Month: March 2000

Past = Law/System 11
Present = Mother of Water
Future = Thunder / 9

---

Another slack Saturday. Whew!

Awoke to a call from one irate Halo letting me know his wife had found a note written by Lynn with her name, phone number, and email address. It had obviously been dropped there by me (we go to lunch every day and I’m sure it fell out of my pocket when I took out my checkbook). His wife thought it was his, so that created quite a stir. Seemed like all was well when we hung up though.

I went back to sleep. Got up and called over to Liz’s place to see if she wanted to go grab something to eat. Hope was due in town pretty soon so she said she’d call when she got there. Back to sleep.

The phone rings and it’s Liz two hours later. Hope just arrived. So I printed up a picture taken at the Ani DiFranco show last October with Hope, Liz, and Anne at the Rave in Milwaukee. A wonderful photo! It was well received when they arrived here en route to State Street.

Fresh warm sunny air lulled me into shorts and sandals. Out into the daylight and everyone is outside. Smiles abound. Flesh! Everywhere you look there are people. State Street was hopping. From the Capitol end it seemed like there was a parade or march headed our way. But it was just buzzing with all the people milling about. Perhaps a sports tournament of sorts . . . you can tell because there are hordes of people who gawk and stare at the little things that make this town what it is: guitars and drums, trinket selling hoodlums, punks, drunks, hotties and hunks. They’re all there on a day like today.

Liz, Hope, and I saunter into the Saz and order up falafel and fries . . . the staple of any alterna-sumer. The place is inhabited by a table of beautifully dressed African women who are having an animated discussion in a language that sounds half French and half Arabic. We grab a window seat and of course our time there is spent mostly looking out the window at the people passing by.

We begin plotting the escape from Madison. Will it be just a vacation? Or a tour? Or a mass exodus? The notion of a tour seems popular and so for the next several hours we brainstorm our way through alternative financial realities, high occupational hazards (from taking so much time off), automotive quantum mechanics, tour guidance. Seems like making Heaven’s Stars (a very old Indian trinket with cleverly connected half-loops and beads which allow the holder to transform it into several different shapes) is rather well accepted. We’re convinced we’ll be able to sell as many as we can make.

We drive over to the Corner Bar on Willy Street and pickup tickets for the show tonight. The Weavils and John Brown’s Body will be packing them into that oh-so-pathetically-tiny venue. It’s funny since that place has always attracted a lot of great acts and huge crowds but there is absolutely no room for any of it. Nonetheless we drop down our $10 for tickets and sit and have a drink.

I rib Liz for being up all night with Jess. Also I got to sort of recap with Hope one of the first times her and I met: we were at a Dark Star Orchestra show at the Evermore Theater on Atwood and Anne was with us. In fact that was very soon after I first met Anne and had this ridiculous over-the-top crush on her (which later settled into ‘just’ eternal love). So Hope and I got a few giggles out of that. Funny how time flies and what is in the present later becomes a memory you share with others.

We duck out of there amidst the whiskey shooters and the liquor lookers and head back downtown to get some rest and relax before the show.

I lay down at home and try to rest but there’s just too much energy in the air. So I get up and call over to see if Jasmine and Frannie can make it to the show tonight. They have plans already for a dance party. I pick up the guitar and try to fill some time playing along to Mazzy Star songs. The phone rings, it’s Becca calling to see whether I was headed down to the Union for tonight’s Cork N Bottle gig. Sort of sad that so much is happening in one evening. But since I already have a ticket for the Corner Bar show, I let her know I’m already booked.

I scurry about getting ready for this evening’s festivities:

Looking where I’ve already looked
bread for the head
food for the soul
and of course the last course has already been eaten

(we meant beaten)

The Corner was just HOPPING! The Weavils were playing when we got there. The crazy thing was there was hardly anyone dancing. So Liz, Hope, and I boogied up front for most of the rest of their set.

Nikki walked in soon thereafter and there seemed to be a cool distance. Jeez, I’m not exactly sure why. I guess that’s what happens when people introduce you to someone and are a little over-the-top with regards to you hooking up. So if ANY of you are reading this: in the future, if you are playing match-maker, be subtle. Definitely make introductions, but then leave it to the folks to decide where it goes. Expectations are the fastest way to weigh the situation down.

Ben (another guy who works with Elle), Andy, and his lady Laura were there. That couple was having an excellent evening.

Awake in the March morning light. Of course last night still on my breath and being held down by the urge to just sleep in and forget about the world for just a few more hours. At some point I gather enough resolve to get up and rush through the shower, pull on some clothes (today it’s going to have to be loose and comfortable).

Into the sun, there’s still a nip to the air, but it’s a cheerful one. You can see it on everyone’s faces. At the bus stop is a guy wrapped in headphones and body ornamentation. I think all that is fine, but this is obviously his ‘look.’ Maybe I mention this because along comes this frail little old lady with a wheeled shopping basket. He greets her in the brisk morning shadow and she beams up at him with the most delightful smile and they proceed talking for ten minutes as if they were the best of friends. Could it be the sacred Generation Gap(R) which has fueled teen angst, driven whole movements, and is the saving grace of 90% of the fashion industry, is beginning to crumble?

