Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

John Darnielle (of The Mountain Goats) has written a novel about a kid in an inpatient treatment facility who is denied his tapes, most particularly Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality. This novel is part of the 33 1/3 series. John read excerpts from the novel at Regulator Books in Durham. I bought a copy, and I definitely recommend you do that same. His ability as a songwriter definitely translates to prose, and his experience in a past life as a psychiatric nurse certainly adds to the realism of the piece.

Listen to a little bit:

John also played an AIDS Walk Benefit in NYC this past weekend. In his introduction, he said, “Thank you for coming out to support AIDS Walk. When I was a young nurse, I worked with people with AIDS in Los Angeles, and I’m not going to get all maudlin about it, but I really appreciate your support of this wonderful organization. In that spirit, I’m going to play a bunch of songs that I hardly ever play.”

NYC Taper has MP3’s of the entire set. It’s so worth a listen. I finally got around to it yesterday. Pop Tarts Suck Toasted has several videos of the gig posted.

The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton (chosen because it’s Brooklyn John’s favorite!)

John Darnielle keeps on keeping on. The proliferation of songs and writing from this man is endless. A hundred years after his death, rabid fans will still be trying to collect everything he ever did. Yeah, he could sit on his laurels for a long while, and his fans could try and catch up, but that’s what I like about him. He’s always one step ahead.

What can I even say about The Swell Season? It was a delicious songfest that felt like snapdragons singing in the sun and a big noncreepy hug from an old wise man and like falling in love and like when you’re laughing so hard that you can’t stop. I was rivited the entire time. It was so much more than I could have imagined. It was an entire evening of delight. They could have come out, sung the songs from the movie Once, and gone home, but nonononononono! They didn’t do that. They sang many new songs. They sang some Pixies. They told us stories. They opened up their hearts and told us about their day, their thoughts about life, about America, about Irishness, about humility and facing problems.

I think my favorite analogy of the night (there were many) was Glen Hansard’s description of himself in the back garden (you know, y’all… a “yard”) kicking a ball. And his goal is that he’s going to get that ball all the way to the end of the garden. So he kicks it, and it reaches the back of the garden, then it goes over to the next garden, and out to the street, and into the next town, and then into towns he’s never even heard of. He was describing the momentum and trajectory of the song “Falling Slowly”, which you have no doubt heard, and if you haven’t… let me be the first to introduce it to you.

	Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova – Falling Slowly
	Found at skreemr.com

This is the song that is featured in the movie Once. If you read this blog, you’ll know that I was completely in love with this movie. The song was the catalyst that brought these two together in the film. It wasn’t a soundtrack. He’s teaching her the song while she plays the piano. Their relationship changes from the beginning of the singing to the end. Music brought these two together in fiction and reality. What a beautiful thing.

So anyway, back to the analogy. I loved what he said last, in the way only an Irishman can: “JAY-sus, this song has been good to us.” It’s been good to me, too, as have the rest of their songs.

Glen Hansard is a raconteur and a magical man. It’s hard to even describe the hold he has on an audience. My friend Roz would call what he does putting people in a “happy trance.” I know I was in one, as was Katy. Near the end, I found it so fitting that he fit in a melody from “Willy Wonka”: “Come with me, and we’ll be in a world of pure imagination.” You know the tune? I’ve always loved it. It fit right in. I haven’t seen the newer version of that film, but the way I felt during the show was that same wide-eyed, enchanted feeling. The lights they used had the effect of lighting up the entire space of Meymandi as the songs swelled – like dawn or sunset. It made the music feel big, although they didn’t need help with that. Swell Season is such a perfect name. There is the feeling of smallness and intimacy, and then something really big – bigger than everything.

(Thanks to Wayne for taking these pictures tonight. While my wrist is fixed, my camera died today, so no pictures of me by me. Luckily, Andy and Rich have come to the rescue with loaners, and Al is sending me a film camera he’d mentioned he wanted to give me a while back. I’ve got good peeps around me. Have I said that before? I’ll say it again. I have good peeps around me.)

I’ve been a been avoidant of discussing my job situation, because I had a job, then I didn’t, then I got a few offers, and I had to wait on many things to be able to say which ones were a go and which ones weren’t. But I’m back in business. It’s so hard to discuss work on a blog. I don’t want to share details, but I want to write enough that people I know can be “caught up” so I’m not having to repeat the same things over and over.

So here’s the (vague) deal. A wonderful psychologist who is an utter delight, and who I get along with swimmingly, offered me an office to use one day a week. She offered it without a fee because she likes me and is generous. I took it because I adore her and am very into the idea of being affiliated with her and spending time with her. She’s the kind of person I want to learn from.

I also had an interview for another position, which I was offered, and (this morning) officially accepted. I am going to be an independent contractor. She provides the office and referrals, and I do my thing. In neither case am I an employee. I am considered independent. This other woman is also very cool. I don’t know her as well yet, but I really, really like her. I can just tell. She also seems very organized and more business-minded than me, which is good. I could use some mentoring in this area!

These two offices are about a mile from each other and both are really close to where I live. I started seeing clients at the first office yesterday. I will start seeing clients in the other office in June. I’ll start with a few, then a few more, then a few more. If I get to where I’m really, really busy, there are other offices in the building I can rent, but for now, I’m using the other woman’s office on the days she isn’t there. This is a situation that can grow and grow and grow. Eventually, I’m aiming to fill up to 25-30 client hours (or more if I end up doing a lot of therapy… therapy doesn’t have the hours and hours of “homework” that assessment does!).

So that’s a total nutshelling of a lot of things that have happened professionally. I thought it was worth the typing time. Typing doesn’t in itself hurt. It’s what I have to do with my shoulder to get my fingers in the right place. I’m getting this cast off in two days, and then I will be able to bend my wrist with reckless abandon!

Arcade Fire Encore (This is good!) from abbyladybug on Vimeo.

Arcade Fire Plays “Heroes” by David Bowie in Carrboro, NC from abbyladybug on Vimeo.