Campfyre Stories

I made pancakes so that we could have a nice breakfast together before starting off on our very busy day.  We decided to leave around 1, since we had to head to the apartment of one of Girl’s oldest friends.  It was good to catch up and to meet new people, but there were so many hellos and catching up that we didn’t actually get to the festival until after 2pm.

The thing about the festival is that it’s really just a huge party that everyone (yes, even YOU) is invited to.  It’s less about the craft fair and the music and all of that as it is about running into people you haven’t seen in a while, and spending time outside with a good cross-section of the city of Albany (and outlying areas).

So we walked and walked and walked and split up and Spawn found his posse-for-the-day and we walked more and ran into people I haven’t seen in a long time (as is always the case) and just DID Tulip Fest to the fullest.  Headed back home so that I could feed then kid and then he went off with his Dad’s family.  "Thank you for letting us take him," they said.  My reply, "I’m glad you are, I have a party to go to and I’m happier for him to be occupied."

They saw Iron Man again.  I’m a little jealous.  I could see that movie again.  If I ever had the time.

So we pulled ourselves together, I took a little nap, and we headed down to Slockin’s party.  Girl had only met a few of my friends, so it was nice to be able to introduce her to some of the people about whom she has been hearing stories for years.  Slockin and friends had done some homebrewing, so the beer was most excellent, and though it was a small group, it was a really good party and nice to spend time with people I don’t see as often as I’d like.

At least half the stories that I have from this weekend are ones that I’m not allowed to tell on the internet for a whole lot of reasons.  My privacy, the privacy of others, because you don’t snark about certain things publically.  But the bottom line is that I not only partied like a Rockstar, I made Girl follow suit. 

She left the party to hook up with some of her old friends and I intended to take the 10 minute walk to meet her at my house and let her in.  Thank goodness Spawn was still awake when she got there, because spraining my ankle meant that my 10 minute walk took at least half-again that long, maybe twice as long, I don’t really know.  My Libertarian gentleman friend told me that there was no way he was leaving me injured in downtown Albany to make my own way home, and despite my repeated statements of "Really, I’m fine, you don’t have to walk me all the way home", he pretty much ignored me.  Socialist feminist vs. Libertarian gentleman.  (I let him win.  He’ll most likely let me hold on to that delusion.  Heh.)

From there, Girl got to hear all the stories that happened after she left (the ones I’m not blogging) and we both stumbled into our respective beds to pass the fuck out and attempt to recover.  I figured out in the morning that it was actually a sprain and that I would be useless for at least the entire day.  Spawn kindly relinquished the recliner, I drove Girl to the bus station and decided to keep the car for at least one more day (probably, at this point, 2, so I don’t have to walk on this ankle).

All told, if nothing else, it was an eventful weekend for all involved.  Someday maybe I’ll tell some of the other stories.  In the meantime, I think I’m the only one blogging about it.  Frankly, I haven’t done any of it justice.

Well, it’s about to be a fun-filled, comic book kind of weekend.

Shortly, I’ll be seeing Iron Man with Spawn and some friends.  The boy begged for opening weekend and, being the good mom I am, I gave in.  (You know, because it’s not like *I* want to see it to or anything…  heh).

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, which I almost always miss.  This year, though, I am not going to miss it and, in fact, am going to hit several different stores.  I’m also going with Princess to buy a housewarming-type gift for a friend of hers.  Probably I should use that time to buy Dragonmaker’s wedding gift for the following weekend.  After that, it’s off to mom’s for a big family dinner, since my father’s widow is coming to town.  I also got invited to a party, but since he waited until the very last minute to invite people, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it.

Sunday, so far, is clear, but that doesn’t actually mean anything.  I may wind up doing laundry.  I need to get to the salon to regain the "Bam" that I used to have.  I think I have phone appointments with my friends who are far too busy (or incompatibly busy perhaps) to catch up with regularly.  I have a vague recollection of being asked to help "deconstruct a Tootsie Pop" and I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it’s sure to be a unique undertaking.

I won’t get much of a break in the action.  Girl comes into town on Thursday to be my date for the wedding.  Friday I’m taking the day off, renting a car, and going to the wedding (who gets married at 4pm on a Friday?).  Saturday and Sunday are the Albany Tulip Fest, which Spawn and I make a point to attend every year, usually both days.  Saturday night I have promised a couple of people that we’re going out drinking, hopefully not until the wee hours of the morning, because Girl is leaving on Sunday.  Somewhere in there, we have to get her up to the salon to get her a decent haircut.

