pictures of me on your bedroom door

Now i know i saw you pretty late in the game.
i went with the boys to pearl street. may 16th, 2000. all hands on the bad one. the first weeks of a three-month long tour.
we were running late and i can't remember who even instigated going. did both boys go? did you?
The door at pearl street in northampton faces center stage and in its frame i found beth ditto, shirtless and doing the twist. to say that it made my pants feel funny would be an understatement. there was a whiff of junior high gym in the air. i scanned the crowd. these were my people.
i'd just settled on the fact that in order to socialize i'd have to get involved in some kind of scene or, worse yet, scene(s) again and figured--if i had to pick--i really wouldn't mind this one.
To my ponytail, the smelly boys from campus, and the butt waggin Smithies down in front that night: you were everything i could've asked for at that moment and you made excellent partners-in-crime.


I danced with my hands over my head whenever carrie did a clock-tower strum.

Janet inspired kim gordon style headbanging. (heavy on the knee bends.)

Corin called for emphatic single-foot stomping with a puffed chest and pouty mouth.


Finally liking your music felt like a relief. dig me out was in maximum rotation (all hands on the bad one soon would be) and there were certain things about myself that i figured would never change. this was my first real proof--the feeling of coming full-circle.
i left with a pin pack. one of the boys has (or had) corin. some days i still can't decide if janet or carrie gets to be the bad one or if i'll just go with carla.

i'm so selfish. i wanted the woods to be a resounding new beginning. not an end.
but if that's what you had left then i'll gratefully accept it and wish you well...
Could i also get a full-length from The Spells. please?

All photos by documentary photographer Seth Kaye/ShutterSpeed.

May 16, 2000
Pearl Street--Northampton, MA