Special Thursday edition of RPD! Stay tuned next Thursday for some new exciting announcements!
I have a corrected link to spotify playlists for paying subscribers at the bottom! Sorry for confusion, thank you for the support!
Dearest Reader,
I'm back from a trip to New York, a whirl wind of a week seeing people I love. Walking around the busy streets in the cold, driving upstate in a snow storm. I did it all gladly, booking this trip to have something to do with myself as I reached the two year anniversary of losing my dad. One of my best friends has a new baby so I knew this was the perfect time to meet this perfect angel. I am trying to stay in the present moment.
I spent much of my time in New York observing, listening, thinking. My soundtrack for this trip were the albums “Rocket” by Alex G, and “Box for Buddy, Box for Star” by This if Lorelei. I wanted so badly to catch a show at the Village Vanguard but I kept missing my window. It’s the push I need, since I’m in luck living in Chicago, where there is plenty to explore. As the city defrosts, it will be a spring of Jazz for me.
The world around us is so disturbing and absurd, the fascists in power gleefully spitting brain melting bullshit all over us. Poetry, dream like symbolic film, jazz, and all that I don’t understand is where my spirit leads me to at this moment. I caught a midnight showing of Mulholland Drive at the IFC center with my friend Kat Sotelo (my muse) which was really fun and totally bizarre. I've never seen this Lynch film and obviously I am on a kick right now, gathering all I can from our beloved spirit guide. I was reminded how important midnight movies are for me, being more common when I was growing up. Now this act of seeing a late night film feels so necessary and romantic.
I ate delicious meals of course, my dad would be pissed if I didn’t. Had to stop by Thai Diner, where I had the Kha Soi Kaa Kai, a Northern style golden curry. Rucola for lunch with friends, but now I must return for dinner. I balled out at Gage and Tollner with my publicist Greg and I am amazed we still had room for the Baked Alaska at the end of the night but what can I say? We are champions.
I had a great affordable meal in Hell’s Kitchen with my cousins at a little spot called Aria, great for simple tasty Italian dishes. Had a drink with Denny, the star of Hawk Moon video. I got a great meal at Rule of Thirds in Williamsburg with dear friend and former band mate Sarah, who is playing with tons of amazing bands. Finally during my stay upstate my bff Amelia cooked us a gorgeous meal effortlessly as she does, and I’m still dreaming of this Radicchio salad she made.
Meals like this are a conscious effort to stay connected to the people I love. The times are too desperate to handle on my own, I don't care how busy the schedule is. I can’t let my workaholism erode these moments. They are my lifeline.
I stopped by the guitar shop T R Crandall guitars in the East Village, I've been searching high and low to get my hands on a Waterloo and though I didn't buy anything this time around, I appreciated how welcoming they were to me. It's not every day a shop of this caliber encourages you to play a 1930’s Martin! I am looking for an acoustic to add to my touring life, one with good bass but not too jumbo, something with character. There’s a handful of small makers around the U.S. right now doing great things, Waterloo and Iris being two that come to mind. Hopefully I find my new soul mate guitar soon.
I’ll leave you with my experience seeing a mid day showing of the documentary No Other Land at the Film Forum. Please go see this film.
It’s the story of Basel, a Palestinian activist documenting the military destruction of Masafer Yatta in the mountains of the Southern West Bank. He welcomes Yuval, an Israeli journalist who feels a moral duty to document and be of some service. You see moments of Yuval’s naivete unraveling before his eyes, witnessing demolition after demolition of homes, working with the people of the villages to rebuild in the dark in the hopes to keep a school or a home so a family will be not forced in a cave. Basel guides him with patience that is remarkable, as his neighbors are shot by soldiers and settlers, as he and his family remain under threat of arrest for their activism. The relationship between the two men alone is a lesson to us, watching them work together and navigate the boundaries of an apartheid designed to keep them a part. There are moments so devastating I had to clutch my heart, the whole theater gasping. I know these tears don't do much for all of the people caught forever on camera, many who may not be here anymore. I can only hope this clear documentation of human cruelty can transform us. A mirror held up to show how we are also tools of destruction, following orders to levels that are absurd. Abiding laws so ridiculous and enacting dehumanization tactics so tedious, they create a slow degradation, becoming people we do not recognize. I hope this story can spread far and wide.
Thank you for reading, stay warm &
don’t take any shit
xo alynda mariposa segarra xo
p.s. behind the paywall are updated playlists links for paying subscribers.