Asleep On a Sunbeam

On the Fourth of July (which I'm especially looking forward to, since we get the 3rd and 4th of July off this year) there will be many happenings in the city, as there are virtually every day. One of the things I've been looking forward to is a Belle & Sebastian concert here in New York. And on Monday, I won two tickets that are already in my hot little hands. The admission to the concert is actually free, but I just got lucky to have received two of the first 1,000 tickets distributed, thus ensuring my attendance at the show. Wahoo!

To pick up my tickets, I had to go to a little booth outside of the World Financial Plaza. For those of you who don't know New York very well, that is downtown. It's a beautiful setup, really. On my way, I decided to walk all the way around Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center towers once stood. I was planning on stopping to read the signs about different heroic efforts, or the memorial they are working on building... but it was really just kind of too emotional; I had to keep walking. Sometimes I wonder if people from other parts of the country really feel the same connection to those events as those from New York or D.C. I really don't know.

When I finally arrived at the Financial Plaza, I got to sit through an entire song of Son Volt's show, before I had to catch an uptown train. I don't know much about them except that they were one of the front-running bands on the alt-country scene. The lead singer was reminiscent of Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket. I would have liked to see and hear more of them, but I had to leave for a great reason. My friend Hilary was in town and I was meeting her for dinner! We went with her family to The Stardust Diner on Broadway (very touristy, but very fun) where the waiters spontaneously break into song. It's one of those restaurants where you are mostly paying for the atmosphere. As we were there, I was thinking about those waiters. I wonder of people who don't make it on Broadway aspire to work there, where they can still showcase their talents and hope to be discovered. They'll probably be waiting tables anyway, might as well do it some place where they can also do a little of what they really love.

Hilary came with me to my apartment and we barely slept -- we had 5 years to catch up on! Here's a sleep-deprived picture of us:If anyone is thinking about coming to New York for a visit, the Fourth would be a great time. Like I said, I've got an extra ticket!

-Belle & Sebastian-