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 ...
May 15, 2013 - 11:43 a.m.
I need to write. It's an hour later than I like to start and I have to grade finals.
My legs are almost all better. I went down their stairs with very little thought. It's basically my old stiff ankle issues and my actual feet hurting. I don't know where that comes from.
I had a great argument with Fred yesterday through comments on the WfUV Question of the Day group. what did we fight fiercely over? The relative usefulness of Fahrenheit and Celsius. I love that I have friends I can do that kind of thing with.
So yesterday I gave my finite math final. The timing was good, only one student stayed to the end. Several students said nice things to me as the left. I spent a lot of the time playing on my phone. Not sure if that's the best idea. Oh right and I made a spectacle of myself. I gave back the take-home test when they handed in their final. I went to lean forward tor get someone's test and for reasons I don't get my chair pitched forward. It's a swivel office chair on wheels. It started to slide out from under me and the only thing I could do was slide to the floor. It wasn't an uncontrolled floor but not comfortable. What made it worse was that the back of the chair ended on top of my head and I was pinned in by that and the desk. I could have wiggled my way free but the students got all concerned and some rushed up and pulled the chair away. I had to keep reassuring them I was OK and I wouldn't let anyone help me up. I wanted them to see that I was fine. It probably looked funny. I never feel forward on a chair before. I've fallen over backward; once onto Phoebe Snow's foot.
I had a bigger scare on my computer. I had copied the folder with this year's work on it onto my flash drive. When I finished grading the third test I went to enter the grades and saw that the second test wasn't on the gradebook. I know I entered it. Before that I saw that the folder was missing on my computer at school. Yesterday I went to print out a copy of the practice final for a pre-calculus student and saw that file wasn't in the folder either. I decided to hunt for the folder on the school computer. It wasn't in the My Documents folder. I did a search and found it in recent places. I moved it to where it belonged. When I looked all the missing files were there and the most recent verion o the gradebook with the second test. Can anyone tell me what might have happened? The admin thinks it might have been on the server and for some reason when they moved things on to my new computer they never moved that folder, the most important one. I had just accessed it through recent places. I'm not sure if that makes sense. It doesn't explain how the old version of the folder got on my thumb drive unless I had moved it earlier not last week like I thought.
Now onto what you really want to read about, John Platt's On Your Radar. I went straight from school. I usually get there before anyone as I can go in before doors but there were subway problems and people had already lined up. That did give me the opportunity to act snooty to the hoi polloi. My target was just Richard. I'm so mature. Someone had left things on two of the seats at my table. I never found out who that was. It most have been one of the musicians as nobody ever sat in them. It did let me tell someone that I didn�t' want a the table that there was no room for him as I was joined by my friends, Fred, Coco, Rona, Bob, and Hesch. Am I missing someone? Not sure. Lori not LORi wasn't there. She said it was because she felt under the weather but we know it's because she hates me.
The performers were The Jammin' Divas, Brad Cole, and Emma's Revolution. When I got there the only one around was Brad and I caught up with him. Two thirds of his band was there. I had already met his drummer Joe when he played with Abbie. I also know the third member who wasn't there, the bass player, Craig. He's my friend and Abbie's base player and fianc�. He's also the bass player for the Divas. He's a bass slut. What is it with my affection for promiscuous rhythm section musicans? I love Cheryl too, I guess I like musicians of easy virtue.
I knew almost everyone there. When I pointed that out to Kay she said that since the move of On Your Radar to [the rest of this sentence disappeared]. I'll have to ask John. So who else was there that I got to talk to, Paul, Suzanne, Gail, Viki, Damon, Dan, Karyn, Lisa, Jay, and Katherine. She arrived late so didn't sit at my table. Oh right Abbie was there. I didn't see her till after the show. You can see why I'd love On Your Radar even if I didn't like the music. It's a party where I know everybody.
I am pretty sure I first saw Emma's Revolution at SMAF. That might have been when they first got together. Sandy said that she met Pat 12 years ago. They can walk the line of being overly earnest gut stay on my good side by being utterly delightful. I love that Sandy admitted that she sought out Pat not just because she liked a song of her but because she liked "the postage stamp sized picture" on the cassette. It's very much the way I talk about things. We don't like to admit that we think about someone's physical attractiveness but we do and we should say so. Just when I thought they were getting too preachy they come back with their song about being too preachy, Preaching to the Choir.. I really can't help but like them. I wish I had a chance to talk to them.
Brad was on next. He is one of the people that I met at NERFA. Forget music, where would my social life be without it? It might be the place I meet the most people now. It's also where I met Kath, Aoife, and Becky, of the Jammin'' Divas, and Katherine.
This was the first time I saw Brad with a band and I knew this was his natural habitat. Some singer/songwriters add a band but it remains an afterthought. It's just an accessory to their act. With Brad and others its' an integral part of the performance. He clearly hears the music in his head with a band. It's necessary to fully see what he sees. It helps that the musicians rock the Casbah. Craig is simply the best bass player I know. When they did Pilgrimage it was hard to stay sitting in my seat. I wanted to get up and well maybe not dance but bounce around like a klutz trying to dance.
This was the best that I've seen or heard the Jammin' Divas. Adding Hadar and her flute was a great move. Kath and Hadar live in Brooklyn and are my friends, people I see often. I only see Aoife Clancy and Becky Chase with the Divas. It's a super group. Kath, Aoife, and Becky take turns with the lead. They do songs from their solo careers but reinvent them. They become a different band depending on whose song they are singing, three different great bands. When Kath plays with her band they play folk rock. It has the energy and roughness of rock. With the Divas there is more of an emphasis on the folk. I Span and Eve Span (I always want to call it spammity spam) cries out for a flute and Hadar is almost a colead on it. The flute doesn't come as naturally to the Becky's blues but Hadar finds the spaces to pl.ay without forcing her way in. Aoife Clancy used to be the lead singer of Cherish the Ladies and that's the feel when it's her turn. Hadar takes Joanie Madden's role. You put it all together and it is more than the sum of the parts. I need so see them more often.
After the show I went out with Katherine. First we went to see Julie Kathryn. She was playing next door at Rockwood 1. We went to the backroom of Rockwood 2 to talk to people but couldn't leave through the main room since another act was playing and it was a paid admission. that meant going out the back door and walking around the block. Not that it's a big hardship but seems so inefficient. We caught the second half of her set. I first saw Julie Kathryn opening for RUNA. When she does a cover, she covers the heavyweights, Dylan and Leonard Cohen. I wasn't sure if she'd remember me but she did. Oh and Craig was there. He used to play bass for Julie. If there was a musically transmitted disease Craig would be patient zero.
Then Katherine and I went shopping at Whole Foods. You know someone's a good friend when going shopping can be your entertainment. It was an adventure as we had to hunt for what she needed. Neither of us knows that store well. I dom't know it all. Katherine and I are Jack Sprat and his wife. There is almost no intersection in what we eat. I said "almost" because there is chocolate. Katherine's a vegan and I'm a carnivore. I'm surprised I haven't developed serrated teeth like a T Rex. Katherine and I both love hot spices too, we just put them on different things. Then we rode the 
home together. That means a nice walk when I get out for me. I don't mind. I stopped for a bagel at the really good bagel store on Church. The walk felt like it took no time. My mind was filled with pleasant thoughts from a magical evening with wonderful friends.
I have to add this. I already posted this and when I did it really hit me how happy yesterday made me. My soul still feels the warmth.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018
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Horvendile May 15, 2013
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