On The Nature of Violence

Recap: The Gang Unit Guy at the little Brooklyn bar tells me he buried his nephew the other day. Which he kept repeating how the nephew was like his fucking son. Heart wrenching. Apparently the story of his nephew's untimely death unfolds thus: Nephew is 6'1", driving down a country road in Pennsylvania. He spots two 16 year old girls fighting on the side of the road. He pulls over, gets out of the car, and proceeds to pull the apparent aggressor of the agressee. Once seperated, the aggressee pulls out a pistol and shoots Nephew, killing him. The killer has been arrested, as well as her mother, who apparently is addicted to heroin and gave the girl the gun in the first place.

Questions: What entices a mother to give her daughter a gun? What was the driving emotional force that lead to the pulling of the trigger? And what is it about me that lends to people pouring their guts out on my person? Why am I a vehicle for personal therapy?

I offered to buy Gang Unit Guy a drink and he insisted he should be buying my drinks. So he bought me two beers and we continued to discuss the nature of violence. War states. I went into a couple of the stories represented in our project Neither Heaven Nor Earth. He told me of an Israeli woman who was so afraid to loose her children to attacks that she put them on seperate buses in the morning in order to ensure that is something happened she would be left with at least one child. Whoa. This further confirms that people in conflict (all parties) live in a state of fear. And yes, the Palestinian situation is terrible....but that doesn't mean that Israeli citizens don't live in a tense state as well. Touche.

I gave Gang Unit Guy my card and told him if he were ever in Seattle to give me a call. And then I headed to Harvey Danger. Farewell Danger. We will miss you. I was surprised at the amount of Die Hard fans there were at the show. I don't even know all of the words to all of the songs! I spent a bit of time wandering around with Rob Knop and then made my way into the house, complete with complimentary Tecates in belly and bag. Attempts were made at video recording, which might make even the strongest stomached person ill.

It was made evident early on that I would be taking a cab home. I must have been a little drunky when I got into the cab because I remember insisting to the driver that he wasn't taking me to Astoria (how the eff would I know?). Personally surprised I managed to get home without any major incidents. When I woke up I had a good half an hour to get on the subway...which was successful. On my train ride I found a t-shirt from the opening band Jukebox The Ghost in my bag. I wonder how that got there. I made it rehearsal by noon. Thank God.