Reaching Out

I've spent the past 15 days at the hospital, helping my Dad take care of my Mom, who suffered a stroke. She's been in ICU the whole time.  Today as I was walking from her room to the cafeteria, I was half in a daze when this tiny little indian woman, dressed in the hospital's cleaning staff uniform, stopped me in the hall.  We were passing each other in opposite directions and she literally reached out her hand and grabbed my arm. 

"How is your Mother?" she asked. Took me a few seconds to realize that she was the woman who comes into to clean Mom's room every day, emptying the trash and stuff like that. I don't recall doing anything other than smilng gamely at her when she came in. But I guess she saw my Mom's decline and she reached out, literally, to ask me about it.  We chatted for a couple of minutes then I thanked her profusely for even asking. 

The people in my parents' neighborhood have been amazingly supportive and organized. They have a schedule in place to brng food to my Dad and I every couple of days. And the neighbors across the street set up an e-mail distribution list to brodacast updates on Mom's condition. Both neighbors and distant relatives are on it. 

Funny thing though, that hasn't stopped the calls from coming in. People still want to call and even though they know everything they need to know. They still want to talk to us anyway.  Just to talk. 

Both of these incidents remind me that there's a difference between getting information and reaching out. Believe me, I'm not complaining. 

Podcast Files are Offline

All of the podcast MP3 files are offline until further notice while I make some file hosting changes behind the scenes. 

Sorry for the inconvenience. 

New Back Up Band Name for The List

I love to keep watch for unusual and amusing band names and I like to keep a list of phrases that I run across that would make a good band name. For example, I always thought that "Walk Left Stand Right" would make a fantastic J-Pop band name. 

I also keep an eye out for cool backup band names. Some of my current favorites are 

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 

Dave Insley and the Careless Smokers

Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives 

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention 

This week I received a CD for an Austin singer/songwriter named Vanessa Peters. Her back up band name fits her angsty, frail coffeehouse style of folk music perfectly which is 

Vanessa Peters and Ice Cream On Mondays

To me that conjures up either somone who's institutionalized, probably against their will, and who has a very small world around them and a controlled scheduled such that having ice cream on Mondays is both indicitate of the regimented life and the small pleaures in that world. And the thing about it is, there's nothing in the words themselves that are a particular downer, they only indirectly point to a darker place. 

Or maybe Ice Cream On Mondays is simply a marker for child like enthusiasm. 

Either way,  or perhaps both interpretations combined, create a context and initial expectation for Vanessa's music.