Home again, home again

Tuesday night and I'm at my kitchen table, just home from seeing two clients at Lakewood. Which makes it a little hard to believe that I was in san francisco just yesterday. To be fair though, yesterday was all travel. I had a good trip, didn't get to do quite everything I wanted to, namely see a few of my most favorite spots in the area, but oh well.

I had purchased a ticket to this 3 day concert in GG park. Lots of good music, but I bought the ticket b/c the Beastie Boys were the Sunday night headliner, and I have not seen them since 1995 and really would love to. They had to cancel about a month ago and they had to be replaces - I had high hopes for Rage Against the Machine, but alas they came up with Tenacious D. Pretty lame, in my book. So , I did still hit up this concert each of those days and saw lots of good stuff.

Other than the show, I didn't get into a whole lot. Really minimal socializing which was nice in a way and not as well. I spent a day with my friend, roommate from college whose been in SF ever since. She has 23 months sober, and has spent those 23 months and a few random ones prior, in this sober living program - she lives, eats, rides public transit and all for free. Pretty sweet, though not considering how she got there. Anyway, she and I have always had fun and been very good friends, so it was nice to see her, we wandered around and went to dinner and then a movie (in the castro theatre where an old dude plays a pimped out old organ on the stage before the film, then he lowers down to the orchestra pit, and, only one preview. Sweet!)

Anyway, I just didn't feel like hanging out with anyone. I definitely didn't feel like going to any bars or anything solo, I was kind of sick while there and still have this throat issue. So I decided what to eat each day and just did my thing. Every single one of the concert days I found myself back in line for the pizza being sold by I heart spicy pie, a local pizza joint I had never heard of. My GOd. So. Good. FYI.

I had some really good sushi on my Japantown day where I also got a massage and used the tubs and saunas at a spa that was almost 10,000 waves-ish but it was in a building so not quite, but it was very nice. I did far less shopping than anticipated, and was fine with that as those funds went to food or were saved. Part of that and just generally speaking I was pretty exhausted, I think in large part by the convert which involved a 2 mile trek from one stage to another, endlessly, oh and it was in the 90s friday and saturday. So long bus rides, shopping, etc. were just not that appealing. The hotel I got was really affordable, I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the sign on the front door that said " WARNING: These premises contain chemicals know to cause birth defects. More information is available." Something like that. So, I guess that explains the affordability. It is a neighborhood I had never visited before, the Marina, and I found it to be a little pretentious, not the old Marina Inn, by any stretch, but the district down the blocks of restaurants and bars I didn't care for. I always stayed before in the Hotel Tropicana in the Mission district, but vowed to never return when the Indian woman of the family who runs the Tropicana yelled at me about having friends up to my hotel room, as tho I were one of her own. Fuck that. ANyway, I was also way across town from my favorite spot at lands end and could not fit in a bus trip over there, tho I was right on the other side of a fence from it at the concert seeing acts such as MIA, modest mouse, and the SIlversun Pickups on the Lands End polo field stage.

Concert high lights for me, personally, were TV on the Radio (LOVE them), I think they said they were done touring for a while so was very glad to have sen that show, they rocked. M.I.A. was a great show, tho she did not sound all that good, her Baltimore dance crew was representing and Lucinda Williams. I love Lucinda a lot, too. I saw her at HOB in cleveland many years ago and was impressed. After that, I bought her live at the Fillmore album and still think that there are moments in that set where she rivals Janis Joplin as far as emotional vocals. So, I leave modest mouse to go see her whole performance, I am able to walk right up to the stage for a front row standing spot. She comes out with her band, she looks a little worse for wear, i must say, tho could be all the fault of bad hair (ain't that a bitch). She seemed a little subdued, I found myself wondering if she as on pain killers - had that look about her. ANyway, she sounded stellar. Almost as tho she just talks into a mic and sounds like she does on her songs. She opened with a song that is an old blues song she recorded for her first record, called Motherless Children, perhaps some of you have heard this - Clapton covered it and other contemporary groups, too. I had never heard it before, and needless to say, it made me cry -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dohfr-wHTQ.

It was quite moving, and the rest of her set was all of the songs I love from the FIllmore disc.

On the plane ride home, I watched Sunshine Cleaning. I thought it was a TV show, it is indeed a movie. The old woman next to

me announced to her old husband that she was watching it, and I could tell watching her screen that it was yet another thing

filmed in the state of NM, like my fave show, Breaking Bad. So, I watched it, too, and found myself in tears once again. It's a

good movie, and i must say could have been a good TV show, too. ANyway, the sisters in it reflect on losing their Mom which

I imagine is why I was all affected. The credits roll to the song "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, which I have been

rocking the fuck out to ever since. I don't know if my Mom liked that song or not, for some reason I think she probably did

Jesus reference and all, so

it makes me pretty happy to rock to these past 24 hours, and even if she didn't like it I must say I really dig the music as well

as the simple rhyming lyrics and the whole idea there. I was going to link to that song, but you all can go ahead and google a

performance should you need to. Apparently it's a big hit via the video game rock band. Excellent. More later -