I saw Ani Difranco tonight at the Scottish Rite Auditorium. Say what you will about folk music, (as I often have) but I really enjoyed the show. Her guitar style and her lyrics are amazing, especially live. I admit, there was probably quite a bit that went right over my head. I'm not a die-hard fan like so many other people in the room. The amazing thing is how her popularity is based almost solely on word of mouth. It works, too. Her audiences are devoted to her. There were people from all over the state here for the show despite the worst road conditions so far this year. The reason I went, despite being a suburban white male with no piercings or tattoos and two functional and supportive parents, is that I really like her lyrics. I think she's a poet on par with Allen Ginsberg, and probably better than Eric Drooker. Here's a sample that stuck with me tonight:

"When they said he could walk on water
what it sounds like to me is he could float like a butterfly
and sting like a bee
literal people are scary man
literal people scare me
out there trying to rid the world of it's poetry
while getting it wrong fundamentally
now in the church of 'look it says right here, see?"

And

"Art is why I get up in the morning, but my definition ends there. Ya know it doesn't seem fair that I am living for something I can't even define."

To get the full effect, you have to hear it in her voice. The latter quotation sums up much of my art education, and it's also the reason most artist types you see are always so spacey. They don't really know what they're doing, but the art consumes their life. Speaking of which, I noted tonight that there were guys in the audience with longer hair than mine, and women with shorter hair. I felt weird being one of the more "mainstream" people there.

The weather outside is warmer than last week. There's a term for this weather that has always struck me as funny: "warm enough to snow." It warmed up to a comfortable freeze a couple days ago and the snow hasn't let up since. There are snow drifts out there larger than my brother's run-on sentences. (shameless plug- read his blog) Driving in the snow is less like driving a car and more like a boat.