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 ...
August 13, 2016 - 11:03 a.m.
Today I'll finish up writing about Falcon Ridge. I'll start a bit about my day yesterday because there's an idiot. Jump down to the horizontal line to read about Falcon Ridge.
I finally had my intake with my psychiatrist yesterday. It's not easy to get there but I love her. She talks like Joanie Madden and that puts her on my good side. She's the third psychiatrist I've seen and so far, she's my favorite. She spent more than an hour talking to me. I was afraid I'd have to wait around for the bus but instead I had to run to make it. They come only once an hour and if I miss it I have to walk a mile and a half. I usually don't mind that but in yesterday's heat and humidity I did.
The hospital is in Harrison and from there I decided to head into the city to see Avi Wisnia at the American Folk Art Museum. Either going there or back home I have to head to the train station. A young woman got off the bus and wanted to know where to catch the train. I asked her where she was going and she said Grand Central so I told her to come with me. She came from the hospital too. It ended up she really needed 125th Street. She was not familiar with MetroNorth and her social worker gave her bad directions. I heard a bit of her story. She's had it rough. I was glad I could help. I actually sat and talked to her on the train. I never do that. I prefer to sit alone and read or nap but I could see she needed it.
I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the museum in time to see Avi. I checked the time at the museum's website. He wasn't playing. I have a feeling when I saw that he was playing it was from looking at my Facebook memories from a year ago. I know he played around then. Yes, I'm an idiot. I could have seen whoever was playing but I would miss half of that and it's not the easiest place to get to from the East Side or to get home from. My next plan was to text a friend and ask if she wanted to get dinner. It's nice to actually have somebody I can do that with, on short notice say, "hey want to do something?" But she was feeling under the weather. I think it was the weather. Yesterday was bad. So all I did was go to Trader Joe's. Oh wait I'm supposed to be writing about Falcon Ridge. OK I'll make this short. When I got home I watched the Olympics. I really enjoyed some of the swimming, there were great races.
Sunday was the day I spent the most time on the Main Stage. It was also the day I didn't lay down a tarp so I watched from backstage or the photographer's pit. I actually brought down a camp chair to sit on.
I of course did not get up in time to be ready for the Gospel Wakeup a 11:00 let alone the Workshop Stage set with Mike + Ruthy, Heather Maloney, and Annika. Instead I ate and ran around looking for my missing things. Did I tell you about that when I wrote about Saturday? I lost my watch, the WFUV hoodie I sleep in, and the bag for my camp chair. I still couldn't find them. I did have a delicious breakfast courtesy of Camp Steeple along with delicious conversation with them and my Budgiedome family. Mornings at Falcon Ridge before the music starts, just hanging out with my friends is one of the best parts of the festival. I know a lot of you feel the same way.
Brianne was leaving early so I made sure to give her a hug goodbye. Then we took a group photo. Unfortunately, we weren't all there but every year we try and get a pic of the Budgiedome crew.
I love these people
I went down to the Main Stage but first stopped at the Lost and Found looking for my things. They were not found. I went back several times. Finally, I settled down for the music. It was a run of favorite musicians who are also friends. SONiA disappear fear, Metropolitan Klezmer, Eric Schwartz & Freebo, Matt Nakoa, and the Felice Brothers. OK the last are not my friends. I have never talked to them. But I love their music and they are exactly the band I wanted Falcon Ridge to book. They'd bring in a new young audience and they are great. I loved their set but there were problems. At the start there were sound issues, I couldn't hear the vocals. That was nobody's fault, there was not time for a real sound check. It's a festival and it was done on the fly. There was an issue with the band. They didn't do a festival set. It wasn't their hits, their biggest crowd pleasers. You have to do that for an audience that isn't there to see you. It's how you win over new fans. Their contingent of fans was not as large as I expected. They were up and dancing but I thought there would be more. The general buzz was disappointment. Again I did love it but they should have blown everyone away and they didn't. It felt like they phoned it in.
Everyone else was great. SONiA was joined by Annika on a few songs. I missed Metropolitan Klezmer on the dance stage which was a shame but they did great on the main one. These are my people and it was their first time at Falcon Ridge so I was kvelling. And they of course know what kvelling means. It's been so long since Eric has played Falcon Ridge that he won over new fans. Matt did the Matt thing, ranging from sensitive guitar guy to the second coming of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. I love him best when he's at the piano but he also did electric guitar. Most of the set was not folk and that's fine with me.
Tom Rush was the headliner but I did not stay to watch him. I've never been that crazy about him and we had to break down the Budgiedome. Of course first I got distracted with people. I used up my last Falcon Ridge money on a Frozen Cholate Chiller from Taste Budd's. I went back to the Lost & Found. I ran into a bunch of friends and stopped to talk. Why can I only remember Allison and Joe? Oh right, I'm an idiot and I met them on the hill walking back up. Geography is the key to my memory. And I just remembered some others I ran into. They hold a drawing of people who handed in their Festival Surveys before Tom Rush. I heard that. Four names were picked, three of them were friends of mine. Yes, I know a lot of people but I think this is only the second time anyone I know has won. The winners were Kat, Beth, and Matt. I felt bad as I didn't see Kat all festival. Matt actually played the festival, he's in Scott Wolfson and Other Heroes who were in the Most Wanted Showcase. More importantly they played the Budgiedome. I was walking on the Midway and I saw Skyler who is also an Other Hero. He was with all the band but Matt. I told them that Matt won and when Matt caught up with them they told him.
I finally made it up to the Budgiedome and first thing we did was clear stuff out of it. I had hoped my chair bag would show up but it didn't. Steve says he has extras so next time I'm down there I'll take one. Then comes the sad part, taking down the dome. It's not that hard. Steve does a great job of directing us. It takes a lot of coordination. It all came down and we packed it on the truck. At some point I had to run to the port-a-potty. I did not feel right after that. I was in some pain. I kept going till everything was packed up but then I gave in. I was having a Crohn's attack. I tried sitting down. That was not good enough. I lay down on one of the Camp Steeple hammocks for a while; that was better. I couldn't eat. I tried sitting up again and couldn’t. By then it was getting dark and my tent wasn't boiling and I laid down in there to take a real nap. I'm not sure how long I was there. I think hours. That helped. I got up when I heard Ethan's voice. He said he'd come up so we could hang. I still couldn't eat but I could sit up and talk. When Ethan left many people went to sleep but I was not sleepy as I had been napping. I stayed up with Carolyn, Sarah, and Mel. We sat around the fire. We lit sparklers. We talked. We got serenaded by a stoned hippie banjo player. Carolyn and Sarah geeked out about Pokémon Go. I teased them but I love that they were so enthusiastic about being assimilated into the Borg.
Part of a Crohn's attack is that I get cold. When I was in my tent I put on my warm sleeping close and for the first time slept inside my sleeping bag. I didn't even know it was a mummy bag till then. I was glad it was. Thank you Meg. She gave it to me.
In the morning I slept late and that was good. I was feeling better. I was able to eat! I had bacon. I broke down my tent and we packed up Fred's car. While breaking down Camp Steeple they found my hoodie. My watch is gone. So sad.
I said my sad goodbyes to everyone and Fred and I headed home. I love driving with a friend. He got me safely home and helped me up with my things then he headed home. Falcon Ridge was over … till next year.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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Horvendile August 13, 2016
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