Drummin' in '07

WHO: Kristen!

WHAT: Holiday NEWS

WHERE: EVERYWHERE!

WHEN: NOW!

Directions/Other

This blog post exists to describe how awesome it was to literally "drum in" 2007. It was my third night in a row waitressing at Coppi's Restaurant, first off. I was feeling a little tired you could perhaps say. And there was one fewer server than usual on the floor. Shouts of "Come On, Ladies!" came frequently from the management who obviously did not understand that being one server down with a whole floor was the reason. As my fellow server compadre stated so clearly, "I honestly couldn't work any harder." We did it though and I was finally starting to wrap things up around 11:30, feeling the nagging necessity that I had to be somewhere positive to ring in the new year. I really wanted to toast to prosperity - which is a huge ny's resolution if you believe in such things. There are just some things I want - more education and experience, mainly, but in order to get them, the great goddess of Prosperity must shineth upon me. Jeez. So -- my partner in crime Jaime and I rushed out in our ny's outfits, dresses over pants in both cases, and flew out into the rainy, balmy night that couldn't have been less than 55 degress out (see my friend james' global warming piece for solutions to this problem: http://heartspring.net/global_warming_greenhouse.html.)

At any rate, we arrove just minutes before the big event. enough time for me to find a bottle of champagne, which became my allegorical symbol of prosperity, and try to open it with no success. i wanted to pop it right on cue, but to no avail. i still got several swigs on it though before venturing at about 12:02 to my car, where i unearthed a drum from the hatchback (which i then used as my umbrella) and began my midnight drum-in. My good friend Mark, the street musician from Takoma Park, soon joined me until enough whooping drew us onto the deck in the back of Laurie and Chris' house on Sherman Ave, firebowl (large metallic bowl where scrap wood is burnt in lieu of a bonfire) going strong even in the rain. We marched up proudly and serenaded friends and beautiful people for what seemed like an eternity (but which in fact flew by like the wind) until our hands hurt and our drums were too wet to play.

Soon after, with the exception of a couple of too-drunk friends, we began reciting old pop-hop songs from the early nineties (you know the ones...sir mix-a-lot, young mc, etc), until jaime pulled me out to farragut, where she frequents ESL - the Eighteenth Street Lounge - a clubby place where an awesome reggae band plays. They're made up mainly of members of Theivery Corporation. They've let me sit in twice -- now that the smoking ban is in effect, i'm going to attempt more sit-ins as they give me an opportunity to practice my chops as well as get in on the action. On NY's eve, however, Farragut was simply flooded with corruption. Our 4-5-block walk noted such occurences as: couples fighting, women pissed off trying to walk in spike heels drunk, men tipping girlfriends over trashcans to puke, people yelling obscenties from across the street, and other such debauchery. Then -when we finally arrove- it was 40 bucks to get in. Seriously. I said no way - luckily jaime walked me back to the car until i drove her brave soul back to the scene and let her off, making it home by 3 or 4-ish, falling alseep to the percussive sound of a heavy rain on my roof and window paines. Perfect.

Other highlights from the holidays nclude two beautiful visits to my first home in St. Louis, MO where I spent quality time with my family in an especially (and dare i say suprisingly) positive vibe; seeing TWO theatre movies (which is usually all i see in a year); a lively drumming circle on NY's eve day that I facilitated at a home in Severna Park, MD on the Severn River to a group of family and friends who were celebrating there; a delicious potluck hosted by Rhythm Worker Bill Jenkins that also gave way to a lively drum jam plus an after-party where i was able to drag quite a crew down to adam's morgan where we danced at both tryst and madam's organ; AND watching Karate Kid with Alexandra in preparation for another drumming lesson with Baile -- which is TOMORROW!!!!


PEACE and PROSPERITY to all in the New Year. Think of the joy of experience - both good and bad - the lessons I am learning are so consistently rich and profound.

p.s. RECOMMENDED BOOK: "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight" by Alexandra Fuller
p.s.s. RECOMMENDED FILM: "Live and Become" and aw, heck, watch the Karate Kid for the 14th time. You'll be glad you did.