spring 2022 update rundown
Hello subscribers!
Lots has happened since I sent the last one of these back in February. We are now in full on Chicago spring. Which meant a fluctuating 40-50 degrees rain and overcast skies for two months, followed by a week of 90 degrees and sun and then a delightful weekend of 70 degrees and sun. Nice! Bugs are back and bunnies are eating plants in the yard. And there are lots of birds. I'm super into the crows lately.
We visited my partner's sister in Santa Fe for the first time since the pandemic began which was fabulous. I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to visit that particular part of the world every so often. It is such a radically different environment/landscape than the great lakes region that I'm so familiar with and, really, anywhere else I've been. I remember getting out of the airport in Albuquerque the first time we went and it felt like reality rippled as my brain struggled to process what it was experiencing. In short, New Mexico is crazy beautiful. (see inadequate photo evidence from Bandelier National Monument below)
***
<polemic>I would be remiss if I didn't note the horrific state of the world and my rage, despair, hopelessness, fear, as well as my willingness to continue/struggle. The coming supreme court decision that will officially overturn access to abortion in half the country is appalling and horrifying. It is also only the beginning. Authoritarian white supremacists will actively work to criminalize, brutalize, and/or murder anyone they view as less than them - that is white cis-het christian men. We all have to be willing to fight them together. White people, and especially white men, need to step up. We need to listen to black people, indigenous people, people of color, trans people, lgbtq+ people. If we are silent in the face of this, we are complicit.
I'm probably preaching to the choir with all of you, but if anyone has any sort of platform we need to use them to address these things. I don't know what fighting white supremacists, authoritarians and fascists looks like in every case, but at the very least, talk about these things with your friends, family, chosen family, community. Maybe get directly involved with an organization or group, or send a few dollars to a group who is able to organize and actively fight. Maybe throw a brick. It's up to you to decide how best you are able to fight.</polemic>
In progress updates:
In case you're curious, and to keep myself accountable to someone, somewhere, perhaps the universe, my plan is to go through my hard drive and finish up or officially abandon any projects that are still kicking around in there. We'll see how that goes.
I'm also working on organizing live shows again, which is fun for me. A record store in my neighborhood, Tone Deaf Records, has offered their space for shows and the neighborhood library is up for hosting again too.
Sharing!
The biggest news is that after a long process, I have two albums of music finished. One is the album of rockish music that I mentioned last time. I did have it mastered at Boiler Room Mastering and I think they did a great job with it and I'm happy with how it came out. It ended up being about Alex, which I hadn't been planning on at all while I was working on the music parts. But when it came time to add vocals to the songs I went back through my notebooks for the past year and pretty much the only thing I wrote about was Alex. In hindsight, I guess that was pretty much inevitable. I promise it's not a sad sack affair though. At least I hope not.
You can get it here https://www.panyrosasdiscos.org/pyr317-keith-helt-the-morning-of-silence/
or on bandcamp if that's your jam. https://panyrosasdiscos.bandcamp.com/album/the-morning-of-silence
***
The other album is of improvised guitar pieces that I recorded a few days after my friend Alex died in January of 2021. It was kind of a musical response to what I was feeling, or maybe an expression of what I wanted to say to him in music form. My friend LB painted the cover art based on a photo of Alex. Thanks LB!
If you'd like to hear it you can find it here https://www.panyrosasdiscos.org/pyr319-keith-helt-something-of-a-hoosier/
And also on bandcamp, if that's indeed your jam. https://panyrosasdiscos.bandcamp.com/album/something-of-a-hoosier
***
I continue to do the old radio show, flux capacitor, on Beware! The Radio. It's been an entire year at this point. We've even started doing monthly radio staff meetings, which has been surprisingly enjoyable. I'm usually not a huge fan of meetings, especially with people I don't know well, but it's been fun and nice to meet with the others who are working on the station. You can still find the old episodes of my show here: https://www.mixcloud.com/discover/flux-capacitor/?order=latest
Into it!
Abolition. Feminism. Now. – Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie
Fascism Today: What it is and how to end it – Shane Burley
Star Trek The Next Generation (watching as a family with our son!)
The Matrix – Lana and Lily Wachowski (also watching it with our son was great!)
Russian Doll (season 2) - would you watch Natasha Lyonne as Columbo? I would!
the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures - R.A.P. Ferreira
Disco Elysium (which is a video game)
The Outer Wilds (which is also a video game)
Random GIF from thee Junk Drawer!