*head spins*

Maybe I’ll have a chance to just recover (read: sleep in) on the weekend of 17/18.  That seems like a very long way away at this point.  In fact, it makes me tired just reading all the upcoming plans. 

Yeah, I could totally nap.

Imagine a church.

The high curved ceilings, the deep, ornate pulpit, the columns to either side, the chandeliers, the statues in the alcoves to either side.  Unless you’ve never been in a Catholic church, you surely have some idea what I’m talking about.

Now gut it.

Turn the pulpit into a stage with a black drop cloth against the wall.  Put folding chairs in the back and sit people on the floor in the front.  Make sure that the audience consists of a tight, familial community who exist on the fringe.  Put Kimya Dawson (who had a couple of songs featured in the movie Juno) on the stage alone with her guitar.

That’s where I was last night.

In a place where I’d be infinitely more surprised to not recognize people, a surprise hug from an unknown person is taken in stride because, probably, I know her.  If I don’t, it’s no big deal because she’s bound to still be (extended, unrelated) family.

Dawson caters to the kids without neglecting the adults and allows herself to not get hung up by the fact of there being kids around and give the adults in the audience a good show.  She encourages an audience that doesn’t need any encouragement to be in the moment, participatory or even just singing along.  A performer couldn’t ask for a more enthusiastic reception.

That said, it wasn’t really my thing.  While I could listen to a song or two if I happened across them on the radio (or, say, in a movie?) a half-hour was too much and an hour was Far Too Long for me.  I can offer you a measure of forgiveness for your guitar being out of tune, but not from the very start, not for the entire show (getting worse) and certainly not when you acknowledge that there’s a problem and propose to not solve it with a conspiratorial "Shhh!  Don’t tell."  That’s ok, we all already knew.

But, if other people enjoyed it, more power to ‘em.  I didn’t plan on going to this show, I just wanted to spend some time with Mom, who happened to have free tickets.  So that’s where we spent time and we came away with about the same opinion.  Sure, she’s cute, but that’s not enough for either of us.

My mom bought me a coloring book that is already working to inspire me to write a big long post and to connect some of the things that I’ve said before and scattered among my archives.  I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get all my ducks in a row to do that before the weekend, but we shall see what happens.

In the meantime, I got to spend quality time with my mom, see (in passing) people I don’t see nearly as often as I’d like and I walked away with (I think) a pretty decent post for today.  It’s never a loss if I at least come away with a good story.

Or, at least, the potential of a hat to match the shoes that were too cute to pass up, even if they didn’t go with *anything* that I owned.  And a hat we found, but we added in dinner and a show to the mix which made it actually worth blogging.

The show was at Caffe Lena and it was one of those things where mom said, "Oh, Fyre, you’re going to LOVE this."  I went to the band’s website and I was completely sold.  Lately I’ve been getting into music that quite a few others think is completely bizarre (like Gogol Bordello and Dropkick Murphys), but this band, Luminescent Orchestrii, was absolutely brilliant and unique.  Not only have I not heard this sort of fusion of so many different styles of music, I can’t think of a performance I’ve seen before so incredibly filled with passion.

It was hard to watch the show, in part because it’s such an intimate atmosphere.  We were very close to the stage and I had a very hard time trying to figure out who to watch, since all four of the performers were so frenetic and passionate about their music.  Everyone was so lost in each song and they were fascinating to watch in that trance-like state.  The other piece was that Caffe Lena is a sit-down-and-listen kind of place, but with a high-energy band that is playing tangos and waltzes and wishing they could encourage people to get up and dance, it hard to not crave that.  There was certainly a moment where I decided that I’m going to have to see this band play at a venue with more (any) dance space available.

We hung around after the show for a while, chatting with the band and with some of Dick’s friends and acquaintances.  It was really nice to hear from Rima and Benjy that they kept looking to our table during their show.  We were (to them) good to focus on and fun to watch because of our unrestrained enjoyment and encouraging, friendly attitudes.  I think that it has a lot to do with being performers and, for me, having been around that for so long.  If you’re doing a good job, I will tell you completely without words as you’re doing that excellent job.  Mom and Dick do the same thing, but I don’t think it’s actually a conscious plan for any of us.

