Imelda Marcos

            Since I had put everything but the basics aside for the last couple of days in order to finish my essay, on Friday I had to deal with an overflowing garbage can. Since I don’t put food scraps in my garbage anymore though, that kind of neglect looks worse than it smells. I had also left an oven pan unwashed and allowed some clutter to accumulate, so I spent a bit of time putting things back in order.

            While I worked I listened to “Here Lies Love” by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. It’s a disco opera about the life of Imelda Marcos. Most of the music and songs didn’t do much for me, but the musical is supposed to be visually innovative because the theatre is transformed into a disco ballroom and the audience interacts with the show. Every song was sung by a different singer, most of them female, and I didn’t look at any list to hear which singers they were. I recognized Martha Wainright’s and Kate Pierson’s voices though. It turns out that Cyndi Lauper and Steve Earle were in there too, along with many others that are relatively well known indie singers but outside of my experience.

            Over the last few weeks I’ve been listening to David Byrne’s non-Talking Heads work, both during the Talking Heads era and since. I think his album “Feelings” is the best of all of them, so far.

            I spent a lot of the day also getting caught up in my journal, especially transcribing the Wednesday night lecture about William Carlos Williams.