mystic river train

these shots were taken by david kraai on the fodfest tour. we got to hang out in tupelo long enough to see the bed that elvis' mother gave birth in. it was suddenly graphic, standing up over the bed since it was little more than a one room and the bed was the biggest thing in it. poignant and graphic too. we met up with other fodfesters todd, will and andy all tooling pell-mell for memphis...



between tupelo and memphis, depending on the road you take, there's a gravesite to visit. never thought of visiting gravesites much myself but it sounded good, and this was a fella i didnt know. we faced down a serious shift in weather. this is early fall mississippi, tornados are common. it was raining heavily by the time we got there, and the site was set off back down a variety of roads and around a few twists, but then, there, near what was supposed to be a church, it was. i kept watching for hail and sideways water, and grinned demonically at the camera.





well. there are so many views out over the rim of an amtrak window! i took a ride from boston into new haven to meet mike deming about the new record. it was what i would call a perfect fall day: completely overcast so you can never tell what's coming ahead and dont think to look, and the leaves were starting to turn but not rediculous, and there were those very-bright blue-painted river buildings, whatever they're called--wharf houses? fisherman spots? dunno. very pretty. and the trestles were all rusted and spectacular, the bridges we crossed all strong. a very good ride.

all the way there, i kept thinking i should have a better idea of what i was going to finally say about the direction we're going in. he's been incredibly patient about not knowing the songs still. but it was quarter to two and i thought after three years of talking about it, i should get down to it. truth is, ive been changing my mind about it constantly since the summer. last year it was definitely one thing, an almost chronological recording of songs ive written. but i just couldnt do that this year.  nope. cant do it. so its a big mystery.

the amazing thing is, im incredibly calm about it. maybe it's october, which i find kind of frightening. not really an october kinda person anymore. i cant seem to see more than two feet in front of me, like a hibernation-mind or something.

funny.

meanwhile, tomorrow is november and cant be avoided.

a girl named teresa

i talked to my mother tonight on the phone as i was walking. it was cold tonight. we talked about the last year. she mentioned this to me:

"people are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. forgive them anyway.
if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  be kind anyway.
if you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  succeed anyway.
if you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  be honest and sincere anyway.
what you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  create anyway.
if you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  be happy anyway.
the good you do today, will often be forgotten.  do good anyway.
give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  give your best anyway.
in the final analysis, it is between you and god.  it was never between you and them anyway."

subject line

i was making a cup of tea at my aunt judy's in boston this week and the tea bag had one of those little quotes on it:

a noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them. -goethe

i thought, o shut up. what do you know, johann? you only ever had the inner landscape to face down. (here i got a little bitter) y'know? europe in the 1800s, stifling social etiquette and terrible austrian weather but otherwise, shut up already.

noble is a big deal to me.

aside from getting offended by tea, its been amazing to be in the northeast again. i am truly not a resident anymore. funny that, since i spent the majority of growing up years over here, and even adult years too. but no, even the impossibly beautiful atlantic air out on cape cod this weekend. nope. and that's tough to resist. we were received so well out there- major cool to have some college folks say, you are the absoLUTE shit and mean it. ;) we kept getting compared to flogging molly, but that may have been overhang from the previous night, when we spent some time in a south boston hang and played hard til morning.. it was a little after hours show after we cleared out of johnny d's, and after foley's had closed down, and we flogged molly til she smiled and said that'll do. very very good peeps over there.

the space we performed in was crazy amazing--those folks are architectural design magicians and the place was a yummy mix of metals and wood and stained glass and cement, very cool acoustics. we set up in the main room and waited for the oyster festival to release its hold on the now sex-hungry participants (shucking contests) to make it over to fill seats. great people, kay and doug, look them up. kay was actually our host for the evening, doug was somewhere outside utica driving in. he listened to a song or two over kay's cellphone during one of our sets.

meanwhile i missed the radio show yesterday which was the conclusion of the friends of danny tour. western mass made do without. i was sorry not to say a proper goodbye to todd and will and andy, the tour team. todd however is a master of ceremonies and can get a thing done properly. it was great to be along for it. go see what he's up to:

www.offthebeat-n-track.com

i need coffee. i do. a big cup. i dont see why i should go without. therefore i am planning a walk into town, the sun's warmish still and the coffeeshop up the road is called starbucks. works for me.

do ot smoke the pine

that was a little in joke, from our hosts in houston--hey houston! amazing welcome by really good folks over there, and we are so going back. its final.

baton rouge last night was off the hook. the whole show was an event and it lifted like an air balloon and floated out over the levee by the mississippi river bridge and the heat and damp couldnt stop nothin, just made it worse and better. its terrible how lucky we are, and what good folks we meet. by the end of the evening the entire room was up on stage and there was a mighty ruckus went up.

and today, there's lousianna po boy's at the college cafe. forget about it. ;)

poppies in october

Even the sun-clouds this morning cannot manage such skirts.
Nor the woman in the ambulance
Whose red heart blooms through her coat so astoundingly-

A gift, a love gift
Utterly unasked for
By a sky

Paley and flamily
Igniting its carbon monoxide, by eyes
Dulled to a halt under bowlers.

O my God, what am I
That these late mouths should cry open
In a forest of frost, in a dawn of cornflowers.


..author to follow...   ;)




sylvia plath, of course.  ;)