was stupid-fun. Granted, it’s not over – it’s only Saturday night – but I would imagine tomorrow will be spent getting ready for my first-ever day teaching real live students on Monday (scary).
So after an abortive attempt at having fun in Manhattan last night, I went back again today with a crew of CT corps people to see the free Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst show in Battery Park. It was a good time, though I have to admit I was a little disappointed it was Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst rather than Rilo Kiley and Bright Eyes. When playing solo, the two seem to indulge their mutual tendency towards Woodstocky, feelin’-it jamminess, which gets old awfully fast if you’re not significantly intoxicated (which I wasn’t).
That said, it was still a great time. I know it’s sort of cliched to say that Jenny Lewis is sexy, but uh – Jenny Lewis is really, really sexy. Unbelievably talented, fun songs, great stage presence. Monsieur Oberst was wearing what appeared to be a large black sunhat and was apparently suffering under the delusion that he was, in fact, Neil Young. It’s been strange to see his evolution – the last time I saw him was 2005. Back then he had angular bangs, a tight black hoodie and an alcohol problem and sang songs that flirted with folksiness while remaining essentially emo in character. Nowadays all that’s gone (except maybe the alcohol problem) and he sings songs about, and I quote, “makin’ love in the back of a Cadillac” and “seein’ Dixie.” If that passes for authenticity these days, consider me unimpressed. I’ve seen Dixie. It’s regular.
I met up with Seth there, and it was fantastic seeing him again – I’ve been grappling with the fact that I reject 98.9% of the time I spent at Furman, so seeing him – one of the people from Furman I’ve always liked without any qualifications – now that I’ve sort of rebooted my existence, that was great. He came to a restaurant with me and the rest of the TFA crew, and we got a few pitchers of beer and had a good time – the incredible thing was that when the waiter figured out we were TFA, he gave us two of the pitchers for free, because “You guys are actually going out there and goddamned doing something to make a difference.” That was a pretty cool feeling.
We wandered around for a little while until we noticed the Jersey City fireworks starting – we watched those for a while and they were really pretty (did anyone else see the cutting-edge smiley face fireworks this year?) until the much, much more impressive NYC fireworks started over the Hudson nearby. I have a lot of moments up here where I realize I’m really doing something new and radically different, that my circumstances have changed in a huge way, but seeing Fourth of July fireworks in New York was a particularly strong example. It was really a gorgeous night for being outside, and the fireworks display was a perfect addition. Just damn.
We went back to Queens, hit another bar there and talked some rubbish before coming back. I suppose I felt compelled to make a blog post about it all not because it’s particularly interesting – granted, the show and the fireworks and the free beer were all interesting enough for me – but mostly because today just felt really significant. Things are different now, they’re way different, and I really like that.
