Laurie Sandell

When I was in high school, I was one of those people who didn’t have a clique; I was friends with a ragtag set of misfits from a variety of groups. One of the people I loved the most was this guy Ben R. (I’m not going to give away his real name, as he now goes by Benjamin Cartel), who used to wear Doc Martins and chains and play in a killer band that did a punk cover of the Carvel Ice Cream song. I lost track of him over the years, then, when my book came out, he found me on Facebook. Turns out he’s a successful musician who plays in a band with his musical and life partner, Courtney Kaiser, and I love their music–just love it. Listen to their song, Okay, on YouTube, and tell me you are not downloading their CD immediately. They are playing tonight at The Living Room; I am going to duck out of my meditation class early to hear them live. (If you’re my father or someone else angered by my memoir, please note that I have changed my mind and am not going to hear Kaiser Cartel tonight. Too tired. Yawn.)