Last of Lillydale

Holly on the left, Josie on the right. Last Lillydale show, Bumbershoot.
Kate and I decided that the background at the Sky Church looks like a Windows screen saver. Coincidence? I think not.

A while ago, I promised to tell you all what Josie told me about the secret to love, and then I forgot exactly what it was. He had a neat little sentence for it, and it went something like this:

It's when a person sees the things you hate about yourself and loves those things about you.

I think he said it more elegantly, he really has a way with a phrase, but that's as close as I can get. I'm not going to weigh in on the truth of that sentence, I'm just going to tell you that I really like it as something Josie said. Josie is always saying something good.

Like when he handed me my latte the other day, and it had two of those pretty feathery designs poured into the milk, he said "Your latte is a sycamore tree dreaming of a hazelnut."

For the longest time, I didn't even realize that Josie was in a band, but every time I saw him he was doing some entertaining. He's just one of those people who, every day, puts things together in an interesting way, phrases, thoughts, pieces of clothing, even the way he arranges his features in an expression of confusion, delight or inquiry is entertaining.

And that's what I thought as I stood there watching him sing in EMP's Sky Church at Bumbershoot today. The Josie onstage was the same Josie we see in everyday life, though I wonder if there is such a thing as everyday life for Josie. I like to imagine that his version of everyday life is an adventure, the kind of adventure that you pack treats for, get lost on, go all starry-eyed over. What I'm really trying to say about Josie on stage is, It Worked. This was Lillydale's last show, but this performing thing he's got going, I'm pretty damn sure that's going to go on. Anyway, that's what I'll be hoping for it, the way I hope for good stuff from that new Wes Anderson flick, or Pam's new novel, or anything else that I think will make the world a little more beautiful and charmed.