:: anne in the attic ::

Create Your Own Countdown

:: Friday, October 17, 2003 ::

My mother will remember the ceremony she arranged for me when I was nine at the local sufi house in our California town. It was to "discover" my mantra, in the first step to meditation. She meditated daily, and suggested it as a remedy for the reduction of my stress and hyperactivity. It was an out-of-the-box experience for me then, and I know some of it was lost on this nine-year-old. But I never forgot it, and have often come back to that little tool as the means to a center. That, after all, was the idea, wasn't it? From there, it grows with you, perhaps into a kind of coping instinct that kicks in. When it does, you often find yourself with a little perspective, which is handy when everything around you feels so chaotic. That's sort of where things are this week. I'm barely awake and moving through time. There are spaces ahead in the distance of rest, leisure, creativity, fellowship.... The meditative moments create small pockets of peacefulness in between. So often it's the silences between the notes that define the music itself. There are times when it's necessary just to let everything else fall away and know this. And sometimes, in quietude, you hear so much.

:: Anne 1:04 AM [smartass remarks] ::
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:: Anne 12:27 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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The first order of business is the show Thursday night: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. I mean, wow. They performed some things from the new album, Soul Journey ("Look At Miss Ohio," "One Monkey," "I Had a Real Good Mother and Father"), some from Time the Revelator ("My First Lover," "Red Clay Halo," and of course, "Revelator"), as well as some old faves like "One More Dollar" and some things they haven't yet recorded. David's hair has grown nearly to his shoulders, but he still wears his gospel suit. And Gillian wore a purple sparkley dress, perfect for Eugene. The house was packed. It was just the two of them, no back-up drums or bass. It was so intoxicating in a whiskey kind of way, sad but sweet. They didn't play "Everything Is Free" or "Annabelle," but no matter.... maybe next time. And they did three encores to a truly devoted crowd. Andy and I stuck around afterward for autographs. She came out in jeans and a black leather jacket, with granny glasses on. When I shook her hand, it was thin and soft, but so strong. Damn, I'd date her. She signed my CD "To Annabelle." Susan's gonna shit. As for me, well, I am still under the spell of the haunting simplicity and truth of this particular artist. Her music plays as I go about the house, not so much in the background, but more like a pulse that keeps me connected and lifts my heart up into moments of beauty so pure it's painful.

There's more happening these days, but it'll keep. Time's the revelator.

:: Anne 12:27 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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