It's been quiet here lately, but not without reason; I'm working on an entirely new web site that will house this blog as well as all kinds of other fascinating content. I plan to have it up within the next few months, and in the meantime I'll try not to neglect this journal any more than I have to.

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After work today I ran up to Streetside Records to catch an in-store performance by Jonatha Brooke. (If you haven't already heard her music, and you're a fan of thoughtful, intelligent, passionate music sung beautifully, go check her out right away.) And I'm so glad I did; it was extraordinary. In an impromptu move she decided to play purely acoustic--no mic, no PA. So I had the wonderful opportunity of standing just a few feet from her and seeing and hearing her completely unadorned and undistorted. And it was just lovely. I've listened to her for about 9 years now, but hearing her that way was like hearing her for the first time--no decoration at all, just her direct voice, just her fingers on the guitar strings. It was probably routine for her, but I was doing somersaults inside over the purity and intimacy of what I was hearing. Every nuance of her voice and playing were there, more 3-D than on any record, her honeyed melodies fully intact and scintillating. Along with her wonderful voice and melodic sense, I have to say that she has some of the most beautiful, expressive eyes I've ever seen. When she would brush her gaze over the assembled listeners, it was like someone sweeping a laser beam around the room--I was taken aback, in a good way.

A bonus was how genuine and down-to-earth she was, graciously talking to everyone and signing all manner of CDs and posters. I'm not normally one for the autograph game, but moved by the spirit of the moment I finally got my old, well-worn copy of 10 Cent Wings signed--I've turned a lot of people on to her with that record. It's also a record I haven't listened to in a long time. It's had the unfortunate distinction of being associated with some of the most painful times in my life over the last 8 years; it started its life as a bittersweet soundtrack to moving on from a painful relationship and ended its run a couple years ago as a too-close reminder of subsequent great passion and loss. But I put it on again today as I drove from the store, and those old feelings washed through me along with a new appreciation. It's a wonderful, wonderful record. For some reason I was the only person there having that particular one signed, and Jonatha looked at it wistfully, "oh, I love this one." She's not alone.

And alright, if I sound like some star-struck puppy here, all I'll say is that if you're gonna be that way, there's no better case for it than her. Do yourself a favor and hear her.

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One quick note about the presidential debate tonight. In the midst of a lot of the same lines we've heard time and again, Kerry gave what I thought was one of the most striking, daring, and genuine answers to a question I've possibly ever heard from a candidate. When pressed by a question about tax dollars supporting abortion, Kerry gave a remarkable reply, abridged here:

First of all, I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief about life and when it begins. I'm a Catholic, raised a Catholic...religion has been a huge part of my life. It helped lead me through a war, leads me today.

But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can't do that.

...As a president, I have to represent all the people in the nation. And I have to make that judgment.

What a brave, genuine thing to say. He's bound to catch grief for it by the likes of the 700 Club loonies, but he earns my respect for that. Bush chided him at one point on another question for trying to be "popular", but it was Bush who spent the whole night pandering to his crowd, speaking to an invisible list of approved message points. Kerry, with lines like those above, showed himself to be someone who can transcend that. The world is bigger than any one ideology, and he was the only one on that stage grown-up enough to realize that. He's got my vote.

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Music of the moment: Jonatha Brooke - 10 Cent Wings; Interpol - Antics; Gemma Hayes - Night on My Side; Kornog - Première: Music from Brittany.

Labels: Life