Obsession, Love, Risk, Bob Dylan

I am listening to the new Bob Dylan album which was released yesterday right now and couldn't wait until after I finished listening to blog about how much I enjoy being obsessed with Bob Dylan. The very word obsession implies some type of insatiability-- by I find it very satisfying. The album is bluesy... in the third song he sings about hell being his wife's hometown, which I like. My friends John Paul and April gave me the gift of Bob Dylan on Nov. 11, 2002. I had been officemates with them for years previously, completely mystified by their plane trips (yes, plane trips!) to go see Bob Dylan concerts (and only to go see Bob Dylan concerts). They talked about the dark nights and the light nights. John Paul was clearly involved in some pretty mafia live show trading. All of this finally piqued my interest enough that I decided I had to go see a concert, if only to watch them watch Bob Dylan. Prior to knowing (and loving) John and April, the extent of my Bob Dylan experience had been singing Blowin' in the Wind in french class in high school (not very satisfying). So... shortly after I got to Bloomington, we got tickets, someone burned me the aptly named Essential Bob Dylan, I got in the car, and drove to Pittsburgh to see what all the fuss was about. Seeing Bob Dylan live that night changed my life. I don't know quite how to explain it. He actually sang Blowin' in the Wind-- in a completely different, almost choral, ultra-harmonic arrangement with the band singing along. He played Shelter from the Storm. He played, and I listened, and I watched John Paul and April, and he played, and I could tell I was succumbing to the vulnerability of being in love with something very completely, which was a very foreign feeling for me. It was liberating to like something so much, with no hesitation. Granted, there is little risk in falling in love with Bob Dylan's music-- but still, I had never been a fan of anything before. After the show, a generous soul/complete unknown said to me, "Tonight was a very special night" and bought me a t-shirt because I think he could tell how starstruck I was. I might be the only person in the world who views becoming a Bob Dylan fan as an entree into the world of risk-taking, but the waltzy version of I See A Change Comin' On that he is singing to me right now reminds me that it is true.
I love him....Thank you JP and April, I love you....Safe travels and welcome home to Zora!

Addendum: For a hilarious review of the new disc and the continual link between Bob Dylan album release dates and apocalyptic events, click here.

The Little 500

Probably the most unique thing about Bloomington, IN, my old home town, is that it is also home to the greatest competitive collegiate cycling event in the whole world-- the Little 500. Like the Indy 500, the L5 is a race that involves several hours of turning left as fast as you can. In this case, it is on a bike, on a gravel track, with a bunch of maniacs trying to do exactly the same thing at the same time in the same place. It is extremely exciting, and pretty dangerous, and this past weekend my friend GP coached his team, the ChiO's (pronounced ky-O's) in the women's race and then participated as an expert commentator for the men's race on Saturday. Here he is, sporting pink hair according to his annual tradition of matching the team's jersey color. Back in the old days (last year), my friend Amanda and I would fill our travel coffee mugs with beer in the lab and stroll over to see the women's race on Friday afternoon-- it was glorious. Barack Obama even went! If you don't get the chance to go, you can at least get a glimpse of the history and drama of the race by watching the iconic film, Breaking Away, which includes a scene filmed out at one of the quarries, the other coolest thing about Bloomington which I blogged about a while back. For those curious and/or sentimental, Cutters won again this year!

(Obama photo credit: Marc Peters)

Heartbreak on Special

(click to enlarge)

