Sunday, September 06, 2009
4 states, 3 bands, 1 day!
soup :: up or on the rocks, hartford ct :: july 4, 2009
Holy crap.
Saturday was INSANE.
I started out in beautiful Downtown Keene, NH. The boys of Instrument were playing Keene’s big music festival. Poor Ben was sick as a dog, but he managed to put on a hell of a show. “11th Hour” rocked!!! Proof again, that with the right sound people, that song is AMAZING. I’m wicked proud of them! They were a big hit with the event’s organizers and it sounds like they will be invited back.
We hung out a bit after the show and apparently, I have D-dar. (My ability to know where D was at one point amused Ben.) Aaron, Amanda and I continued our bonding in a Subway over stolen sandwiches. We made Ben identify every dog we saw and D was blown away by his ability to find Walkers crisps in a candy store. (We got this entire lecture about how potato chips are called ‘crisps’ in London and how he had prawn ones when he was overseas.) By 3, the boys were exhausted so we had to part ways.
Which meant I had plenty of time to get to UCONN for the Marching Band Preview Show. (By way of Putney, VT… there’s a yarn store right off of 91N that I had to check out.)
I spent some time with Melissa, Jersey and the kids before moving over to where Steve and Ellen were hanging out. I have to say that it was nice to see a lot of people I knew. So many that I hadn’t seen in YEARS - like since before Ohio. I was so amused - I was with Rittner and we sang the Alma Mater the RIGHT way. (We’re backing our MEN…) But… I don’t know. The band is this whole thing now - they have trucks and a pit and the drums are on stands during warm up. (Seriously, drumline, WTF?!) They’re so big! I mean, the drumline has a cymbal section leader, a bass section leader, a snare section leader and a tenor section leader. It’s just…weird. It’s like they’ve sold their soul to athletics. Oh wait, they did.
That said, I’ll probably rearrange my travel schedule to be back in CT on the 26th. It just seems like the right thing to do.
After the preview show, it was time to go to Hartford and see All Crazy.
I had so much fun at the show! I couldn’t stop shaking my booty and yes, “New Hampshire” was definitely in the house! Spent a lot of time talking to Soup afterwards. We talked a bit about Instrument, groupies vs. friends, and why the hubby doesn’t come out to play as much as we all wish he would. He said something that was kind of in line with what both the Honey and the co-worker had said to me. It really made me think - I’m still thinking about it and wondering how to get there from here. Like I said the other day, this wasn’t the life path I was planning on walking - but this path is MUCH more interesting. And it’s kind of similar to the path one of my (celebrity) heroes took to get where he is today. Hmmmmm.
Since I live so far away, and we have a habit of closing down the bars with the boys in the band(s), everybody gets worried about me driving home. While I am pretty stubborn about making it home, there are plenty of hotels along the Mass Pike and 495N. I’d prefer to not have to stop halfway home, but there is a VERY nice Holiday Inn in Boxboro that I’ll crash at anytime. (Highly recommended, btw.) Anyhoo, Soup always tells me that he worries about me driving home, so last night he gave me his cell phone number. I happily added him to my List O’ People To Text When I Get Home (which is getting incredibly long!). The married woman scored a boy’s number!
So to recap - New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Instrument, the UCMB, and All Crazy. All on Saturday.
I get a couple of weeks off and then I’m Cincy bound, baby!
Posted by Matty on 09/06 at 10:53 PM
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Wednesday, September 02, 2009
You say liberal like it’s a bad thing…
british museum :: london, uk :: sept 8, 2008
My dad was a staunch Republican, a wicked liberal one, but a Republican nonetheless.
Imagine his surprise when his only child began to show her political leanings.
We argued every election year and the conversations always seemed to end with, “I have no idea how the hell I wound up with a bleeding heart, tree hugging, tax and spend MA liberal as a child.” (I grew up in CT and in the early years had no idea what ‘tax and spend’ and ‘Massachusetts’ had to do with being a liberal… I used to hate it when he’d call me that, but now I’ve grown to love it. I’m not ashamed of what I am.)
The funny thing is, I learned to become a liberal from him. My father truly believed that everyone was created equal. He was offended by the idea that “all animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others.” (That’s from Orwell’s Animal Farm, but it was a common statement in our house.) He held his prejudices - despite the fact that he was my hero, he was still far from perfect - but he recognized them for what they were and taught me to do the same.
He hated “The Kennedys”, but respected Jack and Teddy’s politics. I would learn that he was jealous of the media image of their lives, of the wealth and privilege they portrayed, but at the same time he fully believed in what they stood for. Teddy Kennedy, no matter how conflicted my father was about him, was highly regarded in our house. Don’t get me wrong, my father would complain about him all the time (mostly in a “damn Democrats” kind of vein), but he also admired him. It’s got to be hard to keep to your ideals and beliefs for so long, especially when you’re in the public eye as a member of the government. My dad respected the hell out of him for that.
[Tangent: a few years ago, I volunteered for a Greek organization I had joined in college. I roomed with a member of my alumni chapter at a National Convention and every. single. day. we were there he would tell me how amazed he was that I could stick to my guns day after day. (The organization was known for heavy drinking and I’ve never touched a drop in my life. Will never touch a drop in my life.) It’s a shame my dad was long gone by that point. I think it would have tickled him to hear that.]
Needless to say, the news of Teddy’s passing hit me and hit me hard. It blew my mind how hard it hit me.
I mean, I don’t have a Teddy story. I never met the man. But he touched my life. Big time.
I *do* have a Teddy connection. One that means a lot to me.
As a bipolar person, I’m protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. While I keep the bipolar mostly under control with medication, there are definitely days when I don’t feel like I can exist in the ‘real world’. Between the crippling depression and the destructive mania, there are more than a few days a month when I’m a liability to my employer, my friends, my family and myself. I don’t ever want to take advantage of the opportunities offered to me by the law, but I’m glad it’s there.
I’m going to Washington DC next year. It’s something my dad and I always talked about… I really want to see The Wall for myself so I can fully appreciate what I had (more than I already do…my dad could have been one of those names!) and I HAVE to go to Arlington. I’ve always wanted to go to Arlington, too, but now I NEED to go. I HAVE to say goodbye to Teddy. I couldn’t/wouldn’t go to any of the activities that were held locally, but I will mourn him, my own way, in my own timeframe…
Thank you, Teddy. For everything. You will be missed.
Posted by Matty on 09/02 at 10:41 PM
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