Show and Other

[ateolf]

In the afternoon, Mary Beth and I went up to Crosstown to catch the art exhibits and they were good. There was one of Melissa Dunn's work and one of Birdcap's. Had a weird encounter as we were leaving. We're crossing the crosswalk to the garage. We stop as there was a lady in a car but then she waved us so we crossed. There was also a guy crossing from the other way at the same time. Fine, a very normal and innocuous thing to occur in the course of a day. But then this woman who'd been walking behind us starts screaming "You dumbass! Learn how to cross the street, dumbass!" Mary Beth had turned around but I didn't bother, and when she turned around I heard "Yeah, you too!" and maybe some more dumbasses (I think "dumbass" was the term used, she can correct me if I'm wrong). We get to our car and we're like what was that and why was she so angry and why did she even care and what did we do wrong (nope, nothing wrong, just walked across the crosswalk in the most normal of all possible ways)? Then we're leaving and Mary Beth sees her on the sidewalk by the exit to the street and she's smoking and then flips Mary Beth off. So yeah, I guess we got yelled at by a mentally unstable woman, what can ya do?

Anyway, a little later we went up to the Lamplighter for the show. It was a good one. There was actually a pretty decent crowd as far as these things go. Everyone's set was real good. First it was Shake Machine Down, then Cel Shade, then Noir Walls, then Panic Signals. Saw a good number of people and hung out and stuff. I guess that's about all I've got for now.

Comments

[ifjuly]

it wasn't even just what she said, the words, it was how incredibly angry, vehemently hateful she vibed saying it. like mutter-spitting the words out in uncontrolled rage. i don't know that i've ever encountered that degree of sheer malice emanating from someone directly. and for it to be about something so bizarrely minor was, wow. ehhh.

i hope she's ok 'cause phew. hell, i hope the freakin' universe is ok because well...you know. sigh.

[ifjuly]

kevin brooks' "what were you meant for" too! got me verklempt.

[ateolf]

Yeah, and it would have been bizarrely minor even if we were somehow in the wrong.

[ateolf]

Yeah thanks! I'd forgotten the name of who did the video.

[ifjuly]

i was telling J yesterday that this city and state and country can feel like it's gaslighting you 24/7 now about being fine with insanity, indicating it's not insanity actually (and god, that reid-pharr quote about most people apparently being convinced the solution is the very thing that is the problem), and then i see something like illiumpta or yeah, read reid-pharr or watch i heard it through the grapevine or all the beauty and the bloodshed and yeah...i am reminded it is gaslighting, and there is still sanity that knows we're in the midst of insanity. i just wish more people encountered it and expressed that regularly...

[ifjuly]

the funny thing is i learned something useful from it. where when you mentioned actually she'd been talking (also?) to that guy also crossing the street then including us in the "yeah you too!" which i hadn't heard, i went internally from, "oh god, what did i do wrong? i have to figure out what i did wrong to make her so angry, it must've been really bad and it's causing major anxiety i can't figure it out to be a better person" to "she was saying it to that poor fella? what the fuck, she has issues" and that was that, no questioning or anxiety about being the one in the wrong. that was a pretty concrete thing, that immediate mental shift as soon as it went from i'm the target of anger to someone else, and well. yeah. i won't say i'm glad that whole mess happened but that part was worthwhile, eye-opening.

[ifjuly]

and it was also edifying in another way i want to remember too: how jarring/disturbingly confusing i found it because she was acting so unhinged near to scary yet appeared so polished/sophisticated in dress and style and whatnot (expensive cut and dye job and sunglasses, clothes, makeup, all that). not the usual media cultural stereotype alignment there, and reminded me as i always should to check my biased assumptions about what socially WTF behavior looks like, who's doing it, what class etc. their appearance indicates. 'cause god knows the last few years witnessing things locally it's become apparent that stuff is very often the inverse of what we're presented (and frankly given what's been happening that makes sense).