Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: happy
  • Music: Counting Crows, "Omaha."

Step out the front door like a ghost...

...into a fog where no one notices the contrast of white on white.

According to my iPod, I currently have three hundred and eighty-four Counting Crows songs in my pocket. About eighty of these are different versions of the song "Rain King," mixed and mashed and mingled with a dozen other songs, recorded in an unknown number of cities. I have the coveted live concert with the Disney orchestra backing them up, and several different versions of the song "August and Everything After," which has never been officially recorded. In short, I am a nut.

The first time I saw the Counting Crows live, I was in high school, and they were still playing the UC Berkeley campus club on a regular basis. I was smuggled into the bar by a friend. It was love at first sight. Unlike many young loves, this one has never wavered, never faltered, never faded. They are my favorite band. They have been my favorite band since I was fourteen.

Tonight, I am flying to Seattle. Tomorrow, Ryan and I are driving four hours to a winery in the middle of Washington state. And I am going to see the Counting Crows live for the first time in more than two years.

I am excited, I am exhausted, and I am relieved. Seeing the Counting Crows perform is restorative for me, the way that rereading IT or watching Slither is restorative. Only moreso, because I can't control when a concert happens the way I can control putting on a DVD or opening a book.

I will not get any work done tomorrow. Normally, that would stress me out and worry me, but not this time, because I'm getting something a lot more valuable.

I'm getting peace.

I hope you'll have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are and whatever you choose to be doing. I'm going to be on my own private archipelago, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Nowhere else in the world.
Tags: concerts, good things, having a life, in the wild, music, travel, where's seanan
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 65 comments
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →

sheistheweather

September 23 2011, 16:02:39 UTC 5 years ago

Have a marvelous time.

scarlettina

September 23 2011, 16:03:18 UTC 5 years ago

Re: Counting Crows: Give my regards to Adam Duritz. I think he (and the band) are awesome. I've only ever seen them live once and it was great. Wish I could go with you.

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:23:49 UTC 5 years ago

I wish everyone could have gone with me. It was awesome.

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:23:55 UTC 5 years ago

I did!

ericcoleman

September 23 2011, 16:18:33 UTC 5 years ago

I assume that you have the Flying Demos (damn they're good)

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:24:01 UTC 5 years ago

I do!

ericcoleman

5 years ago

  • New comment

jeffreycwells

September 23 2011, 16:22:38 UTC 5 years ago

Ah, now you've earwormed me with "'Round Here"! Not that that's a bad thing. Like many people, I get a little weepy around "A Long December", because I have had just exactly the feeling described so many freaking times.

I think it's interesting that you could do an entire raven-form shapeshifter soundtrack just out of Counting Crows music., I've been tempted. If I had a raven-shifter character, it'd be done and dedicated to him or her already.

jeffreycwells

September 23 2011, 16:47:32 UTC 5 years ago

Oh, and so I don't come across as totally solipsistic in my commentary, hope you have a blast at the show.

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

  • New comment

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:24:32 UTC 5 years ago

Done!

eevieivy

September 23 2011, 16:27:36 UTC 5 years ago

Enjoy, and have a fabulous time! :)

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:24:39 UTC 5 years ago

It was wonderful.

misachan

September 23 2011, 16:48:57 UTC 5 years ago

During one of my favorite classes in college we spent an entire day analyzing Counting Crows lyrics according to Jungian archetypes.:) Sing along, have fun and be safe!

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:24:49 UTC 5 years ago

...this delights me.

misachan

5 years ago

  • New comment

billroper

September 23 2011, 16:51:12 UTC 5 years ago

Have a good time!

(Sadly, too many of my favorite bands are no longer what they were, if they are at all. But I have CDs. :) )

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:24:59 UTC 5 years ago

CDs are good that way.

tenaya_owlcat

September 23 2011, 17:57:52 UTC 5 years ago

Have a great time! :D

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:25:09 UTC 5 years ago

I did!

anderyn

September 23 2011, 18:29:52 UTC 5 years ago

Have a safe trip, she says, and enjoy the hell out of that concert! I know what you mean about music bringing peace... there are times in a concert hall that I feel the kind of ecstasy that I think is what the saints must have felt -- totally uplifted and out of myself.

