My Journey to Musical Nexus

My life is so boring now that I should do some creative writing. I did write a poem while in the bathroom at 6:30 AM. I’m surprised I remember that I wrote it; I forgot until this moment. I recorded it as a voice memo on my phone. I think this is the first time I wrote a poem in my head. It is of course short as I don’t have a good enough memory to remember anything longer, and my natural poetry form is quatrains. I think in quatrains. Anything else requires special effort.

I have been on the inside looking out.
Now I’m outside looking in.
I am not fooled by my reflection.
I’ve been inside the mirror

That came from thinking about something that before psych meds and therapy would have sent me down black hole of depression. Now it’s a muse. That’s a much better alternative. There is something to psychiatry and psychology. Good thing, I have many friends that have those as careers. Imagine if I had Bob Hartley as a therapist. He’d have to cancel my groups with Mr. Carlin because of social distancing.

On the food news front, I made country style ribs in the air fryer for what might be the first time. It just might be the first time I made it using air fryer directions. I was surprised that the cooking time was only 18 minutes. When I took it out and cut it I found out I was right to be surprised. I put it in for another 5 minutes. The result was the best country style ribs I’ve cooked, better than in the slow cooker or the oven. I never had it as tender or juicy. Here’s my recipe. It’s super easy.

Ingredients:
Country Style Ribs
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Paprika
Black Pepper
Garlic Salt
Barbecue Sauce

Directions:
Brush the ribs with olive oil on all side.
Rub in the kosher salt and paprika on one side.
Rub in the garlic salt and black pepper on the other.
Cook at 365º for 15 minutes
Turn over and brush on barbecue sauce
Cook for an addition 8 minutes (the recipe I followed said 3)
Take out and pour on more barbecue sauce.

I decided on the spot what to use on the rub. Experiment. Always experiment when cooking.

I continue to follow AT&T’s advice from the ’80s to reach out and touch someone. Last night it was Deni and Katrina.
Today I’ve already talked to Katrina, my sister Sue, and Jo. Speaking to your friends in far flung places is good for your mental health. It’s good for your friends’ mental health. We can isolate together.

I would not know most of My Gentle Readers if it were not for Dave Van Ronk; through a long series of connections he brought me into the folk music world. If it weren’t for Dave I wouldn’t have any Gentle Readers as I would not have met the person that got me blogging. My life would be very different. I’m not going to tell the entire story now, I’ve done so before, but I’ll write about one small part of it. In the early-mid-nineties my life was going poorly. I was depressed and lonely. Thanks to Dave I was listening to WFUV. I have no idea what band inspired me, but I decided to go out and hear a show even though I had no one to go with. No, I do remember! It wasn’t a band I discovered from WFUV, it was disappear fear. Now it’s coming back to me. They played at the Rodeo Bar. Cindy you were late in your pregnancy with Dylan. What year was that? I met the band going on after them, Valentine Smith, on the street before I went in. I had heard them on Vin Sclesa and decided to stay and watch them. When they were done they told me that they’d be playing at Café Sine. I decided to see them again. I did and loved them and decided that even though I felt awkward sitting there alone I would start going out to hear live music regularly. One important thought was that I might make friends this way. I was very short on friends then. At first the only friends I made were the musicians playing but once I got online that started to change. It took a number of years to pay off, but it worked. First I became part of the Moxy Fruvous online community, the Fruheads. I’ve still friends with Fruheads I met in the last century. Then in 1999 I took the bull by the horns and decided to not go to just a concert alone, but to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. That opened up entire new realms. That was the last festival I’ve gone to alone; I can’t do otherwise as wherever I’ll go I’ll have friends there. I now have not just friends but a community.

Then lesson that I need to drive home into myself is that it’s because I acted and did something I didn’t feel comfortable doing. That’s a difficult lesson to learn. I just looked at my phone records, six of the ten people I’ve talked to in the last week I know only because I took that action. Two of the others were my sisters who I have literally known all my life. The key steps were Dave Van Ronk, WFUV, disappear fear, Valentine Smith, Moxy Fruvous, and Falcon Ridge.