Last Wednesday...Joan Osborne, One Of Us, Far Away Eyes

Last Wednesday I went for a walk to think about the weather. I ended up talking to this man, his name is Alan, he was sitting on a block of cement, in the dirt, at the end of my road with a backpack and sleeping bag. He is a dead ringer for David Lettermen in some Bizzaro World way. He said he was traveling North because Southern California was just too crowded.

I agreed with him and told him about some of my traveling last year and visiting New York in the summer. Though I enjoy the intensity I would always gravitate towards Washington Square Park to relax a bit. Seriously he looked so much like David Lettermen, I was fishing around thinking perhaps he's related, I wasn't far off...

Of course he had hung out in Wa Sq Prk and had lived in Manhattan but preferred upstate New York and up along the Saint Lawrence River and that it was really peaceful and pretty and that he'd like to go back there someday.

I don't know what it was, the sound of his voice, how he was so humble yet confident, his mannerisms, his entire aura. I was so at peace talking to him, it was really amazing I didn't want to leave, it sounds strange saying that but its true. We talked about photography too; he said something simple like its how you point the camera (I was imagining what his earlier life might have been like), I went back 20-minutes later to ask if I could take his picture but he was gone.

If this really was god perhaps he knew that this was the perfect way for me to see him. And that might be the way we end up seeing certain things. As a melody, music, a harmony, perfect from our perspective, "at a frequency we can only hear." Perhaps we then, in a note, go on to describe that something as "pretty," a common word often thrown around as a pleasantry. But in certain instances it comes at the end of a very thoughtful paragraph; a bit of levity if you will, a form of punctuation or a dissemblance (to mask) an otherwise deeper affection. Hopefully it doesn't discredit the heart and soul that tried to assemble a few simple words to the best of his ability so that he could share his feelings with someone. And also after other previous forms of reflection. Though it wasn't a huge proposal, it was delivered with out insistence and is willing to beareth what it needs to. If it ever tends to be playful (or scintillating) around the edges, thats just how it is.

So an ideal god for me would be David Lettermen? Funny, I don't even watch Lettermen; it would be kind of cool though, for all eternity, perhaps thats why I don't watch him now.

We talked a little bit more and to show him that we were somewhat on the level, I said that I spent a few nights crashing in Wa Sq Prk. He was surprised and he thought that that would have been impossible especially in NYC and it kind of is but if you stay out late enough there's always a few people hanging out talking. Its amazingly pretty staring at those arches and falling asleep and it feels safe because there are groups of friends and couples just sitting and talking and its 4 in the morning and its not even cold. Then the sun comes up and I would pretend like I was a lizard soaking up the sun on those granite slabs.

Earlier in the evening there are always two or three guitar circles; amazing guitarists and they don't mind if someone sits in who might not be so accomplished. They are all so humble and giving to each other and someone might be walking by and sit in for a song or two and have the most beautiful amazing voice. [Perhaps Wa Sq Prk is my idea of Heaven too]

I didn't really have to spend the night there (it did stretch the budget though) - I've always admired Joseph Koudelka (famous documentary photographer "Gipsies") and his rule or way of living. When he takes his long trips as a "documentary photographer" he doesn't worry about where he is going to sleep. I'm the adventurous type so I thought I would give it a try at least for a few days. It is liberating but ultimately kind of hard. I have lots of cool stories about all that.

Russell 3rd and Macdougal, West Village

In the morning its so amazingly awesome taking in the sun after a long night. Then going to get coffee and walking a few blocks to the East Village; I would go to this really narrow diner, its a Polish or Russian place, can't remember the name; that sure did hit the spot after a long night.

I'd been staying with a good good friend in Brooklyn but her boyfriend was getting really jealous and I kinda wanted to go exploring anyway... Before I left NYC we went to the Hamptons and to the very tip of Long Island, Mauntauk. If you drive just past, to the very tip, it gets even more beautiful and peaceful.

I called her and spoke to her when I was out walking this past Wednesday; sometimes we give each other advice, not that it's ever good but we convince each other that it is.

Joan Osborne - One Of Us

I would ask God to tell me a joke - it would make me feel better I'm sure. And just for me I bet he would tell it in the form of an amazing riddle that would take forever to figure out; that would be heavenly too.

Rolling stones - Far away eyes

Other heavenly advice I've been trying to take...

Far Away Eyes


I was drivin' home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield

Listenin' to gospel music on the colored radio station

And the preacher said, "You know, you always have the Lord by your side."

And I was so pleased to be informed of this

That I ran twenty red lights in his honor.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

I had an arrangement to meet a girl

And I was kinda late.

And I thought, by the time I got there,

She'd be off - She'd be off with the nearest truck-driver she could find.

Much to my surprise, there she was, sittin' in the corner -

A little bleary - worse for wear and tear -

She was the girl with far-away eyes.

So if you're down on your luck, and you can't harmonize,

Find a girl with far-away eyes.

And if you're downright disgusted , and life ain't worth a dang,

Get a girl with far-away eyes.

Well...


Well the preacher kept right on sayin' that all I had to do

Was to send ten dollars to the Church of the Sacred Bleedin' Heart of Jesus

Located somewhere in Los Angeles, California,

And next week, they'd say my prayer on the radio

And all my dreams'd come true.

So I did.

And next week, I got a prayer for the girl

W- well, you know what kinda eyes she gots.

So if you're down on your luck, I know you oughtta sympathize.

Find a girl with far-away eyes.

And if you're downright disgusted , and life ain't worth a dang,

Get a girl with far-away eyes.

So if you're down on your luck, I know you oughtta sympathize.

Get a girl with far-away eyes.