Yesterday was a good and long day. Let’s see if I can stay awake while I write this. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Fridays mean therapy up in Harrison. Getting there was frustrating. The bus from the Harrison train station to the hospital never came. I had to take a cab. If I hadn’t waited for the bus I could have walked. Public transit in Westchester is terrible.
My therapist enjoys our sessions entirely too much. I’m very good at being a patient, I have experience. She commented that I was unusually happy, I didn’t stop smiling. That’s what NERFA, John Platt’s On Your Radar, and hanging out with Katherine will do for me. The two days by myself helped too. It’s all about balance. With all the happy thoughts I was able to get myself to do some difficult things in therapy. It’s not all fun and games.
After therapy I headed out to Bronxville to see Deni Bonet at the Bronxville Women’s Club. I thought that was almost impossible to get to. When Kelly Flint started playing there I checked on Google Maps and it pretty much said, “You can’t get there from here.” Deni told me that if I came to her house she’s drive me and then drive me home. Then I checked and saw I could get there from therapy, it just took two buses. So that’s what I did. What I don’t get is that now Google tells me I can get there from home in about an hour. Why didn’t it tell me that before?
I ate dinner when I changed buses in White Plains. It was right by the shopping mall and I ate at the food court. They had a great deal at the Cajun place. That was much better than the fast food I was expecting. I had Louisiana chicken, plantains, and spicy potatoes for $7.
To make things even better Bri called while I was eating dinner and we talked on the bus my next leg of the trip. She had good timing and had to stop talking just as I had to start concentrating on when do get off the bus. Google maps makes it easy. When we left the stop before mine I pulled the cord. The light went on saying, “Stop Requested,” and I gathered my things. It was dark and I didn’t know the area at all. It seemed a little far. It was. The driver went right past my stop even though I had pulled the cord. I got off the next stop but that’s about a half a mile down the road. There were no sidewalks and no streetlights so it was not a pleasant walk. Thanks to Google Maps and my phone I made it.
I beat Deni there. I had the time wrong by an hour. No matter, I met the women who ran the event, Kathy and the one whose name I forgot, and I read. There was a nice cosy library which doubled as the green room. I greeted Deni when she arrived then went back to reading as she got ready.
The Woman’s Club is a charming little venue. It’s set up with tables and the house was almost full. I found out that the series is booked by Al Hamburger who also did the sound. If you listen to Folk Music Notebook, Al’s name should be familiar. His recording studio is a sponsor. Ron Olesko usually preceeds introducing my spot, Gord’s Gold, with an ad for Al. We form a natural segue.
I’ve known Deni for something like 18 years, I have seen her countless times, but I never saw her in the configuration she played last night, a duo with guitarist Chris Flynn. They have great chemistry. I have enjoyed seeing Deni in every configuration. It’s pretty much impossible to not have fun at a Deni show. She’s a great violinist, singer, and songwriter. She’s also as funny as all hell when she talks. We can forgive her for playing accordion. Chris likes making jokes like that too. I played accordion, so I say that with love.
I then had the added pleasure of getting driven home by Deni giving us some much needed socializing time. I still haven’t heard the details of her month in Zanzibar. She’s going back in February. She was there thanks to the State Department. She says that she was not told to pressure Zanzibar to investigate Biden.
I have so many photos and videos to edit. It’s enough that I’m too intimidated to start. I’m going to have to. I’ll probably ended up taking more tonight when I see Jonathan Byrd at Common Ground Coffeehouse. I’m keeping busy.
Wise Madness 