An Appointment With The Waterboys

 The Wonderful Waterboys

Satisfying.  This is the paltry sounding word that came to mind...and I was later teased for...while watching The Waterboys make magic with the poems of W.B. Yeats in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.

I also had the thought that often runs through my head when listening to them on my iPod..."I Effing LOVE THEM!" :)

But I WAS! I was SO satisfied by this concert.  Maybe satiated is a more emotional word?  I was satisfied like having a really amazing meal and the dessert was the encore which included "The Stolen Child," "Don't Bang the Drum," and "The Whole of the Moon."  Delicious.

"An Appointment With Mr. Yeats" was beautiful on so many different levels: musically, visually, energetically. There was so much to absorb!  Jet lag had put me into a mildly fuzzy-headed state so I was oddly observant.  I remember being transfixed by the way the flautist stood on one foot while she played, how all the guys seemed to be wearing pointy-toed shoes (Mike Scott's were black velvet?), Steve Wickham sang along when he wasn't playing his violin and closed his eyes when he was...

In fact, I loved watching Steve Wickham play so much, I found myself looking for him when he wasn't on stage. I suppose my years with the violin makes me partial :)

It's such a gift to watch artists, such as The Waterboys, so IN their music and clearly doing what they were meant to do. It captivates you.

The incredible Mike Scott!*

  The amazing Steve Wickham

The magical W.B. Yeats

This concert was the catalyst for my Ireland getaway. Back in July, when the box office opened, I thought I was slightly out of my mind to even consider purchasing concert tickets for a show in Ireland. After all, I had a two week trip to Scotland coming up!  But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like the right thing to do (all be it a little crazy). So I bought 3 tickets and was put in row "L.":)

But wait! It gets better! The friend who introduced me to the band was going to take one of those three tickets! So I flew from America to Ireland to meet my English friend who lives in Scotland to see a band with a Scottish leader and an Irish fiddler put the work of W. B. Yeats (an Irish poet) to music.

I was a little frustrated at myself because afterward, jet lag was robbing me of recall!  It was like when I wake up in the morning and know I dreamed but I can't quite clearly remember.  It took me a few days leafing through my Yeats book and the help of a fellow blogger Alison Ní Dhorchaidhe (and her wonderful review) to piece things together. It was a delightful little puzzle. Some of my favorites: The Song of Wandering Aengus, The White Birds, Mad as the Mist and Snow, Sweet Dancer, News for the Delphic Oracle, A Full Moon in March, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, Politics, and a shimmery version of Down by the Salley Gardens.

"An Appointment With Mr. Yeats" keeps getting clearer upon reflection and I realize now that I was really forced to be in the moment during the show...and what wonderful moments!

XO

 *Photo of Mike Scott by Sara (Awesome) Osten

31 Going on 13

My dorm room of a cubicle wall at TV Guide Magazine

At the risk of looking like a total loon...I thought it would be fun to recount all the things that make me feel silly (in the best possible sense) these days.

~True Blood/Stephen Moyer/Alexander Skarsgard. Ah yes...it all brings me back to the days I'd go to the pharmacy in town to check out Bop! Magazine. The equivalent these days would be trips to the HBO store. Most recently it was when the Tru Blood soda came out. AWESOME.




~Our office's little girlie book club...mostly Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series...feeding into all things True Blood.

~My Black & Tan Turtle...now, this would be wrong if I was actually 13...thank goodness I'm not! Black & Tan's are so pretty!

~The Office's John Krasinski...Jim! And of course, "JAM"

~"The Silly Hour" at work. We inevitably crack up about something at around 4pm...give or take. One of my favorites was Sara saying she was "racist against Werewolves..." It set off a string of hilarity that we still pull from. Priceless.

~Paul McCartney in concert = Giggles and smiles all around

~David Tennant as Dr. Who...oh boy. To be honest though, it gets worse when he speaks in his normal (Scottish) voice that I basically jump up and down on the inside all a-twitter :)

~The Waterboys!!! Being introduced to their music has caused me to embark on an album buying spree the likes of which haven't been seen since I "discovered" Terrence Mann when I was 15 and then The Beatles shortly thereafter. Terrence Mann inspired my friend Melodie and I to save up for a bus trip into NYC to see "Beauty and the Beast" and The Waterboys have inspired me to buy tickets for a concert in Dublin in the Spring. Being 31 certainly expands your ability to travel for your fandom.

~The Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon, which inspired me to visit...

~Scotland.


This started out as a funny little whim of a blog...but I realized through writing out all my little "silly" interests that they have shaped me more or less. Even going back to when I was 15 or so because I was following my joy and in doing so found other things that kept me going in a certain direction.


I think we all need to keep a bit of 13 inside of us :)


XO

Letting The Love Flood In...

A lot is going on in Lion Land!

So...where to start?

I went to CT for the 4th of July...and there were some lovely moments. Spending time out in the yard behind my Mom's house...watching fireworks, making S'Mores, and walking barefoot on the beach, hugging my adorable nephews, spending Sunday with my Cousin Elana (aka Sweet E) and her hubby...and beer...of course. My Mother even tried some beer (Blue Moon).

My gorgeous Black and Tan @ The Black Sheep in my hometown: Niantic, CT

Tuesday I was alerted to Waterboys tickets...for special Dublin Shows in March of 2010.

Boo hoo right? Wrong!

I was spontaneous! I conferred with my friend Krissy (aka Madame K) and Christina (who turned me on to the wonderful Waterboys) and what did I do? I bought 3 tickets. For a show in Dublin. And I am in New York.

Hee Hee.

And I am visiting Scotland in the Fall.

So I am creating some lovely seasonal bookends...Scotland in the Fall and Ireland in the Spring.

Now, keep in mind that I only have a concert ticket. No hotel, no flight, no plan...other than to be in the same room as and listen to Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and the other musicians that are currently making up The Waterboys :) And see Ireland, of course.

I think it's a GREAT (non) plan.

Today I got to work and had an e-mail from my good friend Jen entitled "Findhorn." Seems she knows some people who know some people...you know how it goes...

Well...swoon. I have been thinking about/wanting to return to that part of Scotland since I returned last August...spend some serious quality time there because I ended up there "by accident" last summer...and it was clearly a place I was meant to go to. I'm checking out Iona in October...

I jokingly thought..."Wow. I buy Waterboys tickets and my world opens up!"

But essentially, I really do think there's something to this. I made a spontaneous, out of character, move with buying these tickets (and Ireland has been stalking me for a few months...I keep seeing ads for it on buses zooming by me while walking to the subway). So I will cheerfully keep insisting that all good things come from The Waterboys...LOL.

I felt lighter and happy because, in a way, I was taking back some control...I had started feeling a bit overwhelmed and in the darkness about stuff.

I had been firmly entrenched in the narrow thought of..."Going to Scotland in October...only have two weeks :( ...then back to New York...blah...blah...wah..."

And now...I'm a traveler.

XO