Posts from November 2013-November 2014 are part of The Manzanita Project, a joint effort of Kevin Wiseman and me. Each week, I write a post and he draws a sketch (unrelated). We're trying our hand at co-creation.
Before I went back to school to once-and-for-all finish my bachelor's degree, and continuing for the next 4 years or so, my life was full up with creative people. I was living, at times, with my friends Kelsi and Nicole--a musician and an artist, and later moved in with another roommate, also a musician and founder of her own record label. There were always musicians and artists hanging around or passing through our homes.
And much of that time, I was completely immersed in the English Department at SJSU, which had recently begun to offer an MFA in Creative Writing, so there was a great deal of writing going on there. During those years I attended literary readings, plays, local artists' and musicians' shows, and open mics. And surrounded by all those people's dedication to their respective arts, I found it pretty natural to remain, often, inspired myself. It was a really nice period of my life and one I've missed from time to time.
There were also times when I convinced myself that the last thing I needed to do was to surround myself again with more dreamers like myself. The thing about people who are drawn to the Arts and Humanities is that they really can talk a WHOLE lot of bullshit. We could bullshit and dream and speculate and weave saucy tales all day long, live on subsistance salaries, pray/eek/grit our ways through every month's bills and stop so long to smell the roses, then talk/write/paint about the roses that we don't even notice when they've dried up and winter's come.
What I really needed was balance. I needed to move forward with my adult life and career, yes. But I took it a bit too far and decided to nix the creative elements (and people) from my life entirely. In recent months, I've been happy for any opportunities to welcome inspiration back in.
Which is how I ended up at Rosie McCann's with Kelsi Monday night. I learned (thank you, Facebook) that the band of an old acquaintance of ours from my carefree college years (who used to play at an open mic we frequented) was playing down there, and I thought going would be a nice way to close out the holiday celebrations.
So Timeless, Jonah Johnson's project, is nothing if not inspiring. The group (a revolving kind of collective comprised of Jonah, his sister, and a gang of talented musicians including a brass section) is so full of positive, uplifting energy that even an overcrowded dance floor of people at snooty-ass Santana Row couldn't help but smile and be nice to each other. It probably helps that most of those folks were lured there by So Timeless itself, which tends to attract other positive people, believers in what you put out there coming back to you.
It was really nice to be there with Kelsi, too. I love going to hear music with her because we can dance and talk, but also just listen together, appreciating specific instruments or beats or whatever. The highlight of the night as far as music goes may have been this hip-hop/jazz/soul/r&b group's take on The Cure's "I Will Always Love You," which I really wish I had a recording of.
The highlight of the night apart from the music was the simple act of remembering that creativity and inspiration are ALWAYS there when you are ready to embrace them. I used to associate those days of readings and concerts and the open mic where we met Jonah and bullshitting about all of the above with my youth, time-capsuled off and traded in for more responsible endeavors. But that thought itself is bullshit. I want to live the rest of my life surrounded by inspiring people who aim to put something new out into the world.
We can't all be that way, for sure. Some people were born to appreciate the art that's put into the world and not necessarily create it (sometimes I feel I belong in that category), but surrounding myself with creators enriches even the act of appreciating those creations. When I see the people behind the efforts, learn about what inspires and drives them, and sometimes even get to witness the creating, I think I am more open, less critical; I see and hear things I may not have otherwise.
That also makes me more forgiving of my own efforts and more able to just start. Just START something to see where it may go. When I'm closed off and critical, I'm fearful of even the starting.
So I offer up a toast to Monday's outing, and Kelsi and I have pledged to do these sorts of things more often together--to take our minds off the concerns of parenting and (in her case) marriage for a spell and get back into the realm of creativity. I'm beginning to believe that--if there is anything real about the concept of a Fountain of Youth, the realm of creativity is where it dwells...
Here's a really sweet So Timeless song as a parting gift (gotta wonder why the horns are here when I don't actually hear any in the song, but they are usually actually *playing*, hahaha) :)
Today I found myself with the monkey at Santana Row to see the performance of a local band called So Timeless. They play a mixture of classic R&B, soul, funk, and hip-hop. Jonah Johnson, the band's front man, is a tireless and magnetic performer....always active in the community and promoting. And he and his sister Alexis Rose (who does an insanely good rendition of "Natural Woman" by the way), combined with the band's stellar sax player and other members, put on a great show. I was very happy to stumble upon the news that they'd be performing today.
