10.31.04

a full weekend. a weekend that, had it occurred in high school, i would have felt compelled to capture every last detail of in a mile long post. instead, in this day and age, a half mile will do.

friday d came down from hartland and her mill life to visit. we went to the rob randolph concert here on campus, danced around, then collapsed in a pile on the bed, exhausted. we curled up under afghans and it was perfectly natural to see each other again.

saturday, though. saturday i woke up 11.30 late to danielle at my computer. it never got fully light all day. by the time she left it was time to organize logistics for getting to bar harbor.

the original plan: andy fischer would drive to college of the atlantic to see the arcade fire. eli, karina, derek kraft, and i would all hitch rides. it would be awesome and random. the final plan: i drive andy's volvo to the college of the atlantic to see the arcade fire with eli, karina, and ted power. it will still be awesome and decidedly more random. and exhausting (bar harbor is over three hours from here).

had a quick dinner with sarah before leaving campus. it was unfortunately lacklustre. a saving grace will come soon.

eli and i found andy's room squirreled away in the back end of helmreich. he tossed me the keys shirtless and wearing a turban. i spent awhile looking at all the buttons in his volvo and managed to make it out of the parking lot. i was generally proud of myself.

we picked up karina and ted and started the three hour haul northeast. both the silences and conversation were good. slick, black, wet roads with orange leaves on them everywhere. rainy october night. we drove into my home territory and out again, stopping for gas in newport. ted power working the gas pump; everyone contributing advice on how to get it to work. three albums later we're in bar harbor and parking in a dirt lot at the college of the atlantic. adrienne, sean turley, emily hricko and james nylund magically pull into the spot next to us. no matter how far you go, there is no escaping bowdoin.

we watched a bit of a costume contest in their dining hall (girl in a shiny turquoise dress) and found ryan and his crew. they were looking significantly more indie than we were except we had matt lajoie and so won all the prizes for most indie, ever.

the show was held in a beautiful wooden room in a building that looked exactly like a castle. the turrets. cliffs down to the ocean were feet away. wet breeze everywhere and ted power with his hands in his pockets. half the audience was inexplicably middle aged and in costumes. there were lit up cows and warm lights everywhere.

the band came on, opened their mouths, and glorious sound came out. the arcade fire. they jumped on chairs and hit their drums, elbows everywhere. a steel drum, a xylophone, a violin, a bass, an accordion, a piano, a harmonica, many tambourines and bells and guitars and drums and a very small room. they opened the doors behind them to let the ocean breeze come through; no one got too hot. they were costumed and tall. they were the best show i've ever seen. less than sixty people, guest list only, free. they're sold out in boston and new york for the next month, having gotten a 9.7 on pitchfork. they played for two hours and made me feel the best i have in awhile. i told the skinny blonde one that i wouldn't mind being him when i grew up.

we went out on the dock afterwards, getting ocean mist hair. more ryan sightings and some leaving, wending our way back home with a layover at denny's. finally home at four in the morning old time, three new time. we walked back to our rooms down the middle of maine street.

i crashed and woke up in precisely the same space i'd gone to bed in. i haven't been able to kick their songs out of my head all day. it was enough to drag me out of bowdoin; i'm not quite back in the groove yet and break suddenly seems unacceptably far away. nothing's been able to get me back here yet, not even the normalizing force of running the study groups.

it was, absolutely, one of the best events in memory.

costumes on, faces shiny with sweat, mouths open and perfect sound coming out. orange and red and silver and white. i drove andy's car on desolate, black maine highways for nearly seven hours.

i am tired and i enjoyed it.