When The Going Gets Weird ...
So, last night went a bit fugazi. Lea was supposed to read on IrRegular Radio, so we journeyed to Boston for her interview. We arrived at the empty looking building, stopping on the wrong floor where we inadvertantly discovered a cool looking used book and record store. The gentleman working there directed us to the fifth floor, where we arrived at the office IrRegular Radio shares with DigBoston. The door was locked.
So, we hung out for a few minutes, when we heard the elevator stop. We assumed it was the person interviewing Lea, but instead it was DigBoston's editor, who took pitty on us and let us wait in the lobby, and even gave Lea a cup of tea and me a beer. We chatted for a while, and he showed us the office, and then we waited a little longer, and then finally gave up and went home. The crossed wires all got sorted out later, and it's all good, but I find it kind of hilarious to drive to Boston, have a beer in a mostly empty newspaper office, and then drive home.
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Friday night, I covered Phish. As I think I said on Facebook, people were alternately telling me that I was either going to have my mind blown or that I'd be bored to tears. I can't really say either happened, but I enjoyed the show and walked away with a lot of respect for the band. Anyway, my review is here, along with some thoughts from my colleague, Sara Schweiger, for whom this was her 20th show. You can also read my local band suggestions for a Halloween playlist here.
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Monday was a touch surreal, watching Larry Jaffe read for The Dirty Gerund Poetry Series at Ralph's Rock Diner. I don't think I've seen Larry since I moved away from Southern California, over a decade ago. (Has it really been that long? Geez, Louise.) Larry was in rare form, and the crowd ate him up. What I like about Larry is that you can drop him in front of just about any room, and he's fine ... even that night, when a heavy metal band upstairs was drowning out half of everything. (Not sure was up with that. Ralph's doesn't usually book bands upstairs on Mondays. Odd.)
Anyway, it was good to see Larry, and great to see him having a blast on that stage. Like I said, the crowd there adored him, and he was just letting loose and flying, climbing furniture and shouting (although, as I said, that was partly out of necessity.) Not sure I would have reprised the poem "Unprotected Poetry" in the 2nd half, but eh. Whatever. The crowd was buying what he was selling, and I have to say, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him till he turned up. I get that a lot, actually.
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Taking a short break from working on Why We Should Suffer For This now that the first draft is done. Just needed to step away so I can make revisions with a fresh eye. In the meantime, I've knocked out another Whitney Bierce witch story, a sort-of sequel to Baby Detonate For Me, called Hang the DJ: A tale of Witchcraft and Nightclubs. Will be doing a dry reading of it in a super-secret undisclosed location Friday night. (Backchannel me if you want me to disclose.) It was nice writing for Whitney again, like getting a visit from an old friend.
