Thursday, September 23, 2004

Nerissa Keeps Her Mouth Shut Sometimes

September 23, 2004 Birthday of Ray Charles, John Coltraine, Ani DiFranco and Bruce Springsteen.

"It's a great morning," Katryna said. "The polls show Kerry behind by just 3 points! And the Red Sox won last night! And Jon Stewart is on the Today Show!"

For once, I knew all this since I was sitting in the Comfort Inn lobby eating my breakfast and watching TV--to be specific, I was looking at video footage of someone named Laci whose husband, Scott Peterson apparently maliciously murdered her and her unborn baby. Katryna had called me on my cell phone from the room we were sharing. Just before she called, I'd seen my first Kerry ad on TV followed by my first Bush ad. We're in the suburbs of Philadelphia this morning, about to perform at a school. Since we live in Massachusetts, not a swing stage, we don't get commercials. I can't say I miss them.

I am encouraged by the polls; ridiculously so, if you must know. Good news buoys me and energizes me. Being an optimist is an act of true courage, because that which I fear greatly is the direct consequence of optimism: appearing to be a fool.

We heard Kerry last night on NPR; his voice is shot, and somehow it makes him sound more compelling and down to earth. To me, he makes perfect sense, and I have no qualms about his ability to lead us for the next four years. But 48% seem to disagree, although only 9% of REPUBLICANS think GWB should continue to govern the way he has been. Not much of an endorsement.

I'd like to tell people, "Just because Bush is a better campaigner than Kerry doesn't mean he'd be a better president." But since no one who's never won a presidential campaign has ever gotten to prove that, I keep my mouth shut.

So Jon Stewart said something like, "I don't know why people are so unhappy with Bush. I mean, sure, we invaded Iraq because he told us they were harboring Al Quada and had WMDs, and they didn't; but look! Iran has Al Qaida fugitives and weapons of mass destruction. So really, Bush was only off by one letter."

About the wedding dress. Katryna and I went down to Virginia to see my parents before our Jammin Java gig on Friday. My mother took us out for dinner and then we decided to shop.
"Girls' Night Out!" hollered Katryna.
"White," I said. "But it doesn't have to be a wedding wedding dress. It could be a flapper dress. Or a big white coat. But I want to wear white. White's a good color on me. And I need to be able to spill coffee on it and not feel too terrible about that later. Those are my top criteria."

We found a really nice dress, but it was basically a slip. I don't think my Catholic future mother-in-law would be too impressed. So the search continues.

Speaking of Catholics, now that I am kind of one by soon-to-be-marriage (though they've got all sorts of rules and tests that I don't pass, so I won't be converting anytime soon; plus I don't believe in that whole blood and body thing); I wonder what the Catholic priests say behind closed doors about the fundamentalists. I mean, we know what the Fundys say about
Catholics,right? "Papists." "idolatry." "Truly tasteless possessors of baroque icons." But what do the Catholics say about the Fundys? Do they call, for instance, call them "Fundys?"

I want to know. When Tom and I go to the Catholic Church in Northampton, there is a lovely, smart and kind priest named Father Gene. When I come up with the others for communion, I fold my arms across my chest to indicate I'm not taking the Host. So Father Gene blesses me in this lovely way: "May the God of your understanding bless you and help you to know your true gifts to the world." Isn't that cool? And he gently touches my forehead. It's kind of amazing. I leave feeling totally blessed. But sometimes Fr. Gene is on vacation, in which case, I may face the Bopper. The Bopper kept trying to stick the wafer in my mouth when I approached, sort of as if I were a soda machine and the wafer were a quarter. "The BAHHHDY of Christ, the BAHHHDY of Christ," he kept saying. Resolutely, I kept my mouth shut; no easy feat, mind you. Finally I hissed, "I need a blessing!" He looked at me indignant and whapped me firmly on the head. No words about the God of my understanding. Just a nice corporal punishment.

About this blog: Oh my GOD! I LOVE you guys! What fun! What have I been missing all my life?

14 comments:

Nerissa Nields said...

One more thing: what's a Grosvenor? is it like a governor?

Anonymous said...

Nerissa, as usual, you have me laughing uot loud. As a Catholic (we're not all bad, though I guess you know that, you're marrying one!), I apologize for aggressive Eucharistic Ministers! How cool is Father Gene though?!

As a girl who went to college in MA (Holy Cross, we love Woosta!), I understand the whole "what, there's a campaign going on?" aspect...the Republicans just surrender MA.

And, as a girl who now lives in the DC area, I too am disturbed by the Grovesnor stop...I prefer Dupont Circle, Farragut and my personal favorite, Foggy Bottom.

~Kris (who is not only looking forward to Jammni'Java, but is considering celebrating her return to the East Coast by driving to the Tin Angel on Saturday!)

Anonymous said...

It's nice to hear something good about caring Catholic priests here in western MA. The scandal of late surely must be a huge cross to bear (ahem) for those decent, honest, and loving priests that I'm sure comprise the majority.

