6/12 Feeling at Home in Albany, Day 2

     Hello all, from All, from Albany!  I had the pleasure of meeting a wealth of new people and exploring the charming, if overcast, city of Albany which I recommend you do someday as well!  Found a wonderful venue that made me feel at home!  Lets see where life takes us...

A Literary morning ritual, and new song!

   

 I woke up and I read for a while before anyone else was awake. Writing and reading, especially in the morning, is hugely valuable to me. The ideas are fresh in my head if I'm writing and while my brain may be slow to function if I've gotten little sleep, it's also recently gathered some typically interesting things in a dream state.  I have a pretty strict ritual of reading in the morning, it wakes me up and gets my brain churning and chewing on ideas!  Danielle and her roommate Jeany woke up at some point and Danielle offered me her green tea generously. Feeling inspired, I sat by the window to look out on the upstate New York town through a crumbling window frame and I finished a new song I'd been working on called “Zoom In (there's life here)” about little towns such as this, how they're homelike and yet inhospitable, their contradictory flaws and charms. I may share it with you soon, I rather like it, upstate New York has always felt sort of romantic and homely to me since my parents have a memorial day tradition since I was young to travel to Lakeside Campground in Windsor near Binghampton to camp every year and meet with family friends. If you're looking for a place to camp, I very much advise you try it out there! Something about the sprawling green stretches of farmland and dilapidated barns and farmhouses fascinates me. Passing through these little towns both hurting and content freaks me out, ever since I went to school in Oswego, I've experienced a paradoxical magnetic pull to these oddly romantic towns and yet a scared repulsion due to them being so maudlin, stagnated and tempestuous. This song sort of explores that feeling and my fascination that these towns have entire communities in them, some of which know little of the outside world, a fate that I fear and can't imagine.

Jeany, An Albany Ambassador

      Danielle went to work so her good friend and roommate Jeany and I got to know one another. Evidently her name was supposed to be “Jenny” but the nurse wrote an “a” instead of an “n” so now she is “Jeany” (sounds like”genie”)! An example that we can sometimes be defined by even the smallest mistakes and events in our life! She had some shopping to do for groceries and a cake for Danielle's birthday party. We perused stores on Lark street, namely a small skateboard shop called Seasons that I really enjoyed. She was really welcoming and informative, quick to laugh and comfortable to be around.  She showed me around Washington park, full of giant trees, a beautiful lake and running paths, unfortunately it wasn't very populated due to the remaining clouds and drenched ground from last night's rain, the quiet was nice. One highlight was a gaunt grizzly bearded man adorably feeding bread to ducklings in the pond while sweet-talking them. However, the second that an older duck would come over to eat the food, he'd metamorphose and shout and point at them and threaten to kick them! Jeany and I finally went to the grocery store (my first Price Chopper experience!) and after lots of frugal decision making and tedious deliberating, we got a few things for the party! I bought myself a bundle of apples and trail mix packet for the road, in typical cheap, simple but healthy and nourishing tour diet fashion! We went back to the house and Jeany generously made some delicious and simple egg sandwiches on bagels! Sometimes I sincerely can't believe the kindness and giving quality of people, it's seriously amazing to me and I'm so grateful to be able to make all of these friends!  I packed up some cds and stickers and headed to Hudson River Coffee House in the rain for the open mic!

Hudson River Coffee House

       The Hudson River Coffee House is small brick building on Quail street on the corner. It is run by a younger guy named Anton who is actually friends with Danielle and Jeany! You step down a flight of stairs into a spacious brick room with the walls eclectically decorated with fine art, photographs, event flyers, clothing, records for sale and brick-a-brak abundant, they even have arcade games! There's a long counter that Phil worked behind serving patrons food, desserts and coffee (I got a Reeses' Peanut Butter Cup flavored “Red Eye” and an excellent wrap!) and there are many sitting options pews, tables, benches and chairs strewn about. An older man with a ready smile named Tony was running the open mic and we got to talking since we both arrived so early.  Evidently, they boast the longest running open mic in Albany and this week was ^th open mic night. It was an anything goes open mic, which are always the most interesting and, to me, is the entire purpose of the open mic concept. You can bet I was feeling a Cool Beanz vibe at this place big time! There were some comedians Terrance and Brandon, who were really funny, a rapper named Joe Stories, a poet who shared some beautiful pieces, Melissa, and of course some great musicians, Will B, an impressive abridged two member edition of the “Polyester String Band” doing bluegrass style stuff with violin and guitar, Tony played trumpet beside Kyle Blackowl and a great bassist and guitar player Steve and Dan, respectively. The room was packed and very respectful, the response was very strong as I performed “Anti-Social-Net-Work-Ethic”, “Quality vs. Quarantine” and “Building After Buildings”. I passed around my mailing list and some free stickers. While walking to get a drink I met Eugene, who confessed to being inspired by my performance to get his work done. He writes, does artwork, teaches, and designs clothing, running a cool company and movement called Made In Truth. We went outside and he showed me a slam poem that he wrote and we took a photo together and talked about our genuine desire to create and inspire people. I met a ton of great people in this environment who had a lot of encouraging things to say, inviting me back and asking how long I'd be in town! I laughed a ton and was galvanized by the passion shared and so many people had great music to share that I was really getting into! Anytime I mention Albany I will mention Hudson River Coffee House, it was a remarkable place with great support of local arts and artists, the food was fantastic and the group of attendees ensured a good time that made me feel at home!  I'm definitely looking forward to returning!

Eugene Repping AllOne and wearing a cool
Made In Truth shirt "Evil, Live, Love, Evolve"

     I headed back to Danielle's place for the last half of her party with my spirits lifted.  Although I was told that the party had been much bigger, it was buzzing with social activity and merriment all the same!  I wished her a happy birthday, met some of her friends who are involved in the Albany college radio and advised me to send my work into the station! I was exhausted so after eating some of the great birthday cake Jeanie made that we shopped for and meeting a handful of people I promptly passed out!

When you discover something beautiful, do what you can to support it.

With love,

-AllOne

Left to right, Steve, Dan and Tony

Some of The Polyester String Band