Sorry I didn’t write yesterday; I had a mild Crohn’s attack. I need to discuss the language with my doctor. I didn’t have a flareup, food just got stuck in the scarring in my small intestine from previous flareups. I had to go out yesterday as I had a 1 PM appointment to reapply for Medicaid and health insurance. I couldn’t miss that. Because I was ill I didn’t even have coffee before I left yet I still managed to get to my appointment on time. The woman I spoke to was great. This is the kind of thing that’s very difficult for me. I had to do Buddha breathing repeatedly to get through it, but she made it easier. Now I’m back to being on Medicaid. On April first I’m back to being on my health first insurance. Whew. Good thing I didn’t need to see a doctor yesterday.
At some point while I was out the obstruction in my intestine opened up. I suspected it would as I heard bowel sounds even before I left. When I was finished my appointment, I experimented with the churros on sale right outside the office. They were great and I felt fine. When I got home I had a peanut butter sandwich. I hate to say it, but I don’t feel great now. I might end up skipping breakfast. I’m not going to let it stop me from going to therapy. Hopefully I’ll be in good enough shape tonight to see Rozier at the Jenkins House concert.
I would have been very disappointed if I hadn’t felt up to going out last night, I had plans to see Christine Lavin’s On a Winter’s Nights tour at the Landmark on Mainstreet in Port Washington with Ellen. We met at Penn Station and took the LIRR there. As I pretty much always do when I go to the Landmark I we ate at Finn MacCool’s across the street. As I hope you can guess from the name it’s an Irish Pub. That means you should know what I ordered; that’s right, bangers and mash. I had the timing perfect. I made our reservation for 6:15 and that’s when we arrived.
On a Winter’s Night is a compilation album Christine put out in 1994. It features songs by 15 artists. She was joined last night by four of them. Patty Larkin, Cliff Eberhardt, John Gorka, and Cheryl Wheeler. Robin Batteau was a special guest. I think I somehow never saw an On A Winter’s Night’s show before even though I’ve seen all of the artists many times.
In the first set each artist appeared onstage alone and did three songs. In the second set they were on stage together and performed in the round. In between I helped Christine sell merch. That should not surprise any of you. I’ve done it enough times. The Landmark is one of my old haunts. When I lived in Bayside it was one of the closer venues. I knew a lot of people in the audience, though not all were local. First I spotted Gene & Isabel then Marty, Jeff, Dan & Phyllis, and John Platt who was the emcee. Then came the people that traveled further from me, Adrian from Westchester Rod, from the Philly area. He’s John’s brother. Despite it being a 2-hour trip to get there this was very much a home game. I saw musicians I loved, people I loved, there’s overlap between those two groups, and even ate at a favorite restaurant.
Christine, John, and Cheryl are perhaps the three greatest musicians at balancing funny and serious songs. Cliff is a strange case, he’s hysterical but his songs are for the most part very sad. The first time I saw him was with Christine and she introduced him as “The Fred Flintstone of Folk Music.” I still think of him that way. Back in 2001 or so John Gorka referred to Mark Erelli as “Young Mark Erelli” and himself as “Old John Gorka.” That is how I always think of both of them. I don’t know what John is talking about, he’s about my age, he’s young.
I was fortunate enough to get a ride home from Adrian. I was hoping someone would be there that could give me a ride to Manhattan, I didn’t expect all the way home. I am really fortunate to have so many great friends. It’s important to remember to count your blessings. As the kid that had no friends in high school I find this particularly gratifying.
I think I’m feeling up to breakfast, so I better get going. It will be my first coffee in two day. How did I survive? I feel bad as I didn’t write as much about the artists as I usually do, I’ll use my health as my excuse.
Wise Madness 