A Losing Game
We had just survived two absolutely brutal winters. Record amounts of snowfall and frigid temps. We were looking forward to summer and now this...
I lived in Phoenix for about 18 months, so I know what heat is. I know that I'm going to be called a big baby by people who live below the Mason-Dixon line (That's you Savannah). But, I'm sorry, this is unbearable.
There is no heat like New York City heat. The glass skyscrapers reflect the sunlight down onto the already blistering streets and the subway keeps the sidewalks super-heated. It's a phenomena that's akin to living inside a pizza oven. So sorry to Daisyfae and Nursemyra, who visited during this insufferable, record-setting heatwave. If you pop over to their blogs, you'll see that they were forced to remove almost all of their clothing. The poor darlings.
The temperature inside Mrs. Wife's Toyota. Nice.
9-Year Old Daughter and I have decided that there's nothing to do but make the best of it until it passes.
I was deeply saddened/angered to hear of the passing of poor, broken Amy Winehouse. Sad because that girl was the real deal. Her Back to Black album is a masterpiece. I won't queue it up unless I have time to hear the whole thing from start to finish uninterrupted. There's not one losing track. Do you know what a rare thing that is?
But I'm angry because here I am trying to find stable employment and she was given talent and success at a very early age and pissed it all away. I read an interview whereby she complained that she was "bored." Fuck you, Amy. We're all bored. Part of life is finding a way to rise above your boredom. Did you see that photo of her house in North London? Spectacular.
Give a listen to this gut-wrenching (to me) rendition of Love is a Losing Game and try to imagine what an astonishing career she could have had.
I lived in Phoenix for about 18 months, so I know what heat is. I know that I'm going to be called a big baby by people who live below the Mason-Dixon line (That's you Savannah). But, I'm sorry, this is unbearable.
There is no heat like New York City heat. The glass skyscrapers reflect the sunlight down onto the already blistering streets and the subway keeps the sidewalks super-heated. It's a phenomena that's akin to living inside a pizza oven. So sorry to Daisyfae and Nursemyra, who visited during this insufferable, record-setting heatwave. If you pop over to their blogs, you'll see that they were forced to remove almost all of their clothing. The poor darlings.
The temperature inside Mrs. Wife's Toyota. Nice. 9-Year Old Daughter and I have decided that there's nothing to do but make the best of it until it passes.
* * *
I was deeply saddened/angered to hear of the passing of poor, broken Amy Winehouse. Sad because that girl was the real deal. Her Back to Black album is a masterpiece. I won't queue it up unless I have time to hear the whole thing from start to finish uninterrupted. There's not one losing track. Do you know what a rare thing that is?
But I'm angry because here I am trying to find stable employment and she was given talent and success at a very early age and pissed it all away. I read an interview whereby she complained that she was "bored." Fuck you, Amy. We're all bored. Part of life is finding a way to rise above your boredom. Did you see that photo of her house in North London? Spectacular.
Give a listen to this gut-wrenching (to me) rendition of Love is a Losing Game and try to imagine what an astonishing career she could have had.
posted by The Unbearable Banishment at
8:08 AM
17 Comments:
The boo-hoo'ng about Winehouse was tiresome. Dying at the popular age of 27 (like other whiny artists - cobain or talented piss it all away'rs like Hendrix) ensures that her family will reap monetary rewards forever, but I have no patience or interest in glorifying ppl who were so ungrateful for the luck and talent the universe bestowed on them.
Yowza, Annie.
I don't think it was that she was ungrateful for what she had necessarily, especially as what she had, more than incredible talent, was a drug addiction that overshadowed everything she did musically, right up until she died. I'm not an expert, but this piece was written by someone who understands better than we probably would: http://bit.ly/nWqtDy
Anyway.
Farenheit doesn't mean much to me as a centrigrade girl, but this time last year I was in New York - sans heat wave - and it was bad enough. City heat is insufferable. Sending ice cubes (or some clouds) your way!
we had a lovely time, despite the heat! but your description of the sweltering heat is pretty accurate - and you did it without once mentioning the phrase "swamp ass". classy...
thanks again for your glorious hospitality! you are the real deal when it comes to NYC tourism!
We've gotten off easy in Georgia. When you were suffering with 115 in NYC, it was 91 here which is normal for late July. Yankee who hates the heat was in NYC Saturday.
