ByGD
I always remember how amazing it was the first time Solstafir came to play Barboza in Seattle. I love that place. Sometimes I forget that they came back through in May of 2015 and played El Corazon, too. I don’t love that space, but I can’t seem to get away from it. For over 20 years, through a variety of names, it seems to always be the venue that books the bands I like.
ByGD
I’ve mentioned my history with book clubs more than once. But I’m trying one more time, with #BecauseWe’veRead, because their inaugural choice, Assata An Autobiography was on my TBR list for literally two decades and this was the push I needed to finally pick it up. Their second choice was a book I’d never heard of, Black Skin, White Masks. But I’m working to fill in the gaps in my reading created by Eurocentric Jesuit education, so I continued with the Because We’ve Read curriculum.
ByGD
On Wednesdays we study the Constitution. I finally got to Article 1, Section 9, limiting the powers of Congress. Last week I learned about Article 1 §9.6, the “no preference clause,” which requires Congress to treat the states equally. This week it’s Constitution Article 1 §9.7, which deals with appropriations and accounting. Before you dislocate your jaw from yawning, remember “misappropriating” money is usually how politicians do crime.
ByGD
It was a good week for music, y’all. Last week I was still coasting on the high from Death Cab for Cutie, which included music from opening bands The Black Tones and Khuu.eex’. I also continued my dive into the backlog of posts from music blogs I subscribe to, which unearthed Ritual Necromancy, Twilight Fauna, and Anicon. Then Monster Magnet paid a visit.
ByGD
Last week it was pansies. This week it’s the carnation. Lately I’m all about defending mistreated flowers. Carnations have sort of a bad image. They’re hospital flowers. They get stuck in buttonholes, not because people like them, but because they aren’t messy. Stiff and sort of sterile, like fake flowers. But they used to be very popular in Victorian gardens, and even today you don’t have to look very hard to find really cute varieties.
When you bother to look close at the intricate petals, you also notice that they are fragrant. Carnations have a really unusual, but pleasant, sort of peppery scent. It’s quite masculine for a floral – maybe that’s how they first became associated with boutonnières. It might also account for their older common name, Sweet William. Isn’t that a much nicer name than carnation? Doesn’t it make you think of snuggling a just-washed little boy? Or resting your head on the shoulder of someone warm and sort of peppery smelling?