Last you heard from me I was tired and sore but planning on going out. Then it hit me. Why should I go out for pleasure when I’m tired and sore? Dan would understand, so I canceled. It is usually the right decision to go out, this time it wasn’t. Not only that but I stayed in today too. I’m letting my body recover. My legs are still a bit tired. When I still thought I was going out yesterday I took a home COVID-19 test. The night before I had an epic sneezing fit brought on by allergies; no disease feels like that. Yesterday I wasn’t sneezing, but my nose was congested. That rarely happens when I’m not laying down in bed and felt different than usual. As part of me feels reckless for going out as much as I do I make up for it by being extra careful in other ways. The test was negative.
I’m picking this up more than six hours later. Much more. I was listening to the Met game when I started. They won yet again, this time in extra innings. Unfortunately, we found out that our best healthy pitcher, Scherzer is no longer healthy. He’s going to be out six to eight weeks with an oblique strain. So far, we are down deGrom, the best pitcher in baseball, Scherzer, perhaps the second best pitcher in baseball, and Magill who was nothing much until this season when he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. I’m starting to stretch out my arm. The Mets might need me before this season is out. I might not be able to throw it 60’6” think they’ll let me stand closer?
My accomplishment of the day was calling Montefiore to see if I can find a therapist. My therapist is retiring in a few weeks, and I have to find someone new. Once I do that, I’ll get a new psychiatrist too as my current facility only has package deals, a therapist and a psychiatrist. I’m on a waiting list now. I’ll have to stay with someone temporary till September or find someone outside of both my old system, St. Vincent’s and the one I use for all my other medical needs Montefiore.
I accomplished something else today. I finished programming next week’s Gord’s Gold, that doesn’t stream for seven more days. I don’t have to submit it until Tuesday, so I won’t consider it finalized. I might get new music before then. I might find something that goes better with songs already programmed. But whatever it is I’ve done the hardest part. This week’s show is perhaps the one I’m proudest of. I have two sets, eight songs about a difficult topic, abortion. With the help of my friends this is what I came up with.
1 Jean Rohe – Animal
2 Amy Speace – Ginger Ale and Lorna Doones
3 Amanda Shires – The Problem (feat Jason Isbell)
4 Ani DiFranco – Lost Woman Song
—– Break —
5 Karyn Oliver – About Enough
6 Malvina Reynolds – Rosie Jane
7 Bright Eyes – Miracle of Life
8 Crys Matthews – Sister’s Keeper (ft. Holly Near, Dar Williams, et al)
This all grew out of Jean Rohe’s new song Animal. It’s a very person song about her own experience. By coincidence it came out shortly after the leak of Alito’s preliminary opinion striking down Roe versus Wade. It wasn’t until I started recording the show that I realized that listeners my confuse Jean Rohe and Jane Roe. I had to point out the different spelling of the last name. I should have always spelled Jean’s last name; I don’t think people searching for her would try R-o-h-e. I know I’ve never seen it outside of her family. But that’s not the point, the point is that the song wanted me to say more about the right to choose and as a DJ the way to do that was to have the artists speak for me. Artists speak for themselves and for everyone. Art is hard.
When I couldn’t think of any other songs I turned to my friends. One of the first that was suggested was Amy Speace’s. I talk about Jean often enough that My Gentle Readers know that she’s, my friend. Back when Amy Speace lived in New York she was a dear friend. It’s sort of odd hearing such personal songs from people I know so well but not so well that we would talk about these things in conversation. I feel I should be telling them my most personal history. It’s odd but that I similar to what makes some people stalkers. They know so much about the artist that they feel the have a personal relationship. I know Amanda too. The only total stranger is Ani. I’ve been in the same room with her enough times that I might have said “excuse me” when I accidentally bumped into her but that’s not exactly a personal relationship. Jean has a song that starts with her talking about meeting Ani backstage at a show. I might be confusing it without another backstage story, but I think the conversation was “Excuse me where is the bathroom?” The bathroom is the great equalizer. We all go there the famous and the anonymous. Ani has a more famous song about abortion, Play God but I wanted something more personal.
The second set is more political. I called it Get Your Hands Off My Uterus, after listening today I realized it should have been Keep not Get. Either way it was inspired by lines from Karyn’s song, About Enough. “To the one who sees me as just my womb/To the one who’d really love to legislate my box.” Do you know Malvina Reynolds? She wrote Rosie Jane in 1974 shortly after Row v Wade, she was born in 1900. Her most famous song is Little Boxes, you might know it from the Pete Seeger version. That’s how I first heard it. She wrote songs that sound like ditties but pack a wallop. Miracle of Life is the only song by a man that I included. Connor Oberst wrote to raise funds for Planned Parenthood. If you buy it on Bandcamp that’s where the money goes. I finished with another musical crush Crys Matthews. Don’t let anyone tell you there is not great music being made now. Crys is one of the few political songwriters I don’t want to throw tomatoes at. I’m a tough audience.
I just reached a compromise with myself. I won’t publish this until the show is up on Mixcloud, tomorrow at noon. Then I can embed it right here and you can listen to it without even following a link.
I guess I should have made my Mets at the Quarter Turn review today. Oh well. Now listen to the show and not just the abortion songs. They are all songs you want to hear.
Wise Madness 