Parts II to III . . . Notes, References, and Shoutouts (Chapters 15-18)
(4MiM Supplement #4)
Chapter 15. Getting Down to Business
. . . but years of traveling in semi-cargo vessels and surviving on greenroom riders while on tour taught Joanni to look out for her long-term health and happiness.
An artistic rider or entertainment rider is a list of items performers request be provided for them prior to their performance. Usually the promoter or venue fulfills these requests. For example:
For other examples, click here.
. . . slices of dropeberry pie—the closest thing to taste on Earth would be mulberry . . .
Mulberries and memories . . . Mulberries stay firmly in my childhood memory (standing in the lane beside our house, picking them off the branches and eating them in hand) because the fruit, being extremely fragile, is not easily shipped or sold in markets, and therefore is not often on display. These berries maintain through their uncommonness a quality beyond purchase—similar to the smell of barbecued chicken. (See Chapter 18. The Scent of Peonies, Valve Oil, and Female Desire)
Chapter 16. Rain Check Checkmate
‘We are on the same path; we are searching for the same things,’ she thought. ‘Must we do so separately? We could do it together; would you want that?’
“ . . . they will feel a relief that finally another person gets why they must hunt down a path for whatever it is that they must know or love. It will be a feeling of coming together with an old friend . . ." from Astro Poets.
One does not have to believe in astrology to enjoy the poetry and lyrical writings of the Astro Poets, Alex Dimitrov and Dorothea Lasky.
“No, no; don’t worry about it. You’re allowed to be tired.”
I’ve been struck by the story about how Paul McCartney knew his first wife Linda was the one for him when, after he apologized to her for being exhausted, she told him, “It’s allowed.” Comfort, empathy, and the acknowledgement that we’re all human. (Norman, Philip. Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation, Simon and Schuster (2005) e-book via Wikipedia)
Chapter 17. A Message From the Oreanians
. . . Joanni Neiswender, daughter of the late Maurice Neiswender, research engineer aboard the ISS Hyperion for the Seridan Operation. His sacrifice in service to ISEA was noted, but not the accident that killed him or its cause.
See Chapter 1. You Should Have Wished Me Luck for details of this accident.
Chapter 18. The Scent of Peonies, Valve Oil, and Female Desire
Brennan at one point urged her colleagues on by observing, “If the page contains only rests and no notes, then there is no music.”
Brennan Vela may or may not have been misquoting a famous eighteenth century composer from planet Earth: “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.”
For some time after hearing of Robbie Robertson’s passing, I couldn’t bear to listen to his music. When I did come back to it, it gave solace that his music remains with us, and provided the inspiration for this chapter.
Two songs off his first solo album, the self-titled Robbie Robertson:
Four Months in May’s regular chapter format will return in one week, on Friday, October 6. Thanks for reading!
Top image: Incoming information. Source: “The First Whisper of Love” by John Douglas Miller after William Bouguereau, c. 1889. Public domain. Edited by J. Weigley