Cloister Commentary, Day 277: Pressure Drop

I feel like COVID-19 has really sapped my motivation to…dust. One would think since we are inside more, we’d want to keep things super-spiffy. But no. I think I observe dust’s relentlessness more closely, and, of course, we can’t have company, so…why? Nonetheless, I dusted and it felt so good!

One highlight of the day was reading a set of poems written by one of my former students, who is now writing and teaching at the University of Virginia. She was a good poet when she entered my class, and I did nothing other than encourage her a little and stay the hell out of the way. But she has risen to a level of skill, insight, and control that forced me to wonder, “How can I critique this?” I fully expect to order her first collection soon; these were better than a few I’ve bought and read in the past. Mary Clare Agnew: remember the name.

I have to admit, I am stressed. It’s no surprise: it’s deep December, the pandemic is raging (close to 10 deaths in this county in the last week, across a wide age range), it’s the first Christmas without my dad, my mom’s dealing with severe shoulder pain, Nicole’s just had a weird and trying semester that sapped her, it’s going to be frigid here tomorrow and tomorrow night and I worry about outdoor cats (our two have insulated cat crates, we have two more in front for the various neighborhood cats who don’t seem to be being cared for), I have some health concerns I’m putting off til January, political egregiousness is as relentless as the dust, somebody just defecated in the COVID-19 relief package–guess who?–and one day’s worth of mail (including correspondence from friends) and an important package are in limbo. I need to focus on what I do have, I know–and I am not only fortunate but privileged. Still, pressure has done dropped.

Streaming for Strivers:

Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of Minutemen singer, songwriter and guitarist D. Boon. For a small group of friends and me, his was the most painful truncated existence of our lifetime. I’ve come to love this final Minutemen studio album better than the others because it demonstrates their versatility, daring, intelligence, humor, heart and potential so vividly–especially D.’s. You are missed, Mr. Boon.

Cloister Commentary, Day 276: The COVID Holiday Wind is LONG

Holidays, COVID-style…

Nicole and I started the day by picking up curbside groceries, getting precautionary COVID tests, and assembling and distributing at distance “stocking stuffers” to friends (the latter was all Nicole’s imaginative doing).

We also executed a drive-by drop-off gift exchange with our dear friends Janet and David. Turned out we gave each other currently out-of-print: I got Bud Powell, David got one of his favorite speaker’s greatest hits.

My mom was able to see a new doctor–she’s had a rocky road of late–and she’s making the relationship permanent. She’s gotten three different prescriptions for her arthritis- and tendinitis-inflicted shoulders from three different physicians, and the new one seems the most sensible. She sounded truly happy for the first time in a week.

It was a frustrating mail day. I’m well aware the USPS is overwhelmed, undermanned, and criminally undercut, but we didn’t even get our expected regular mail (I’m beginning to think the “Informed Delivery” app just amplifies my anxiety), and an important package’s USPS tracking looked like the flight of a fly at a BBQ. It left a Columbia distribution center at 7:15; this morning, it’s leaning a St. Louis distribution center. I need to chill.

Dinner was Boca burgers with cheese and onions, Springsteen green beans, and Yukon gold taters. Nightcap: Old Fashioneds with Runamok Maple Cocktail Syrup from Vermont. They tasted as great as Bernie Sanders is.

Catch-up: I forgot to mention one of my few pandemic accomplishments–I finished reading The Holy Bible! Well, kind of. Rather, it was Mark Russell’s condensed (no “begats,” for example), laugh-laden, and (accurately) retitled God is Disappointed in You. I’m not a believer, except in the notion that every literate English-speaker needs The Holy Bible, Hamlet, and The Odyssey under their belt for the sake of wrestling with references in traditional lit. Sample of Russell’s work? “If you’re one of these Christians who’s full of faith, but who lets widows and orphans starve to death, you need to either start doing Christ’s work or start calling yourself something else.” From “The Letter of James,” if you’d like to compare with the original.

Streaming for Strivers:

One night back in The Old World, we were vacationing with Janet and David at The Elms in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. We had been having a blast, but everyone but me had slid into a snooze, so I put my headphones on and listened to this. It’s probably my favorite EDM-ish album and it always brings back memories of that trip where nothing really happened but being together. YouTube is making the album a mystery, so you’ll have to click!

Cloister Commentary, Day 275: Bourbon Straight Bourbon

Realized yesterday I was only 91 (now 90) days away from a full year’s worth of pandemic commentary, though much of my commentary isn’t strictly about the pandemic. I had intended to continue commenting about living more fully in isolation (a more accurate description) until the pandemic is over, but I think now I’ll shoot for a year. I welcome the thoughts of anyone who’s been reading these.

