The Aura of Nostalgia

The Autumn, or what the Americans call "The Fall", has arrived. Yesterday, I walked into what I suppose you'd call 'a light shop' here in Dublin. The whole window was lit up, full of lights, lamps, Chandeliers, spotlights-you name it, they illuminated it. I was, however, after none of the above. I dandered in and asked the poor, unsuspecting guy behind the counter:

"Dya have any of them SAD lights?..Think they might also call them light boxes..you know, the ones that help you adjust to the seasonal darkness, and that"..

I looked at him, and instantly realised, with the the help of his expression, how crazed my request may have sounded. Fairplay to him for not bursting into hysterics and saying in one of the Dublin accents :

"mister, you're fuckin' sad you are!", or "I'll bleeding lamp (or box) ya!"..

No, in fairness, the guy just looked at me as if expecting a punchline, or some other stranger to jump down out of one of the chandeliers and exclaim :

"smile, you're on candid camera"!

Instead, he was met with a prolonged glare of sincerity, an ernestness, a "this guy's for real" look, which didn't seem to help either of us.

So, no closer to sniffs of a light box, I thanked him, smiled in recognition of my strange request and left.

I'm most prolific in the Autumn. Maybe it's got something to do with the beginning of the school year, renewal, and the feeling of starting afresh. Come September, while living in Helsinki, I used to reflect on the year that had past. Reflection was something that just happened to me. I still do this. Melancholia was thick in the air. Memories of the fireside, the nights drawing in and " the losing of the hour", all came flooding back to the forefront of the mind. Songs were written. Memories probed. Nostaglia teased. The past looked, seemed better. The following quote from a book I'm currently re-reading, Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", sums the looking back part up wonderfully:

"In the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia, even the guillotine"..

I equate The Scottish band, The Blue Nile with melancholia, especially "Hats". They recently invited me to be their Myspace friend. I was flattered to say the least. One of my influences inviting me to be their friend-even if it was just a Myspace friend, it still warmed me. Who would have thought?

After enjoying a summer away in Boston, Vermont and Montreal, my thirst for what I love is returning. I'm currently enjoying putting the finishing touches to songs on my new guitar. Musically, I'm trying new things and having fun with it. My good friend P is still in the land of the living, after chest pains had him admitted to hospital. I'm enjoying my yoga, Relish's new album, and all the looking back, melancholia, nights drawing in, having an old friend back in the neighbourhood who's teaching me how to play chess and Thom Yorke's new album.
And not a light box in sight!

Life's good right now.