November 9, 2004
Greetings, Nieldsfans.
In the somewhat unrealistic hope of appearing non partisan, I won't comment
here about our feelings about the election, but if you are curious you can
find out what they are by reading our Blog which can be found here.
That being said, I had a great time with Carrie Newcomer and Lisa Loeb
during our Folk The Vote tour last week in the battleground states of
Missouri and Ohio. Many many thanks to Jill Stratton for organizing that
event! Pictures will be on our web site soon.
I still haven't found a wedding dress. But I did finish a draft of my
gargantuan novel, the Big Idea. Finishing something that has taken such a
chunk of life--almost four years--feels strange. I hardly know what to do
with myself. But, as you might have come to expect, a few of the
characters in the Big idea are songwriters. The BIg Idea, is in fact, the
name of a folk rock band. Peter Becket, Rhodie Becket and Zhsanna Becket
make up three fourths of the Big Idea; then there is Peter's wife, Jennie
First...and between them, I have about twenty five new songs they've given
me.
So...
Bereft of my beautiful singing sister to make me laugh and share the
driving, I am soldiering on by myself for a couple of shows this fall. I am
doing a show at Kiva House (Naykid Tim's) in Billerica, MA on Sunday
November 14 (e-mail Tim at kivahouseconcerts@yahoo.com) where I'll sing
some Big Idea songs, maybe read a bit of the novel, and surely sing some
songs by this other band I'm familiar with... The Need? The Needles?
Something like that. Please join me! We will hunker down and sing our
hearts out.
I am also doing a show at Meredith Tarr's in New Haven, CT on Dec.11, but
word is that's already full. Tim's is not.
Katryna is still great with child. Amelia is practicing being a big sister
with her twin cousins, Emmett and Reese, just six months old. Katryna and I
met with Patty and our booking agent Lori Peters to plan out our spring
return. Details will be forthcoming; stay tuned. We have a lot of new
songs to sing and also a book tour in the months ahead.
The new "semesters" for the writing workshops start soon: a mini semester
from mid November for the Tuesday group; a mini-mini the first week of
December for the Thursday group. Then "Mongo" semesters for both groups
will start in January. The poets, fiction writers, journalers and
songwriters I work with have written incredible pieces about post 11/2
impressions, and you can read them at the Writing It Up in the Garden Blog
on blogger.com, or get to it via our website,
www.nields.com/writing.html. The next retreat is scheduled for January 7-9.
I am also looking to start a group of people who want to meet to journal
about the political situation and start a dialogue about how we can best
funnel our energy and good ideas into the community and the world. Contact
me at NFNields@AOL if you are interested in being a part of this group. I
work with individuals by phone and email, or in person. And I have a teen
group that meets Monday from 4-5. If you want to be in a writing workshop,
write me at that address as well. More info is on the website at
www.nields.com/writing/html.
Here are some great ideas that have come my way over the past week:
- clean out public drains, or pick up litter. It will remind you that you are
part of a community
- call a friend who is sad about the election. It helps to not feel so alone
- write a song, poem, story, diatribe, letter to the editor. It helps to not
feel so powerless
- live in denial. That works for a while.
- hang an American flag up at your house, It's your country no matter who
you voted for. If you don't like what the country's doing, you can hang
some Buddhist prayer flags up along with the stars and bars. And plant a
"No Blood For Oil" sign in your yard.
- learn the old song, "Happy Days Are Here Again". It was written in the
days of Herbert Hoover. It's kind of an amusing song.
- Remember that each and every state is really and truly purple, not red or
blue. Just various shades of purple. And if you were to look at an
entire map of the USA, the fuschia isn't so different from the eggplant.
God/Jehovah/Shatki/Ganesh/Egolessness/TreeSpirits bless you, folk fans! Carry
on!
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