I asked my best gals Nicole and Kelsi to come along and bring their munchkins, and luckily they were both able to make it on short notice. AND the sun came out just in time. Quadruple score!!
Honestly, just being OUT and able to enjoy a bank holiday was new to me. I have for years worked at jobs that did not allow for the day off, so it was such a nice treat to feel like one of the normal people who gets to enjoy that happy little bonus nugget of a weekend. It's so relaxing to just sit on the grass and take in a show in the middle of a Monday afternoon.
Now, poor planning had me arriving at the show in a semi-starved state. The food options at Santana Row are many, but I wanted to stick close to the stage, so my choices were limited. I pretty much went for the very closest option, which doubled as
I've heard this place has great salads. And salad *would* be the obvious, best choice for a vegetarian, but nay. I was definitely in a Saturn's Garlic Potato Rings (sometimes referred to as "french fries") and Macaroni and Cheese mood. (Man I hope my son has not inherited my ridiculously childlike food palate. I mean it's fine if he has for now. I just hope he outgrows his.)
A word on their salads, though: while I think it's great that they're made to order and you are able to choose from a nice selection of salad fixins, I think there's something very odd about tossing piping hot meat on the top of a salad, which is an option that most customers go for. It must be amazing though, because the line for salad was 5 times as long as the line for sandwiches, kids meals, or sides...so they must be doing something right in that area.
What I found very annoying about Pluto's, however, was that the ordering process was entirely chaotic. On the menu you're supposed to read while standing in line, it says that if you're not ordering a salad you can go directly to one of the other lines. However, nobody is standing in any of those other lines, so to do so you just look like an idiot who somehow doesn't see that there are 184 people in line ahead of her (or worse, a deliberate line-cutter). Still, I followed the one brave-souled woman who had ventured into the "sides" line and waited 14 minutes while the man who was tossing salad meat onto and off of the grill and was WAY too busy to also be saddled with additional responsibilities tried to find time in-between meat duties to take our orders.
And here's the weird part...people who had their already-tossed salads in hand began to pile up in line behind us...like I don't know if they were supposed to hold out their salads for the meat guy to top them off, or if they wanted meat-free salads and were just waiting in line to pay. It was totally confusing. And all I wanted was mac and cheese and fries, both of which I could see and could have scooped right into a container if they'd only let me. But instead I had to wait for Meat Guy's attention, have him write out a ticket for it, which immediately went to the end of a loooonnnnng line of other order tickets, stand in another line to pay for the food, then wait another eternity for somebody to come along and scoop some starchy goodness into a container for me. Did I mention I was semi-starving here?! I know I sound like a whiny brat, but it really kills me when there is a good concept for a restaurant but such poor execution. I think they need a dose of Gordon Ramsey up in there.
Anyway, once I finally had my yellow-themed lunch, I was happy. And it was really yummy. Garlic fries were a bit much in the garlic area though...one of those gifts that just keeps giving, even now a good 9 hours later!
With my rumblin' stomach quieted, I was free to enjoy the company and the show. Chupi and Sureya (Nicole's daughter and Chupi's 5-months-older cougar of a girlfriend) were movin' and groovin' like pros.
It makes me so happy that my baby boy likes to dance. I know you can teach a person to dance, but I'm not sure you can instill in a person the desire to dance. That seems like something you are either born with or not. And it would be tough for me if I had to drag him out to get his groove on at every single wedding and other music-infused event from now until forever. And who knows, he may develop that self-consciousness that makes a lot of former movers just one day stop moving. A lot of people "outgrow" their childhood lack of inhibition, unfortunately. For now, however, I'm thoroughly enjoying watching him explore rhythm and shake his little money maker, haha.
At the end of the concert, he took it upon himself to push Sureya around in her stroller. We joked that they'll be pushing each other around like that again, in wheelchairs, 80-90 years from now :P
