Marian Call

The most significant accolade I earned at Stanford was a shiny certificate that declared me “MOST LIKELY TO BE LOCKED OUT” my freshman year. Twenty-two times or more, if I recall. My friends earned Phi Beta Kappa and Fulbrights, and I misplaced my bike seat. Losing things is a gift of mine. An art, really.

In fact, the day before I rolled out on this monstrosity of a tour, I managed to lock myself out of my house (with the car keys inside, of course) just minutes before my last appearance on my beloved local radio station, http://knba.org. My rescue, which involved two friends, three cars, and a beer, took the better part of an afternoon (which I desperately needed to pack and confirm little details such as whether I would be allowed to cross the Canadian border).

I am leaving pieces of myself all across the continent. I lost a pillow in the Yukon, jewelry in Saskatchewan, and candy bars in Minneapolis (Wunderbars! Available only in Canada! And they’re gone!). I lost my music stand in Michigan, broke sunglasses in Indiana and Iowa, and left half a gourmet pizza and Bryan’s music notebook on top of the car in Des Moines. And in Des Moines they remain. Thankfully I’m nerdy enough to have another complete notebook at the ready, just in case. Oh, and if you find my charts, don’t sell them to terrorist organizations or anything.

[**Interlude: in which I leave off blogging to go play an (amazing) show at the Manhattan Arts Center in Kansas, and in which I significantly misplace my keys twice. I am not making this up.**]

The only thing that made me sad to lose happened yesterday, and that was my favoritest kermit green fuzzy blanket that has gone everywhere with me on my travels for a few years. When you sleep in a different place every night, it helps to have just one blanket that’s the same. I’ll sigh just once, write this blog, and be done with it, but it’s still a little bit sad. Losing stuff is nothing new to me. In fact I can probably only take this journey because I feel like I’ve been stripped of all my belongings so completely, and so many times, that it’s hard to cling to the idea of owning anything. I’m more astounded when my belongings stay in one place than when they’re lost or stolen.

I have also turned into a de facto delivery girl. I’ve brought a guitar from Anchorage to Grand Rapids, a baby shower gift from Fargo to Minneapolis, tea from Madison to Chicago, cheese from West Bend to Indianapolis, and cookies from Fairfield to Des Moines. Watch your back, FedEx. Better step up that customer service. #iamnotyourerrandgirl

So really as I redistribute odd pieces of myself and my friends around the country I’m embodying my own experience of loss, growth, death, rebirth, and other vague abstract-ish nouns. Which I’m pretty sure makes me eligible for a grant. Losing things is my superpower.

Love from Manhattan (the other one),

Marian

My first ever crawfish avocado red pepper goat cheese pizza, in Indianapolis IN
which incidentally contained my first ever crawfish

Upcoming shows, details at http://mariancall.com:

6/6 Lynn Riggs Park, Claremore OK
6/13 Open House Concert, Houston TX
6/14 Open House Concert, Austin TX
6/17 Poor David’s Pub, Dallas TX
6/19 KISS Coffee Courtyard, Albuquerque
6/22 Open House Concert, Green Valley, AZ (Tucson area)
6/23 Open House Concert, Phoenix AZ