I met a beautiful French woman this weekend. And to demonstrate how wholly she has conquered the hearts and minds of me and everyone who saw her, as I wrote that first sentence, my thoughts slipped into French-accent. Her voice, explained my husband, gets stuck in your head like a song. We spent five days with her. I don't fully have the time or the space, or the words, or the ink to explain everything that happened this weekend. However, I am not the only one who will attempt to do so. Our reminiscence has invaded Facebook, as the ten or fifteen new friends that she made over the weekend grasp at any attempt to maintain her presence in their lives. The Doctor has recorded the weekend in gonzo words. There is video footage of Frenchie drunk (after puking in a Freedom bar and being whisked away to avoid cops who had suddenly showed up)-- drunk and singing the chorus and violin parts of "Shoestains" by The Lately. In French-accent. Drunk, singing, and claiming, "Sitar family...I speak a damn good USA." Of course, none of this makes much sense alone in this journal, but this is the age of the internet and digital media; and we'll all have a chance to share the story in our own ways. So, Facebook, doctorofgonzo.com, "Shoestains" video; and also, Frenchie herself said she will definitely be writing about the weekend-- maybe in French? And maybe between these things, the world will be able to glimpse a picture of the first encounter between the party of Freedom, Wisconsin, and Valentine Michel.
It's Thursday, and people all over Wisconsin are still glowing from the grandness of the weekend.
To be fair, we certainly would have blown minds, done beautiful things, and sown chaos and fun throughout the Fox Valley last weekend even if Valentine Michel had not been there. It is for sex, drugs, and rock and roll that we make the two-hour drive to Freedom, Wisconsin from Madison. The reason for this trip was that The Lately was recording an album in Appleton on Saturday and Sunday; the Doctor and I were going along so that we could party Friday night and the Doctor could report on the recording session over the weekend. Two weeks before the recording weekend, we met the French girl at a party in Madison; she had some unlikely connection to Sam Farrell by that point, and the Doctor and I remembered her shortly after as the random French chick who constantly said "Oh my gooooddd!" and tried to drunkenly unbutton Sam's shirt as he was leaving. For about a week and a half, we thought little else about her, until she was invited to join us for The Lately recording party weekend. I don't know who invited her or just why she was invited, really. But, logically, her answer was "Yes." "Yes, I am a French girl who has been in America for six months, living in Chicago, and I met you people for about 20 minutes at a house party in Madison. Two weeks later, you have invited me to get into your car, drive north into Wisconsin for two hours to some country town where you grew up, spend a weekend listening to you record music and sleeping in your parents' house. And you would like me to play violin on your album, even though you just learned a moment ago that I play it, and I don't know your songs at ALL? Hell yes! This is a great plan."
And thus made our weekend. As I was saying, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. We were set to make the weekend rock anyway, but adding Frenchie made everyone see our world in a new light, through her eyes. Through the eyes of a foreigner who was falling in love with us and with Freedom, Wisconsin. Frenchie, and Springtime, and Kerrigan Bros wine with Simon's Cheese, and the local band at Leap Inn, and the homes of our families that are open to anyone and everyone...You have made this a fucking fantastic weekend.
A Freedom, Wisconsin, weekend always holds a special place in my heart. Now that we live in Madison, going to Freedom invariably gives me this amazing, soothe-your-soul feeling of Going Home.
Now, I never made the oh-so-obvious connection between the Going Home vibe and the name 'Freedom'. Until Frenchie. She was exclaiming all weekend, "What a free country!" and then "and we are in a town called Freedom, Wisconsin!" Yes, we are. And that vibe clicked for everyone around: Wow, this place rocks, this world rocks, the things we are doing fucking rock, we rock. Loving life. That is what Valentine Michel gave us. We have been sharing sex, drugs, and rock and roll with the world all along, freaking out squares by getting naked next to them in a hot tub. But, now here she is. She left France, where she was in a shaky relationship, on edge with her parents, taking drugs to sleep, and living with sheep and people who don't have tattoos or wear jewelry. She came to America to find peace and freedom, and she made everyone of us realize that we are each a source of Peace and Freedom. She is beautiful and smart and generally awesome, and she makes everyone feel as if they still have some bit of the world to share with her.The first words Valentine heard in English were the lyrics to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
We can never know quite what life will bring, but I can say today that life is different, for better or worse or neutral, now that Valentine Michel is part of it.
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