bethofalltrades

This breaks my heart.

Abby Ahmad "In Favor of Braver Parts" (2009)


Love,
Beth

After my last post, y'all delivered magic in the form of the SNL videos of the Cranberries that I wanted.

( click for video goodness )

This makes me realize a couple of things.

- Dolores O'Riordan is not an incredible lyricist. That is okay. I still love her anyway.

- It's no wonder I'm totally emo, considering THIS was what I cut my pop music teeth on.

- Memory is such a malleable thing in some ways. If you'd asked me to describe that video of Zombie before I saw it, I would have told you that Dolores was wearing ripped jeans and had choppy blonde hair and was playing a red electric guitar. I would have sworn in front of God and country that it was a red guitar. But it's a white guitar? Where did the red guitar come from?

It probably came from here:


My brain conflated the two.

- But in other ways, memory is solid. In Ode to My Family, the first time they went from close up on Dolores to the two-shot, I remember it. I could have told you precisely when she'd open and close her eyes. I don't always remember the details, but I remember the visuals that really impact.

My blogs are ending abruptly recently because I am distractable. Today is day one with no Redbull... I'm not quitting, per se, but I'm seeing if I can go a day without the stuff. We'll see. Generally I'm just feeling mentally fuzzy without it.

Love,
Beth

Katrina is magic. She loaned me her acoustic guitar and now my fingers hurt from the strings.

The guitar and I already have a complicated relationship. You see, I am not used to doing things I'm not good at. Generally those are the things I stop doing in favor of things I am good at.

Yes, no one is instantly good at everything. But generally there are things that one shows aptitude at and things that one does not, and music has always been in my "not" category, which explains why I quit the keyboard, flute, violin and choir. (I also quit ballet, tap, rollerskating, iceskating, softball, dinosaur club, key club, glee club, national honor society, quiz team, math team, physics, calculus, and my last three jobs.)

But... I like music. I like singing and I like the ukulele and I think I like the guitar too.

I am not a musician. I will never be a musician. But I don't have to be a musician to play the guitar. I can just be... a person who plays the guitar as well or as badly as she does, because it makes her happy. Not to be the best at it, not to be admired for being great at it, not to make money at it, not to entertain people at parties. Just to do it, because it feels good.

fishmakestwo reminded me of The Freshmen by The Verve Pipe tonight. I was a freshman in high school when that song came out and I really liked it. I bought the album on CD through one of those music club things. Tonight I found an acapella version on YouTube.

Jesus.

I love that he's so awkward. The man is a professional musician, a famous one at that, and he looks... uncomfortable. And I love it, because it feels real.

I recently told weezerchild703 about being 12 years old and seeing The Cranberries play on SNL and how it changed my life. I spent some time looking for video of that performance (even though I watched that tape so many times I can still see it in my head) and I've had no luck.

Love,
Beth

Katrina and I saw a woman playing in the W. 4th Street Station last week.

People were actually paying attention. When the F train came in, a bunch of people rushed to give her money and take one of her flyers before they got on the train. And then when they were on the train, a bunch of them clustered around the doors watching her play until the train left the station.

It's not what I usually listen to (aka EMO ROCK) but I love it. I very rarely rave about a musician but this one is incredible.

BOSTON FRIENDS: she is playing The Lily Pad on Monday. You should go.

NEW YORK FRIENDS: she lives here. She plays in subways and not in subways. You should go.

Her name is Jessy Carolina Twing.

Love,
Beth

I have a whole story about how the girl in this video was the one who made me understand that "The Fans" is not a real, valid concept. There is no homogenized mass; there are only amazing, artistic, passionate individual human beings who love Amanda's music.

It was an important lesson. I was really glad she found me months after the story took place, because I got to tell it to her.

Now she paints ukuleles for Post-War Trade.

And she wrote me this beautiful song.

Her name is Kayla.



Love,
Beth

And now for something completely different.

Here's a photo of me by fairytalevegas, who is a brilliant photographer and a dear friend.



This photo was taken before the Vermillion Lies show, which was incredible. If they come to your area, you should go, and you should buy their merch and hug their tour manager Dakota and flirt with at least one if not both sisters.

Here are the Vermillions:


Here's Dakota:


She is an excessively talented slam poet AND she rocks a spandex bodysuit better than anyone I've ever seen. Dakota used to work at an insurance company and then she quit to run away with a rock band.

I feel a deep kinship with Dakota.

And I love the Vermillions.

And I love their UNDERWEAR...

...which I bought at the merch table and which say "What's in the Box" and which I put on over my tights and flashed at them. Kim was delighted. Zoe blushed.

Love,
Beth

"I can't advocate for a benign life much longer."
-- Dakota Belle Witt