As the post below might indicate to the extremely intiated, I was in New Haven very briefly last night for a couple of hours for a seder that a friend graciously invited me to. The attendees were more conservative than most New Haven seders i've been to, but seemed like generally nice people, and it felt good to be at a seder where the haggadah was a text subject to discussion and critique rather than something to rush through so my family could eat and then sing "we're loyal to you, Illinois" and drive all the kids (which, for better or worse, generally still includes me at 24) downstairs to the television. (Don't worry, they know I love them.) Plus, there were copies of the Vladeck-Astorga 2001-2002 Freedom Seder Haggadah, "How can we live socialistically in a capitalist world" and all, delved into, which made me happy. I did miss my baby cousins , though.
It was a little surreal being back on Bishop Street for the first time since moving out, almost two years ago, from the apartment I'd lived in for two very intense years, two strikes, a Better Way Village and a couple of building occupations (CBS, retirees, etc.) Previous returns to New Haven have generally confined me to the SML-Julie and Lauren's apartment-Union office-burrito cart circuit. Bishop Street was as beautiful as always, making me wish, a little bit, that I still lived in New Haven, despite my fondness for Sunset Park. My old apartment building looks the same, although the super now has satellite television, apparently. I caught the last train home and kind of wished I could stay and beg off coursework and the strike and the rest of my life for a few more days and catch up with folks I haven't seen in a while, but ultimately decided I need to be here and productive and do laundry and all that stressful stuff.
random shuffle:
Man Man - "Spider Cider"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Y Control"
Xiu Xiu - "Ale"
Joanna Newsom - "Sadie"
Les Savy Fav - Blackouts on Thursday
Camper Van Beethoven - "Down and Out"
The Fall - "Leave The Capitol"
Minutemen - "D's Car Jam/Anxious MoFo"
The Wowz - "Distant + Wide"
Blondie - "Hanging On The Telephone"
Can we get more on this tradition about singing about Illinois? This sounds like a nice way I can make my Chicagoan shiksa girlfriend more included in future seders. Not that she didn't join in on Solidarity Forever and the Internationale, but I think she found the Internationale in Yiddish a bit alienating. Actually what she found alienating was "Who knows three? I know three: the Christian trinity darkens the world."
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents and great uncle all went to the University of Illinois - they were the first generation to go to college. Their parents were all immigrant radicals and my grandparents met at a Young Communist League meeting. Why they thus feel the need to commemorate every major social occasion by singin the Illini fight song, I will never know. It's really cute though. The Internationale in Yiddish sounds so awesome.
ReplyDeleteJacob, you should give her Sufjan Steven's "Illinois." He's Christian, but writes some really great universally applicable stuff, including "Chicago," which is my current favorite song about the uncertainty of being in one's twenties.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Zach, I'm sorry I didn't know you were in New Haven. I was in Boston getting my wisdom teeth out, but I really would love to connect up and hang out with you again soon. I'll be in New York on the 25th; if you're around that evening, maybe we could get some dinner or catch a Met's game?
i saw man man this week and it was AMAZING.
ReplyDeletei also forgot it was passover...