‘yay’ free Rufies

I have to point out that on my way to the ‘Bowery’ I accidentally went to the homeless shelter, thinking it was the ‘Bowery Ballroom’, D’oh!

Ok time to mention Martha Wainwright, she was officially friggin awesome, two boot’s and all (yes she turned up in her wellies) not to mention a hot licking ‘gitt’-har. The highlight (other than the obvious) had to be one Mr. Rufus Wainwright who made an appearance and an encore. Singing songs, that are actually incredibly depressing and yet sung with such passion that it sometimes feels more like your at there secret therapy session rather than a gig, a very ‘agnus day’........ lets just say it was right up my ally! The most amusing thing had to be Rufus's head popping out of the right side of the stage as he watched his sister play.

PS: The support act ‘Sarah Blasko’ was really cool live as she only had one other musician with her, but a tad wet on the CD we got from the show, which was odd. She is kind of like a Bijork/Emiliana Torrini, singer songwriter from the far off land of OZ......

Your cup runneth over, but my glass is only half full.

I'm very interested in Moray's discussion of the proverbial glass. Never full, never empty; always somewhere in between. I've given the phrase quite a bit of thought before, and where I usually land is that it's an optimist's phrase because it assumes to begin with that there's something good in the glass. The complete sentence would be "The glass is half full of something good" or "The glass of something good is half empty." The meanings are reversed if you put, say, urine in the glass. Nobody I know would say, in a positive way, "That glass is half full of urine." And try to imagine a scenerio in which somebody would exclaim, "Hey! That glass of urine is half empty!"

I think the secret to the glass is to just accept that it's there and that no two people perceive it in exactly the same way, and try to have a sense of humor about it, no matter how much of whatever it contains. Easier said than done, I know, but nevertheless I'd like to share the following actual dialogue from a day when I spotted an abadoned bottle of wine, sitting on the pavement, while walking along with a couple of friends:

Me: Hey, it's still half full. Or half empty. However you want to look at it.
Friend: Who cares? Free wine!

Different stokes for different folks........... (a quick word on the negative)

This is an interesting topic, that has arisen in the blog, through my Yoga studies and through many of Bill Murray film’s. I have always been trying to grasp the concept, Lets begin with ‘the half empty glass’. I have to admit the idea that having a glass half empty rather than having it half full has been something that I hear time and time again, I wonder and worry about it.
For example I am always looking to fill my ‘glass’ up. However I don’t believe it is such a bad thing to look at a glass and say it is half empty anymore than if it was half full. More importantly there is a failure of acceptance going here of a different point of view, I find people who view the opposite (half full glass) are the ones who disagree and tend to be more negative and have an accusational tone to the opposite, as the criticism itself is a negative. AND for some reason they continually insist on pointing it out, virtually kicking someone who is down, when they are down.
Also the glass doesn’t always feel half empty, it can sometimes feel full and ever overflowing as if you love everyone and everything in the world, flying high, nothing can bring you down your completely at one with the world. Sometimes it can feel completely empty, as if you are being sucked down a hole at the bottom of your glass, deep into despair and darkness never to be seen again. Being aware of the subtle (or extreme) differences in your own life and the dramatic changes is surly what it means to be and feel alive. If this is a negative, then I say it is naive to assume the glass will always remain at the same fill level.

It has actually taken me some time to come to terms with the fact that I am ‘the dark’ member of the household and it is something which I now embrace wholeheartedly. I have always been attracted to negative undercurrents, how should I put it , the less pretty sides of life. As Beth-Ann wrote ‘she wouldn’t have it any other way’ and neither would I.
Along with every great artist or musician through history, I take the blame for every thing bad that happens, I take on the hardships of life as if it is a personal tragedy, rather than cloud them with the ‘sunny side up’ or live without a social conscience.
To be honest I really believe that if you face the negative straight on then for me at least I can get it out of my system and enjoy what I do love in the world. I also find a lot of positives and creativity in depressing people which I find a lot of ‘positive’ people rarely think about, hardly scraping the surface of a person’s personality. Often flaws/personalities/intimacies/beauties/differences/disagreements are missed or worse still not accepted or misunderstood. There should be more of a Live and let live attitude to the glass, (or as they say in Scotland Drink and let Drink attitude) as everyone should be allowed to be who they are.
I also find that it is part of a creative process for me too, if I am REAlly negative it means I am having a creative imbalance in my life and I need to paint, play music, or whatever.....
some of the best music ever written has come from the suffering of negative people who were actually clinically depressed, most of the great artist, musicians, comedians and writers were chronically depressed, running from it through there art or through addiction. It molds them, shapes them, taunts them and is why WE all love them.


Moray’s final thought for the day: (Go Moray, Go Moray)

Life’s hard, it ain’t right and as a human being I find I can’t turn away from the shite side’s of it. However the darker side’s to life are just as important as the lighter side’s. So perhaps you are miserable, perhaps you are ecstatic 24/7, the main thing is to be who you are and live your life in a way that doesn’t harm other’s or yourself, balanced and acceptance is the way you should look at your glass, balanced is the way you should live your life.

disclaimer

My Blog entries are purely aimed at non-house mate’s, as I said before you lot hear enough already of my rants ‘n’ farts and should never be taken as an insult, personal criticism, suggestion, insistence, persistence, etc...etc.............

