September 12th, 2009
Last night in my dream I had a guru. The trouble is, I can't remember what the guru taught me. I guess I'll just have to trust that whatever there was to be learned seeped into my subconscious and will make most effect from there. Strangely, the guru took the form of a busser at Cafe Coco named Emily who I barely know. Strangeness.
Meet my job: Peacefood Cafe. All vegan. All organic. BAD ASS VIBES. Anna and I went there for breakfast this morning. “A macchiato, anything else?”, “Yes, can I work here?”, “Uhm...Maybe The owner is looking for somebody.”, “Is the owner here?”, “Yeah, he's around here somewhere.”. The owners name is Eric. We chatted for a long time about food and yoga. He wanted to tell me all about his Guru. Was that the guru in my dream? Synchronicity.
Anna just left for JFK Airport. She's going to London for the year. The last two days leading up to here departure were really hard for her. Not so much for me; I don't feel preemptive sadness or loss about much of anything. Sometimes I fear I'm just not emotional enough. But then, as I waved through the taxi window, it hit me. Right on time. Now is real as shit.
People are nice as hell in New York. I mean, it's not like Nashville, but when considering my recent experiences in New Brunswick, NJ, folks are comparatively lovely! School starts on Thursday. I didn't realize it was so close until I checked the date on my watch just now.
As if today wasn't already a motherfucker, I accidentally had one of the most awesome concert experiences of my life tonight. A friend of my hosts mentioned he had an extra ticket to a beatles tribute show. Although I wouldn't typically pay money to see not-the-beatles, I figured since it was free I'd give it a shot.
I showed up at the Beacon, which it turns out is a beautiful beyond description and worth the trip alone, then Richard starts filling me in on this band we're about to see. They're called The Fab Faux. Clever, right? The band consists of bassistWill Lee from The Late Show with David Letterman and guitarist Jimmy Vivino from Late Night with Conan O'Brien along with three other totally bad ass musicians (all five of them are stellar vocalists), a full horn section, string section, and a harpist. The first half of their set was the record Revolver in its entirety, then after an intermission, they played about an hour of songs the people who bought tickets to the show had voted for, including I Am the Walrus, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, a legendary sounding A Day In The Life, and ending with Hey Jude.
But out of all the great songs they nailed I was most moved by Rain. My friend John has a gentle spirit and loves animals. He's moved around a lot in his life so his social group naturally has always changed. The one friend he was constantly with for 17 years was his cat Bukka. Bukka was actually the coolest cat I've come into contact with, for many reasons I shant recount here. Back in 2006, while john was in the process of moving out of his apartment in Nashville to relocate to Texas Bukka died. John was really torn up about it and stayed in Nashville an extra week to take care of his friend's remains. John's lease was up so he stayed at my house. The day John left he told me that the song Rain was going to carry him through his heartache. He took my guitar down off the wall and there in my bedroom played this song with about as much passion as I've ever witnessed:
If the rain comes they run and hide their heads.
They might as well be dead.
If the rain comes, if the rain comes.
When the sun shines they slip into the shade
(When the sun shines down.)
And sip their lemonade.
(When the sun shines down.)
When the sun shines, when the sun shines.
Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the world looks fine.
I can show you that when it starts to rain,
(When the Rain comes down.)
Everything's the same.
(When the Rain comes down.)
I can show you, I can show you.
Rain, I don't mind.
Shine, the world looks fine.
Can you hear me, that when it rains and shines,
(When it Rains and shines.)
It's just a state of mind?
(When it rains and shines.)
Can you hear me, can you hear me?
