Just got back from a concert...

Greetings All.

I am beginning to type this at 11:50p on Tuesday night, as I've just gotten in from seeing Amanda Palmer in concert.

For those of you concerned with my abandoning, it was with full permission and support of Miss Shelley, as she knows how much school has been taking out of me as of late.  Maybe it is the difference in middle school vs. high school, maybe the kids are changing faster than I am, or maybe it is all the stress of what's going on with Amelie, but I'm emotionally right now where I usually am in May.  This is not a good thing.

So, I grabbed a ticket to see Amanda Palmer a few weeks ago, and went to see her.  I've referenced her before on the blog, and can honestly say that I don't believe many of you would like her at first blush.

She's brash, she's loud, she's totally unconventional.  She is a performance artist on top of being a musician.  For all those reasons, she turns people off at first.  But if you are willing to look beyond that, she's just overflowing with amazing things that I love....and things that I hope my daughters love and emulate as well.

She stands on stage tonight, feverish and wracked with a cold.  She tells us this to start the concert, and then proceeds to give every single bit of energy and passion that she can muster for the next two straight hours.  She fights through the hard stuff, and does what she knows will fill her up, and ultimately heal her.

The image above is from a song in which she was wearing a MASSIVE wedding train, and she sang the song while being crowd surfed across the audience.  I can't think of many other artists who would so fully trust her audience to take care of her.  Then to see an entire audience do just that.  Wow.

She looks different.  She doesn't respect any societal mandates about what a "woman" who is "beautiful" is supposed to look like.  But she exudes beauty from the confidence she has in who she is. She pours herself out there for those that are willing to take a second look, and inspires all these people in the audience to be their true selves, and society's rules be damned.

She sings about things that push you, that expose you, but ultimately help you tap into stuff that you know is true, that you know you need to hear, but it's hard to hear.

These are lyrics from her song lost, and I hope you can see why I might find them particularly pertinent right now.

No one's ever lost forever
When they die they go away
But they will visit you occasionally
Do not be afraid
No one's ever lost forever
They are caught inside your heart
If you garden them and water them
They make you what you are

So yeah, I loved seeing the show tonight.  

I feel totally energized, refreshed and ready to go another few rounds with this boolsheet.  

Thank you deeply and sincerely Shel. 

Now I need to figure out how to hook you up!

ps.  I guess I owe you Amie details too.  I'll know more in the morning when I talk to Shel, once she goes to the hospital to get her labs drawn.  We were scheduled to be admitted to start Chemo tomorrow, but I don't think it's happening.  We'll see.