They got on the first bus. I got on the next.

At the transfer point I see the little old lady get off MY bus. I walked a few steps and then I begin to wonder how she pulled that off.

So I shake my worries out and try to ignore that feeling in my stomach that comes from copious amounts of gin the night before. There’s this feeling of intensity and happiness that inhabits me today. Despite the body load, there’s still a buzz to the air. Friday has arrived!

The day races past and pretty soon I’m in Halo’s car on my way to Jasmine’s for tea. We went past the bank first and while waiting in line I ask whether he’s ever experienced that “Television Tarot” or “Televisionary Tarot” where you’re channel-surfing and it all sort of makes a strange but definite connection in your mind. Sort of like an associative cultural pastische. He drops me off and Jasmine and I hang out for a few hours of wonderful conversation. Essentially we spoke of the understanding of our universe we get through physics (the relationship between electron and proton, the dense particles which are in black holes, etc). I think this was rooted in how religions and most knowledge systems seem to point in the same basic direction. Zen was a card we brought out. Jasmine is one of the most inquisitive minds I know.

We took the bus into town since Jasmine was going to meet up with some friends at the bar for some pool and I wanted to head home and get some much needed rest.

There’s a message from Elle which I return. What a sweetie! She had a gift for me and wanted to know if I was going to be home so she could bring it by. A few minutes later she drops by and has a vase of white flowers. She then tells me about a dream she had where she would be looking at something and blood would start oozing out of it. It was everywhere. The Dream Dictionary had this to say:

Blood It is the life-giving, vital part of our physiology and it may symbolize our strengths and weaknesses and our physical and mental health. If you are currently experiencing a very difficult time in your life, you may have dreams with bloody and frightening images. Don’t worry, you may be venting your fears! Some believe that when you see blood in your dream, the distressing situation in your life which is at the root of the dream has come to an end, and the worst is over. Consider the details and the relationships between of all the symbols in your dream before making an interpretation.

Elle took off and a minute later Frannie called to see if I was up for cribbage or board games and having been not getting enough rest as of late, I declined. Good night!

OK, Shaggy and I get into a discussion over sketchiness and intention when it comes to females. We pretty much agree on all points but I just felt it necessary to drive home the idea that pure intention originates in the heart and women pick up on it. It’s nice to get any misunderstanding out of the way. I realize it’s a necessity to ground yourself every now and then with those around you. It gets you on the same sheet of music. The best part was being able to disagree and still come away even better friends.

Earlier in the day Sal and Sophie ICQed me and we exchanged some ideas about some of the same things. As well there was a lot of excitement coming from that end since they’re moving down to the village. Once the dust settles there and perhaps after the weather has made up its mind, I will definitely make the trek out there and see what sort of trouble we can get into (or out of).

At the tail end of a beer Shaggy drops by to pick me up. We’re off to the Gridiron for yet some more bluegrass. I guess there’s no such thing as moderation around here, even with bluegrass. I wonder when the day will come that I can go see a world music performance one night, going raving another, bluegrass following, a granola jam band after that, some crazed jazz (minus the haut kultur poseurs that tend to populate such venues), and topped off by a caffeine conversation with friends at the end of the week. All this without having to jump the state line in regards to social circles.

Whoa boy. So I should mention I had a stake in showing up tonight anyway since I’m doing the web site for the Gridiron Bluegrass scene. Wanted to make sure Jennie saw the site and draw her feedback.

The bands were great. The place was hoppin’. Somewhere along the way Wesley and Thomas came in avec femmes. I was introduced to one Margaret who was friendly and seemed into my writing project. Tom and Wes later were spotted near the bar bringing the rest of the establishment into a quiet giggle with their voice-overs.

Lynn and Glenn were sitting over by the dartboard with their friend Phil from Phoenix. Actually, he’s from Wisconsin but moved down there. He had just missed his plane back down there so was hanging out into the weekend until he feels like getting on a plane bound for the land of the sun. Jennie later told me Phil was hilarious. Not exactly sure why, I guess it was just the vibe he gave off.

Lynn and I had a terrific conversation that took a winding course through so many topics and times and experiences it would be a job in itself just rehashing it here. Let’s just say it was the highlight of the evening. Besides social engineering (both within the social circle as well as society in general), it was nice to hear from someone who is consciously opting out of the system that seems to be strangling us all as individuals.

Rolled into home around 2:15am and there was a call from Elizabeth asking if I could watch Miles again. “No problem.” She brings him by, we hung out and caught up on our lives and gossip. I was happy to hear her and Jess are still spending time together and getting close, but consciously. Honesty is so important and I think those two sound like honesty and respect are main ingredients.

OK, Liz leaves probably around 3am and I hit the sack. Yeah yeah, I should stay up and sober up just a bit more. Ahhh but Sapphire gin won’t leave too much of a legacy.