For me, though, the most amusing part of the whole evening was at the very end.  I was heading out and mentioned to Sxip that I really enjoyed the show.  He thanked me and asked my name.  I replied, "[Fyre] and…" I unzipped my coat to show the t-shirt I was wearing which says (and I said it out loud), "I’m blogging this."  You can’t ask for a better moment than that and it completely made the shirt worth it.

One final note, which I’ve often thought, but was brought up last night during the show.  They say that it is an ancient Chinese curse which says, "May you live in interesting times."  I would really like to know how to say that in Chinese.  Then it could really be a curse.

Well I’m FAR too tired to go ahead and talk about all the events that went along with the EdWood Film Festival, like the microsodes themselves, or the lamest party ever, or the short films or the awards event at Ballinger’s, so I’m only going to say this much.

The microsodes that Spawn was in ("Lost Kids") won:

Winner: Best Producer, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography.

Runner-up: Best Merchandising, Critic’s Choice for Best Microsode, People’s Choice for Best Microsode.

Woo! 

I should be getting a copy of his microsode from his director very soon.  I also intend to buy the DVD when it becomes available.  Maybe I should have a party.  Maybe I will have a party, but right now I am far too exhausted to even think about it.

No, I’m not on vacation this week.

Saturday: Shrek 3 with Spawn.

Sunday: Clean and purge and rearrange the house (spring cleaning).

Monday: Take Spawn and his friend to see Pirates 3, then to Mom’s for a barbeque.

Tuesday: Movie night with Princess (The Valet).

Wednesday:  Unsure, possibly ice cream with BG John.

Thursday: Joan Armatrading in concert at the Egg (with Mom, this is her Mother’s Day gift).

Friday: Weird Al in concert at the Palace (with Spawn).

Saturday: (Tent.) 28 Weeks Later with Princess.  Unsure, possibly ice cream with BG John.  Possibly also painting (rooms, not pictures) with BG John.

Sunday: Die from exhaustion.

Sunday: 28 Weeks Later with Princess.

Sunday Night:  Die from exhaustion.

Monday: Reincarnate or reanimate (whichever is cheaper/easier) and start my new project at work.

I went to this Earth Day celebration on Saturday.  It was hosted by the local food co-op and, I suppose, I expected it to be more than it actually was.  Sure, there were homemade crafts and free workshops and informational tables set up, but there were just so many things that were glaringly wrong to me that it gave me a headache.

The first thing you have to understand is that I know a lot of people who believe very strongly in organic foods, naturopathic medicines, environmental conservation - and who actively DO something about that.  My mother has been an activist for as long as I can remember and tries to ingrain the idea of giving back and taking care of the earth to everyone she teaches.  I like to think she’s effective, at least to some degree.  But I am losing my point.

I went to this Earth Day celebration - at the co-op - and there were TONS of people.  Well, actually, no, there were tons of cars.  Few of which were fuel-efficient, many of which were oversized and only carrying one or two people (including the driver).  Where were the rows of bikes?  Where were the people who walked?  Instead there was a parking lot so overfilled that cars were idling as they waited for a space to open up.  Heh.  Irony.

There was nowhere in the celebration area to get drinks (water!  on a hot day!) or to get food until later, so I went into the co-op to grab some lunch.  It wasn’t until I was finished eating that I discovered that there were no recycling facilities available in the area.  Even mainstream events offer areas for empty bottles and cans, but the only thing available for disposal was a giant dumpster in the middle of the parking lot.  I also was a little disconcerted at how much waste was generated by my fallafel salad platter.  A full pie tin wrapped in Saran Wrap.  Sure, it crushes, but shouldn’t I be able to compost and recycle at an Earth Day celebration?  The facilities to do so were simply not made available to us.

As I baked in the sun, both from above and from the blacktop below, I noticed that few people were paying attention to sun screen.  I took care of myself and my niece, but only once did I hear a mention of a reminder for others.  I also didn’t hear much in the way of reminders for people to keep hydrated.  Ok, sure, we’re out of practice, since we haven’t had this kind of sunshiny weather for 6 months, but doesn’t caring for the environment mean taking care of ourselves as well?

I went to an Earth Day celebration and all I could see was rampant hypocrisy and a lack of planning.  It seems to me, if you’re going to go to the extent of organizing an event to raise awareness of environmental issues and ways to be pro-active, then the simple and accepted methods should be in place.

