2013-02-21

death song

Today was a strange day. An email was sent to everyone in my office, earlier this week, announcing that a media company was going to host a listening party in our office for The Black Angels. I thought that was odd, as that's actually a pretty great band but probably unknown to the average listener. I thought it was just going to be some representatives from the media company showing up to play and promote the new album being released in a couple months. But I arrived at work this morning to learn that The Black Angels were actually appearing in person and playing! We have NEVER had live music in our office before. And, sure enough, they showed up at our loading dock with all their instruments and equipment. I was actually the one who took them upstairs in our freight elevator to show them where to set up. But I didn't really say anything to them--because the more I like someone, the more quiet and invisible I become. I suspect that shy people are often mistaken for assholes. I happen to be both shy AND an asshole, so that behavior is typical of me whether I like someone or not. Anyway, I went back up there at lunch see them play their set. They played four or five songs and sounded great. Out of the hundreds of people in our building, only twenty or thirty showed up to watch. It's sad that so few appreciate what a big deal it is to have a band of that caliber just show up and play in your building. For me, it was very strange and dream-like.

And this was all a welcome distraction from the knowledge that my father died exactly one year ago today. I had been tensing up for the past few weeks as this date approached. I had even thought about taking the day off from work, fearing it might be a little difficult for me. But now I'm glad I went.