True Story: Growing up, my friend Danielle Ivy, whose last name began with a K, started calling both of us the "DIK's" because that's what both of our initials spelled.   Both of us are forty now, so I guess we both can be asking around if anyone wants some old DIK in their lives.  

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/iron-and-wine/2026/union-transfer-philadelphia-pa-34c551b.html

Just got back from an absolutely outstanding Iron and Wine concert.  I knew I love Iron and Wine, but I think I actually kind of underrated how they would be live.  The show absolutely exceeded my expectations, and they weren't even focusing on the part of their catalogue that I've listened to the most.  Everything they played just sounded so ornate, and they were able to bring the entire place to quiet so you could hear the quietest details.  Not to mention, Sam Beam really sings beautifully and better than I would have expected him to sing live.

I really do think music has healing powers, because I somehow really felt no pain as I drove home from this one.  I can't begin to explain how hard some days are, and this was one of them.  I was very close to not going.  

                                                             

                          Iron and Wine

    

Improvement Movement

YHWH Nailgun

Dry Cleaning

I've been listening to Dry Cleaning for a few years now, and I was thrilled to finally have the opportunity to see them live.  They're not really about spectacle, but more about hypnotic mood building.  They're also an albums band, so the songs a lot of times only makes sense in the context of a full album.  At some moments, the place went completely dark except what was going on onstage.  

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dry-cleaning/2026/union-transfer-philadelphia-pa-b4ef116.html

 

 

                                                        Afghan Whigs

Mercury Rev

I just got back from seeing the Afghan Whigs with Mercury Rev.  I knew that it would be an amazing show but it actually exceeded expectations for me.  Listening to Mercury Rev has always been like one of those well kept secret bands that no one talked about in any of my circles of friends.  Deserter's Songs was one of the best albums of the nineties.  Then, the Afghan Whigs just have so many great songs to pluck from for any show.   I heard plenty of my favorites, like "66," "Gentleman," and "Going To Town," amongst newer stuff from an upcoming album.  

Some drinks based on Afghan Whigs songs were served too, though I didn't have any.     

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-afghan-whigs/2026/union-transfer-philadelphia-pa-334a10e9.html

 The past few weeks have been absolutely devastating for me because I received a health update which has really shaken me.  I am not sure what is next.

I love everything about Kurt Vile, especially that lo-fi, DYI, rock 'n roll aesthetic.  He has always been an artist as much as a rocker.  Now, I just have to see him again on the upcoming tour.  

Just got back from seeing Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band.  The show was most refreshing.  They made one of my favorite albums of 2025.  I knew I wanted to see them whenever they came to town and I completed my mission.  They closed with a Bruce Cockburn cover, "Lovers In A Dangerous Time."

 

I saw these guys live a while back!

 Cat Power Setlist

Just got back from Cat Power's "The Greatest" twentieth anniversary tour.  It is crazy that is has been twenty years, because that album came from the era when my musical discoveries and taste really accelerated in its evolution and doesn’t really seem that long ago.

It was good to finally get to see Chan Marshall (pronounced Shawn), after all these years.  She had really become a fixture in my life, which was why I made the decision to get myself to this one, solo. 

I ended up talking to a transgender security person who told me they were at one time a corrections officer.  Go figure.  

 

She closed with this song, which I didn't even know had a video.

Incredible new track from Jessie Ware.

So maybe a problem journal is the way to go.

My workplace:

Gossip-y and foul mouthed leadership who want me to supervise in ways that go against my value system, and enforce policies that they don't abide by themselves.  

When I go in to work it feels like I am walking into a minefield. 

For me it has always been about the taxpayers who I want to help and who I want my employees to learn how to help.   

 There are so many bad parts to life.  So so many bad parts.  I sincerely worry about my seeming ineptness and inability to adapt.

My pain and problems run so deep.

 If I can make things work out the way I want to, I will have seen Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Patti Smith, and Bruce Springsteen within the course of a year.

I just got back from seeing Pulitzer Prize winner Tyshawn Sorey and a group of musicians perform a tribute to Max Roach's "Members Don't Git Weary."  It was truly a transformative journey, and only supported my long time affiliation with jazz, which was at one point, something I actually hoped I could do with my life.  Instead, I'm a supervisor in a call center.  

I think I came out better after this long musical journey.    

I am so incredibly proud of this man.

 The older I get, the harder it is to be myself.  Working is at times rewarding, but other times it is frustrating.  

I'm in a position where I try to work with people and their particular personality or quirks, but upper management seems to just dislike everyone.  I have one girl who likes to dance, so I let her dance a little bit in her seat as she works, etc.  

I had a conversation with someone from the new company that is taking over our project.  They are looking to bring me over as a supervisor.  

Unbelievable.  

 

I would love to know how this guy's idea of activism is to celebrate the murder of people because they are Jewish and/or Israeli, and how he is allowed to be reinstated on a college campus  again in the name of so-called free speech.

Not sure how murdering people like this mother and baby entitles someone to a brand new country in the name of "resistance."