As far as Amy Winehouse, drug addiction is really something non addicts cannot comprehend. I had a addict boyfriend once (hence my mom rule #1: never date a pothead) and I understood very quickly that he was going to die of that disease. He was a great guy who everybody liked, but no matter how many times he was in and out of rehab he could not quit. When he was 43, he was murdered by a 14 yr old in a drug deal. It sucks to see life wasted like that.
Don't forget me! I live way below the line.
Thank the big man for the beach...
me? say anything about the heat and/or calling you a big ole whiny baby, sugar? i have been in NYC when it's that hot and i KNOW y'all ain't lyin! i think you and The Daughter have the right idea stay cool by any means necessary!
re amy, addiction, as cat said, is an almost unknowable thing for non-addicts. then, add to that an eating disorder...*sigh* may she rest in peace now. xoxoxo
I hear ya on the heat. We had that last week too. With the humidity, it was up to 116 one day. I could barely stand to go outside... and I like hot weather!
Having once been married to an alcoholic drug abusing man, I understand the addiction taking over a life. He's now dead, even though he did quit the drugs and alcohol, but the toll killed off his liver and kidneys. A horrible way to die a slow and agonizing death. His talent was science. As a member of Mensa and a brilliant research scientist, his eccentricities got the better of him and his playground became lethal. It's sad that so many talented people succumb to addictions.
I feel the same way about Amy. Sad at the loss of a great talent, angry at the way she went about abusing herself.
I am the first person to sympathise with mental health disorders and addictive personalities: but if someone like Amy could not afford or accept the specialised help she needed, the rest of us are fucked.
Is drug addiction really like cancer, a ravaging disease? Or can it be changed with relentless Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and different, medico's drugs? It can be diminished, and go into remission, what's more. Like everyone, I am devastated about Amy's death, and also angry.
In my humble opinion, Amy was an accident that the people around her let happen.
(Word Verification = 'slyme'!)
I wonder if you, Daisyfae and Nursemyra can get together one day to make a beautifully bound book of erotic art in rare leather called Bloggers Revealed or something?
Good luck getting through the heatstorm. Suppose one thing is that NYC has its own beaches.
feel similarly to other posters. addiction is fundamentally pitiful, selfish and destructive. how much to blame the addict and how much to blame life, the universe, and all the other causes is impossible to say. and probably irrelevant. i feel for her loved ones who undoubtedly have been watching the inevitable unfold for years. very painful to watch the destruction of someone you love.
i'm more affected by the attacks in norway. i can't imagine being a survivor or a victim's loved one and trying to accept that loss. utterly senseless and devastating.
p.s. hot as balls here in NC too. blech!
Annie: As I've gotten on in years I've become less tolerant of the worship of people who had it ALL and threw it away. So I'm with you.
Jo: Thanks for the ice. Oh. Wait. It's gone.
daisy: Please come back soon. You will, won't you?
Cat: 91? Pish. I laugh at 91. Did Yankee have a nice time? Sorry it wasn't nicer for him. Or daisy. Or nursemyra.
SF: Moving south must have been a shock to your system! Aren't you used to more something a bit gloomier?
Sav: The Daughter has all the best ideas. And you and Cat are right. Addition is unimaginable to me. You'd think I'd be more sympathetic but I'm still angry at her.
Ponita: That's a fascinating, albeit sad, story, if you don't mind me saying so. It must have been maddening for you.
B.E.B.: You have to wonder about the company she kept. I'm sure many of them helped drag her right down. Such is usually the case.
Mitzi: That's an excellent point. My favorite is Eric Clapton's reahb facility in Antigua. If people with those kinds of means can't make a go of it, then regular folk are lost.
Map: See my response to Earl! I completely agree! Her friends were, obviously, not.
looby: What an excellent idea for a book! I wonder if I can get anyone else to participate. Step right this way! (Girls only, please.)
mcz: Can you imagine those poor Norwegians? Their police don't even carry guns! What a shock this must be. So sad.
I'm a Southerner born and bred, but I think the hottest time I ever experienced was traispsing through the Tenament Museum one August in NYC.Pure hell. No matter how hot it gets here, I have mature trees and green grass to help mediate the heat.
I used to have a pool, and during July and August I really miss it.
HIF: The Tenament Museum is a fantastic place to visit except, perhaps, in August. It's a little too authentic. But well worth the trip down. I lived a few blocks away for many years.
Isn't Washington the worst weatherwise 'cos of the humidity?
My SIL used to complain it made her legs swell. Nighmare!
There seems to be an unwritten law that great creative artists - take Picasso - are, let's say not very nice people and the genre of Amy's talent have a built-in death wish.
I just hope her young niece doesn't follow in her footsteps.
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