it is rainy and cold tonight. perfect to drink myself to sleep and get depressed listening to Joy Division. but funny, I don't get depressed when I drink (I'm one of those happy drunks who loves everybody) and especially when I listen to Joy Division. I mean singer Ian Curtis possessed such a voice near-impossible to imitate: it is so haunted. Curtis was an extraordinary vocalist that I believe him when he sings "Mother try to believe me / I'm doing the best that I can. / I'm ashamed of who I am" in the song "Isolation" it is heartbreaking.

and but so his voice was also cold, menacing and distant, a remarkable achievement. I may be dating myself but today I listened to the album Closer (1979) today and it stills sounds fresh and innovative. to my ears at least the album is timeless.

so what is it about depressive art that can be so uplifting? especially for a rainy night. with all apologies to Crag Hill who recently posted a bit on Seasonal Affective Disorder (I do share the same malady: Bush Affective Disorder with Crag), I find cold, rain and short days exhilarating. however, I do live in sunny California where summer is the best nine months outta the year so a little cold and dark is a nice change of pace.

now to get my second Guinness for the night. and play Joy Division real, real loud.