Today I was the subject of a tweet by Kevin Allison, the creator and host of one of my favorite podcasts, RISK. Those who made a small donation to the Keep Risk Running campaign were rewarded for their generosity by having something ridiculous tweeted about them. Here’s what Kevin had to say about me:

I’m happy to say that I’ve lived well past sundown in this crazy corner of the Multiverse. For those of you who don’t know, RISK is a show in which people tell true stories about their lives – usually embarrassing or funny or weird or all of the above.  They’re not the kind of stories one would normally share with strangers, let alone the untold masses of podcast listeners. I especially like that Kevin ends each show with the words “Today’s the day, folks. Take a risk.” That’s excellent advice. I hope that I have the courage to follow it as I move forward in my life.

Now here’s a song, a wonderful song, about taking risks. It’s called “Much More Than That” by Sharon Van Etten:

There are two terrifying moments in this song, two great acts of courage in the form of small gestures. One is performed by the singer, and one is performed by the “you” to which the song is sung. Here’s the first:

“You reached for my hand slowly.” 

By the timidity of this gesture, we can guess that it’s the first time it has happened. There’s an uncertainty in the reaching, more than a little fear. It’s a moment overthought, heavy with meaning beyond the simple action. The next line, then, is more than a small relief.

“I didn’t pull away.”

By the negative phrasing here, the emphasis on how she didn’t respond instead of how she did respond, the singer reveals how precarious this moment was. Something in her was saying “Pull away,” and then something else said, “Don’t.” There was as much uncertainty in the response as in the initial action. If you look at it this way, both sides were taking a risk – which is how the wonderful trouble of romance always begins.

But there was another risk in this song I wanted to talk about. It’s where the title comes from. Here it is:

“My toe hit your toe lightly. / Your toe met my heel right back. / And I don’t think I need much more than that.”

You could argue that this moment isn’t quite as fraught with suspense as the previous moment, simply because it comes after the mutual interest has already been established. I think that’s correct. But it still feels like a gut-check moment. There’s that same awful ache of not knowing whether or not your affection will be returned. There’s so much invested in the initial gesture here that suddenly two toes become the most important things in the world. That’s why the reply is so wonderful and means so much. The first toe asks the question that the singer can’t put into words, and the second toe gives a response. And the answer is yes. Of course, yes. Yes.

Today’s the day, folks.

If you have a moment, please head on over to JMWW to read a short story of mine that was just published in their winter 2012 issue. It’s called “Young Billy is Reprimanded for Teasing His Sister’s Ghost.” It includes the following paragraph:

I know it’s cold in your room, buckaroo, I’m so sorry about that. It’s a well-documented phenomenon associated with poltergeist activity. But think about how your sister must feel. All she has to wear is that thin nightgown. Look at her over there curled up on the floor. See how she shivers? She shivers like that all the time now, champ. All the time.

Click here to read the story.

The wonderful comic above is “Remember” by Kyle Parker and Dale Beran.

Well, it’s Saturday, so I’d like to share some song lyrics with you that I think are a great fit for the weekend. These are from “The City Middle” by The National, off the album Alligator:

I’ve got five hundred in twenties and I’ve got

A ton of great ideas.

I have $63 in mixed bills and no good ideas for what seems like a very long time.

♠

One of the perks of my job is that I get to meet really interesting international students. One of them, I recently found out, is a fairly well-known musician in his native Thailand. Here’s a video of his band, Pianismo, performing a cover of Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me.” He’s the guitarist on the left. He recruited the singer to join the band after seeing her on Youtube singing for her webcam.

My favorite part is in the second verse, when she sings: “Bring, bring…bring your flower hat. We take da trail mark on your fahder’s map. Oh-o, kiss me…” There’s something about hearing imperfect English sung in such a lovely voice that is utterly charming.

I listened to the original to refresh my memory, and this cover is vastly superior. The singer’s voice is gentler and warmer, and she makes the title’s proposition much more enticing.

♠

The night’s still young. Plenty of time for a great idea or two.

This story’s had a nice little life after publication, so huge thanks to Jason Jordan and the other folks at decomP for the continued support.

Click here to read the issue!

♠

The mysterious Cage Beneath the Stairs has appeared at Hobart.

Click here to investigate.

Here are the first two sentences:

“Carmella said you rode a mechanical spider to our doorstep and waited seething in the rain with a rose stem crushed between your teeth. A late rain for the season, but it always rains on my birthday.”

Click here to read it.

The lovely art for the story (below) is by Ashley Inguanta.

Lovers at the Vancouver Riot

This picture has been around the internet for a while now, but I saw it for the first time the other day and it made me very happy. It was taken during the riot in Vancouver, B.C. on June 15, 2011. Vancouver was rioting because their hockey team lost game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. The riots injured over 140 people and caused millions of dollars in damage.

The story behind the photo: Although it appears that the couple are sharing a romantic moment in the middle of the riot, oblivious to the mayhem surrounding them, the apparent truth is that the woman had just been knocked down by riot police, and her boyfriend was kissing her to comfort her and calm her down. The photographer saw them on the ground and stopped to snap the picture without realizing they were kissing. It wasn’t until the following morning when his editor looked through his pictures and stopped on this one that he realized what an an amazing moment he’d captured.

The picture brings to mind the song “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” by Bruce Cockburn.

Cockburn (pronounced “co-burn,” thank you), a Canadian, released the song in 1984 on Stealing Fire, an album inspired by the refugee crisis in Guatemala. The song was covered, tenderly, by the Barenaked Ladies (also Canadian) in 1991. I prefer the cover. The original is dusty, thumping, no-nonsense. The cover is a more shimmering, mysterious song. The heavy drumbeat and gaudy 80s synth are replaced by sighing strings and a timorous piano flirting in the breaths between verses. It becomes a mournful, wayward piece of music, a contrast to the original’s driving intensity.

The lyrics are about taking advantage of the time we’re given and embracing love even when the rest of the world seems to be conspiring against us. “When you’re lovers in a dangerous time / sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime. / Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight. / You gotta kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight.”

However, as this picture from Vancouver reminds us, rather than a hindrance to love, dangerous circumstances can sometimes lead to the most passionate moments. As we know from innumerable action movies, passions are prone to flare in life-or-death situations. The woman in the picture here will remember that kiss for the rest of her life, above all the other thousands of kisses she’ll have. Danger makes us acutely aware of our surroundings; it gives us heightened sensory perceptions, which in turn makes the moments we experience more vivid and intense. She will never have another kiss imbued with such urgency. No kiss in her future will feel as necessary or as vital.

The song, in a way, realizes this. The stance it takes is that we should savor these moments, wonderfully heightened, before they are taken from us. Girl, look at this boy. Boy, look at this girl: “These fragile bodies of touch and taste. This fragrant skin, this hair like lace.”