CBS Sunday Morning has been a staple of our sanctum’s striving, though I have always distrusted its sunniness. However, yesterday’s pieces on Etsy, health care for the homeless, a male seam(ster?), and Paul McCartney got us off to a great start. I’m trying unsuccessfully to move Nicole from Spotify to Apple Music so she can enjoy McCartney’s new album in, um, more integrated fashion.

I hope everyone has friend like Beth Hartman. The three of us have had some great times together, and no one gives better gifts! We eagerly await her “Christmas box” this time every year; among this year’s cool stuff was some killer habañero beef jerky, as well as some pure-ass maple syrup that Nicole is going to make Old Fashioneds with tonight. Beth has also been essential to the lives of many seniors in the Seattle area–her stories about working with them bring us joy and hope.

We went for a three-mile neighborhood walk–the day was sunny and gorgeous for late December–then Nicole did some gift prep while I watched my preference for a Super Bowl, Saints v. Chiefs. I just wanted a close game, and that it was, but it wasn’t exciting until Kansas City let New Orleans back in the game, as fans knew they would. I finally finished my first and last bottle of Bob Dylan’s “Tennessee Bourbon Straight Bourbon Whiskey,” Heaven’s Door. It tastes ok, but out of irreverence I mixed it with a Mexican Coke.

Streaming for Strivers:

That word Live should not be in quotes…

Cloister Commentary, Day 274: Leeks, Parsnips, Cannellini Beans

We took a walk in the morning, which turned out to be somewhat abortive, as the neighbor’s cat enthusiastically joined us for half of it, then–because someone had her dog unleashed–freaked out, so we picked her up and walked back home. At least we got out of the house.

Nicole created a new crockpot dish, a vegetable stew with lots of good stuff including leeks and parsnips, that was fan-damn-tastic! The inspiration was via Betty Crocker, but she improvised, then added some cannellini beans for good measure after we ate to cook in for an hour or so. She also made a low-salt, high-garlic hummus that we pretty much finished off. As Bob Dylan once sang, “I can’t help it / If I’m lucky!”

In the afternoon, we spun a couple great records: the Beasties’ Paul’s Boutique and Clifton Chenier and His Red Hot Louisiana Band. That’s some good sh*t right there.

Evening (Son of Movie Night): Surprisingly strong Ian Dury biopic (Sex & Drugs & Rock and Roll), final, unsurprisingly powerful and moving installment of Small Axe (“Education”)–do yourself a favor and watch that, ok?

Streaming for Strivers:

Man vs. self musical conflict?

Cloister Commentary, Day 273: Watermelon Sky

Question for my friends who are wild about music: Name an artist or act that it took you considerable time to open up to and appreciate. I’ll go first: Belle and Sebastian!

Highlights of the day…

Taking an early morning walk under a watermelon sunrise and talking, just talking.

Putting holiday cards in the mail, then checking the “Informed Delivery” app and seeing cards from two of the addressees were on their way to our mailbox.

Enjoying, vicariously, Nicole’s Zoom happy hour / TGIF with her friends and colleagues.

Wearing out our kitten by making him run up and down the stairs after his current favorite gross toy (an aluminum foil ball).

Seeing Kevin The Durantula back on the court again, hitting dagger jumpers, slicing through the lane, and disrupting the opponent’s offense. Hello Brooklyn!!!

Drinking a cold Tecate with lime and salt backed by a small pour of tequila.

Sleeping straight through the night….

Streaming for Strivers:

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…

Cloister Commentary, Day 272: The Immediate Present

I awakened feeling a ton better physically, but still a bit stressed mentally and emotionally. I mean, December usually weighs heavy at the same time that one is about exhausted from the (albeit arbitrary) year, but this one has been a doozy. I was worried about a claim that had hit a snag, about my mom’s arthritis, about my decision to kick a clinic visit can down the road…Nicole could see it on my face, hugged me around the neck, messed up my perfect part, and told me she understood. My favorite moment of the day, and it moved me into the immediate present. I knocked out another 20 holiday cards, mailed ’em, and read four CDs’ worth of sleeve notes that I’d been putting off.

