vignettes, in color
portals! observations! updates.
saturday, june 10:
brushing my teeth, i see the glint of a recently acquired fake nose ring on my right nostril - new periphery. a change of scenery.
in the sunroom / office of this hyde park catsitting apartment, the windows are framed with vines that have eagerly climbed all the way up to the third floor, with the promise of fruit. right now, these promises are no bigger than caviar.
i think of our backyard grapevine that D waters everyday, necessarily, to quench its thirst.
i think of how in my weekend here, the lake has been: blue, green, silver
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monday, june 26:
when i left for Fran tour, the sunflower in our backyard garden bed was maybe-waist-high. a week later, when i return, it is my height - 5’5”
today, it is taller than me, and taller than D, who planted its seed. green bud about to burst into a blossom, bright and sure and strong, bigger than my head.
i am playing catchup, rushing to scratch things off a to-do list that only grows. laundry going - one load in the washer, one in the dryer - i am in the basement, listening to it all spin, practicing a Liz Phair cover for the show tomorrow. it’s hard (for me). i need to trim my nails.
i lost the nail clippers at the last hemlock show I played.
i remember the hand-drawn “lost” signs I’ve photographed in Hyde Park, five years apart. steeped in feelings of significance. one for a dove, during my first visit to chicago, one for a ring, on a walk to the lake, on the saturday that i started this newsletter draft:
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saturday, june 24:
the solstice has come and gone, and summer is here, and i am exhausted, and happy to be sweating.
i am sounding a note with the rim of my wine glass, watching the funky red reverberate in a way i haven’t seen before.
on the curb of logan square, clare, our server, says to look around, that people don’t wear bright colors in times of economic distress, that there’s lots of research supporting this. that it has to do with celebrities.
i am actively ignoring the idea of the bill.
i am enjoying the wine.
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again, monday, june 26:
today, i am wearing brown, which is admittedly not bright, but it is cheetah print.
distresses aside, my weekend was near-blinding in its vivid technicolor: homegrown radishes, and solo photobooths, and airbrushed ceramics (pot by handheld).
‘may’ song-a-day has been out for two weeks. it is beautiful and bizarre to share these works, and beautiful and bizarre that some people listen. thank you… my friend Kate asked me some q’s about it, and here are my answers, if you’re interested.
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on the horizon:
6/27: Greg Freeman + Case Oats + hemlock, at Sleeping Village. 8p. we play first, duo style, plus a special guest.
7/2: suppertime serenading, solo (probably) at bungalow by middle brow. 5-7p. free! the best pizza + brews in town. i mean it.
7/8 + 7/9: chicago house show double-header weekend! message me for address(es)
saturday night at Sappho’s Roadhouse, potluck & intimate listening, with Sophia Corinne (AVL) + Half Gringa (solo, new works) + hemlock
sunday night at Gossip Farm, full-band rowdy style. singing a tune or two in a shiny new cover band, Neighbor Next Door. more details in the poster below.
7/14: july episode of Pothole Hotline - my monthly radio show via Beloved. if you missed the last one, you can listen here
7/22-7/28: on tour in Little Mazarn, with Eliza Niemi, in Canada. full circle dreamscape.
more upcoming touring dates soon? maybe some midwestern dates in July if I can pull it off. August PNW double solo tour is being schemed. fingers are crossed, but not too tightly. que sera, sera.
🕊️ 🕊️ 🕊️
i’ve got more to say, and i’ll say some of it soon. thanks for reading along.
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for now, we’ll close with the sharing of yesterday’s pasta recipe that deeply satisfied a sunny craving, and wishes of more bubbly water by the lake, as immortalized in clay:
solidarity,
Carolina