six degrees of righteous babeness

feb 2, outside the state theater in new brunswick

i went out last night. no big deal you say, but it was. i haven't gone out at night, by myself in almost 2 years. and the last time was for this same reason, but in nyack and with a bunch of other performers for a benefit. and i wasn't really alone, hazel was with me, in my belly. which is really cool, because i kind of had this feeling she was a she, and that she was a z, (that's what we call her around here and inutero she was baby z). and i was talking to her the whole way and she really enjoyed the music, she was grooving in there. we made a date to go together when she's like 10. but i don't know if she put it in her calender...

my kids like to go to sleep with me and hazel, is still nursing at 21mo. putting them to bed is usually a 2 person affair that i can do on my own, and i do when tom is out, but it usually isn't fun. or saturn, mars and jupiter need to be perfectly aligned. and for tom, he's usually my wingman, he'd never done it on his own till this night. and he took on this task for me. (which he totally nailed and even did the dishes by the way, holy awesomeness to come home to! thank you tom!) so i could go see one of my favorite artists, ani di franco. she's a folk singer, writer, activist, all around awesome woman, she rocks and inspires.

it was amazing. and not only was it a really cool boost to my soul to be in her presence but i was 6, yes SIX! rows away, smack in the center, perfectly lined up with this most righteous babe. she was singing to me i tell you, blissful. i really love her songwriting, singing, energy... she's great.

and to top off all her greatness when she gave birth to her baby daughter petah she did so at home with a midwife, just like me. (and our midwives are friends...cosmic) i didn't know that about her till almost a year after because i didn't even know she was pregnant. i had rowan and he was small i wasn't keeping up with much news. if i had known she was pregnant i would have sent her a copy of ina may. but she already had one, of course she already had one! i found this out because when i was pregnant for the 2nd time, my favorite parenting magazine came and there she was on the cover with her family. right on ani! i gave birth for the second time in my home with her and her family on my nightstand. i keep that copy in there, just for fun, universal, women connectedness...

so anyway last night rocked. it really did. life is good. as one of her new songs states, "if you're not getting happier as you get older, you're fucking up." yup, yup, true and check, definite happiness increasing with my age. she sung a new song about overexposure, "every time i open my mouth i take off all my clothes" and being frostbit from it, yeah, i can relate to that. she sung about being a new mom, freedom, politics, suffering, science, humanity, love.

she closed at 10:28, with 32 flavors, which i was hoping she would sing, because really, "i am a poster girl with no poster". i am, i really, really am. it was her last song and i stood to groove to it with the rest of the crowd, tears in my eyes. why does this woman elicit such strong emotion from me? maybe because she is so truthful, energetic, creative; she wears her heart on her sleeve, saying what has to be said... like someone i know.

"surround yourself with who you are and aspire to be, it makes being a strong, smart, talented woman easier in this world" (anonymous)

thank you ani!