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 ...
November 19, 2014 - 1:18 p.m.
Still haven't done much since NERFA but I will write a bit about my day before I get back to the conference so my NERFANs will get a bit of a taste of what My regular Gentle Readers have to put up with.
Last night I went over to Heather's for dinner. I cooked. I love getting to cook for somebody else. I'm a good chef within my limited menu. As you know if it's green I won't eat it so I don't know how to cook it. I'm going to tell people I'm allergic to chlorophyll so I don't get hectored about that. Heather had chicken drum sticks in the house so I planned around that. I bought potatoes and brought Jerk seasoning. So I made jerk chicken and Hasselback Potatoes. I got my original recipe from Coco but lost that. I just found this one and it's the best I've tried. This is what they look like when they are finished.
I want to try it with bacon fat as is suggested in the article. Duck fat would be even better but duck is very expensive so I don't make it. They came out great. So did the chicken.
I stopped making the potatoes. I wonder if it triggered a Crohn's attack and I forgot about that.. Uh oh. We'll see how I feel today. This might be a major idiot story.
Now to clean up the loose ends of my NERFA report. On the NERFA Facebook group Perry said that she'd be giving away kazoos at the conference. I love kazoos. I collect kazoos. I carry around a kazoo. I have asked Carey to play the kazoo at my memorial service. So of course I made an enthusiastic comment. When Perry saw me she gave me a kazoo. It was at the elevator lobby in the tower. I then proceeded to play my best kazoo piece in front of a crowd of musicians. I played that kazoo classic, Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Swans. I really don't know why it is played on anything else. People applauded. They really shouldn't have done that. It will only encourage my bad behavior. I am not thinking of other places to play it, the the Budgiedome song circle? I better not say that it will keep people away.
At NERFA and Falcon Ridge I have once-a-year friends and once-a-year traditions. I wrote the other day how every NERFA I have a weird conversation with Robby Hecht in exactly the same spot even though we don�t plan it. Every year I bring a bathing suit and go to the pool and spa once or twice. Every year I run into Dennis there and we have a weird conversation that often involves the Monkees but not this year. How do we end up in the whirlpool at the same time consistently? It isn't like either of us spends all day there. As a side note, bring your bathing suit to NERFA. .a few laps and a whirlpool, sauna, or steam will make up for some of the lost sleep. Your body will thank you.
Then there were the first time NERFA encounters with people I've known for ages. I was standing near the elevators when the doors opened and there was Sean Altman serenading the car. I knew he was doing a showcase as Jewmongous, my holiday tradition. He knows I know the NERFA scene and asked me who to talk to. I put him in the right directions. I'm a bad Jew but I love Jewish humor.
I ran into Mike Merenda after the Formal Showcase. I knew he was playing Kristin Andreassen's room. I had to rush to a Quad but it's always fun talking to Mike and I don't get to do it that often so I stopped and talked. I got rewarded with a great piece of folk trivia. Mike was in the Mammals with Tao Rodr�guez-Seeger. And he told me where Tao's name came from. I bet like me you thought it was from the Chinese religion. But it's actually an acronym of his grandmother's maiden name, Toshi Aline Ohta. That was not a secret was it Mike? Maybe he'll beat me up when I see him tomorrow. He's playing without his wife Ruthy so he' Ruthless Mike. I might be cruising for a bruising.
I just got a phone call and forgot what I was going to write about next.. I bet it was a cute woman too.
I could write about the food. Cheryl knows me well enough to use promises of good food when she was trying to convince me to start going to NERFA. Obviously it worked. That was in 2010, this was my fifth NERFA. I thought it was my sixth but checking old blogs I saw I was wrong. The food story is Friday brunch. I went on the line and had pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausages .Then after my plate was full saw the omelets. So I was a hobbit and had a second breakfast. I ate it at another table with different people too.
There's always a question of whether or not I belong at NERFA. It is a professional conference and I'm not a professional. My venue, the Budgiedome exists only three nights a year. But of course I do more. I write this blog, I do the social media for John Platt's On Your Radar. I do merch for people. I help out at venues. I help out with publicity. But still I always had my doubts if I belong. NERFA is not there as a festival to enjoy music. The hotel fills up and the space is needed for people that do belong so it's important to know that I do. I have always told myself that I belong at NERFA because the people there think I belong. I'm made to feel I belong. This year I finally convinced myself that I do. Sean came to me to find out who does house concerts .People come to me to find other people they need, musicians, studios, venues etc.. What I am is the guy that knows a guy. Even if that guy is often a woman. I'm like Angel on the Rockford Files. If you need a fiddler or place to crash or a ride or someone to dispose of a body I can't do it but there's a good chance I know someone that can. I get proactive. I get people together who I think should get together. I have been doing that quite a bit since I got home. I hope some musicians gets some gigs out of this.
Now I know where to get breakfast, the kitchen.
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 November 19, 2014
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