For my part, I arrived in a car that carried 5 people and I walked home.  Since I couldn’t find recycling on site, I took mine with me.  But after seeing all those idling cars and all the trash that went directly into the dumpster, I find myself wondering just how small of a minority I was a part of…  especially in the midst of people who like to think they’re doing their part by shopping at the co-op.

Maybe I’m a harsh judge, but I can only know what you show me, and at an event such as this, what you showed me was quite sad and pitiful, indeed.

It would not be an unfair assessment to say that my social nature moves in cycles.  I find that from time to time I withdraw into the safety of my crysallis, usually, but not always by choice, for periods of time while I rejuvinate.  Sometimes it’s situational and out of my direct control and I am forcilbly withdrawn from my socialization, sometimes I just need to withdraw from the overwhelming nature of being constantly on the move lest I burn out completely.

After recovering from the intensity that is inherently birthday week, I find myself emerging once again as the summer draws to a close.  My next 4 days will find me scattered and butterflying about.

Tonight I look at apartments.  I am going into this with a clean slate, having found some clarity and grounding recently and looking at it as round 1.  I don’t expect that today will be THE day, but it’s a numbers game in a lot of ways.  The more reasonable places I look at, the better my chances of finding the right one.  Since I will already be in town, I intend to spend some time with my family afterward.

Tomorrow is my day of embracing and effecting my own changes.  I am keeping this mostly to myself, though being as horrible as I am about keeping my own secrets, I have let a few people in on the plan - specifically the people who are closest to me, but long-distance, two people who were most available when I was bursting to share this information and the one person who literally needed to know.  Some are upset that I won’t disclose my plans, but once it’s over with, everyone will know…  it simply won’t be a secret come Saturday.

Saturday will be a day like I haven’t had in far too long.  It will start with the traditional birthday brunch, which will be a very nice thing.  I do like when my birthday extends past the Birthday Week thing.  From there we hit the end-of-summer annual street fair, Lark Fest.  I love LarkFest second only to the Tulip Fest.  The hippest street in the city gets closed off from end to end and people party all through the day.  There are street merchants and live music and wonderful food, but the best part, for me, is running into the people I don’t see regularly and having a chance to catch up.  But LarkFest can cause major burnout if I stay too long, so keeping me from overextending myself there is the party that I’m headed to immediately after.  This will likely continue into the wee hours of the morning, so I’ve already made arrangements to stay at my mother’s, so I don’t have to worry about making my way home.

If all that weren’t enough, I was pouting at Ed last night, lamenting that we haven’t had a poker night in AGES.  So he told me to make it go.  Thrown together at the last minute, as Poker Night almost always is, Sunday will be an evening of poker.

You know, it’s funny.  When I type it out, when I read it, it looks exhausting and it even makes me a little tired to think about it or write about it, but the reality is I think this is going to be an energizing weekend rather than one that wipes me out.

It has been far too long.

Let me start by saying that I support small businesses.  I think that starting a small business and making it successful is really what the American dream is.  Every small business owner wants his/her little shop to go national and become a chain like the now-boycotted stores such as Starbucks and Borders, but few actually make it.

Let me continue by saying that I was raised by activists.  That I was taught at a very early age about the value of small businesses and the evils of corporate giants and the horrors of monopolies.  While I have not grown up to be an activist myself, I do hold on to a lot of the ethics and morals that were taught to me by people who still believe that corporations have at least some measure of evil and that’s it’s almost always better to spend a little more to support a small business.

I don’t buy coffee at Starbucks - pretty much ever.  Usually I can find a better cup of coffee just about anywhere and, if I can’t find a specialty coffee place, a cup of joe will do me just fine.  I don’t do much fast food at all and never McDonald’s because it gives me food poisoning every single time (I was recently informed that the probable reason for food poisoning at McD’s is because they inject their french fries with beef extract,  I haven’t eaten mammal in about 20 years, so there you go).  I rarely eat at chain restaurants, not because I don’t like them or eschew them, but because I can usually get more satisfaction from a different restaurant.  i even order pizza from a local place rather than Pizza Hut or Domino’s.  I would rather buy my greeting cards at a funky little shop on Lark Street than just about anywhere else.  I rarely go see movies at the Regal (or whatever chain) theaters, preferring the indie art house or even the little local place with the smaller screens.

I do support local and small businesses on a regular basis.

