The Edges Are No Longer Parallel: Part 1

Morrissey at The Observatory in Costa Mesa, CA

I sat in a corner in a crowded pub minding my own business during the first United States game of The World Cup. Amid the cheers and shouting, I was approached by a friend who knows my passion for all things Morrissey.

"Morrissey cancelled AGAIN!" He said pointing at me. Suddenly the pub became quiet and heads turned to look at me as I cowered.

With my head bowed and avoiding eye contact I said, "I know," apologetically.

It isn't always easy to be an obsessed Moz Head. It requires a great deal of patience and an innate ability to suffer humiliation and shame from time to time from people who don't understand Morrissey and our undying love for him.

Before it all went horribly wrong, it was incredibly right. The month of May was an amazingly busy month for Morrissey fans especially those in and near Moz Angeles.

If you have been reading my blog-ever, or even from time to time, you notice that I tend to do a lot of the things I do on my own driving from the OC usually to Los Angeles. But I was lucky enough to meet my new friend Stephanie, who lives in Orange County AND adores Morrissey and she is not as old as I am (nobody is except for Morrissey), but we are in the same age range.

I met Stephanie at the Kevin Cummins photo exhibit of pictures of Moz called Moz Goes to Hollywood at Mr. Musichead gallery in Hollywood. She just looked out of place so I correctly assumed she was from my edge of the woods. 

Kevin Cummins so very kindly took me personally through the gallery and shared stories of what it was like to photograph Morrissey at that particular time in his career. The photographs ranged from his days with The Smiths to his solo career in the 1990s.

One of the stories seared into my memory is one he told me about a picture of Morrissey early into his solo career amid beautifully wrapped gifts. He told me that Morrissey never opened his gifts. He just got so many of them that there was no point. I mean, there could be some real gems in those packages but there is no way he could lug everything around in his travels. Seemed sort of sad to me but understandable.

Stephanie and I went to dinner at The Cat and Fiddle pub after the gallery closed. We just clicked in the way that you do on the rare but precious times when you feel like you've known someone forever even though you just met. 

Luckily, we also met up at The Observatory in Santa Ana for Morrissey's first southern California concert of his tour. We stood in line together and watched Morrissey together and we both KNOW Moz was looking at us when he was singing "Speedway" because we both had tears of joy and understanding.

See, the thing about my friend Stephanie is that she is gorgeous. I mean, in my single days we used to call such girls, "bait" because a group of girls could "cast" a "hot" chick like Stephanie into a crowd of men and "reel" her in. Then, the rest of us "purse holders" might have a chance with what was left over.

So, I'm willing to risk being forever known as "the other girl" or "Stephanie's friend" because not only is she gorgeous but she is funny as hell and has a quick wit. 

So, if you carry on reading my blog-and if I could ever get my act together enough to write it regularly, you will encounter stories featuring Stephanie. 

Tomorrow Part 2 will feature meeting Dickie Felton, the LA show and the Moz Disco after party. Yes, I know this all took place in May and it's now July. But retrospect can offer better insight sometimes. Forgive me.

Yes, I know World Peace is None of Your Business is out soon. At the rate I'm going I won't get to talking about that until September!