Rave On

Well rave on
Rave on and tell me
Tell me
Not to be lonely
Tell me
You love me only
Rave on to me

-- Rave On, written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty

Remington just got a new job as assistant to a clothing designer who's studio is two blocks from where I live. So I am excited about all the happy hour revelling that will be happening at the bar downstairs in the weeks to come. Madiana has just been accepted for a masters degree at the university by the ocean, so she thankfully won't be moving anywhere. Leroy's interview in one of the city weeklies came out a few days ago. Nymphalidae doesn't have cancer after all, and Florence is sporting a smashing new hair style! Myself? I am just happy that they are my friends. And they all thought it was the half bottle of Canadian Club that was causing me to dance in front of everyone last night on Madiana's living room floor. Silly kids.

Earlier in Chinatown, at our practice space amongst the crack heads and skinny whores, Leroy showed up with records for everyone in the band. Such a sweet gesture. I got a copy of The Ventures - Greatest Hits, with a sultry bombshell in a white bikini on the cover. And Madiana got a copy of various Buddy Holly hits, which we listened to at Florence and Madiana's house after the party that was after our practice. Leroy and I frantically pointed out the nuances behind the driving rhythms of the whole album while we made predictions as to what Buddy would have done if he had lived longer than he did. Whiskey is a great thing. Then Madiana made me some lovely lentil soup, she usually makes me something to eat when I am over, and I finished off the evening curled up on Florence's bed while we smoked joints and watched Arrested Development reruns on her computer.

This is my family now. That's what I was thinking sometime around 4:30 in the morning as I walked home over one of the many bridges in the hometown, towards my grey warehouse set amongst the cityscape. There was an impressive cluster of high rises on the other side of the bridge. It created a constellation on the horizon, made up of well lit elevator lobbies, empty board rooms, and living rooms with the TV on. Some lights on, some lights off, dependent on who was awake and who was sleeping, who was alive, and who was dead.

My friends and I are most certainly alive, and I feel like good things are in store for us all. Summer is coming, and I think Buddy Holly will definitely have to be on heavy rotation.