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February 24, 2003

Sounds of Silence

Saw the Grammy's tonight. By far the highlight of the evening was the opening; Simon and Garfunkel in a single spotlight with a guitar and singing "The Sounds of Silence". No pyrotechnics. No gold chains with diamond dollar signs bigger than life or scantilly clad dancers with pythons. Just pure music and harmony. It was stunning and the crowd was silent. The music was a piece of history. I found myself thinking, "...of all the concerts I have missed in my life, Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park would be the one I'd have liked to have a chance to see." What a moment in life that would have been for me. I would have been 10 years old at the time and, truthfully, I wonder if I would have really appreciated it. Would I have known that my early thirties self would thirst for that moment? Sometimes I do things. Simple things like do the dishes earlier than I normally do, or put away my clothes from the laundry right away. At that moment I think the me of tomorrow will be so grateful for this deed being done.

I think I'd like to be back in a time when the art was winning over the machine. I think those times may be lost forever. Although it's nice to see girls like Avril Levigne come out and be a girl with pipes and attitude who doesn't feel it necessary to impersonate a stripper to get a number one record. Avril, you look like you're a little bitchy but yeehaw. You're young yet and now, you probably have more money than you know what to do with.

I think the key is the internet, a great equalizer almost communist in nature (music for everybody, information for everybody). That and local movements everywhere. Support the local artists who haven't yet fallen prey to the corporate system. Shake things up. A revolution. Take back the music, the books, the art. I'll take up my sword and tilt at windmills if I have to.

Posted by mermu at 12:47 AM | Comments (4)

February 17, 2003

First Real Snow

I have been in New York City for a little over 2 years and I am just now experiencing my first "real" snow; a blizzard. It's amazing really. While holed up in Rhett's apartment working on future projects and putzing around, I can look out my window and see furious flurries of snow. I can also chart how things are going by how much of the cars parked out front I can still see. It's quite amazing really.

Some interesting trivia: In late 1888 there was a blizzard so bad that electric lines buckled and garbage, already a problem so bad that the wealthy created elevated stoops in front of their homes, built up on the streets with no means of removal. Because of this blizzard, the movement for "the invisible city" an underground network of electric lines and transportation gained momentum and culminated in our current electric network and subway system. The same blizzard also galvanized support for a systematic removal of refuse managed by the public sector making garbage and sanitation recognized as a public health hazard to be dealt with by the public. Another interesting note; last year we got 3 and 1/2 inches of snow. This year so far we have received over 25 inches. All I can think is "yeehaw!" the fountains will be running this summer as we most likely won't have drought conditions because of it.

Rhett wants to jump out of his second floor window so that he can land on a soft bed of piled-high snow. I asked that he wait until the next blizzard so that I might have some sort of CPR training.

As furious as it is, all people can talk about is how it's not as bad as the '96 blizzard. Geez! I was dealing with sun on my face and sand in my suit in Aruba in '96. They think they are special because they were here for the big blizzard of '96. New York Elitists. I suppose it's just the circle of life here. I have to admit when people tell me when they first got here I think of them differently if it was after September 2001. I suppose years from now, in the next blizzard as the snow falls about me, I will watch the silent white spectacle and think, "that's nice, but it can't beat the blizzard of '03."

Posted by mermu at 11:35 AM | Comments (8)

February 07, 2003

SuperBowl

So time and tide has once again kicked my ass. Here's the scoop on a Super Bowl.

I had such a great time giving the Epiphany party that I decided to have a party for the Super Bowl. I decided it would be easy at it would be a "Bring Your Own" party. So out my evite goes to my low key party and of course it gets bigger and bigger and the more the merrier. Friends brought beer and jello shots, chips, dips, wings and a jovial manner. I brought sandwich stuff and some killer sausage bread from Vitamia. We were ready for some football. As for me, I was rooting for Tampa. They were the jokes of the NFL for so long, it was great to see them making good. And I never liked Oakland for some reason. I think maybe Deon Sanders used to play for them at a time when I realized I didn't like him at all. Also, I was in Tampa when the Bucs won the Championship so I felt a sort of kinship for the town. I scored a television from Rhett's grandfather who had passed away last year so we were watching the show on two screens. It was like a sports bar! without the scantilly clad buxom white girls crying over broken ankles to get more tips. I tried telling every body that we were watching the show on 46 inches of television but it just wasn't quite the same as say, Rhett's 47" Flat Screen or my brother's 53"er. Some of my friends came, some of Rhett's friends came. It was, once again a great mix.

In any case I am discovering how much I really get into having parties. I think perhaps it's my Texas genes. Or maybe it's that little piece of Southern Hospitality we Texans inherited from the Old South; a thread of commonality that probably did more harm than good in the long run as it put us on the wrong side of a Civil War that most Texans didn't really much care for in the first place. I'm no vanquishing Southern Belle mind you. Even Scarlett, who never went hungry again, has always seemed a little fru-fru to me. All that la-dee-da bullshit and the manipulation of trying to snag a man or piss off a man or make a man jealous or entice a man. I suppose that for her time Scarlet was pretty liberated. Those girlie notions could have been a way of dealing with the system. Maybe.

Personally, I have always considered myself more along the lines of Slue Foot Sue. Larger than life and gregarious and sometimes a little big for my britches. I would have loved to try my hand at Widowmaker, Pecos Bill's horse. I rememeber in 5th grade I wrote a play about Pecos Bill and Slue Foot Sue that some of my classmates and I got to act out. I was so proud of my handiwork. And so glad to have come across a gal like Sue. Bold and tall like me (well, I was tall. Maybe not quite so bold at the time but I definitely had the yearning to speak my mind.) and able to ride any horse on the planet...except for Widowmaker that is. I think there are lots of Slue Foot Sues in the world these days. And Pecos Bill, well, he's just a legend.

For an interesting twist on the Pecos Bill legend check out this link. I find the difference in attitude of the two links I am including really comical. I think it must have been interpreted by a man...most likely divorced. Pecos Bill Revised.

Posted by mermu at 06:33 PM | Comments (2)

February 01, 2003

Straight Scoop

Just got in from a night on the town (uh, Hoboken that is). it's 2:30am and all I have to say is Tammy Wynette was right. Sometimes it is hard to be a woman.
G'night.

Posted by mermu at 02:25 AM | Comments (4)