Catching up [Edited and reposting from earlier]
But still basically catching up...from Berlin
I’m sat on my balcony, looking at one of my favorite views in the urban world: Berlin’s Tiergarten. Glass of wine, after a good dinner.
I have been so slack on Substack the last week that I didn’t even do a Weekend Confidential…my shame is great. And so this one is going to just be a catch-up like WC usually is.
I haven’t got any more in me, honestly. I’m hoping the pictures – which I’m proud of - will keep you distracted from the fact that I don’t have a lot of clever things to say.
I have spent the last week and change (indistinguishable from a weekend for me) going through the last of my belongings. 12 containers of stuff. STILL!!
As my friend who is similarly cutting down said during a FaceTime, “You have more stuff than I do!” This isn’t true – she has a house and a car – but until today, I STILL had more stuff than I need. I don’t want to move it around any more.
But now, I have half of what I got out of storage a week ago. I’m shipping two boxes to distant “homes,” but they’re small boxes. Beyond that, in terms of my total daily-life things, I’m now down to four mid-sized backpacks, containing everything I need for travel (in one of them) and for starting a life somewhere, in a room or two (the other three).
It’s been so much more complicated than the numbers would seem to indicate. Every little thing has to be examined and decided on. These are, after all, all I have left from a 1,200 square foot (120 square meter) house, and honestly, part of me would have been FINE had the old house burned down, and I wouldn’t have had to spend the last 15 years going through all of these endless numbers of things.
Trust me, my settled friends: When you start going through your stuff…all I can say is, seriously: Just burn the place down, cash the insurance check, and move on. It’ll save you endless stress.
I was VERY smart, I must say, in my chosen venue to go through this final ordeal. This little studio apartment is like no other. There’s the view, for one thing:
My view has been spectacular, of my favorite city in the world, which has been such an interesting, on-and-off-again home for me, in my essentially homeless existence. And now I’m packing it up and shipping it here and there.
Details to follow, but I’m basically leaving Berlin and letting go of what remains.
So, I still have three weeks in Berlin, and I will be enjoying it. AND I will still be dealing with the bureaucratic things, which are plentiful in Deutschland. But the stuff felt like the real burden, literally and emotionally. I’m really happy to be nearly rid of it.
I’ve also had fun, seen a couple of friends, and done my absolute best to cover this town during its nicest season.
And besides endlessly going through this ridiculous tchotchke triage (more serious stuff than tchotchkes, but still…), I’ve been doing my favorite thing to do in Berlin: Fahrad fahren.
Riding my bike.
I know this town well – along with New York City, and Kyoto, it’s still my favorite – and I know where all the green areas are (there are many, I’m camped over one), and where all the good river- and canal-side rides are, and I use them as much as possible on my routes. So I’m getting incredible doses of green.
Beyond that, the feeling of biking, especially cruising slow and looking around, is just so wonderful. I feel 11 years old. And I cover a lot more territory. I rarely use any kind of transport besides my bike. This will always be my greatest love of Berlin…
But mostly, I’ve taken advantage of this wonderful little apartment. Had I be able to find a place in Berlin like this - or even something far lesser – I may be staying. But no: The road calls. I’m not a settler type.
On top of the view (all of the above photos are from this balcony), this tiny apartment has a four-speaker sound system, which gave me motivation to stop listening to the goddamned news and to put on albums as they occurred to me. I listened to them all the way through, something I don’t do so often anymore. It was lovely.
Looking back at what came up, it’s all familiar stuff, from my (and rock’s) heyday: 1969-1994. I know every note of these albums. Allow me to share a brief swing down memory lane.
Jordan: The Comeback by Prefab Sprout (Always my first choice if I’ve not been transported lately.)
The Bends by Radiohead (The greatest ROCK album ever made, I’m pretty sure. Who’s Next or Revolver, OK…but beyond that…unmatched.)
Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell (The best LA singer/songwriter album ever, with honorable mention to Jackson Browne, see below.)
Led Zeppelin I (Besides the Beatles, the most impactful rock group in my musical life. A spectacular debut.)
Aladdin Sane by David Bowie (Bowie is probably my favorite individual artist from the Rock Era.)
Heroes by David Bowie (See?)
Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil (One of the great bands that should have been huge. In their way, they were.)
In Your Mind by Bryan Ferry (I’ll have to hit Stranded or Country Life by Roxy…)
Crosby, Still and Nash by same (The bookend to the same year’s Abbey Road. Not dissimilar albums.)
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis w/Peter Gabriel (A long listen, but…what an adventure!)
Heavy Weather by Weather Report (Chops plus great, great melodies and grooves. Their catalog is a world.)
Running on Empty by Jackson Browne (The greatest live concept album ever, the title song captures a whole era.)
The Big Express by XTC (A top favorite by the best cult band ever.)
There were more, and they were CLASSICS. It was a nice way to give myself a familiar sound track while I packed up what little remains of my physical life. It really takes an emotional toll…going through the same things over and over…reassuring, but weird. And the more I get rid of, the happier I am.
Let’s put it this way: When I kick the bucket, I’m going to be extremely easy to tidy up after. Just not soon, please.
Anyway… I’m just finishing up here, and feeling quite miserable about not posting lately. I do the writing, but honestly, I get very tired of my own voice, and my quotidian interests, and so I just let ‘er sit. Still, I wanted to touch base, and let you all know what I’m up to. Especially since so many of my paid subscribers are re-upping right now, $50 for another year! So grateful for this support, I can’t tell you.
So soon, I’ll be down to practically nothing, and the travel will resume. I’m looking forward to being back to one backpack. That’s how I like it.
Meanwhile, I will miss this wonderful place. But there will be some other new vistas to bask in. And with less stuff to deal with – and thanks to Shawn and Josh and Anna for taking on a stray box or two, there are some things I just can’t let go of quite yet.
In any case, I know I’ve been slack, I just don’t have the focus to write anything more ambitious…but trust me, it’s going through my head, and I’ll get there. Meanwhile, the sun has gone down on another Berlin evening – still light at 932 pm – and I toast you. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, my American friends!
Loved this latest post, especially the music stuff. But of course have been enjoying your music writing for many many years.
So any thoughts of where your gonna end up??