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 14, 2011 - 11:37 p.m.
I'm not in the best shape now I'm still sleep deprived but I better start writing about NERFA before I forget everything. First I'll tell you why I'm sleep deprived.
Last night while I was sitting at my computer my legs starting cramping up. I've often had one calf cramp but this was different. It was every muscle in both legs from the thighs to the calf. I was in serious pain. I thought maybe a hot bath would help and it did. They stopped throbbing and I was fine. Then I went to bed and it started again. I was pain on and off most of the night. It didn't pass till close to 7 and I slept till 9:30. I was not in good shape today. Remember how I was proud of myself for writing my test last week? I never emailed it to school so I couldn't give it today.
Now on to NERFA. I just checked to how I wrote about it last year. I might not do it the same way but maybe I'll at least be able to get started writing. I'll start editing the photos tomorrow.
It took me longer to get the car from the rental place than I thought and ran late the rest of the day. I still managed to go shopping at Trader Joe's before I left. Not being able to shop there is one of the great hardships of not having a car.
I got up to Hudson Valley resort, where NERFA is held with just enough time to check in and head to dinner. I followed my rule from last year and sat with people I didn't know. I ended up sitting with Michael from the Birchmere. I've been there enough times that we had plenty to talk about. That's what's great about NERFA, it's filled with friends that you thought were strangers.
My one distraction was my roommate situation. On Thursday it was Brad Yoder and Jeffrey Paul Bobrick on Friday and Saturday. When I got there I found that they had Jeffrey listed as my roommate all three nights and I couldn't do anything about it at the time. I waited for Brad to arrive and figured I'd tried to work it out then.
After dinner came the DJ showcase and the beginning of my musical discoveries. I sat with one of the DJs, Ron Olesko. Brad texted me during the showcase and I ran out to see if I could get him settled into my room. I could! It was just a matter of having Nancy on hand. Nancy can work NERFA miracles. I ended up missing just one of the artists in the showcase, Conner Garvey.
My first discovery of NERFA was Ari and Mia, a neotrad string duo. You know I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.
My other discovery was Dennis Stroughmatt & L'Esprit Creole. They sound like they are from Louisiana right? They are from Missouri. Why creole? Because that was right in the middle of the Louisiana territory and the French Tradition reaches right up to there. I wish I had a chance to talk to Dennis but I didn't.
I had good friends in the showcase; Carolann Solebello, ilyAIMY, and Sharon Goldman. Jean Rohe was one of my discoveries from last year.
So who was the big hit of the showcase? Lois Morton. I know Lois from open mics on Long Island. I've written about her before. She comes out looking like Ruth Gordon with a little laptop keyboard. The first time I saw her I was cringed thinking of the autoharp lady. You know the autoharp lady even if you don't and even if she doesn't play the autoharp. She's comes out with a lot of sincerity and very little talent and strums out something insipid. That's not Lois is funny. Not cute, little smile funny. She's wickedly clever belly laugh funny. They aren't just novelty songs but well crafted. The audience went wild for her.
After the DJ showcase comes the wild rush of the guerilla showcases, the heart of NERFA. I'm not sure how much I can reconstruct what I did at those as I left my notebook at home and used a note pad and the pages ripped out. I'll try but not now. Now I'm falling asleep and I want to take another hot bath before bed and see if that helps my legs. They are still sore.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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Horvendile November 14, 2011
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