Okay, People, here we go-
First, there are still few tickets left for the show at The Neptune Theater in Seattle on Nov. 25th and all the shows at The Arlington Draft House in Arlington VA Dec. 2nd and 3rd.
Seattle people. If you want merch bring cash. I am yet to get a phone that enables me to do credit cards. It is on the way but won’t be here for the show. I am hoping to have the hand screened Coop posters at the show and they will be 50 bucks. They are beautiful. I hope they dry in time.
That said, I am happy and nervous to be alive, as usual. I really don’t think I am in a mid-life crisis at all. I’m trying to ease into a mid-life acknowledgement and acceptance. I have been a lot of places and had what seems to be several lives. I have been flat out busted a couple of times. There have been plenty of peaks and valleys. Sometimes I forget what I have been through and where I have been and it all comes rushing back when I see someone from some other life I had. That is, if I recognize and remember them. Those awkward few minutes of trying to place someone into the context of my history: did we fuck, did we fight, do I owe you money? That is sometimes the only way I know I am getting older. There have been so many faces, places and people. My mind has a hard time holding on to them the way it used to. I can't place them. I saw someone last night that I hadn’t seen in a while and she had been through some hard times. It was very moving to hear that she had struggled and made it out of the tunnel. I remember how she was when she was younger and now we’re both older, wiser and a little more beat up. Sharing that weird, raw vulnerability that comes from just surviving and not giving up or dying is one of the most moving exchanges available to us, even if it only lasts a few moments. It makes me realize that getting older is in some ways pretty fucking sweet.
Mary Lynn Rajskub is on Monday’s show. I have some history with her. Well, more with one of her old roommates but it was great to talk to her. I have always felt she was a bit of genius. On Thursday my old friend Dr. Stephen Dansiger talks to me about creativity and his own painful journey from rock stardom, through drugs and alcohol, into mental hospitals, beyond disappointment, heartbreak and ultimately into sobriety, getting his PhD and starting a family. Awesome tale.
Thanksgiving is here. Despite what you may think of the holiday and its inception try to feel a little non-holiday related gratitude. It is a difficult feeling for me to summon up. It doesn’t come naturally. I have to open my heart and let it set in. I have a lot to be grateful for right now. Things are better than okay but things have been tough in the past and I’m sure they will be again for some reason or other. I know a lot of people are struggling right now. Just know you are not alone and it probably isn’t you’re fault. So, try to give yourself a break and find something to be thankful for and spread a little love around if you can. Go ahead, do it. Reach out to a stranger. Do something nice for someone less fortunate. Eat some good food. Hold a baby. Hug an old person. Be present. Be grateful to be fucking alive.
Love,
Maron
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