--Adam

Anonymous said...

Dear Nerissa,

I have been a Catholic my whole life and I find it difficult to the whole body & blood thing. (Just don't tell my priest.) I see it as more of a reminder of Christ.
So what do we think about fundamentalists? Well I can't say for all Catholics, but I tend to view them as uptight, whacko, conservatives who lack the ability to read figuritively into written text and who are convinced that their view is the only right one.
By the way, I also wanted to say that I loved your show at the Children's Museum in Boston and I'm sorry I had to leave in the middle. I would have liked to stay for the whole thing, but I needed to get back to work. I hope you and Katryna weren't offended.
Good luck planning for your wedding! I'm getting married next year so I know how exciting it is! Go Red Sox! Go Kerry!
Feel free to e-mail me at beckyriz531@yahoo.com or check out my blog at www.livejournal.com/~macychick

Peace and Love,
Becky

Anonymous said...

Nerissa, I am seeing you (and Katryna!) play tonight.

And I am SO PSYCHED.


Thankyouthankyouthankyou for traveling a little ways *down* the East Coast.

Anonymous said...

Oops, I meant to say I find it difficult to BELIEVE in the whole body and blood thing. I hope you knew what I meant!

Peace and Love,
Becky

Anonymous said...

I remember that special feeling of being blessed when I was a kid and wasn't old enough to take communion yet. Something about Father's Lane's fingers brushing my forehead always excited and calmed me at the same time. I don't really do the church (or believing thing for that matter) anymore, but I still remember it fondly.

nichole (from buffalo, ny)

Anonymous said...

"I never could learn to drink that blood
And to call it wine..."
- Bob Dylan "Tight Connection to My Heart"

Peace,
:-) Stephen

Anonymous said...

At 2:03 PM, meredith said…
Incidentally, my parents both use the term "Christian" (said with some derision, so you can hear the virtual quotes around the word) instead of "Fundie". But the two terms refer to the same people.


No, I disagree. Catholics are Christians, too. A Christian is anyone who believes that Jesus is the Savior, regardless of church or denomination.

Anonymous said...

Nerissa--amazing piece in the New Haven Advocate. Looking forward to the Plastic Angel books and The Big Idea!

Most of all looking forward to seeing you tonight *and* tomorrow night--yes, I'm driving round trip to Philly tomorrow night!
~Kris

Anonymous said...

Nothing to do with Catholicism:

I went to school with Laci Peterson's niece... it was such a sad crime...

Kristy

MooreaMalatt said...

Hello Dear Nerissa,

Your bopper story reminds me of when I was a child and hungry for God with liberal parents who didn't want to "expose me" to Him to that early, I went with my best friend's family to become a Lutheran. Every time at church when it was wafer time, everyone would rush forward and all of the adults who didn't know me would physically force me into the line even though I knew I had to stay in the pew because "Jesus hadn't come into my heart yet." and I hadn't been baptized. I had arguments with women who held my wrists tight thinking I was just a sinful little child unwilling to participate. Now I'm a Jewish Buddhist but occasionally I figure it's worth asking Jesus to come into my heart. And I go to the Catholic churches every so often instead of Luthran because they're pretty and I still have to fight with old ladies about not going up to get my helping of body and blood.
-And you look better than ever, so healthy and calm on the cover of the advocate. And I've been out of touch with the Nields for a while but I am thrilled about your upcoming marriage.
- And I'm sending you (to the petquince email) a story I wrote about mentorship, which I titled "Gotta Get Over Greta" last night because she's actually "a Greta" whose name is Greta and I need to get over her.

(pps. Yay for you on blogger! Now all we have to do it get you on FRIENDSTER! (friendster.com) Though, friendster is really ridiculous because when someone asks you to be thier friend and you don't check your friendster messages, they often get mad and think you're refusing thier friendship. And I have a friendster account but I still really don't get the point of adding up how many online friends you have.)

Anonymous said...

Word, Nields. Word.

The blog is brilliant. You'll be linked on The Noodle Incident (my blog, specializing in innovative ways to drive up Bush's unfavs) in the morning, when I've learned to type.

Seeing y'all at FR was really, really cool - a nice reminder of a great life that I've since moved from. But I've got a glow-in-the-dark-plastic angel on my computer at the newspaper and This Town Is Wrong legally ripped to iTunes, (from my press copy, natch).

Full-band, Crackerjack, duo, trio, solo, side project, whatever - if there's a Nields involved, I'm going to check it out. Even if it's a Chalfant, like Kathleen on Law and Order.

One last thing - Do you guys hate me for asking for Mob Zombie? I know the mere mention is like a dirty word and I'm sorry for that but if it's really that annoying I'll stop.

Good night.

= The Guy In The Flag Bandana On The Back Of Live From Northampton

Deborah Woodell said...

Re: Communion: My partner Fran is Episcopalian and when I go to her church, I take Communion because I am an "invited guest" at the table, so to speak. For me, Communion is about fellowship....Deb