December 27th, 2003.

Yeah, so some of the last entry was really on the night of the 27th – and the morning of the 27th – deal with it for the sake of continuity!

I can never tell if the sun is bright or sulking from this side of the house. But the filtered half-light is pretty appropriate as I work on a couple of covers.

Joni Mitchell’s song “River” has been important for so many years, and my voice is finally catching up with my desire to play it. It’s such a beautiful song, and of course, I don’t do it justice – but I’m trying hard.

It’s funny – it’s hard to practice it for long periods of time because my voice gets all nasal because I get all teary-eyed.

I’m also working on Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”. Why? Coming from someone who absolutely despises the city….. well, it’s just such a great song. What makes it great? Well, it falls into the vast category of Songs I Learned from the Muppet Show. I think Floyd Pepper taught me this tune… the chords from the internet were mere confirmation.


Walked to College Perk from Pho 88 – a couple of miles – felt good to walk that far. Encountered a grizzled and greying homeless (?) guy on the corner of the 495 exit. At first there was a weird sort of confrontation, with him wanting to know “what MY problem was” – and when we finally came to the understanding that I was just waiting for the light to change, he asked me if I had a place to stay the night…

Strange – though nice of him to offer… advice, if nothing else.

Listening to Bush – some number of Stones..

My parents' other cat, Rocket. I've taken pictures of everybody ELSE's cats - BETTER take pics of my parents'.
My parents’ other cat, Rocket. I’ve taken pictures of everybody ELSE’s cats – BETTER take pics of my parents’.

The College Perk is like the Jahva House reborn. I’ve wanted to say that about a lot of places, but this is the first place to genuinely recapture that spirit. I really Love it here.

Adam Day just finished a set. Truly, 18 year-olds shouldn’t BE that talented. You know, just for the sake of the rest of us not feeling bad about ourselves. I’m reminded of a song that Will Schaff wrote about Dan Blakeslee – singing “And you have the voice of an angel” – that’s what Adam has – the voice of an 18 year-old angel.

He really was responsible for the vast majority of the audience, I think – or at least thought. I was very surprised that a good number of new faces were just people we’d seen somewhere who had ALL somehow chosen THIS night to show up. A lot of young women…far too many, far too young.

DCF 1.0
DCF 1.0
DCF 1.0
Carol, Noelle, and Marybeth - playing an incomprehensible card game. Carol isn't safe around the pool table.
Carol, Noelle, and Marybeth – playing an incomprehensible card game. Carol isn’t safe around the pool table. [I later became a big fan of Fluxx and hadn’t appreciated that it had actually been invented, designed and playtested here at College Perk – rob 12/18/17]
The owner, Chris, was pretty pleased with hs new-found full house. And again, I was amazed by how great of an audience there was. I wish I knew more names to connect to more faces. Above all – so much fantastic hair.

The other performer for the evening, Firedean. I'm still just stunned everytime I see him perform, though there was an air of... weariness? I don't know, some sort ofemotional numbness to parts of his second set, which made me worry. But his intensity, his lyrics, and his ingenuity are still all things that I really admire.
The other performer for the evening, Firedean. I’m still just stunned everytime I see him perform, though there was an air of… weariness? I don’t know, some sort ofemotional numbness to parts of his second set, which made me worry. But his intensity, his lyrics, and his ingenuity are still all things that I really admire.
DCF 1.0

Oh, and his unique ability to see the world through rose-tinted glasses. Badum ching.

I Love watching him move through an audience, relating and reacting. It’s strange, because I don’t have any sort of impression of his draw for gigs – they’ve always seemed tiny (both his shows and the audience) despite the cool newpaper articles about him, and the fact that he lands gigs at Tin Angel and Iota… But because I tend to see him as a struggling musician, I Love to bring him to my audiences, most of which are huge fans. I Love to set him down in a room full of people who are mouthing his lyrics and singing his songs with him – who are eager to watch and participate, and sort of gift-wrap the room and say “This is for you”. He’s someone I admire so greatly… he deserves masses of audience members and admirers and… well, maybe slaves, I’m not sure what.

Heather sitting on the couch, exactly the way you're not supposed to, at College Perk. This is one of the primary activities that I would be scolded for by MY parents. Heather just wasn't raised right. Sheesh. (knowing full well that her mom reads this ITS A JOKE ITS A JOKE!!!!)
Heather sitting on the couch, exactly the way you’re not supposed to, at College Perk. This is one of the primary activities that I would be scolded for by MY parents. Heather just wasn’t raised right. Sheesh. (knowing full well that her mom reads this ITS A JOKE ITS A JOKE!!!!)
My parents, and Grant Carrington's head. My father, unfortunately, sat in such a spot as to appear to have extremely unruly hair.
My parents, and Grant Carrington’s head. My father, unfortunately, sat in such a spot as to appear to have extremely unruly hair.

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