In other news, yes, I was saying last night that I learned my friend Andrew just got nominated for a Grammy for an album he plays the bagpipes on. I wanted to tell you more about it, Jack, but I suddenly started to have problems with the apartment building and that kind of psychologically shut my joy down.
Note: I've recently been having problems with one of the walls in my bathroom. The interior of the wall seems to be in need of repair because there is debris falling down within the wall structure itself. It sounds like plaster or bolts or other debris keeps getting knocked down and is falling down inside the wall itself. I suspect debris is falling down within the interior because of these loud bangs that everyone in the Psychic Rosslyn Community is talking about. No one knows the source of it, not even management, apparently, but everyone can hear them - these loud bangs that hit our walls and ring out throughout the building. Some of them are really startling and loud. The going theory for these particular loud bangs is that they are NOT tenant related. We think they may be building-repair related. My bathroom wall does not face another tenant, so the cause of the bangs is not a human ne'erdowell, like the Ghetto Lady. My bathroom wall simply faces the lobby which faces the elevators, so this would likely be, I'm speculating, a building repair issue, which, of course, management is loathe to move their asses on.
Andrews's Grammy nomination coupled with Robert's good news yesterday was a little much for me. (Robert also told me yesterday he's being awarded a key to the city and will be given a Proclamation Day in the Spring - a Proclamation Day is a day the city of Los Angeles will be naming after him. This is for his work as one of the most prolific Chicano muralists in Los Angeles). The two bits of news became a little much for me when I saw I wasn't even able to fully share with you Andrew's good news (which I was excited to do) before my building started to go south again and I was reminded of how utterly miserable my life is in contrast. I love sharing in the joy of my friends' successes (which is often hard won - very few of them ever get things just handed to them) and I'm often told by them I'm one of the most supportive friends they know. But, for so long now I've had to sit by and watch so many of my friends work their way up to great success while I silently trudge along in quiet misery and pain, repetitive failure, rejection and dehumanizing disrespect. I have to content myself with the mere act of surviving, increasingly giving up even the memory of thriving professionally and creatively. It doesn't seem fair. I won't say the contrast hasn't made me bitter about my life. Unfortunately, it has. :/ I don't tell my more successful friends these things, of course, because my life conditions are not their fault and many of them often share their success with me by offering me jobs. A big part of me feels very grateful, in fact. ♡
Note: With a nod to a bit of a silver lining, Robert indicated he may have some work for me when he goes to put together his celebration party for his Proclamation Day in the Spring. We'll see how it all plays out. To be honest, I was flattered just to be personally invited to his Proclamation Day celebration bc I bet it'll be a little tough to get an invite. :)
Anyway, I was all happy and proud to tell you about Andrew's Grammy nomination, Jack, until the apartment building reminded me that I, myself, may never know a normal, happy successful life. I can't even get my bathroom wall to stop falling apart. I started to fall into a state of depression and feeling shut down suddenly this morning before we nodded off to sleep. :(
In related news, I don't know if I ever made clear to you both on this blog, but my cousins are the Avila Brothers. They are music producers who produced Usher's Confessions and have both won multiple Grammy's themselves for their music writing and producing work with Usher, Mary J. Blige and Chaka Kahn. They have worked with Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Aretha Franklin, DeBarge, Gwen Stefani, Elton John and Earth, Wind and Fire, to name a few. They are from my hometown area, the Inland Empire, where all my family is from.
They also are co-founders of Beats headphones with Dr. Dre, which I can only imagine has been very lucrative for them.
Here are some articles about them:
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/20050310avila_brothers_avila_brothers
http://iecn.com/local-natives-and-grammy-award-winners-the-avila-brothers-inspire-youth/
https://www.umusicpub.com/us/Artists/T/The-Avila-Brothers.aspx
Their website is avilabrothers.com, but it appears to be down right now, for some reason.
Tragically, I am not able to be in as close contact with them the way I would like to be. That has to do with some family politics that I'll have to go into some other time. Otherwise, yanno, I'd pull some strings on your behalf to help give you two boys a leg up in the music industry, lol. ;) I'm very proud of them though and think they're pretty badass. :)
There's another posted below this one.
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