Mi casa, su casa

I had my first real visitor at 501 (and 1/4) Mashburn Lane this past weekend. Shane Lewinski, my friend Darron's long time friend who I became friends with (a long time ago now too) came to visit me, in Arlington. That's right-- ante up old timers, it's time to buy plane tickets. GP and Darron are coming in May, and I am afraid my trailer will literally cook visitors in June, July, and August-- so if you are thinking of visiting, consider September/October when things cool off a little again. By chance, my boss was having a baby this weekend (ok, not literally by chance, but via a process well known to all of you). So Shane only got to sleep in the trailer one night, because we were pet-sitting in a normal size house the other two nights. After the initial shock wore off ("wow, it looks so much bigger in the pictures"), I think he loved it. Four stars, right Shane? Despite the luxury night-time accomodations provided by my bosses, we did spend much of our hang out time in the trailer, which has great acoustics, playing guitar. At one point, there were two guitars, a banjo, a harmonica (and harmonica necklace), and two people in the trailer-- kind of like a clown car of musical instruments. We also barbequed and hung out on the patio schaack/gilbert-style with a bunch of folks from my department and went to a Rangers game at the new stadium (2-0, Rangers lost-- but a fun visit to the ballpark nonetheless). Last but not least, Shane lent his fingers and patience to me for some songwriting on Saturday-- which I now know is much harder than most songwriters admit. It is still a work-in-progress, but I couldn't ask for a more fun weekend. Thank you so much for coming to see me Shane! You are beacon of visitation light!

Curler, Champion of Worldwide Freedom, and Theater Buff

I have been very remiss! It's been so long, I am not sure what to blog about first. Curling? Yes, I went curling for the first time last week and it was surprisingly fun. I now feel like I can buy a Weakerthans t-shirt without being a poseur (don't know the Weakerthans? go listen now, seriously, go...now). Passover? I enjoyed a delicious dinner with my dear friends Charlie, Marta, and Norma down in Austin on Saturday to celebrate the festival of freedom. It is the only jewish holiday I have ever observed, and I have to admit it is mainly because I love the food, but it was and always is a great time to get together and reflect on how lucky we are to enjoy the freedoms we enjoy and to think about how that could be extended to others who do not enjoy such freedoms. As a champion and practitioner of complete and total freedom, I feel like I should think about this at least once a year, and preferably while eating the bread of our affliction, bitter herbs, and the mortar of the temples built for Pharoah during enslavement (i.e. matzah, horseradish, and haroset)-- a tasty combination despite the agony associated with it. Last but not least, I went to a play last weekend! Yes, a play! It had been a long time, and I went to one recommended by my friend Amy's sister, Carrie, who is studying theater at UT-Austin. It was soooo unbelievably good-- I don't think I could describe it in a few short sentences because of all the cleverness, and layers, and cool feelings it emoted (is that a word?) If you want to see it, the play is called The Method Gun and the company that performed it is The Rude Mechanicals. It was terrific and I am now a theater buff. It doesn't take much to make me an aficionado if I like something, does it?

Little Brothers/Big Sister

Sunday I took my "little" and his actual little brother to the zoo. (Big Brothers/Big Sisters refers to kids and the their volunteers as "littles" and "bigs", respectively.) I am not completely clueless when it comes to kids because I have a younger sister (by 6 years) that I loved spending time with when I was little (and still love spending time with), but I am definitely almost completely clueless because these days I rarely hang out with kids, and my tendency is to treat them with the same ratio of seriousness:humor that I use with adults. I would say they take it pretty well, but onlookers often make a funny face when they see me talking completely straight-faced to a 3 year old, with no babyfication of the words. Anyway, we had a great time at the zoo, and Robert and Anthony especially liked the exhibits where you could interact with the animals, like the aviary pictured here and the petting zoo. Little did I know, the parking lot outside my office would provide petting zoo opportunities later that night. As I have mentioned, there are a lot of herpetologists in my department, which means people are almost always going to or coming from the field to collect lizards, snakes, and frogs (ostensibly for their research, but it seems like they also just really like collecting things). The troupe that went out this past weekend came across a motherless baby lamb in the middle of nowhere and decided they had to save it from certain starvation/predation alone in the wilds of Texas. I wish Robert and Anthony had been with me then, as spontaneous-unplanned-baby-animal-ogling-in-the-parking-lot is way more fun than the petting zoo.

PS. Betsy-- you'll get your very own blogpost soon, I swear!