The Joker
Connie Converse. I was introduced to her music by friend and musician Russell Farhang. After hearing it I said “I’ve never heard music like this before in my whole life.” I’ve listened to her songs for the past few months.
This past Wednesday, Cynthia von Buhler invited Esther and I to Joe’s Pub for “A Star Has Burnt My Eye: The Strange Case of Connie Converse”. Howard Fishman, Russell Farhang, Anastasia Barzee, Susan Oetgen, Jean Rohe, Rob Adkins, and Charlotte Mundy told Connie’s story and performed her songs. I was not prepared for how emotional the evening would be. I kid you not: I got chills. The performance was so fantastic that I came out with a deeper understanding of each song. You think you know something…
This was a delightful group of individuals who took this very seriously, you could see how much they loved the music. The performance of “Roving Woman”, “Empty Pocket Waltz”, and “One By One” really affected me.
I appreciate her even more now; neglect and being ignored are things I’ve dealt with my entire life. You know in your heart that you are right and it comes as such a shock when it matters to no one.
More info about the project is on Howard Fishman’s site: http://www.howardfishman.com/projs/a-star-has-burnt-my-eye-the-strange-case-of-connie-converse.html
Illustration by Silent James
Photos taken by Esther Westwood
Happy anniversary to my pork pie hat. It’s been 1 year since I took you home from Salmagundi in Jamaica Plain. Your color is Elephant and you’re not like everything else!
Original Penguin has been the source for all of my dapper outfits. I love them so much and I’m ready to be their model… now.
Hand painted envelopes. Here are some of my favorites that I did for the Dee Kickstarter backers. I don’t even have to imagine how delightful it is to receive one of these amongst bills- people write to me all the time telling me how much they love them. Dee graced many of them, as did Three’s Mum. A few of my other favs are Josephine Baker and Katherine E. Scharhon. Everyone who buys Three and/or Dee at my site store gets a hand painted envelope: http://silentjames.com/store.html
I’ve gotten a whole slew of emails lately telling me how much people have enjoyed my books and art, last week was very delightful. I heard from strangers and old friends alike. I’m a part of their lives now because of my artwork, how extraordinary!
Painting of Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) from last year. I saw Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain in the theater Oct 2001, with my good friends Will and Nick. After an altercation with the ticket seller which ended with me strutting past shouting “Me? I’m the coolest thing walking!”, I had one of the best movie experiences of my life.
The look of the movie is my perfect taste. I was dancing in my seat to Yann Tiersen’s accordion music, I started playing accordion shortly after. It had a big effect on me, I guess.
I also think Amélie is one of the great female characters, which I mentioned in my book DEE.