All that said…

There has been talk of rezoning an area near where I live.  Walking distance, in fact.  It’s right by the hospital, the law school and several other businesses and they plan to put in a Panera and a 24 hour Walgreen’s.  I am excited by this.  I like the idea of having Panera (one of few chains I do enjoy) and a chain drug store close enough to walk to.  And it pisses me right off that the busybody activists in Albany are trying to prevent this from happening. Finish Reading »

No, that’s not true, they didn’t really, but on the very off-chance that Andy does stumble across this, I want him to know that I am not one for empty threats or empty promises

I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed out back until much later, not that it would have stopped me.  Even had I known earlier I still would have found a way, it was a whim, not something integral to my plans.

I went by myself with the intention of hanging out with the band that I have come to respect and adore.  I hadn’t heard of the other two bands before, but I went with an open mind looking forward to the concert as a whole.  I wandered around for a bit before the concert started and chatted up the merch guy.  What can I say, it got me some free stickers, which is always a very cool thing.  I found a spot near enough to see and hear well for the first band, who I had never heard of, The Lashes, from Seattle.  They were good and I enjoyed hearing them, so when I saw them standing outside, I picked up and went out back to chat up the band (sans Ben, the lead singer, who was busy signing autographs).  Nice guys, all.  I figure it’s always a good idea to befriend whatever bands are playing, especially if you’re trying to get in with another.  Of course, I must have made an impression later when I finally did meet Ben, explaining that we missed each other before as he was "off whoring himself to the fans".  heh.

OK Go was up next and pardon me for repeating myself, but they give good show.  These guys are most excellent performers and they seem to really bask in being rockstars.  They really perform to the audience and play off the crowd.  I doubt anyone would have known that Damian was under the weather had he not told us at the beginning of their set.  They’re just a fun band to watch and, when the people in the crowd get over themselves enough to get into the music, it’s an excellent experience.  I didn’t immediately accost them, but I did make my way outside again to chat with Damian about the guy he recommended to me three days before.  They were spirited inside to sign autographs, so I went inside, but took my time heading over to the table where they stood.  It was then that I pitched my…  a-HEM…  inspiring idea, but Damian was sick and Dan doesn’t do that, so it was up to Tim who was unlikely, and Andy…  although I guess inspiration is not something often offered to these guys…  I surprised them.

Next up was She Wants Revenge.  Again, a band I had not heard before.  They were good, but not really my thing.  They’re a little more gothy or emo than I tend to like, but I still enjoyed the show.  Right as they started I ran into a couple of friends who I hadn’t seen in probably a year or more, so I went out back (this was my third time) to catch a signal so i could send a text message about running into these two, and that’s when I got busted.  "Miss, we need you to come inside, only the bands are allowed out here."

*sigh*  After heading outside to accost the bands twice already, I get busted for sending an unrelated text message.  However, since I am, in fact, a reasonable person, I went inside, was properly repentant and didn’t get thrown out of the club (unlike a couple of girls who were giddy and reckless and, I have a feeling were trying to get thrown out.  Before the end of the show, they were successful.)

Once the show was over, I stuck around to find out what was going on.  I was still hoping that Andy would take me up on my offer, but he wasn’t really to be found at that point.  I did have a chance to chat with Tim for a while, who is a very cool, very sweet guy and, while I find that Damian is one of the nicest, most polite people I’ve encountered (what little encounter I’ve had), the poor guy really was sick and pretty much just kept to himself. 

The lead singer from She Wants Revenge, Justin, came and introduced himself to me, which was cool.  He was a nice guy to chat with.  For all my girls who’ve shared in this conversation, you all would have been duly impressed with the sheer number of men in dress hats.  I made a point to express my approval and our various conversations on the subject with all of them.

I finally tracked down the last man, Andy, at the very end of the night.  They weren’t expecting it, so they weren’t really up for it.  *sigh* for bad timing on small things.  So I chatted him up for a while and he hugged me as a consolation prize which was a little odd, but who am I to refuse any hug from any source?  The thing is that these guys - all of them, from all three bands, are just good guys.  Really nice guys.  These are the type of people I want to hang out with.  I choose my friends carefully and the qualities that I look for are exhibited in these other folks, who happen to have some measure of fame and celebrity.  I don’t track them down or engage them in conversation to say "Neener neener I met a rock star" I do it because I believe that spending time with these people will enrich my life or my night somehow.

And, of course, it gets me that much closer to my goal of wanting to know everyone.