So, what’s new? I am going to have a middle school teaching interview next week. I gave them my availability and I’m waiting for them to give me a time. It is of course someplace inconvenient, Canarsie. If I get the job, I will have to move someplace on the L line. That makes it inconvenient for everyplace else I frequent. Still, it’s a job and pays decent money, that’s what counts the most. It will be a video interview. I have to make sure to shave. I’m even going to wear a tie. I’ve mentally adjusted to middle school. There are advantages to students that age. They tend to like me, and I like them.
Do you know what’s not new? Me having trouble writing every day. That’s part of a larger problem I discussed in therapy. I discovered there’s a name for it, functional depression. I don’t feel depressed but I’m acting like a depressed person. I recognized that was what was going on. I’m doing a poor job at selfcare. I have not been going for walks every day and I haven’t been eating right. Writing got easier as I can’t take a walk now, my other option, as I got two emergency weather alerts about snow squalls. If it does hit, I might get dressed, run outside, and spend a few minutes in it experiencing extreme weather. This has not changed since I was four years old, and Hurricane Esther hit. I had to look up the year, but I felt I was a preschooler. I was disappointed that trees weren’t being pulled up and went flying. I either went outside or was not allowed to go outside. I’m guessing the latter but who knows? It really wasn’t dangerous to be out there for a minute. My clear memory is looking out the window. Enough of the flashback. It’s time to talk about good things.
On Thursday I went to see Andrea Asprelli and Jason Borisoff at Rockwood Music Hall stage 3. I originally knew them as half of Cricket Tell the Weather. I have been a big fan in all their endeavors. Andrea’s solo album with guests, including Jason made my top albums list and it was not borderline. It knew it would be on the list since the first listen. I think the other half of Cricket was in the audience. I saw Dave Speranza’s hair, he’s tall and his hair is tall, and that makes him easy to spot. At one point Andrea said something to Doug in the audience who I am guessing is Douglas Goldstein who I didn’t see. As I’ve been talking about my trouble with names of late, I’ll continue here. It took me a while to remember that Andrea’s last name is not Asperelli. There’s even a name for wanting to insert the vowel like that. It’s why some people say ath-uh-lete. The Jason issue is new, I had a crisis of faith on whether it was Jason or Jayson. If I get that down, will I then start thinking it’s Borisov? That’s just a difference in transliteration from either Yiddish or Cyrillic. Why am I putting these ideas in my head?
Even worse none of that is the point. The point is that they are great. In Cricket Andrea played fiddle. As she has most of the singing duties in the duo fiddle is difficult, so she mainly plays banjo. I have to move her place in my mental filing system from fiddlers to fiddler/banjoists. No matter where she is her music makes me happy. As I want everyone to be happy that means that you should see them too. When their album comes out, you’ll be hearing it on Gord’s Gold. They have a new single from it. You should hear that next week.
Yesterday I got myself to take a walk. I went through Bronx Park; I haven’t done that since the before times. I chose a bad day as it was wet, I had to stick to paved paths and there were places where they were muddy. I walked 3.72 miles which is OK. I was put to shame by my friend. I started talking to her before therapy, she was on her walk. She called me back halfway through my walk and was still walking when I got home and for some time after.
That reminds me, therapy! My standing appointment is Friday at 2 PM. There are some weeks it is canceled. I had it in my head that yesterday was one of those weeks. I color code them and saw the red for canceled. It’s sage when I have all medical appointments as I want my healthcare providers to be sagacious. I think the problem was that was looking at my schedule for a week next month and that stuck in my head. Not checking when I woke up was part of the lack of selfcare.
Back to something good. While I was on the second call with the walking friend, I got a call from another dear friend that it’s been too long since I talked to. As I cut off the walker for therapy, I decided to call the other friend back. I did and we talked then. Few things are better for depression than talking to my favorite people. The second caller and I even talked about another favorite person of mine. They don’t know each other well but I’m sure they’d click.
And that reminds me of yet another good thing. For February I did a set on Gord’s Gold each week for Black History Month. I am having so much fun with that and learning so much I decided to do the same for March, Women’s Month. Part of what makes it educational for me is asking for friends for suggestions. I asked a friend in Chicago who knows both folk music and women’s history for a suggestion and she sent me a Dolly Parton song, 19th Amendment. I told her what I really want is songs about historical women and she said that she has a friend, who is doing an entire album about Madame Curie. The album is Our Lady of Radium or as I remembered it, Radium Woman. I asked her to ask her friend to send me a copy for airplay. I listened on Bandcamp to make sure I liked it. Then I talked to the walking friend, and she had a friend with a new song called Radium Girls. What? Two songs about to be released about Marie Curie? Is radium in the air? That seemed so odd. Her friends live in Brooklyn, and she was surprised I didn’t know them, Ellia and Jeff. The names did not ring a bell. Then I got the email from the Chicago friend’s friend with the album. It was signed, Ellia and Jeff. The thing is they are two different songs on the same album. I figured it was remembering the titles incorrectly on somebody’s part. That was me. This is such a small world, a friend in Brooklyn and a friend in Chicago have a mutual friend in Brooklyn that I didn’t know. I then checked on Facebook and discovered more mutual friends including The Trachtenburgs who aren’t friends with either Chicago or Walking. Then it clicked in my head that she knows Ellia from Marching Band World and I thought she mentioned Funkrust Marching Band. I saw them play at The Porch. It was Funkrust but Ellia was not at that show. Turns out we did run into each other years ago when Charming Disaster, Ellia and Jeff shared a gig with Jason Trachtenburg. I always remember that Jason’s name is spelled that way, but I do sometimes think it’s Trachtenberg, the same transliteration issue. I love all this small world stuff.
I have to work on next week’s Gord’s Gold but you might have missed this week’s. We wouldn’t want that. You can listen right here. The artists played are awesome.
Wise Madness 