Thursday, June 15, 2006

At Home He Feels Like A Tourist



I find myself in a curious spot, Dear Readers. Very curious. I warn you this may not be particularly linear. You see, this week has been a week of connections. I don't mean capital-C Connections with Very Important Persons (though there have been a couple of those too, if truth be told) . I'm talking about lots of lower-key connections. Lower-key, but each wonderful and portentious in its own small way.

With Jack the Bear (about which more in the future, I promise).
With the person who cleans the loos at the office.
With co-workers.
With the baristas here (mmm, wish I could buy you each a cup of their luurvely coffee)
With cyber-friends.

It has also been a week of re-connections, largely due to the flurry of e-correspondence surrounding my high-school reunion. Mails exchanged with people who I've not thought of in two decades. Connections also continue to be re-forged in the wake of my father's death.

All this forward and backward connecting has drawn me hither and yon. I've been doing much travelling to past times and locations, as well as to those that I want to visit. And sometimes if I think too hard I confuse myself. Like with the place pictured above. Husab. In the Namib desert. I find myself thinking: Was I really there? Or do I want to go? (Answer: yes, and yes).

Then there's cyberspace. Oh, let's not even go there. Too late of course, I'm floating right through it (and so are you).

And home. Where is home? A question that springs from one posed by Colin (yes, him again). Born in New York, raised there by parents who never considered it home. So neither did I. Then a stint in Washington DC. Too transitory to root. Then just shy of fifteen (fifteen!) years in England. Tight friendships forged, a family started. But always in the background the thought: not home, will leave. And we did, last year. Where is home? Perhaps more appropriately: What is home??

The truth is I'm not sure where I am. Or where I'm going. But I am thoroughly enjoying the journey, and the connections I am making along the way.

And the soundtrack, of course:

Dead Can Dance - Frontier (buy here)
This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren (buy here)
Pale Saints - Time Thief (buy here)
Gang Of Four - At Home He's A Tourist (buy here)
Joe Topping - Two Bottles of Red (buy "Love, Loss & alcohol" here) . Joe was in the Namib with me. I'm sure of that.
Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) (buy here)

*****

Codicil: I must, must point you again towards Colin (no, don't groan, he's splendid and worth frequent visits) because he's posted a most wonderful Public Image Limited track: "Careering" live on the Old Grey Whistle Test. And to complement said posting, here is a glorious 1980 performance by PiL of "Poptones" and "Careering" on American Bandstand. It's a big file, but worth downloading for its pure, unalloyed brilliance.