Well-fed or pessimistic
So Friday night I danced all night Halloween style with spiky red hair (hung my head upside down while it dried), a feathery mask, and a striped skirt. You guessed it, I went as Burt Reynolds. This was at Mixology which so far seems like the only place with reliably tolerable dancing music, also a really friendly bunch of people.
Saturday I killed time around the house (I seem to have a habit of murdering time doing very little I really want to do) before finally getting out and going to Nathaniel Greene Park & the Japanese Stroll Garden. I haven't been in the garden for a while, and I'm not sure why I can't make a ritual out of something nice like this, it was good. I watched the pretty fishies (koi?) while listening to Mt. Eerie's "Lost Wisdom," music I would be hearing live later that night. Each fish's markings were so unique, certainly as distinct and varied as facial features. I invest so much in faces without considering myself a visual person. I wonder what I would encode in these markings, if I swam around all day and sought food with these guys, or just visited regularly. I would certainly "know" them. Some people came up and fed them ($.25 a handful). They walked along the pond and the fish followed. I noticed some fish really lazily rolling in, interested but well-fed or pessimistic. Each style of swim was utterly distinct. Some flipped their tail quick, some swaggered. Some had a roll back and forth, some had a permanent tilt to them.
The last straggler in particular struck me. He didn't go all the way to the food, he just stopped right by me. He was a bit like a splotchy creamsicle. I imagined us both aware of the food situation. Everyfishbody ahead was well ahead and nofishbody behind was bothering, and who cares, no food for me no sir. The way he hovered was just, funny, and then when he swam off, he was, swimless. From studying fish after him I decided, he must've been hiding tail-flips in his turns, but it looked like he was simply straightening into zigs and zags, each turn choosing him, his job just to straighten out, to interfere as little as possible and coast in it.
I stayed till the end of the album waiting for him to circle around again but I don't think he did. I still think if I went again I might recognize him.
That night I saw Mt. Eerie, Julie Doiron, and Calm Down It's Monday, which are the same three people each supporting each other's songs (and they all recorded the new Mt. Eerie album). I'd been really excited when I found out about Julie singing harmony with Mt. Eerie (basically Phil Elverum). It was sweet sweetness from some people who seemed to really care about each other & each other's music and their audience. They played the 10 tracks of "Lost Wisdom" in order, and because of this I was sort of mentally re-strolling my Japanese fish-visit. At some point someone brought cupcakes for everyone and also there was marzipan in the bottom of the cupcake boxes that nobody spotted so I gobbled it up, proud to identify it (I guess other people thought it was plastic fruit decorations). I wondered where these other fans came from, and what else they listened to, and what were they doing after this? I did say a few things to people... "Want a cupcake?" and "I was thinking of requesting that song too." Phil has some neat stuff: a book of journals coming out, and a huge (LP-sized) $64 book of his photos of the pacific northwest, but I guess before I invest in that I need to re-avail myself of a turntable.
Saturday I killed time around the house (I seem to have a habit of murdering time doing very little I really want to do) before finally getting out and going to Nathaniel Greene Park & the Japanese Stroll Garden. I haven't been in the garden for a while, and I'm not sure why I can't make a ritual out of something nice like this, it was good. I watched the pretty fishies (koi?) while listening to Mt. Eerie's "Lost Wisdom," music I would be hearing live later that night. Each fish's markings were so unique, certainly as distinct and varied as facial features. I invest so much in faces without considering myself a visual person. I wonder what I would encode in these markings, if I swam around all day and sought food with these guys, or just visited regularly. I would certainly "know" them. Some people came up and fed them ($.25 a handful). They walked along the pond and the fish followed. I noticed some fish really lazily rolling in, interested but well-fed or pessimistic. Each style of swim was utterly distinct. Some flipped their tail quick, some swaggered. Some had a roll back and forth, some had a permanent tilt to them.
The last straggler in particular struck me. He didn't go all the way to the food, he just stopped right by me. He was a bit like a splotchy creamsicle. I imagined us both aware of the food situation. Everyfishbody ahead was well ahead and nofishbody behind was bothering, and who cares, no food for me no sir. The way he hovered was just, funny, and then when he swam off, he was, swimless. From studying fish after him I decided, he must've been hiding tail-flips in his turns, but it looked like he was simply straightening into zigs and zags, each turn choosing him, his job just to straighten out, to interfere as little as possible and coast in it.
I stayed till the end of the album waiting for him to circle around again but I don't think he did. I still think if I went again I might recognize him.
That night I saw Mt. Eerie, Julie Doiron, and Calm Down It's Monday, which are the same three people each supporting each other's songs (and they all recorded the new Mt. Eerie album). I'd been really excited when I found out about Julie singing harmony with Mt. Eerie (basically Phil Elverum). It was sweet sweetness from some people who seemed to really care about each other & each other's music and their audience. They played the 10 tracks of "Lost Wisdom" in order, and because of this I was sort of mentally re-strolling my Japanese fish-visit. At some point someone brought cupcakes for everyone and also there was marzipan in the bottom of the cupcake boxes that nobody spotted so I gobbled it up, proud to identify it (I guess other people thought it was plastic fruit decorations). I wondered where these other fans came from, and what else they listened to, and what were they doing after this? I did say a few things to people... "Want a cupcake?" and "I was thinking of requesting that song too." Phil has some neat stuff: a book of journals coming out, and a huge (LP-sized) $64 book of his photos of the pacific northwest, but I guess before I invest in that I need to re-avail myself of a turntable.