It's interesting how associative memory works. I can think of someone I know or have known, and that thought will pass through like a windy cloud, shapeless and fleeting. However, if I am in a crowd of people (say, for instance, the Arcata Plaza on Kinetic Saturday) and a familiar face pops up, all of a sudden there's music and intense feeling. And not just the good stuff, either. No, I'm talking about something viscerally annoying, like the '90s (or any) version of "Cotton Eye Joe". As I have passed the decade mark since my return to Humboldt, scanning a local crowd is like flipping through satellite radio stations: There's going to be a mix and not all of it pleasant. And there will also be the warm and vibrant people with whom a shared sense of life is a comforting delight. I'm talking about the Sinatra or Mancini tunes that swirl into your vision like the steam from a perfect cup of ... you fill it in. I don't have the best social poker face but I do try to be diplomatic, so I have never actually told anyone they remind me of the musical equivalent of a war crime. I have, when appropriate, told my friends they have a nice soundtrack about them and I prefer to focus on those interactions. I don't put too much thought into the musical impressions, if any, I have given others. We all mean so many different things to different people, like human Rashomon plots, we scuttle around through the lives of others, in a world where you can never truly see the back of your own head. I will quote Emily Dickenson, with a few noisy exceptions, "Beauty crowds me till I die." Or at least I hope so. Have a nice week.

Thursday

It's finally June, a favorite month of the year for many. Considering my March birthday and their summer solstice wedding date, I can only assume that June was a favorite month for my parents. If you share that sentiment, you could certainly do a lot worse celebrating June's inception than by heading over to the Mad River Brewery at 6 p.m. for some free patio entertainment courtesy of Wild Abandon.

Friday

With the students gone and the population reduced to locals and tourists, the music and party scene will be gathering a few tumbleweeds in the coming weeks. Tonight is still fine though, if you like reggaeton, anyway. DJ Gabe Pressure is putting on Fuego, a night of electronic Latin dance music at the Arcata Theatre Lounge tonight at 9 p.m. and $10 gets you in the door.

Saturday

Last night and tonight are the final performances of the Eureka Symphony's ''22-'23 season, and it is going out with a real powerful number. Mozart's Requiem is widely recognized as one of the most moving pieces of music in world history, commissioned by a grieving Austrian Count as a memorial for his young bride, who died at the age of 20 on Valentine's Day, 1791. The composer himself would not live to see its completion, dying at 35 in December of that year. The most famous section is the Lacrymosa, but the piece in its entirety is a funereal masterwork. Among the four singers tonight is tenor and native Humboldt son David Belton Powell, who has carved a career for himself from California to New York City. Both nights' performances will be at 8 p.m., with tickets ranging from $19-$49, and rush tickets available at the box office at 7 p.m.

Sunday

Two shows of note today, neither overlapping, which ain't bad for an offseason Sunday. First up at 3 p.m. at Humbrews, there's an all-ages matinee show by Naive Melodies, Humco's premier Talking Heads tribute act. Kids under 13 are free and it's a mere $10 for everyone else. Four hours later at the Miniplex, you can catch Olympia, Washington's Debt Rag, an alt-punk supergroup of sorts featuring members of Grass Widow, Preening and Girlsperm. Tickets are $10-$15 sliding scale (gas isn't cheap on this coast) and local electro pyros Drip Torch provides regional support.

Monday

Los Angeles garage rock power trio Blurry Stars is making a stop on its tour to play some hi-octane, high quality indie rock for the people of our county. The spot is the Siren's Song Tavern, which means I have to dust off my John Dee scrying ball (created by a proprietary list of components that can usually be procured via the internet, or at your local Micheals and Ace Hardware for under $100), and ask the Daemon-Keepers of the Twilight Pathway for the time and price. Though the answers are vague and cloudy (I don't speak Enochian with genuine fluency), I would suggest heading over to the gig at 8 p.m. with $7 in pocket for the door.

Tuesday

It's 6/6/23 (and 2 x 3 = 6), so we are dealing with a Luciferian date today. Well, what's out there in our current mediascape that's more infuriatingly stupid and demonic than AI? (I'm not counting Elon's Twitter-curated faceplant of Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign announcement, because that was pathetic and funny). Anyhoo, Savage Henry is hosting a show tonight at 9 p.m. where the gimmick involves human comedians reading AI generated jokes. ($5). I'd like to see it the other way around, with a Battlebots format, with robots getting stymied reciting human jokes, but I suspect the production costs would be a little too high.

Wednesday

I have unfortunately broken my homemade John Dee scrying ball in the exertion required to discover the details of Monday's show (it started sparking almost immediately, whereupon I tossed it into my neighbor's decorative pond, where it is, as of press time, still smoking and bubbling like a submerged Tesla Model S). So I have to rely on more conventional means (the internet) to report on tonight's gig at the Siren's Song Tavern. Luckily, there are quite a few concrete nuggets of solid info to go by. The main artist is New York's Sam Greenfield, who plays an upbeat style of sax-y jazz that straddles the line between avant and easy listening. The show is at 8 p.m., and local support will be provided by experimental guitarist Sam Borello. The only question left is $, but a 10-buck cap is usually a safe bet these days. This one should be fun!

Collin Yeo (he/haw/him) is more cow than cowboy, docile and mild, encountering life mostly with molars, occasionally horns. He lives in Arcata, where the grass is greener.