Moray, you had me at *@#*!!!

Moray, Moray, Moray. I, for one, don't at all mind your insane ranting and raving. I don't mind when I come home at the end of the day and you're there with an uplifting tidbit of news such as, "Did you see there's flooding in New Hampshire?" or "Did you see that they're saying the bird flu is going to be the worst epidemic in American history?" or "Did you hear that Nestle has joined forces with all the oil companies to market heroin to children in Southeast Asia?" or "Did you hear that we're all going to die a wicked and painful death by this time next week?"

You should know that, half the time, you're just preaching to the choir. The other half of the time, I'm interested in your point of view and very entertained.

As I was typing that last sentence, you shouted out, and I quote: "This song's actually got really depressing lyrics."

You are all gloom and doom, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a nice balance for Aaron's Cher references.

hog, hog, hog, shnarff, shnarff

Just wanted to mention the support band at the Devendra Gig, Tarantula A.D., they were awesome, kind’o like ‘Rachel's’ during the menopause. would highly recommend you check’em out to break up your Shitny Smears collection. THE, only support act that was AS good as the main act that I have ever seen, and I love that Banhart dude...... go figure!

rant 2, yeah baby, there's more to come

My good lady wife and I have gone to two ama’s’ing (that's right Mr. US Spell checker that's an ‘S’ not a ‘Z’) gigs recently, Beck and Devendra Banhart, both performances were excellent and I would recommend purchasing there music or going to see if possible(though buy as cheaply as you can find, namely avoiding chains such as Virgin and Tower records, also if you think your getting a deal with itunes, you might, but they don’t, the record companies get 70 cents from the 99 cents you pay, poor old apple and that’s without any of the usual packaging and handling charges they have to pay).
HOWEVER, what the f**g has happened to fellow music fans, in both gigs, the fans were assholes, bumping, pumping, swaying, talking and generally being totally rank to anyone else they came into contact with. Why do people believe that this behavior is acceptable when they go to gigs, come on pot at a gig is as old as George W’s medicare policies.
Getting back to the point, Devendra Banhart, he really is an amazing singer and his mates, ‘hairy fairy’ complement his voice and his shear essence and zeal for life so well, that it is almost hard to imagine him as a solo artist. Beck too never ceases to amaze with his talents and skill for singing and playing music.

a'boot time skivers

right, I have had enough of wanna be’s and um, well, other people using the blog, it is now my turn to reoccupy the blog space. Beginning with Bird flu, sniff....... pluck........sniff....
um yeah, I feel I should write about not actually writing I feel completely uninspired to do so and yet inspired all at once, I am weathering with many issues in the world today, bird flu, Katrina, earth quakes, Tsunami's, running out of cat food’/l.jntgedrfyhiojgiu civytpu;ih (my cat’s walking all over my computer while I’m typing), my homework, homeland security and more devastatingly enough the drying out of the Amazon basin and deforestation:

rahttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4362760.stm

Which nobody else in the world seems to care about, why??????????

Yes I’m the openly vocal controversial one, who will constantly insist on the environmental take on everything, firstly fighting for the freedom of my fellow house mates ever flowing bottoms by insisting on eco friendly toilet paper (Please people avoid Kleenex toilet tissue and there products) I will be here to inform and rant about all that stinks in the world (fist off KFC, scum f*****s from hell, why there existence is tolerable in a ‘civilized’ world, I just don’t know, I mean, you want to look at issues with bird flu, first just take look how ‘people’ treat them).
I will be casting my yogi philosophy to the wind and preach to your soul about green issues (avoiding US politics mainly for visa issues, but lets face it, YOU all know how shit it is right now). But yes I think everyone else in the house is sick of my drowning on in the negative, so I have decided to bring you all down in the hope that people make a change.

...And it was tasty.

It WAS a tasty dinner! I'm now starting to realize that even though you are living with 3 wonderful people and 2 kitties, the possibility of spending real, quality time with them is not as easy as I'd thought. By the time I get home every night, I'm totally exhausted, and want to flake out in front of my gameboy for that last few moments of consciousness before I tank out. That is a sad thing.

We're all busy bees, though, and that is a good thing. For example, Moray's been immersing himself in a world of yoga schooling. I'm very proud of him, and completely baffled the laws of physics allow for him to do headstands so easily. I gotta say, that peacock thing is just whacko. The man can balance himself horizontally on just his hands. WEIRD!!!! Yet totally captivating. Meanwhile, he makes me turkey sandwiches for lunch in the morning, after making me coffee, as well. Word up, husband. You rock. :D

Beth Ann is immersing herself in her new job, adjusting to a whole new circle of contacts, getting into the rhythm of this crazy town. But I know she's enjoying herself, because she came up with a great idea for a comedy sketch for her office party talent show... (yes she works somewhere where her office has a talent show, and i'm completely jealous). I'll only say it involves about 5 company tech guys named "Mike." That's pretty funny on it's own.

