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 31, 2016 - 3:29 p.m. I didn't blog yesterday, anyone remember me? Anyone fall into a funk from Wise Madness withdrawal? Anyone reading this on New Year's Eve? I promised you adventures with Brianne and The Kennedys. I try very hard to keep my promises so here they are. This is a tale of a long day, it lasted more than 24 hours. That's why I didn't write yesterday. Pete and Maura had a show at the Minstrel Coffeehouse in Morristown NJ. Brianne and I did the merch. We decided to make a day of it. She picked me up at the train station at Clifton at 1:14 in the afternoon. I had to leave hear a few minutes before 11 to get there on time. That's actually pretty good as it takes me an hour and a half to get most paces in the City. The most exciting part of the trip is that I was able to buy my ticket on my phone once I downloaded the NJ Transit app. I'm easily excited. Our original plan was to take pictures in the afternoon. Brianne is a photographer.We drove straight to the UU Fellowship where the concert was. We were going to walk around and take pictures. We were going to go to the museum a few blocks away. What we ended up doing was going into town for linner. We went to the Morristown diner. That's my tradition when going to the Minstrel. When I had a car I went their fairly often. They are cheap and good. We got there midafternoon and had the place to ourselves. We had a scrumptious lunch, I had blackened chicken and fries. Then we sat in our booth and talked. Then we talked some more. Following that we talked. Then we called the waiter over and ordered coffee. Then we talked and drank coffee. Did I mention that we talked? Hey I didn't have therapy this week, my shrink is on vacation. Brianne and I always talk on a very wide range of topics, from art, to music, to creepy people. I argued that film photography is digital as each grain is either exposed or not exposed. I stand by that. I bet all the math people are with me. Then we went back to the church. We were the first ones there. Brianne had to make a phone call and I went in. The only one around was the cleaning woman. No one from the Coffeehouse was there. She just let me walk where I wanted to. I went to the room where they serve the refreshments and charged my phone while I played online. When coffeehouse volunteers came in they ignored me. They probably thought I was from the church. Finally I heard Maura and went out to meet her .I went to the bathroom and proved my worth by fixing the toilet, it was running and wouldn't flush. I reseated the seal of the cap in the tank. Then I fixed the paper towel dispenser. I think the church owes me money. I hung out with Maura, Pete, and Brianne. Brianne hadn't seen them in a while. I hadn't seen Maura since Monday. I ran into her on Broadway when we were both out food shopping. We met the opening act, The Inspiration Project. This was their first gig. They are three singer/songwriters who just joined forces. There's a lot of that going around. Brianne brought her digital camer to take pictures of the show. We sat all the way on the side so she could get good angles and walk around and not get in people's way. She was a creeper and took pics of me too. She said it was probably too dark for them to come out well. I think she's just going to show them to people and laugh. Not that I'm paranoid or anything. Seeing the Kennedys is always special; it's extra special seeing them with Brianne. We have the same reactions to so many songs and we have history with so many of the songs. We can just look at each other and communicate. Brianne made a video of Maura's Thing with Feathers when she was in high school. Last night was the first time she's heard I since she finished the editing. That video is why I know Brianne. She also made, or at least wrote the script of a movie based on Matty Groves. The Kennedys did that too. We had moments with Happy Again, Midnight Ghost, Rhapsody in Blue, When I Go and of course Stand. During Stand we put our arms around each other and swayed. It was just like Moxy Früvous doing the Drinking Song. This will forever be known as the bug up the nose show. Maura had to stop in one song when a bug flew up her nose. I've seen them fly into singers' mouths at outdoor shows but this was a first. You cannot sing with a bug up your nose. It was a booger bug. We sold quite a bit of merch. That was fun. I saved the day by bringing my brand new portable charger. It charged Brianne's phone then Maura's chip Square she needed to process credit cards. Then it charged my phone. It was a good investment. I bought it from Amazon in a Black Friday sale. I was worried about getting home from the shows. The trains from NJ back to New York don't run very late. We were still at the venue when the last train from Morristown left. I could have raced to make it but then I'd have had to leave before we finished merching and hanging out with Pete and Maura. That's some of the best time of the day. I ended up staying in Jersey with a friend then Brianne drove me to the train this morning. That's why I'm updating so late. It took over three hours to get home. It was well worth it. I was going to spend New Year's Eve at Tina and Warren's party as I do most years but after being out all night last night I can't face the two-and-a-half-hour commute to their house let alone coming home in the middle of the night. I'm going stay home and binge watch TV. I used to watch Dr. Who Marathons. I don't think there is any way I can do that now; at least not the original series. I'll settle for the Librarians and the Arrow. A day of friends and music was the best way to ring out 2016. See you next year. I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge: please hold me accountable.
Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Follow on Feedly
|