Life is in flux BIG TIME these days. I want to keep in touch with all of my peeps. The Internet is this beautiful thing. I can move to a brand new city and still stay in easy, near-daily contact with the people I love. When I feel connected to the people in my life that matter, I am unstoppable!
It seems that lately every night of karaoke has been an adventure. Last week was the proposal and the Jon Stewart adventure. This week, I was able to bring my new friend Jane along, which was just SUPER. (Please check out her blog… she wants lots and lots of readers, and she’s a journalist in training, so she’s a REAL writer!) Jane has only been in Boston for 2 months, and if I was going to stay in Boston longer, I know she’d become a close friend. Hell, she can be anyway. Why the hell not? I think I met T.B.O. for all of four hours. Plus, there’s that whole internet thing.
In addition to the new addition to the crew, Friday was DJ Jimmy‘s birthday. Happy Birthday, Jimmy! There was another Jimmy at karaoke on Friday, too. He and his lovely wife were dressed to the 9’s, he in a white tux, and she in a sequened black and silver dress. Billy Bob (our favorite trusty bartender) told us that they showed up at about 10pm. They changed the whole tone of the evening, so much for the better. It’s such a friendly group of regulars there, and we welcomed them right in. I sang “Sentimental Journey” for them, knowing they would appreciate an old standard. Kristin bought them drinks. Jimmy signed up for and sang Elvis hits. See, he’s a big fan. HUGE! He was VERY impressed that I’d lived in Memphis for a year, and when he found out I was born there, it was almost more than he could take!
I’ve put together a little montage of their night. If anyone got their information, we should find a way to get this to them. Jane actually ran into them again later in the weekend:
Guess who I saw walking down Dartmouth St (nr Copley Place) yesterday when I was hastening home after meeting a dude about a bed? Jimmy and his wife! I recognised those sideburns right away. They were dressed in regular clothes, but Jimmy was puffin’ away on a cigarette, lookin’ for all the world like The King. I almost went up to them and said hey, but thought it might’ve seemed intrusive, so I didn’t. But I smiled all the way to Back Bay T station.
Enjoy the video, and please pardon the editing. I’m a beginner:
I didn’t have tickets, but I wanted them. I knew I couldn’t afford full price. My friends and I were on the lookout for cheap deals. On Thursday, I actually bought some from a woman on Craigslist, but she bailed out after her boyfriend “gave them away to a friend at work”. I was PISSED! I went online and ranted about this situation. Long story short, some tickets that had been won by someone as part of a giveaway were given back, and because of my sob story, they were offered to me. I was ecstatic, and in order to get from Dedham to the Wang Center, I was RACING! I can’t believe I managed to track down Kristopher, and we all ended up making it for the 7pm show. By “all”, I must add that my friend Anna already had a ticket that she’d bought ages ago, and she happened to be sitting very close by to the seats I got.
The gig was excellent, and I’ll probably say more about that eventually, but since today is the day I start to study for this massive licensure exam, I’ll keep it short. Hell, maybe I can rope Kristopher into writing that part out.
After the gig, we stood in the upper lobby and watched the fans file out through the opulent lobby. You can tell that we’d had a mighty fine time… especially because I’m talking in my silly, excited voice. I try to sound dignified, but it just doesn’t suit me!
We headed to Dunkin’ Donuts for “dinner” (the wait at the nearby restaurants were long… plus, we are all pretty broke), then off to karaoke. We were supposed to head to Somerville to see Hugh’s band, Muck and the Mires, perform at their CD launch party. However, I was feeling kind of shitty, Somerville is far, there was a $9 cover, there were 3 other bands so we didn’t think we’d get to talk to Hugh, and we’d heard that there was going to be a marriage proposal on stage between some acquaintences of ours that night at karaoke, so we decided to stay (even though we’d said goodbye and left the venue already). We walked back in, sang some more, and watched as all the proposal friends arrived. I sang “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun because it was playing at Dunkin’ Donuts, and I was inspired, and man… what could be more goofy fun?! I also did “She Sells Sanctuary”, which is always fun. Kristopher did “Devil Went Down to Georgia” (w00t!) and “Sit on My Face” from Monty Python. I think we each got in about 5 songs that night! It was empty before all the proposal revelers showed up.
The proposal was adorable. So fun! It happened much later than we’d expected, but it was worth the wait.
