It’s raining in Baltimore and all through the house not a creature
was stirring except our cat who has navigated through a full 360 degrees on the
carpet sans any actual lateral movement. I feel that there must be some way to
harness this power for good purpose, perhaps there’s a clock face we can get
him to sleep on or something? I THINK there’s some semblance of order to his
rotary wanderings?
Heather’s conducting birthdays, Kristen’s conducting sales.
My friend Brandi is somewhere apparently digging a hole and my friend Jesse
just formed a band. The internet keeps me abreast of many peoples’ actions but
more immediately I’m interested in the wind and the rain and in having a very
Sunday kind of Saturday, perhaps not richly deserved, but certainly deeply
appreciated.
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been having some searing
pains in my left elbow – I feel that I’ve had these before, they’re familiar,
the joint’s sensitive to the touch and my grip and my lift is weak. It hurts to
squeeze things and it hurts to move things and it really ramped up this past
week. It happens around this time of year – when the combination of Takoma Park
Folk Festival and a video game mean that my left hand is spending too much time
on the computer Alt-tabbing and AWSDing around some fictional space. I have
no-one to blame but myself but I’ve been cautious for the past 72 hours and
sure enough the rage in my arm is subsiding – still, I’m definitely looking
forward to TPFF coming to a head, subsiding, and leaving me some time in which
I can legitimately swear off my computer for a week.
I’ve been writing a lot, but it’s all self-hating drivel. I’ve
been playing a lot – and it’s all rediscovered bass riffs applied aggressively
to my new baritone. It’s a whole lot of growling, slapping joy and I’ve been
working through a couple of covers that I’ve been half-heartedly trying to get
a handle on all year (jeezoflip, why do I learn so SLOW?!!), a couple of new
songs I’d written and most interestingly a Bob Dylan tune that Susan had laid
in my ears a number of months ago.
It’s a joy to jam on all of the above, though I sort of feel
I learn slow because “jamming” on things tends to be such a solitary activity.
Since communication and language has always been my joy with music, playing
solo and actually practicing are things that I have frustratingly limited patience
for.
On a more positive note – Kristen and I just celebrated our
Decadateaversary yesterday. It’s hard to believe that it’s 10 years since our
first date. I’m not quite sure at what point it got serious, but at least at
that point it got structured. We celebrated with a lunch and walk through
Ellicott City and a bit of Battlestar Galactica (which we’d used as our initial
excuse for hanging out together). The latter is as strong and stunning as ever
and the latter is extremely bittersweet.
-
I find it strange to see the disaster markings of building triage reimagined into a stylish Ellicott City t-shirt. -
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At least, in the midst of all this destruction, a triceratops and a bear have found Love. -
So… though this area has survived pretty much intact, it sure seems like Tongue Row is in danger of having its foundations stripped from beneath it. -
Shmoo.
Knowing that the lower half of Main Street’s going to be
demolished and made into a “community green space” so that the damage done to
the historic buildings done by the damage to the environment done by the construction
of the NEW buildings up the hill can be ameliorated horrifies me. The new
construction is what caused the destruction. Deconstruct THAT, don’t demolish
the beauty of a 250 year-old mill town… and so the bear no longer blows bubbles
on top of the Forget Me Not Factory, and though I knew I’d no longer stroll
here on a first day, this may be my last stroll here on ANY date. Happy
Decadateaversary indeed.
Well Ellicott City, formerly eternal town of childhood
wonder and glitter, I’m trying not to get bitter and old, but you’re just not
holding up your end of the bargain.
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