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:25:19 UTC 5 years ago

I love the Crows so much.

djonn

September 23 2011, 18:38:05 UTC 5 years ago

Saw an announcement about that concert earlier this week and thought of you; I'm glad you'll be able to be there. It's been much too long since I've visited that area, but my father's side of the family has roots nearby that go back several generations. If you haven't been in the area before, and time permits, you should stop and have a look at the Stonehenge replica while you're there. (The museum nearby is amazing as well, but a proper visit there wants at least a full afternoon, and that may not fit into your schedule.)

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:25:29 UTC 5 years ago

The replica was awesome!

briargrey

5 years ago

  • New comment

bookwyrm172006

September 23 2011, 19:02:01 UTC 5 years ago

Hooray! If ever I knew someone so deserving of peace, it's you. Have fun and be well.

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:25:37 UTC 5 years ago

It was great.

martianmooncrab

September 23 2011, 19:07:01 UTC 5 years ago

Have fun, enjoy your Mental Health break ... rock on the music..

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:25:44 UTC 5 years ago

I did. :)

autographedcat

September 23 2011, 19:51:56 UTC 5 years ago

Have a great time, sweetie. Wish I was going!

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:25:55 UTC 5 years ago

I wish you'd been there. It was an awesome show.

archangelbeth

September 23 2011, 20:13:55 UTC 5 years ago

Yay, peace! Sending peaceful thoughts your way. O:>

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:26:04 UTC 5 years ago

Yay, peace.

mac_arthur_park

September 23 2011, 20:16:41 UTC 5 years ago

Have fun! I have loved their music since I heard them in college. I was assistant manager of the radio station, and we got an advance copy of 'August and Everything After.' My roommate, my best friend and I wore that cd out.

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:26:22 UTC 5 years ago

It's one of the only CDs I've had to buy multiple times. Just incredible.

mac_arthur_park

5 years ago

  • New comment

ducktape74

September 23 2011, 21:00:30 UTC 5 years ago

Other things to make you happy: http://www.splitreason.com/product/cad-comic/1162

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:26:43 UTC 5 years ago

Excellent.

starmalachite

September 23 2011, 21:29:41 UTC 5 years ago Edited:  September 23 2011, 21:31:20 UTC

Have a great time!

Something else to make Seanan & most of the folks who hang out here happy: Particles Appear to Travel Faster Than Light

Also, stuff that Must Be Thine:

Candy Corn Jewelry

A T-Shirt That Is Relevant to Your Interests

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:27:04 UTC 5 years ago

Excellent.

kiarasayre

September 23 2011, 21:44:21 UTC 5 years ago

My sister took me to a Counting Crows concert almost ten years ago, and their performance of "St. Robinson in his Cadillac Dream" was, for lack of a better term, damn near spiritual. To this day, when I'm stressed, if I listen to that song, the little knot of anxiety begins to loosen. "Restorative" is the perfect word for it.

I hope you enjoy it!

seanan_mcguire

September 24 2011, 01:13:06 UTC 5 years ago

Do you remember which city and year?

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:27:18 UTC 5 years ago

I do not judge. I applaud.

ladymondegreen

September 23 2011, 23:48:10 UTC 5 years ago

As a person you turned on to the Crows I have only good things to say about this.

May you be delivered in the belly of a black winged bird. (Though I don't know if Virgin makes their planes that color).

Have a fabulous and restorative trip!

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:27:31 UTC 5 years ago

Red plane, black winged band.

gorgeousgary

September 24 2011, 02:21:00 UTC 5 years ago

Yay for restorative weekends!

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:27:41 UTC 5 years ago

So good.

cleothyla

September 24 2011, 05:00:08 UTC 5 years ago

You have fun. You sound like you need the break and peace. :)

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:27:48 UTC 5 years ago

I did.

bookzombie

September 24 2011, 17:52:16 UTC 5 years ago

Counting Crows are one of my favourite bands. I admit I don't always understand a word of the lyrics (to clarify: I can hear them, I just don't always know what they mean!) but I love their sound.

In Italy a few weeks ago we had a reproduction of part of a Michelangelo picture behind our bed, so naturally I had 'When I Dream of Michelangelo' stuck in my head all week...

Have a spiffing time!

seanan_mcguire

September 26 2011, 15:28:00 UTC 5 years ago

Adam speaks his own private language at times, it's true.
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →