Hi buddies,
March is my birthday month, so I feel a special shimmering this time of year. Here we go merrily ‘round the sun!
Spring is alternating rapidly between arriving and retreating, as it does every year in the Midwest. On warmer days Chicago feels wildly celebratory; I’m relishing opening the windows even for a few hours, hearing the birds and my neighbors playing music. I recently cut off more than a foot of my hair, so my head feels light and strange.
I’m writing from a documentary film festival in Columbia, Missouri, where I’m playing a few shows. I’ve been arranging some new (unreleased) music for performance, and it’s been fun trying it out here at the festival.
A few shows:
3.2 Solo: Sanctuary Showcase @ True/False Film Festival: Calvary Episcopal Church, Columbia, MO
3.7 Duo with Owen Gardner: Hungry Brain, Chicago
3.9 Duo with Whitney Johnson (opening for Alessandro Cortini), Epiphany Center, Chicago
3.13 Honestly Same (opening for Horse Lords), Empty Bottle, Chicago
3.19 Quartet with Spectralina + Amalea Tschilds, Elastic Arts, Chicago
Then N and I are going to Japan for a belated honeymoon — if you have recommendations for places to eat, listen to music, see art, wander around (and I haven’t already asked you), please let me know!
tiny recommendations
I got to drive down to Columbia with Ben Lamar Gay — one of the best and wisest musicians I know. On the drive we listened to this wonderful record and ate some surprisingly good grapes from a gas station (yes, both of those things are recommendations).
This very simple spicy-sweet salmon. And this slightly more complicated spicy-sweet salmon.
This poem, which I read every year around this time.
The carrot cake from the Lula Cafe Cookbook, which I’ve been making on repeat (and of course, the carrot cake from Lula Cafe).
Checking your email less.
This triptych of short films by Ryusuke Hamaguchi — especially the last one.
That’s all, for now.
Lia
Hola , Que Tengas Una Buena Estancia En Ese Maravilloso País Llamado Japón. Te Dejo Dos Recomendaciones Que Van Unidas Al País. Un Saludo. 1- https://giannisimone.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile. 2- https://eikoishibashi.bandcamp.com/album/drive-my-car-original-soundtrack-with-bonus-tracks
That Ada Limón poem though.