Allow me to set the scene. Many afternoons, I would head to Wild Side West with a few friends to sit in the outdoor garden, perhaps on the tree swing, or in one of the hidden-by-shrubbery alcoves, and enjoy a cold beer or in the winter, a perfect cider and rum.
Bernal Heights, home of Wild Side West, can feel like such a suburban, serene escape from what I can only describe as the panic I often felt on the streets of the Mission and the Castro. This is merely because I am an intensely shy person and was unable to leave my house without running into people I knew. It began to feel a lot like college.
One afternoon, I needed to get away from the scene, and we drove up to W.S.W. for a little unwinding and privacy.
If you read this blog regularly, or have ever met me, then you may know that I have had a difficult time embracing the equine species. Similarly I have never taken to the sound that comes out of the supposedly musical instrument known as the flute. Flutes and horses are the same: prancing, snooty, girly, and just a little bit too silly to be taken seriously.
If you are a flute player, perhaps you will not agree. But listening to the flute reminds me of swallowing an ice cube before it has melted, the sharp corners burning inside of my throat.
So here I am at W.S.W., my defenses are down, and somewhere in the garden, the screeching of the flute floats my way. What can I do? I may/may not have been somewhat stoned, and I certainly was in no place to get up and do something about it. (Like what? Let's be realistic. Flute players don't take well to being told to pipe down).
In that moment, I founded Feelings Against Flutes. (Not to be confused with my other organization Pouting For Peace.) We sat and planned. Actually, once we figured out the acronym and decided who would hold what post, I think we forgot all about the club and sat seething until we decided to go home.
As President and one of the founders, I was overjoyed to come across this urgent poster in the subway station near my house. And by posting the information online, perhaps I will become a local flute hero. What a twist!
Other things going on:
-Do not be fooled by the atrocious picture on the cover, this is an amazing movie: The Mother
-Another fabulous movie that just came out (so to speak): Paranoid Park
-New music discovery: Broadcast album called Tender Buttons
-Reading: George Saunders' Civilwarland In Bad Decline
-As of yesterday, happy two-year blog anniversary to me!
