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September 21, 2008
pollyanna
Sometimes, if you whine enough, some good things happen and then you kind of feel like an idiot for whining.
Proof that there must be (or there might be) a flying spaghetti monster out there =
- Yesterday I went on a group ride for the first time, with a neighborhood bike club. We went a bit over 21 miles. At first I was afraid of crashing and/or making some bike-etiquette mistake, but everyone was very nice and gave me a lot of space until it became clear I was not going to be a menace to the peloton. I was the only fat-tire person in the entire crew, but I kept up with the roadies just fine.
- Someone managed to convince me, during the course of a long chat, that I just need to be more patient, that I will recover, that my life as a runner (how pompous that sounds! but I truly have such a tiny life that running is a huge part of who I am) isn't necessarily over, if only I will just be more patient. Oh, and I should not try to run until I have no pain whatsoever, duh. (note: this does not mean I will stop whining forever, just for a while. Maybe a short while.)
- This morning, before the above-mentioned long chat, I walked about a mile, then jogged 5 minutes, then walked 2.5 minutes, then did this again two more times until I could no longer deny that it hurt too much to continue, so I quit jogging and walked home.
- Later this morning I took the bike to the scrubby park with the paved loop and rode 27 miles. Towards the middle of the last loop, a roadie came up on me and said he'd been trying to catch me for 3 miles, and he said I was doing great for being on a mountain bike and I should try a road bike sometime. He went on ahead, but I caught him back two miles later. Granted he was probably 15 years older than I, but it was a nice little pat on my ego.
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on the flip side: last night my velvet-underground-cover-band played a gig truly from hell, complete with a wiseguy doorman, a snarky dried-up knowitall of a soundman who mixed us like Starship, a ditzy show organizer wearing a dress made out of a hundred neckties, and a crowd who couldn't have cared less. We arrived on time, did as we were told, followed every rule, then were asked to wait a bit to go on. Ok, that happens a lot, no problem at all. 3 songs into the set, ditzy organizer came up to the stage and flashed 4 fingers at us. 4 fingers? What, 4 songs, 4 minutes, what do you mean? She could not make herself clear. Finally she managed to convey (to us, not the crowd) that the Guy whose CD release party this was was On His Way and we needed to be not playing when He made His Entrance into the Club. Great, but minutes and minutes passed and nothing happened, and He did not show any Evidence of His Impending Entrance. We were all focused on stage right, where ditzy organizer kept flashing hand signals at us but refused to come onstage and tell the crowd what was going on. Finally I went up to the mic and said "sorry, we've been asked not to play for some reason, that's why it looks like we're just standing here with dead air and our backs to you." Ditzy organizer decided we could go on and play something short, then lost her train of thought altogether so we plowed ahead with the set, including a very intentionally ugly version of Sister Ray and a Candy Says that sounded like we'd all died. The crowd clapped politely, as their parents must have taught them. I think if we'd been 20 years younger, they would have liked us, but we just looked like dried-up 40-somethings, halfway in drag, making a lot of noise. At 11pm sharp, the soundman reminded us of the very strict schedule which allowed for only one more numbah, so I suggested I'm Set Free as a big Fuck You to clubs, musicians, artists, artistes, wannabes, and fabulosos everywhere.
Posted by joe positive at September 21, 2008 4:17 PM
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Comments
Joe P, I enjoy your blog a lot and this entry will be one of my faves. Keep hangin' in there.
Jon W.
Posted by: Jon at September 21, 2008 8:56 PM
remind me again why I don't miss that kind of thing?
Posted by: ray at September 22, 2008 4:00 PM
...you could always try the Rap scene...
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at September 23, 2008 3:59 AM