I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

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.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

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 ...
-James Branch Cabell

December 03, 2012 - 2:51 p.m.

How many CC of the Sea the Sea Do I See at the Holy See?

I hear the voice of the colleague who annoys me so much that her voice grates on me. I better turn the volume up on my ear buds. I'm listening to classical music on WQXR. I don't recognize the piece.

I have less than an hour to finish this entry. I have to go to therapy today then I'm going out tonight so I won't have much other time for writing this. I just remembered that I have to print out my ticket for tonight's show. I better do that now. I'm seeing Ana�s Mitchell.

Now I'll catch up with what happened on Sunday. I went to Gene and Isabel's house aka Court House Concerts to see The Sea the Sea, I love saying that, and Seth Morgan. I always make my chocolate chip French toast bread pudding aka chocolavinator when I go to house concerts there but without my own place that's difficult and I couldn't pull it together. Gene and Isabel let me in anyway. That's nicer than I'd have been in their place. I'd have had me summarily shot. I still got their early to socialize and eat lunch. Yes I'm a freeloader.

I'd go to the house concerts even if there were no music but for the food. Even without my chocolavinator there was plenty of good stuff. Isabel made these delicious meat tomato sauce pastry things. Sort of like mini pizza rolls. Chris made his famous chocolate chip cookies. Gene's sister, Linda? Made out of this world chocolate peanut butter cupcakes because I said I love chocolate and peanut butter! So not only did I eat amazing food but felt special at the same time.

The only disappointment was the size of the audience. There was lots of competition in the area including the Chicks with Dip tribute to Joni Mitchell's Blue in nearby Garden City. The Kennedys were playing at the Uptown Coffeehouse in City Island. I never miss the Chicks. I never miss the Kennedys. For this I missed them both. You should have been there too. It isn't just that so many of my bests friends were there. It was musically the show I chose. I never miss the Chicks or the Kennedys but I don't get to see, The Sea, The Sea (there I said it again) very often and they are amazing.

Seth opened. I've known Seth for ages but he has just been performing for a bit over a year. He's been getting no sleep because of his day job which is only linguistically a day job, it is chronologically a night job. He's sort of meta-Santa Clause. He brings Christmas to stores. You don't think those decorations put themselves up do you? Despite running on vapors he radiated more magnetism on stage than all but a few performers. Well OK it wasn't a stage, it was a living room. Stop giving me a hard time.

When I got there I said hi to Chuck and Mira aka The Sea the Sea who I saw first (snuck another one in there) then to Gene and Isabel. Then I put my coat and hat upstairs. When I came down Chuck and Mira were rehearsing. That is forever my first thoughts of how to experience them, to just hear them singing off mic for themselves. I heard them first at Budgiedome. They were not featured performers they just showed up to the song circle. I don't know which of my friends suggested to them that they show up but I'm grateful to whoever it was.

A little diversion; I've been having a rough time of it. I'm insecure. One reaction of mine is to make myself more vulnerable here when I write. I'm being less reticent and more honest. I never lied but I'd be circumspect about what I'd include. Now I'm doing things like being freer in my praise of people and not worrying about being embarrassed about them reading it. I'm also trying to be honest about my changing opinions of people.

I had seen Chuck a few times before then and was not overly impressed. I could see his obvious songwriting chops but he didn't connect with me and I didn't get to know him as a person. That all changed that night. He and Mira connected with me big time. They landed right in my sweet spot. Not only that though. Chucks old songs now connected with me. What caused that? Is Mira needed to keep the connection or was she simply the catalyst that led to the connection. I don't know and I don't know if it is knowable. But now they are two of my favorite performers and favorite people. I know if I had talked to Chuck more even without Mira around we'd have connected on a personal level. Mira I met under much circumstances much more conducive to bonding. We were at Falcon Ridge. We were at the Budgiedome. So I've always clicked with her.

Their voices blend together better than anyone I have ever heard. The sound is so beautiful that it in fact blinded me at first to the brilliance of the songwriting and arrangements. Yesterday I focused on that. Do I like their music for the same reason I like them? I don't think so. They are intellectual songwriters that craft their songs. Like Gauss doing a proof they try and remove all evidence of the scaffolding. As musicians that means leaving the music and not the parts that made it personal.

Damn, I don't have time to finish this now. I'll have to try after class and before I see my shrink.

During their set I was thinking about what I'd write and concentrating on their songwriting. During the break I talked to them about it. I talk to musicians all the time but rarely about their craft. I love it when I do. it reminded me a lot of talking to Joe Crookston. That reminds me it's been far too long since I've seen him; over a year.

There's more I want to talk about but I'm running out of time. I'll see what I can squeeze in. Mira like Cary Cooper reminds me of a hobbit. It might not be obvious but that's a high compliment. It's about familiarity and earthiness and lack of pretense. It's the feeling that Bilbo gets when Frodo and company reach Rivendell. "There's no one like hobbits for talking to."

What's odd is that as a duo Chuck and Mira strike me as Elvish. There is something that comes from beyond the world of mortals. They shine with the light of those that have seen the two trees.

What hit me is more than anything this time is that they won me over with the sound of their voices blending, like the light of the two trees, but they keep me mesmerized with their songwriting and arrangements. I told them that they'd sound beautiful if they just did 1-3 harmonies but that I'd soon get bored. They said, "We'd get bored too." They experiment with different musical textures and poetic syntax. They blew everyone away by singing "Wonderful World" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" simultaneously. The two songs have the same chords and harmonize perfectly with each other. Before they did I was thinking how much I'd love for them to do one of those songs from the Renaissance where the different voices sing totally different words and melodies but they harmonize with each other. They hit me square in one of my sweet spots.

After the show I hung out for a bit then Gene drove me to the LIRR. I went home and spent the evening writing. I'm still writing. Now I have to run to my shrink. I have written over 4700 words since last night. I don�t I've ever been more prolific.


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



creative commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Horvendile December 03, 2012
site search by freefind advanced


Follow on Feedly



about me - read my profile! read other DiaryLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!