We drove up early in anticipation of getting near the front of the line. When we arrived at the Mercy Lounge, the doors had not yet opened and the line was already enormous. We took our place and by the time doors opened the scene looked like the Israelites crossing through the Red Sea. Appearances can be deceiving, though, and once we got inside we realized that everyone would fit. We stood and stood and stood. We were near the amps which blasted the same songs over and over while we waited. The crowd was growing and getting restless. It shifted and moved and breathed like an animal waiting to pounce. Clapping rallies were started. People flirted with each other and peered anxiously over to the area by the backstage, waiting for the band. Those of us who could no longer take the standing sat on the dirty floor, huddled together. The opening band came on, finally, two hours late. They received a good applause, mixed with some calls of "Sufjan." Sufjan was, in fact, playing the drums, which the sharper ones in the crowd came to realize. Then the openers went off, and we waited some more. We looked at our watches and remarked that it was midnight our time, and we had a two hour drive home. But we were committed. More shifting, more flirting, more anxiously peering at the backstage. And then, finally, the band came, decked out in cheerleading costumes, with Sufjan wearing an American flag suit, and all was well. At this point we were all so tired that we could easily be carried onto the euphoric plane on waves of shimmering, startling, and soothing tunes. Nice timing, Sufjan.
September 2005 Archives
I went to IKEA in Atlanta yesterday and got a lot of good stuff. While I was raking in the various bowls/utensils/etc. for which I was there, I was struck by how many kinds of products they offer for organizing your stuff. Endless wooden shelves, plastic drawers and bins, magazine racks, hat stands, shoe hangers, and even large wine racks that went from floor to ceiling. Wow, I thought, IKEA really wants me to be organized. Then it occurred to me that perhaps IKEA is simply reflecting current cultural trends. Of course, it is a Swedish store, so I would apply this to Western culture in general, not just America. We need to have things in order and organized. If we don't then we need to shape up and get it together, right now. Just watch all those home makeover shows that spin off of each other and you'll see what I mean.
As I was thinking about this today, it further occurred to me that our culture is also one that has to have all the answers. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we all wanted to know why this happened, and quickly moved into the blame game. We can't seem to acknowledge that not everything is preventable, or that we are not as powerful and organized as we think. Bill McClay does a much better job of expounding on this idea than I can. Perhaps we ought to reflect on the fact that we cannot put everything rationally into order- while there are some things about Katrina that we can point to clearly as causes, we also ought to see that we don't have an answer for everything, and thus do not have it all together.
I know it's a strange connection between IKEA and Katrina, but hey, my brain feels like making strange connections today.
I was in Boston for Labor Day Weekend, and the weather could not have been more perfect. Sunny, '70's and 80's, crisp. Perhaps my view of the city has been colored by the weather I experienced there? It's amazing how weather can affect trips so drastically.
Anyway, had a good time with Laura, Anna, Tami, Keri, Hope, Linnea, and Linnea's parents. The Bostonians really know how to keep their history and tell it to others. They also know how to make Little Italy non-commercial (think NYC). Laura got hit on by a guy dressed like Paul Revere, and an untold number of people on the T stared at us and said "triplets" to each other in hushed tones. Some came right out and asked us.
The Bostonians also cherish their Kennedy heritage, as expressed in the JFK library and museum, which has a large glass room with a stunning view of the harbor and the New Englanders out on their sailboats. Anna reflected on what it would be like to go to college right on the water, like at UMass Boston. They offer sailing classes there- I think Covenant should offer hanggliding classes.
Good chowda, good atmosphere, preppy people at the bars, and the gate at Harvard that says "Enter and grow in wisdom" all made for a happy weekend.