We then scuttled off to catch the last train leaving the New England Medical Center. As we were approaching the stop, I look up, and there’s Jon Stewart standing on the sidewalk. I think there was one person with him, plus two “handlers”. I said to him, “Hey, you’re Jon Stewart!” (A flippin’ Ph.D., and that was what I came up with.) And he said, “Yes, I am.” Something like that… I’m no good at recounting things like this.
I was very cautious at first, not knowing if it was cool to approach him, since not many people were around. I said something like, “Um… would it be OK if I did a little gawking?” And the female handler said it would be fine. He was right there and heard my goofiness. Because frankly, that was what I wanted to do. I felt a little silly about it, but you know, I love him. Jon Stewart was clearly expecting to meet a few fans, but we’d caught him just as he walked out the back door of the Wang Center. Being a geographical idiot, I hadn’t thought about the fact that we were essentially standing at the back of the Wang Center, and his second show had just ended.
He was great. Very accomodating. When I said we’d gone to his earlier show then to karaoke, he said that it was better that way (going to the earlier show) since if he completely sucked, there was still time to have a real evening out. I told him that he didn’t remotely suck and that we really enjoyed ourselves. I also said that I watched his show “constantly” and that my mother was going to be VERY jealous that I’d met him.
A short time after that, there was a little squeal, and then about 10 20-something women ran up. We backed up and made space for the newcomers. Not to make a REALLY bad pun, but he was a “stand up” guy.
It was definitely a nice little bit of serendipity on the sidewalk Friday night.
I wish I were more photogenic. I’m not saying I’m unattractive as a person, but my camera anxiety means that I always end up making these goofy faces. If only I could have gotten it together for this one. For some reason, the picture of Jon Stewart actually looks a little cross-eyed on the version posted on my blog. He wasn’t, and if you look at the original, it doesn’t look like that at all. Weird. Guess noone is immune.
Kristopher Gets His Turn
Oh well, it was still very cool to meet him. And totally by chance. On further speculation, it occurred to me that he is one of the only famous people I would be really interested in meeting. The other ones I thought of right away were Billy Bragg and Janeane Garofolo. These are egos that don’t seem to need too much feeding. They seem to know who they are, have strong opinions, and they are smart, engaging, and funny. Meeting someone like that is always something I want, even with that weird “I know much more about you than you know about me” aspect of celebrity, which I find to be fairly offputting – in either direction.
I went and saw the Raconteurs with “Bostonist Jon” on Friday night, and despite some serious nosebleed seats, the gig was excellent. Seriously. We all knew that Jack White was a genius, but this band is cohesive, tight, and clearly and equal collaboration, not a bunch of guys backing one superstar. I really don’t think I’m overstating things when I say that their songs have the rhythmic, melodic, and structural complexity of rock and roll greats, like Zeppelin and later Beatles. And yet, it’s brand new and innovative. I have a feeling that at the end of the day, more people will know the Raconteurs than the White Stripes.
Pardon me for singing so loud in the video. I was just filming with future screen grabbing in mind, but the video turned out to be good enough to share!
Weather! I’m from the South originally (Atlanta, GA right in the city), and my years living there (1974-87 and 1993-97) were the only times in my life I wasn’t plagued by terrible eczema. Last winter was brutal on my skin. If you’ve never had eczema like me, then you probably think that’s a silly reason. I’m OK with you thinking that, but that doesn’t change how I feel. The 4pm darkness mid-winter doesn’t really work for me either. I get S.A.D..
The roads. Navigation around this city is not friendy to outsiders, even outsiders with GPS. JP streets have been ripped to shreds over and over since I moved in, not to mention the potholes and construction everywhere else I go. Traffic is S L O W!! I actually don’t mind the rotaries and the Massholes so much. Rotaries keep me moving, which I like, and I’m as about aggressive as they come with lightening quick reflexes, so avoiding accidents is something I do well. But the overall gestalt experience of driving here is very stressful in too many ways.
Cost of Living. Many Bostonians pay one-third to one-half of their income on rent, leaving little leftover to enjoy all the amazing cultural opportunities this town has to offer.
All that said, I will miss both the city of Boston and my friends terribly. I am sure I will be back to visit often. While I leave my apartment in 5 days, I will be in town until the end of October, so don’t say your goodbyes just yet!
For Bostonians only: Have your lips been unseasonably chapped in the past week? Mine have – like Krispy Kremes! And an informal poll tells me that I’m not the only one. In my informal poll, I have asked 5 people who live in Boston Proper who all agree that lip chappage is way up, especially for the summer!
