Orange Gearle: just another day

Isn’t it funny how birthdays are really just another day? I mean really…they are just another day. Fall is full of birthdays for our family. My nephew hit the big 30 in September, my father hit 72. In a less than two weeks I will be ½ my father’s age, and the next day my daughter will be ½ mine. Tomorrow we will celebrate my brother’s birthday as a family. A new baby was born just a week ago, and her big brother’s birthday is in a few weeks.

"Each day seems a hundred years long,
but the weeks and the months just fly."

I suppose when you aren’t exactly where you want to be, or expected to be in your life, and you’re closer and closer to that next birthday…well, I suppose that’s when birthdays are more than just another day. They’re much worse. (Can you say mid-life crisis anyone?)

It’s been six months. I decided it was time to get back on the horse. I’m back at the personals thing. Why? I have no fucking idea.

It’s been an emotional week, and today was no exception.

Two years ago, as my 34th birthday approached I went to CSPS to see Andrew Bird. It was simply amazing. I’ve never seen anything like him. When I saw him two years ago, I knew I liked him….I thoroughly enjoyed the concert….but I didn’t notice his striking looks at all. My focus was elsewhere.

I met Zoot’s parents for the first time that night. We’d met just moments before the concert began so there wasn’t much talking. I won’t forget how cute his mom was after the show….it was a Friday night, after a long week, and I had to get up early and teach piano lessons. But after the concert….Kathy said, “So, where are we going next??” She was ready to go out on the town! I excused myself and went home. But I knew that we would be good friends, Kathy and I.

Anyway, that first time I saw Andrew Bird, I was completely taken back by his talent. I cannot even put into words how extraordinary this man is. But by far the best part of the concert for me that night was watching Zoot listen and enjoy himself. My eyes were on Zoot’s reaction to Andrew all night. Although we weren’t even dating at the time, it was that night that I knew I loved him. Interesting that I bet he doesn’t know that.

Tonight I saw Andrew Bird again. He was even more amazing than the last time. It was a very different atmosphere, however. Still at CSPS, but the place was PACKED and it was full of college students. I felt 100 years old. ☺ And of course I went alone. But it was so unlike anything else….his music is completely unclassifiable. I’ll link to a couple of his songs within this diary, but I’m telling you it will not do it justice…seeing him create music in front of your eyes is part of the art of his music. And really, it is truly art.

He’s beautiful. He’s intelligent, creative, weird, and even his crooked teeth are attractive. Funny how I missed his beauty the first time.

He opened with one of my absolute favorites…Sovay. Seriously, who else puts Don Quixote, Ride of the Valkyries and the words vagaries and proclivities in one verse -- and it works???

Sovay by Andrew Bird

I was getting ready to be a threat
I was getting set for my
Accidental suicide
The kind where no one dies
No one looks too surprised
Then you realize
That you're riding on the para-success
Of a heavy-handed metaphor
And a feeling like you've been here before
'Cause you've been here before
And you've been here before
Then a word washed to shore
A word:

Sovay, Sovay, Sovay
All along the day

I was getting ready to consider my next plan of attack
I think I'm gonna sack
The whole board of trustees
All those Don Quixotes in their B-17s
And I swear this time yeah this time
They'll blow us back to the seventies
And this time they're playin Ride of the Valkyries
With no semblance of grace or ease
And they're acting on vagaries
With their violent proclivities
And they're playing ride
Ride of the Valkyries

Sovay, Sovay, Sovay
All along the day

I’ll leave you tonight with a song that I’ve heard a hundred times, but it really hit home tonight…Here's Why?

Why? by Andrew Bird

Why? Why'd you do that?
You shouldn't have done that
If I told you once, I told you three times
You'll get your punishment when you
Show me your crimes

It's not a spell or a curse you put on me
Or the way you smile so tenderly
But how I wish it was your temper you were throwing
Damn you for being so easygoing

I thought that time would tell
My sins would provoke you to raise some hell

Not a chance
Whatever happened to fiery romance
Oh how I wish it was those dishes you were throwing
Damn you for being so easygoing

No, don't give me that line
Don't try to tell me inaction is not a crime
Can't you see what kind of seeds you're sowing?
Damn you for being so easygoing