Everything is on a cycle

Note to people expecting a long email from me this evening: My monthly report is going to be delayed a day or two for various reasons, the main one being my falling asleep this evening before heading out to see Eleni Mandell in concert. Since I haven’t written a word of the report yet I’m forced to either write a horrible version and have it be on time or write a slightly less awful version and have it be slightly later. I apologize in advance to those of you who were looking forward to the diversion at work tomorrow.

I did just come back from seeing Eleni, one of the lesser known of the Mandell sis… you know, I’m not even going to go for that joke. Not only is it a bad pun but I doubt that anyone will get the reference. Anyway, the first time I saw Eleni I attended the concert for two reasons: 1) A girl I knew told me that she liked her music and 2) the poster advertising the show had a picture of Eleni looking stunningly attractive. Reason #2 won out, I know I talk about how meaningful music can be but sometimes a cute girl on a poster is all I need.

Eleni is interesting in that she sounds like a more upbeat Cat Power. I wouldn’t go so far as to say a happy Cat Power, more like she acts as if she has just read a good Doonesbury cartoon and is smirking at the humor. She has a similar voice, husky with a lot of edges, and she has a lot of laconic, dark songs. Almost like a torch singer at times. What’s really impressed me about her is that she seems to sing with her eyes. Let me explain, I’ve seen a lot of singers who basically perform with their eyes closed, not only are they not trying to connect with the audience but they would rather wish that the crowd wasn’t there. Eleni adds to her songs with a dart of her eyes and a nod of her head and creates a more intimate performance with just those little gestures.

And yes, sometimes all you need is a dart of the eyes to get someone’s attention. I fell for a girl once just because of the way she batted her eyelashes. Admittedly, that happened the last time the cicadas were unleashed. In a way, I’ve been looking forward to this summer as the last time the cicadas descended on Chicago I had a really good summer. There’s a possibility that my social life also runs on a 17 year cycle.

It really is interesting to think about my life from 17 years ago. For all effective purposes it is half a lifetime ago. I think what I miss most is the sense of adventure you have as a teenager. Everything is one interesting moment after another. Even silly things like staying up late to watch Letterman take on a sense of excitement. I’ve been thinking a lot recently of trying to recapture that view of life. I’ll let you know if I figure it out, short of finishing the time machine or waiting for my clone to grow older.