I’m starting this early, 9:02 AM. Maybe that means I’ll get things done today. I’m less tired than I’ve been most mornings of late. I’ll hope for the best.
Yesterday was the second Tuesday of the month and that means I was at John Platt’s On Your Radar; the guests were Blue Plate Special, Orly Bendavid and the Mona Dahls, and Jesse Ruben. I did something I rarely do, ate before the show. I had dinner with at the grilled cheese place with Dan, Phyllis, and John. It wasn’t even an accident, I planned on eating with Dan and Phyllis. I’m boring, I had grilled ham and cheese, not one of their fancy grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m a man of simple tastes, simple food and good friends is all I need to keep me happy.
Fred couldn’t make it, so Dan and Phyllis joined me at my table. I sit next to John; it was the same crew as at dinner. Jamie and Marty were there, I saw both of them Sunday night at the Red Molly, Birds of Chicago, et al show. It’s a tight community. I was delighted to see old time On Your Radar regulars, Rona and Bob. I gave them a hard time for sitting as far from me as possible in the room. As usual I ask why I have any friends. Who else was there? Richard & Viki, Glenn not Glenn, and Fred not Fred. The X not X formation is used when I think My Gentle Readers will think I mean another person with the same first name. Fred not Fred means Fred Arcoleo who is playing the next On Your Radar, not Fred that usually sits with me.
This was my first time see Jesse Ruben. I’m going nuts trying to figure out who he looks like. I’m not sure if it’s someone famous or someone I know personally. I just know that every time I see him I get a flash of familiarity. It’s related to anomia when you can’t come up with a word or a person’s name, and just as annoying. Jesse made a great impression on me during sound check. I apologized for spelling his name wrong, I wrote “Rubin” when I created the Facebook event. He is of course used to it. The part that impressed me is that he said, “I just want to be famous enough that people spell my name right.” He’s a funny guy and a kindred spirit. I was glad to see that the rest of the audience connected with him too. He’s a born entertainer. He said he was having a bad day but that’s hard to believe as he comes off so positive. He makes you feel good.
Orly is the only one on bill that I already knew. She caught John’s attention when she submitted her song for On the Griddle at NERFA. That’s the workshop where the first minute of a song is played and DJs discuss it. I was sitting with Orly when it was played and my first reaction was, “This song is great” and my second was, “Hey, this is Orly.” She finished the set with the same song and it still blew me away. I love when a musician hits it out of the park. This might have been my first time seeing her with the full band. She’s on the “I don’t see her often enough” list.
Blue Plate Special is a progressive bluegrass band. Progressive is the wrong word but I’m being anomic and gets the point across. I’m a sucker for bluegrass whether trad or progressive. Unusually they had only one song with banjo. They had to slip it in, as it’s a requirement if you want to call yourself bluegrass; it’s in the bylaws.
After the show as I wasn’t eating I socialized for a while before heading home. It was a bit wet out, not quite raining, but enough that I didn’t walk to Broadway-Lafayette to get the D train. I was rewarded as I had hardly any wait for the F train that I take just one stop. At least taking the F didn’t cost me time.
The worst thing about yesterday is that I didn’t go to the DMV to replace my driver’s license. That’s why I’m writing early today, to make sure I get out of the house in time to take care of it. Everyone is being very solicitous about me getting robbed on Saturday. The way my brain works the tough part is dealing with the bureaucracy replacing my ID not the crime which I didn’t find traumatic. Getting my license is tougher and getting my insurance card is much tougher. My brain and welcome to it.
Wise Madness 