We’ve been having midterms and I’ve had trouble finding the time to write. What exciting things have happened? On Friday night I went to see Alex Battle at Sunny’s at the other end of the universe, aka Red Hook. It takes an hour and a half to get there. I had never seen Alex but had heard good things. Kari Groff, who I know and love, plays fiddle in his band. I met the drummer Charlie at Katherine’s birthday party. As for the bass player? Sorry, I forgot her name. I’m impressed that I remembered that there was a bass player. Low expectations are easy to meet and even exceed. I’m no dummy.
Alex and the band were great. They can play the blues, They can folk, They can pop, and they can party. There were lots of sing-alongs. I cannot resist a sing-along. I have new respect now for The Gambler. There were supposed to be two sets but they never took a break, two straight hours of great music.
Getting home was more painful than I hoped. I had to wait 21 minutes for the B61 bus. I had neglected to charge my phone between school and going out. It went dead so I had to entertain myself. I shouldn’t complain too much, I got to hear great live music and I have not been doing enough of that.
Saturday I went to the New York Botanical Garden with Dan. I was going there twice a week over the summer. I haven’t been back since school started. The main point was to hang out with Dan. I hardly ever have time with friends since I started teaching. Even Dan is better than nothing. That’s my obligatory insult to Dan. If I didn’t do that his wife Anna would be disappointed.
We went out for dinner afterward at a non-italian place on Arthur Avenue, the Little Italy of the Bronx. I had a fondue burger. That was amazing, much better than an ordinary cheeseburger. It’s not far from Maria’s Coffee and we stopped by after so Dan could get some of the best coffee in the Bronx. I have over two pounds at home so I didn’t.
I was not scheduled to proctor today but someone had to cancel so I took over Spanish midterm. That was very much not fun, the students were difficult and defiant. I don’t feel comfortable sharing what happened publicly but you can ask.
One last thing, mental health. My therapy was canceled on Friday and I thought that was OK. It was, but since then I hit a depression trigger. I’m a self-aware mental health patient. Even knowing doesn’t keep depression at bay. This is exactly what oncoming depression looks like.
I see the vortex but still have to fight like hell to not be sucked into it. I have learned to do that but it takes effort. The path of least resistance is to stop fighting and let myself get pulled in. I had to concentrate on other things at the time so I couldn’t stop and meditate. I did breathing exercises. Mostly I just kept steering my thoughts away from the vortex. That took a conscious effort. I would catch myself lapsing but always pulled out before I went under.
I finished all the actual grading. I still have to add up the scores and enter them. I could do them now. I could do that when I get home, and I might. I can do that while doing other things. I recorded this week’s Gord’s Gold and have already started on next week’s. I am always inordinately proud of the show.
Wise Madness 