Saturday, July 19, 2014

Sharon Van Etten

     After getting home tonight, I went to listen to some music on Youtube. For some reason I saw a video by Sharon Van Etten as one of the first mentioned. The name sounded familiar, as she had just performed at First Avenue in Minneapolis this week. I had read an interview with her, and for some reason I was impressed. But I usually like seeing people get interviewed, because there is so much that can be learned. As I recall, there was mention of leaving an abusive relationship. And on some level I can relate to someone who works through their pain in their art, and this helps them become more well-adjusted. Or maybe it was not wanting to become too famous, evident with wanting to play small venues like First Avenue. I hadn't heard any of her music until finding some songs on Youtube tonight. I listened to three, I am most impressed with 'Taking chances'. It depicts a tarot card reader. 'Magic chords' had a constant drumbeat to it, like drums from the American Revolution era. The constant drumming works for me. But the lyrics were kind of hard to follow, aside from 'Nothing to lose.' The video caught my eye as she is wearing a Puritan-type outfit and then lays on her back in a pond. The first one I listened to, 'Our love', was kind of slow but I liked it being filmed in black and white. I also like some of the lyrics, 'I am a sinner, I have sinned.' And mention of a half-mast flag. The chorus seemed a little too simple and repetitive, mostly saying 'It's our love'.  I had to listen to it twice as I wanted to give the song a fair chance.
    This was a fairly busy day with doing events. I went over to Keller golf course in Maplewood to see the festivities related to re-opening after renovation. I got plenty of pictures there. I passed by it often when I lived on the East Side but hadn't been there before. I liked getting a ride on golf carts, both to and from the parking lot. I said I probably hadn't rode on one since I was at baseball spring training, 8 years ago, in Florida. I like knowing it is affordable to golf there, 18 holes is just $40 but it does bill itself as being open to the public. I did see some of the speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but didn't want to stay long as I needed to get home and make final preparations for a date.
    For the date, we met near a Minneapolis park in the afternoon and then walked over to a park bench, where we spoke for a while as we saw a pickup basketball game off in the distance. I noticed how one of the players had a Torii Hunter shirt on, number 48, a former player for the Twins. My date complained of feeling ill, after working out with a personal trainer earlier in the day. So we parted ways after 30 minutes. My date did ask about the comedy I do, and I did my best to answer all questions. I was also asked if I like kids, after we saw a toddler at a nearby bench. I said I like the enthusiasm that kids have for life, that too many of us adults eventually lose. I am hopeful that we meet again, and I even said so in person, but that is up to my date. I feel we are compatible. My date is intelligent like me, has a master's and is working on a PhD, and I need intellectual stimulation in my life wherever possible.
   I know I don't allow myself to be vulnerable too often, readers. But I feel like this time I need to be. I have seen many matches from internet dating fizzle out quickly. I have had to accept that either 'Those ships have sailed' or 'It was never meant to be'. When I called my college roommate last night, I said one of my main thoughts was 'Don't mess this one up'- and I had seen this sentiment before. The Ally Sheedy character had it in the movie 'Only the Lonely'. Did I make some mistakes before? Yes, who hasn't? But I have tried to learn from them. I told myself that I am putting my best foot forward way more often than before, so that alone means the success rate is higher. I needed to learn patience, as I have understood how the alternatives often don't yield a better solution than waiting things out.
   If my date has found these words, understand that like most other people I have different sides to myself. Hard to say what the odds are, since I spoke of the blog but didn't give out a business card. But I think it is in my best interest to not reveal it until our relationship progresses further, as one date is still too soon. Sure I do comedy, I am confident while performing my craft, but who isn't? We all have strengths, and good or bad we have weaknesses as well. I didn't want to accept those for a while, just wanted to whine and this got me nowhere. But I have weathered those storms and I am well-adjusted now, as my college roommate said to me. So I know I have qualities I can present to others and they will have to accept me for who I am if we are going to be friends.
    We all have insecurities, my problem for a while was wearing things on my sleeve. I had to learn to be poker-faced about many things. But as Eminem said in one of his songs, I am exorcising my demons, this was in 'Not Afraid'. Comedy is a wonderful coping mechanism, it might make me look cocky or overconfident to some but nothing could be further from the truth. I let my guard down when I am most comfortable, like when I am onstage, or when I am with my friends. And there are times when I do so because I have no choice. At some point I will likely be comfortable enough to be more vulnerable around my date, but it is early.
     I expected to eat at the date but I didn't. So I went over to Bobby and Steve's near 35-W and had a little Godfather's pizza there. Before I went in I saw some young men, who gave me a greeting. They tried again, even though they got my attention, and I said 'I heard you the first time, what do you want?' and one of them swore at me, unsure why. It wasn't worth worrying about, I just kept walking inside. Then it was on to the Roseville library to print some things, where I saw a box of books outside and I looked through them. I found three Charlie Brown and Snoopy books, the woman said she was donating the box to the library. So I got the three books for free, which may be a really good deal. These books look rare, one is a hardcover and the other two are thin Hallmark books.
   The final event was going to Bastille Day at the French Alliance in Minneapolis. It was held in a parking lot across the street from their building. I lucked out on seeing someone who knows me when I arrived and was paying my admission fee. It was the cameraman from earlier in the week, from the All-Star Game fan-fest. I was introduced to his friend as somebody who knows the big dog, and the lone lady in The Turkeys. This made me feel good, though I did say if it's a Twin City comedian then I probably know them. I liked getting pictures of the French cars there, Peugeot and Citroen. I was expecting to see some Renaults as well, but didn't. It was nice to listen to the music there, and have some white wine. I had to remind myself not to drink it like beer, as I nearly choked on it by drinking it too fast. I left around 9:30 as I wanted to get back home on the light rail before the trains become less frequent at 10pm. I saw fans from the Twins game, was told the Twins lost. The giveaway was headphones, sponsored my Delta Airlines. I saw somebody wearing an Iowa Games shirt, and they were communicating with some others in sign language. Being from Iowa I am familiar with this event. The Iowa Games is the state's version of the Olympic Games.
   After I got home, I like watching 'Life to the Max' on WCCO. There was a feature about St. Augustine, Florida, a city I visited in 2003. I walked around in the old fort there. Before it was 'Storm Stories' and a hurricane in Hawaii during the filming of 'Jurassic Park' was profiled.

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