Thursday is Movie Night here, of course. We ate Bangkok Garden leftovers (does anyone else send holiday cards to your favorite eateries?), popped some poopity-popcorn, poured a couple ginger beers with bourbon and lime, and watched episodes 3 and 4 of the amazing, hard-hitting, and seriously educational Steve McQueen series Small Axe. I cannot recommend it enough. I told Nicole that we are sure to look back on this series of films as major cultural landmarks; I hope we will have another Zoom discussion about them with Rebecca and Frank!

Streaming for Strivers:

Relative to Episode 4 of Small Axe. I was wondering when LKJ would make it onto the series’ stimulatin’ soundtrack–it was inevitable–and last night was the night. Final track from this record (I may have posted it previously, but it’s worth it–it isn’t streaming on Apple Music and I wonder why)…

…and I’m not forgetting your full album stream!

(6) Linton Kwesi Johnson : Reggae Greats (Full Album) – YouTube

Cloister Commentary, Day 271: Don’t Worry! It’s 2020!

After awakening feeling human for a change, I set myself to a morning like I’m sure many have: attending to this-and-that missives that had accumulated on the kitchen table (pet vacc appointments, filter changes, like that). I also rescheduled an upcoming health appointment for next month–I have too much on my plate right now–wrote and mailed a dozen or so holiday cards, and sent tips to our two newspaper carriers.

Also, I kept a medical appointment. Due to a diagnosis of atrial flutter, I’d been sent for an echocardiogram last week but “flunked,” as my heart rate was too high and erratic to get decent image. So on my return visit yesterday, I again had an elevated and erratic heart rate but somehow the technician got a reading–she felt I actually was exhibiting atrial fibrillation. Wonderful. I’ve been tracking my heart rate with a handy cuff, and it’s been consistently normal, but the technician explained that such cuffs only tend to measure ventricular heart rate, not atrial. Now they tell me.

I was a little rattled when I got home, but settled down after I talked to Nicole, ate lunch, and hid in a book for a few hours. Nobody at the clinic seemed too concerned, so I guess I need to chill, at least for the moment. Right? I mean, after all…it’s 2020!

Streaming for Strivers:

Sassy, (relatively) easy on the vibrato, all the way there on the invention, aided by Zoot Sims.

Cloister Commentary, Day 270: Out of Gas

I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but yesterday, as a result of using muscles that had been sprawled on my body’s couch for the last decade, I did some moaning and groaning. And napping. And shuffling around.

Also–I know I’m not alone in this, because it’s probably a common COVID-19 experience–I think I just ran out of emotional gas. Nicole’s care and presence, a nap, comfort food, and comfort reading (yep, reference books: Will Friedwald’s A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, informative, funny, and strangely warming) helped a lot. I feel better this morning.

Streaming for Strivers:

Under Friedwald’s spell.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9e1R0bJHdrQ

Cloister Commentary, Day 269: Crates of Vinyl and Clearasilled Zits

I’m helping a friend find homes for his vinyl collection, so I spent the morning going through the first two of four crates and doing some sorting. I had forgotten how heavy record crates were; I hadn’t moved any since I was in my forties, but damn! I’m feelin’ it as I thumb this out. Flipping through the stacks and seeing original vinyl copies of Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Johnny Thunders and more took me straight back to the days when those acts were the meat ‘n’ potatoes on our dinner table. Not that I don’t play them anymore, but, to paraphrase George Jones reflecting on Hank Williams, they were everything to us.

Later, Nicole and I celebrated a couple of bits of wonderful national news–couple of zits got Clearasilled–by treating ourselves to curbside dinner, a cocktail, “Whiskers R We,” and a Jimi Hendrix documentary/concert. We then lapsed into sleep smiling.

Streaming for Strivers:

All essential music’s been digitized, right? Wrong. Found this in my friend’s stacks, though I already have a copy of my own.

Cloister Commentary, Day 268: The Road Home

Road trip back from my mom’s–listened to Black Thought’s first two “Streams of Thought” EPs (strong stuff), then Robert Calvert’s Lucky Leif & The Longships and Hawkwind’s Quark, Strangeness & Charm (strange and wonderful stuff). Switched to Chiefs game for my last lap only to hear them in “we’ll-spot-you-some-points” mode.

I was glad to see Nicole. She fixed me a titanic grilled (pepper) cheese sandwich and some tomater soup, we had a couple beers, Zoomed with a couple of friends, poopity-popped some popcorn, and closed out the day with the documentary Fantastic Fungi. Serious food for thought, right there.

Streaming for Strivers:

This random selection from a stack of things I was curious about entertained and fascinated the hell out of me when I was on the road yesterday! It is a concept album (I think) both wacky and wry.