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
October 18, 2013 - 5:36 p.m. As usual I've wasted hours and hours. I better start writing. It's 3:45. Good thing I did something yesterday. That makes it much easier for me to get started. I can just give history instead of creative writing. It limits my choices and that speeds things up. Yesterday I had a special midweek therapy session as the building was closed on Monday for Columbus Day. When I finished that I came up to school to get my mail, I had two packages! I am now the proud owner of handkerchiefs. Too bad I forgot to bring one today. I have allergies, they are very useful. So now it's an hour later. An ex student of mine came in and needed some help in calculus for computer class project. The teacher committed grave crimes against math and typography. You don't write √x for the nth root of x. It really isn't hard to get it right in word, √(n&x). He also called Newton's Method, Newton�Raphson method. Which is an acceptable alternative but I've never heard it used in any context other than "Newton's method (sometimes known as Newton�Raphson's method) � " I was busy but I volunteered to help the student because I like him. I always complain about the student but there are good ones. He was one. What I really liked is that when he had too much work and didn't do things for my class he didn't blame more or complain about his grade. He said, "I knew I should have done more work." That's all I want, accepting personal responsibility. So back to yesterday; I had a house concert to go to at 7 PM so I stayed in my office till 5:15 or so then headed out. The house is on 100th street two miles away. That's just about a 40 minute walk. I figured I'd stop and have dinner and get there early enough to be one of the first people on the line so I could sit up front either with Richard or on the comfy couch. I am often wary of getting there early because someone I don't want to talk to often gets there early and I don�t' want to talk to him. He wants to talk to me. But I knew he doesn't like Bobtown so I was safe. Yes I think about these things. I was walking up Columbus Ave and under scaffolding when I felt something wet on my shirt. It was a huge pigeon dropping. Ugh. I had dressed up in nice clothes, nice light clothes. Good thing I carry napkins in me. I wiped it right off. I wanted a bathroom where I could clean it with soap and water but didn't find one for another 8 blocks when I got to Shake Shack. I rushed to the bathroom, wet the paper towels and pretty much drenched myself. It got on my pants too. It must have been a big pigeon. It was on my breast, wrist and pants. This is my mother's fault. She was always getting hit by bird crap. I'll also blame my father as he liked to quote Arisophanies. I am guessing it is from The Birds; I looked up in the sky and a bird shat in my eye. I have always loved that use of the past tense. Bravo to the translator. As long as I was in Shake Shack I ate there. It was yummy. Then I checked the time. I had to do it on my phone as I left my watch at home. I hate that. It is so much easier to look at watch on my wrist than to reach into my pocket, get the phone, then turn it on. Then turn it off then put it back in my pocket. My plan was to get there at 6;30 as it's an early arriving crowd. As long as I got there by 7:00 it would be fine but I might as well be early and I love challenging my knowledge of how long it takes to get places walking in Manhattan. I know I walk just about a block a minute. After being all careful and checking my progress a couple of times I forgot to check the time when I arrived. It didn't look till 6:34 when Peter arrived. I had met him when I saw Jonathan Bird at a Petere's (different Peter) house concert in Hastings. I only beat the second person by a few minutes. By 6:45 there was quite a line. For once I wasn't the person that knew everyone. That was Dan. He came by and everybody said hi. I went in grabbed the couch and schmoozed, mainly with Alan from the band. Remind me that I have to introduce him to Pete Kennedy. They'd have a lot to talk about. Who else was there that I know? It was weird as I had trouble seeing anyone that wasn't close by. I was near Richard but the others I only found when I went to get food. Su and David were there. Oh I didn't mention Katherine's friend Deb. I met her the first time I socialized with Katherine. And to make things neater this house was where I first became friendly with Katherine after meeting her at NERFA. Bobtown very quickly became one of my core acts. I see them whenever possible. I always feel that I'm with the band even when I'm not. I'm always going to talk to all of them. I have finally gotten to the point where I know their material well, so what did they do? They started performing new songs from their upcoming album. I love them. I didn't have a big revelation about them, instead it was about how much a part of me they've become. They'd start a song and I'd say, "Oh I suggested that for a WFUV Question of the Day! I even remembered what the question was for all the songs but Flood Waters Rising. All I remember is that it was perfect and felt it demanded to be played. It wasn't. After the show I of course stayed till the band left and took on Sherpa duties. I went back to Brooklyn on the subway with Fred and Katherine. That worked out well as we took the same trains till we hit the Brooklyn Hub, Atlantic Ave. Katherine is the drummer and has more stuff than everybody but Alan who has a car. I carried the suitcase that doubles as a kick drum. I knew from experience that was heavy and so my Sherpa skills were helpful. Rather than going all the way down to Katherine's then back up to my house and getting home in the middle of the night I took it home with me. So people thought I was a cool musician! OK they probably wouldn't know it was a kick drum but they'd see the logo. Yes that's my dream to be mistaken for a musician. That actually happens quite often. People seem surprised when I tell them of my lack of talent. OK how did I not think of this before? Bobtown covers the Violent Femmes song Jesus Walking on the Water. You know how wrote it? Do you know the Femmes? It was Gordon Gano! Gordon's rule. Ackk. I have to run. It's time for the show at the Museum of Folk Art. I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge: please hold me accountable.
Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
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