that even if I run down I miss it. This bus driver had a heart. He waited for the people to get off the train. We sat there another minute or two after I got on as he waited for stragglers. I'm always one of the first off the train as I sit by the train door that's opens closest to the station stairway. This is the second considerate bus driver I've come across in the last week. The buses come only once a half an hour late so this is significant. Some of the drivers do the opposite. They leave before the scheduled time. I've missed the last bus of the night that way.
This is disappointingly short. I shouldn't be disappointed. I've called Coco and Bruce's home the Last Homely House West of the Mountains, a sobriquet for Rivendell and as Tolkien wrote about it, things that are good to experience are not always good to write about. Still, "Elrond's house was perfect, whether you liked food or sleep or story-telling or singing (or reading), or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness. ... Evil things did not come into the secret valley of Rivendell."
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018
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Horvendile February 16, 2018
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