..but first, a bee!

First, a bee!


Continuing with my great week, this past Thursday I got to see Neko Case on the second stop of her tour for Middle Cyclone.  She has been one of my absolute favorite artists since I first discovered her on an episode of Austin City Limits with Roseanne Cash a handful of years ago.  She has a haunting, one in a million voice and she's mesmerizing to watch and is captivatingly beautiful.  It's surprising how many people have never heard of her.  

She and her band seemed a little nervous about playing the new material, maybe because the album was more heavily produced than usual (not in a bad way) or perhaps because it was only the beginning of the tour and still fresh in the live-performance-of-new-material-learning-curve.  Either way, it sounded fantastic.  Even if they were not heavily rehearsed, with such talent, it's really hard to suck no matter how new the material.  I went with my friend and neighbor Skotdog (a.k.a. smfc) who brought his manties to throw upon the stage but alas, forgot to pin his name and phone number in the waist band and therefore remained in his pocket.  I have photographic evidence of this...  Fortunately, due to the beer in my bloodstream, his 6' something frame was my makeshift tripod.  I'm still learning the functions of my camera, so experimenting got me a few great results.  I regretted not bringing my camera to see Ryan Adams (was still bitter about his engagement to stupid Mandy Moore) and was not going to make the same mistake with Neko.

Also, Favorite happens to be one of my favorite songs and though I don't normally yell songs out at shows, I did say quite loudly "I would like to hear Favorite", which I did hear during the encore.  Woo!

Behold:

Hold On, Hold On.

Growing up in Rochester, NY ~ winters were loooooooooong.  I've been in Atlanta for just over ten years now, and winters are loooooooooooong.  I love autumn, I love the cozy feeling of December, but once January 1 comes around, I want out.  All I want to do is hibernate, I'm less productive, I'm cold.  By February, it's all I can do to hang on until the spring.  Honestly, I think I get a little depressed with all the lifeless tree branches and the numbness in my toes.  I've been thinking a lot about where I'll move next when my time in Atlanta is up.  One of the things that will carry much weight in this decision is how the external influences will either support or hinder the lifestyle that I want to lead; i.e. weather, transportation, etc.  I realized that this is so important to me because my mood & attitude are too easily swayed by outside influences.  This is also something I consider an important thing to change.

Lately I've noticed that the people I consider good friends, those I let past the wall that holds most people at bay, the people I truly admire and respect all believe in me whole heartedly.  They have no doubts about my talent or ability to make something happen for myself.  There is just one person who really matters that I have tried my hardest to convince.  One person that I constantly confront and question, who will not put their faith in me.  This person knows me well and sees the laziness, sees the imperfections, insecurities, doubt and desperation and can use my very humanity to break my spirit, kick me when I'm down and beat me into my own personal misery of convention.  It's me.  

I don't know how to consistently believe in myself.  It's easy to feel positive when I've just made a sale on etsy, but what about when I'm putting my shoes on to go to work to support myself in an industry that holds no future for me?  How do I believe that I'll work my way out doing something I love instead of just exchanging one exhausting, passionless job for another?  If I don't believe that I can, how can I?  The possibilities already seem small, but without the "I think I can, I think I can", I dare not measure just how small they are.

This is not to say that I'm giving up.  Somehow I continually forge ahead even with my head swimming in sludge.  To me, there is no alternative.  The strong suggestion was made to me that I look into putting a portfolio together as a product photographer.  This resonated with me and I think it's worth investing some time and energy to learn and improve.  There is that part of me who feels exasperated, like I'm constantly going back to the ol' drawing board.  I'm starting to feel too old to be looking for Plan B.  Eh...  at least I have tickets to Neko Case in April when the weather will make me happy again.

Favorite

This is the very first song that Neko Case ever wrote all by herself.  I know this because that's what she says on the Austin City Limits performance.  She's got a one in a million voice and I don't care what genre of music you're into, her talent is undeniable.  I even named my cat after her.  Of course, when Neko was a kitten, the vet tech told me he was a girl.  I almost named him Lucy (Shakedown on 9th Street by Ryan Adams - check it out).  Then at the next visit after he was named, the vet thought he had a very masculine face for a girl and in fact, was a boy.  As it turned out, he just had really small testicles.  Everything worked out in the end because Neko means cat in Japanese, or so I'm told.