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 16, 2016 - 4:57 p.m.

Mercury Retrograde

Wow I have something to write about again. I could go out and do something today too but I think I need a day off. Of course I have to go to Trader Joe's. I wish I could wait till tomorrow but think I can't; I'm out of things I need.

Sadly, I did not do what I wanted to yesterday and eat at home. As I was afraid I was not hungry until right before I had to leave and then there was no time left to cook it. Good thing I did go out last night or I'd have nothing to write about now. I had a particularly boring day.

Last night I went to see Girsa (GER-shuh) at the Mercury Lounge. It was a late show 9:15 doors. The plan was for me to meet Dan and his friend Alec at 9:15. Thanks to the bus schedule to do that I had to get there at 8:45 so I used the extra time to get dinner. For a change of pace, I went to Lucky Burger; I haven't been there in ages. I don't get the burger; I get the chicken there. There were problems with two of the big reasons I go there, the soda and the sauces. Their soda machine has Boylan's red birch beer! With refills! But I was told that the soda was flat so I had to get a bottle. At least they had bottles of Boylan's root beer. Of course the bottle is smaller than the cup they give you and there are no refills. The sauce dispenses weren't there. They had unlabeled squeeze bottles. One is chipotle may and the other Lucky's sauce. I just took both. I put it on the chicken and dip the fries in it. That's the reason I eat there.

Don't judge. My therapist likes my obsession with food, she says it's being mindful and helps me with my anxiety.

I got to the Mercury lounge at 10:05. I was about to hit send on my text to Dan saying I was there when he grabbed me from behind. I said, 'Just a minute I have to send a text." He took umbrage at that. I sent the text and said, "You have a text." He called me a jerk. See what I have to put up with? Oh and he thinks that Dylan should not have won the Nobel Prize, not because he's a songwriter but because he's a band songwriter. It's all right to lose all respect for Dan but still be nice to him. It must be sad to not appreciate the glory of Dylan.

I had met Alec before but it was at The Budgiedome and that means it understandably got lost in the haze of Falcon Ridge. I get a lot of stimuli there and meet a lot of people. To make it even harder his name is really Eric. Dan doesn't know it. Alec doesn't know it. I doubt Alec's parents' know it but I do. Whenever I tried to remember his name I came up with Eric. People say to always trust your gut and my gut says he's Eric. I'll be nice though and respect his delusion about his name and call him Alec. That's unlike Dan, remember Dan, the guy that hates Dylan? He calls me CP; it stands for Clownie Pajamas. I don't call him DDL, for Deluded Dawes Lover, because I'm a good person.

Who am I tougher on? Dan or Brian? Tough question. Brian you can win me over with some Taylor ham. They are both from New Jersey. That pretty much explains everything. Sean Altman said "Hell doesn't scare me, I grew up in New Jersey." Sean has great wisdom.

I didn't forget that I was there to hear music. I'm getting around to writing about it. I did not know that Girsa was the opening act till I got there. The headliner was the Narrowbacks, not to be confused with Nickelback. They are an Irish rock band from Pearl River, the same town as Girsa. the Narrowbacks back is all men and Girsa all women. They are friends and rivals. frivals. Girsa plays traditional Irish music even when the song they played is not traditional Irish. They did John Denver's Country Roads.

I know Girsa because the bodhrán Bernadette used to be a student that worked at WFUV. I became friends with her there and was delighted to find that she was in an Irish band. I was more delighted when I saw them and discovered that they are a great Irish band. Their lineup last night had a fiddle, guitar, the aforementioned bodhrán, and keyboard. Some of the songs were instrumentals and others had lyrics. It hits one of my sweet spots. It's music I can close my eyes and lose myself in. They are good enough musicians that the fiddler could play piece, simply called, the New Set that the others don't know, tell them the chord changes and the others jumped in. Most of their music is in the lively not mournful Irish tone. It's music you want to move to. We stood up front and I did move even if it was subtle.

Back in the 90s I went to the Merc often. I was there when Moxy Früvous played the show that ended up on Live Noise. Carey said she can hear me singing along, not sure anyone else, including me can. Over time my taste and what the Merc played drifted away from each other. It's about twice the size I thought it was, capacity 250. I have been there when it's been packed to the gills.

After the set Dan and Eric Alec had to leave. I couldn’t stay much longer either. Girsa went on at 9:45 and I worry about making the last bus back to City Island at 12:53. You can't trust the subway on weekends. I have to go to the very end of the line to get the bus.

Right after Dan and Alec left I found Bernadette. We got to talk for a little bit. Oh, I almost forgot, I ran into Will at the bar. I met him when he played John Platt's On Your Radar. He knows someone in Nickelback The Narrowbacks. We talked for a while. I'll be seeing him at NERFA. I might see him at Jalopy where his band has a gig along with Bobtown. I have another show I want to go to the same day and I'm still up in the air which I'll go to.

I went back in to hear the band between Girsa and the Narrowbacks. I was not enthralled with them. As they said, "Girsa can really play, we just have a lot of fun." While it was Irish it sounded a lot like country music. I didn't stay for it all as I realized I could go to the Sugar Café and get a dessert to eat on the train. I got a chocolate croissant. My timing proved perfect. I just made the second to last bus back to City Island which got me home at the reasonable time of 12:35.

One unfortunate thing happened on the train and I blame Donald Trump. I need the but I usually switch to the express at Union Square and then go back to the at 125th street. There is Wi-Fi at Bleecker street where I catch the so I can use my subway app to check on train times. I saw there was an express that was supposed to get to 14th street the same time my train would. The doors on my train closed slowly and then moved slowly and I was afraid I'd miss the express. I kept a watch out the window to see if it passed us. I had to look towards the back of the train to see through the window. I could tell that this young woman thought I was looking at her. I tried to turn my head even more but that was difficult. She eventually got up and moved towards the front of the car from me. She's thinking "there was this creepy guy on the train staring at me. I bet he'd grab me and kiss me without asking." What she thinks of me doesn't matter. We will never see each other again but I feel bad that I made her uncomfortable. Bad behaving men made my life worse without even being around one. I bet a bad behaving man who was staring at her wouldn't be bothered in the least by what happened.

OK it's almost five. I should post this and get going if I want to eat at a reasonable hour. Of course going out means once again I miss John Platt's Sunday Supper. I'll listen on the archives.


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 October 16, 2016
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