Lucinda & Alice & B's Friend

I don't like thinking about sequences of events. Whenever I do, they start to seep into my brain and cause me anxiety. Last night, I had tickets to see Lucinda Williams at the Wiltern. B called ahead of time and found out she wasn't taking the stage until 10PM, so we delayed leaving. B took a nap and I looked through my DVDs for something that would act like training wheels for my thoughts. I picked the Disney version of "Alice in Wonderland." It's always been my favorite Disney movie and even though it's loopy and trippy, it's somehow comforting.
So, I watched it until it was time to go. Once at the Wiltern, we ran into some friend's of B's. They were really nice and we talked a while. But at one point in the conversation, my wheels started spinning off. Seems one of B's friends out of nowhere mentioned wanting to open a tea shop like a chain in New York called Alice's Tea Cup which are themed around "Alice in Wonderland."
Of all the days for me to pick that movie to watch. I haven't seen it in years probably. And for us to arrive when we did: at the exact same time B's friends were arriving. And for the conversation to turn to tea and "Alice in Wonderland." I don't believe there are coincidences, things happen for a reason, but I hate not knowing exactly what the reason is. I try to add and subtract, divide, extrapolate, factor, square, find the reciprocal, graph the answer. Like when events like that happen it's sign that there's buried treasure if you can only follow the map correctly. As of right now, I'm still searching.
In other news, Lucinda Williams was amazing. She did a good mix of old songs and new, although there were a few favorites I wish she would have done. Some of the songs transported me back to New York when I remember listening to "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" over and over and over again. At one point she brought on Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet for some harmony vocals and it was really exciting for me. I had never seen her before and now I realize I've been missing out. But at least now I can cross her off my list. I don't think B enjoyed himself that much. Still, he's been open to a lot of other types of music, so I can't fault him for not falling in love with Lucinda. Goodness knows, I can be super closed minded when it comes to music I'm not familiar with.

Jenny Lewis at the Orpheum

I called in sick to work today, and I am sick. And tired.
Last night B and me went to go see Jenny Lewis at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. The ticket said that doors opened at 8PM. I knew she had two opening acts and thought if we left at 8PM, we might miss most of them and be there right in time for Jenny to do her thing. Well, we got there quickly, parked, went in, and waited and waited and waited and waited. The first opening act went on, then the second. By the time Jenny Lewis appeared on stage, it was 11:15PM. I really felt my age. I was angry. I wanted to be home in bed. How could she wait so long to start singing? I don't think I've ever been to a concert that started so late. I remember once going to see the Spice Girls and I got there really late on accident. They didn't have an opening act, but the concert was severely delayed due to technical difficulties. I'll never forget that one 12 year old girl a few rows behind me screaming "Where's Ginger?" with so much anger, I was shocked. Where is that girl now? Anyway, even that concert wasn't anywhere near as late starting as this one. And at least the Spice Girls had a malfunctioning spaceship to explain their tardiness on.
Well, I did start feeling better once Jenny opened up her mouth. She was great. Her band was great. But some of the crowd were scary. People kept screaming that they loved her. One guy interrupted her solo girl-and-guitar opener "Rabbit Fur Coat" with a yell of "You're a female Bob Dylan," which made her pause for a moment and smile. There were random guys trashing around to her songs. I admit, I'm one of those lame people who doesn't like to stand at concerts, I just want to sit and enjoy the music. I try not to judge those who do enjoy music in different ways, but when people are waving themselves around like they're having epileptic seizures, it's pretty distracting for a large part of the crowd.
Anger tinged with enjoyment. Bitterness mixed with happiness. Thinking it was partly worth it and partly not. All I know is after yesterday and today, I need a good night's sleep.