Aaron (Dubla) is, as we speak, upstate performing in a show! and spent all week going to Broadway shows and doing make-up for his tv show. The man rules, and I can no longer keep track of him. I long for the days when we all assaulted each other verbally while fighting for the monkeyball championship! Alas! I'm totally excited he has so much going on. In fact, he was at an event the other day where Rufus Wainwright tripped in front of him.

And the kittens... well, I'll be honest. Their schedules aren't quite as jam-packed with excitement as the rest of our family members; however, it's just not easy sleeping all day. and dreaming... about food. Then eating. and sleeping some more. It's a rough life. But they're getting big, I'll take some pics soon.

As for moi, I've spent the past few weeks downloading random images of celebrities from the 1940's, and harrassing Lincoln Center for a b-roll of some shows they've put on recently. I have said the phrase "Hello, my name is Maria Dessena, and I'm helping to organize a benefit dinner in honor of the Peter Jay Sharp foundation" approximately 50,000,078 times this week alone. And I still manage to screw it up. I kept calling it the Jay Peter Sharp foundation, because I had a teacher in college we used to call J. Peter B. He taught early music history. Rockin' Pete Burkholder. But I digress.

Well, that's my update. That, and mentioning the upcoming, rockin' at ya, KURT WEILL recital on Nov. 5th! yeah! Kurt Weill is officially taking over NYC. Because I said so. As well, next weekend is our house halloween/housewarming/maria b-day party! Looking forward to that.

If you're still reading, twenty years later, I'll end with a brief story. My dear husband and I spent last evening at Webster Hall attending a Devendra Banhart concert. Devendra didn't actually come onstage until about 11:15 PM, at which point I was mostly comotose and in pain from standing in unsupportive shoes for a few hours. But previous to his arrival, a band came on called Tarantula AD. Cellist, guitarist (well, actually, it was a two-necked guitar/bass thingy, not sure the official name of those things), and percussionist. At some point, they all played piano. Each one. and The guitarist switched to cello, and the cellist switched to violin. then a soprano came out. All the while, they were rockin' like Faith No More. It was very confusing and compelling. Just wanted to share that. I'm now going to go look them up online.

Signing off,

Maria

We had our house dinner, for which I did not prepare a second cake, and followed it up with a game of Balderdash. For those who aren't familiar, this game involves making up definitions/descriptions for a particular obscure word/date/movie/etc. that is listed on a Balderdash card and trying to pick out the correct definition from amongst the definitions made up by your opponents. If some sucker picks your definition as the real one, you get a point.

There is nobody more fun to play Balderdash with than Aaron, who provided the following definitions for us on Friday:

"Medical term for a Taco Bell induced catotonic state."

"Frank Wills: Now known as Francesca No-Willy, the first successful male-to-female transexual ... and, I might add, what a rack."

"Roy Scherer: Who cares who the fuck he is, but when you say his last name use a throaty voice, stick your tongue in your cheek, flip your hair, and scream, 'WOOOO!!'"

What I think there really ought to be a word for is that embarrassing situation where you're caught absentmindedly staring at a stranger. This happens to me all the time. My mind wanders and, when I snap to it, I suddenly realize that I've been making extended eye-contact with some lady who is now extremely uncomfortable and asking her waitress if she can switch tables. What's worse is when my mind wanders to a topic that compels me to look around for something specific. For instance, last week on the Path Train, I, for some odd reason, started thinking back to the day in high school biology when Mrs. Hoffman used earlobe shape as an example in her lesson about dominant and recessive genes. I started glancing at the earlobes of the people around me and then tried to remember what my own earlobes look like. Cut to five minutes later, when I suddenly snap out of my earlobe fixation to realize that there are at least three commuters looking worriedly in my direction. They don't know that I'm just innocently trying to recall some basic science principles; they only know that some crazy lady has been staring at them while feeling up her own earlobes. I've made them uncomfortable.

What I would love to do in these situations is just shout out one or two words to describe what was actually going on in my head, so as to alleviate their fears and, at the same time, defend myself against their silent accusations of weirdness. But there isn't a verb or a noun for this kind of behavior, so I always end up either (a) keeping my mouth shut and letting people think I'm a weirdo or (b) blurting out something like, "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to stare at you. I was just looking at your earlobes." Then two people get off the train at the next stop while the third licks his lips and stares at me for the entire rest of my trip, making ME uncomfortable. I guess what goes around, comes around.

Let them eat cake.

Our house dinner is NEXT week. Not this week.

Roomies, enjoy the cake I made. Today. In the wrong week. Damn it.

Dude, nobody's been updating this thing? I will, then...

Over the past few weeks, Maria and I went hiking and encountered a bear, Aaron and I went to a wedding where I had fun telling strangers that I thought my date might be gay, and Moray has immersed himself in yoga school. Our friend and houseguest, Jason, has moved out of our house in Jersey and into his own studio apartment in Jersey, resulting in a dramatic decline in this household's daily Cher references. Basil and Olivia have grown considerably, and I think some credit for this should be given to the highly nutritional turkey sandwich that they stole from me (they ate right through the ziplock bag!!), leaving me with only an apple for lunch that day. Hmmph. Maybe they're not being fed enough giblets.