Flu'ed In

02.10.05

I thought I could escape the wrath of the New York City flu, but two 5 am nites in a row completely did me in. As a result, I missed the Kings Of Convenience show at Bowery Ballroom, which friends tell me was absolutely magical thanks to the entire audience providing backing vocals- hums, whistles, lyrics- throughout the show. Jason was amazed that every single person in attendance had every single lyric and melody down to a T. This got me thinking about how segmented our society has become. Inside Bowery Ballroom, fans could recite Riot On An Empty Street like it was Thriller, yet outside the club you'd be lucky to find a person who has even heard of the group. There are no more Beatles, Madonnas, or Michael Jacksons to unite us all- just a trillion little bands with their pack of dedicated fans. This is the cause of the music industry upheaval- not file-sharing.

I have two fairly large writing jobs to complete, and then I'm taking off for six weeks to travel around the world. It sounds exotic, but four of the six weeks will be spent in Japan. My dad insists I stop in Tehran, Iran (my birthplace!) on the way, but I'm too chicken to visit the Middle East on my own. I'm thinking Hong Kong, though I don't know a soul in that city. Any Cha Cha Charming readers from Hong Kong? Please get in touch!

When the clock struck midnight on January 31st (correction: Dec 31st), I was alone- well, the group Saint Etienne was performing and crowds of people around me were hugging and kissing each other, but I was on my own- no friends or acquaintances in sight. Strangely, that moment had a profound effect on me- I was little sad that I had no one to hug post-countdown, but at the same time I felt amazingly free- like I could be anywhere in the world, on my own, and be truly comfortable. This feeling has stuck with me since that night, and has given me a sense of independence and enthusiasm that I've never had before- hence my need to take off and explore the world once again. But for now, I'm stuck at home with the flu.

Sheila

Photo: Here's an oldie! Karaoke partner-in-crime, Mary & I together in Tokyo. Seems the menu wasn't quite satisfactory.

Posted by Sheila at 11:23 AM