2/2/09

February 2, 2007 - I lost my dad. February 2nd is always just going to be a difficult day for me. But to cheer myself up, I thought I might post about some things my dad liked.

My dad was from Virginia, and grew up loving the blues. When my mother was pregnant with me, she and my dad lived a short time in Virginia, and my dad mistook their neighbor for a janitor, and asked him to come into his apartment to fix the radiator. The neighbor he mistook for a janitor turned out to be Skip James. For six months they sang and played together, and this is while I was in vitro, so I have no recollection of it.

I remember his saying that he always wanted to write his own biography of Skip James, because the ones he had read got the facts all wrong.

These images are from Blues Images - a wonderful site based here in Oregon, where you can buy posters, calendars and tshirts with vintage blues recording images. I got a calendar for my dad once, and he really liked it. By the way, the calendars come with a free music CD.

My dad also liked to paint, and very much enjoyed looking at painting. Starting February 7th, the Portland Art Museum is hosting a show of French painting (La volupté du goût: French Painting in the Age of Madame de Pompadour), which I certainly intend to go see.

Another singer he enjoyed was Cesária Évora, a singer from Cape Verde he and mom got a chance to see when she came to Portland for a concert. I love her music as well, and always think of my dad when I listen to her hauntingly beautiful singing.