Stunned

You know those times when you hear some news that leaves you speechless?

Yeah, had one of those moments today. I stared at my phone for what felt like an eternity in the ER and waited for everything to make sense again.

Still waiting.

Before the parade passes by

I spent part of the morning meandering about downtown Dallas in my quest to renew my passport. It was a beautiful day for it, really. A nice 70 degrees, bit of a breeze, albeit a bit humid from the rain that hit the area yesterday.

Vaguely, part of my brain had registered that today was Veteran's Day, and another part had noted somewhere that there was going to be a parade down on Main street on Veteran's Day. However, those 2 parts hadn't really communicated with each other. Such being the case, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself on the sidelines of a parade as I walked over to the courthouse.

I love parades. When I was little, my brothers were in the marching band and we'd go out to hear them play and cheer whenever the high school was called to action. I also remember one particular time when my oldest brother had to dress up in a mouse costume and throw candy out from a float. Why? That is lost to a shadowy recess somewhere.

Have to say, though, there weren't very many people out there. I chatted with some of the folks out there, most of who had stopped to watch the action, but who hadn't heard much about it prior. Yet, we all distinctly remembered the planned parade that was scheduled for the Mavs anticipated victory over Miami a couple of years ago. Seriously?

All that aside, it was fun. Marching bands, soldiers, veterans, fire trucks, horses, they were all there. There were many people out there applauding and waving flags. A few kids were out there taking it all in. A platoon of doberman pinschers and their handlers, a chihuahua with it's master on a scooter, and Sparky the fire dog all made appearances. I stood with a group of people who enthusiastically cheered on all the bands as they walked by, and I met an old FDR high school defensive end/full back (class of 1982! as he let us all know) who runs a moving business. He cheered the loudest.

I think the warranty is out

Last night, had a great time with friends, board games, and organic agave tequila. May I say, damn. That is some fine stuff. Amy, thanks for some excellent bartending skills and for keeping our glasses filled. End result? 750 ml of fine liquor consumed between 3 friends (because we had no intention of sharing it with any of the late comers, really). 3 friends, all vibrant, euphoric, and giddy, without the usual vertigo or loss of time that usually accompanies massive quantities of low quality agave brew. Apparently, OAT has an additional effect on myself: extreme cockiness at Monopoly. OAT's Monopoly effect on cohorts: creative accounting and use of majority voting to take me down.

The arrival of the boys led to a Cranium/Scene It throwdown, boys vs. girls. And the girls ruled the day. Surprising? Not to me last night. Remember, cocky. Plus, we're some smart cookies at baseline, what can I say.

This AM, did we feel pain? No! We awoke alert and with massive appetites. It truly is the nectar of the gods. As stated on the official website, and I quote, "Enjoy it's taste today, feel it's purity tomorrow morning." Yes sir, we will.

However, tequila can't fix everything. While talking in the kitchen, I managed to injure myself badly enough in my left quad that I had difficulty standing back up. Getting into my car to drive home was excruciating secondary to irregular spasms that required me to drag my leg in. When I got home, I promptly fell on the concrete as I got out of the car. I think that a week of physical activity (kickball, ice skating, etc.) decided to sneak up on me. However, spending the last 8 hours or so sprawled on my couch with ice on it seems to be doing the trick, and I'm able to very carefully walk around my apartment without pulling the Quasimodo/Igor gait.

Post concert update

Ok, the show was GREAT!! It was a nice mix of the Once soundtrack with other original pieces and some covers. First off, Glen Hansard is a funny man. He rambled on several times, and got a lot of crowd response throughout the concert. He gave the crowd a shout out for being one of the best sing-along groups so far, and gave a stirring rendition of an enthusiastic but tone deaf crowd they had somewhere else.

Best random tale? I enjoyed one about hangovers. The gist of it was that he hates hangovers, but that he often has a religious experience sometime during them, mostly when he hits the point where he realizes that he isn't going to die.

And let's not forget I&W. I enjoyed Sam, but was a little disappointed that he didn't play a couple of my favorite songs. Well, guess I'll have to keep an ear to the ground and catch him the next time he comes through Dallas.

For $10, you'll be able to download the show from playedlastnight.com. I'm looking forward to it!

Finding the key to life

This morning, I've been spending a good chunk of it listening to Celia Cruz songs. One of the ones I've been lingering on is called Sin Clave No Hay Son.

The clave, for some quick background, generally refers to one of 2 things when spoken of in reference to music. It can refer to the actual instrument (2 thick wooden sticks that are used to tap out a rhythm), or it refers to the actual rhythmic pattern that they beat out. The patterns vary on whether you're playing salsa, son, samba, rumba, etc.

Essentially, without the clave, latin music would be soulless and flat. The clave gives the music it's flavor, it's dance-inducing properties. It's the key to the music.

This song is an ode to the clave. Love it. There's a few particular lines in the song that led me to pick it out of my list today, as follows:

No hay esperanza sin ilusiones
Y no hay engaño sin decepción
Amor sincero sin corazón
Y sin clave no hay son

Translation? I suppose I could... but a direct translation doesn't really express what it means. Instead, enjoy Celia Cruz as she appeared back on a weird 70s era variety show! The song she's singing is, if I'm not mistaken, of Peruvian origin, which makes me warm to it even more.

Priorities? I've got your priorities right here

I've been thinking.

I'm kinda-sorta dating someone right now. Super nice guy, who actually stuck around after I went on a couple of dates with him, then gave him a hug and said, "Hey, let's be friends!" That was... 6 months ago? At the time, he stared at me for a second, and said, "Yeah, sure, that was totally what I was going to suggest myself." And he kept being my friend. So, he's been very patient with my skittish behavior, so I'm trying to let myself relax enough to just have fun.

But, you know, I hate giving him dibs on my time.

For example: He asks me if I want to go out Thursday. I evade it by telling him I have plans. The truth? NO PLANS. I just don't want to say yes.

Yet, one of my friends calls me, and even though I'm scheduled for a dentist appointment/ appendectomy/ disarming a nuclear warhead/ etc., I will say "Sure! See you then."

Maybe not all my friends, but you know who you are if you're reading this. I don't know what's wrong with me. Do I not like him? No, I do, actually. At the very least as a good friend, the rest I'm trying to sort out. So what's up?

The best I can figure at the moment is a combination of the following:

• Commitment phobia, plain and simple.
• Planning ahead just goes against my core nature of chaos.
• I don't like him enough.
• I'm afraid that the more time alone we spend together, the more he will realize that, yes, I'm kind of crazy.
• Very likely, when that time rolls around, all I'll want to do is lay on my couch with a good book. I really like my couch.

Hmm. What do you guys think?

Once

Have you seen the movie Once? No? Well, to be fair, I really haven't seen it all yet myself. However, this has not stopped me from listening to the soundtrack over and over again. Do yourself a favor, sit down with it, kick back on your couch (alone or with company, either seems to work pretty well), and just listen.

So, I've got some love for Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, now performing together as The Swell Season. You can imagine how crazy-happy I'm feeling that I have tickets to see the musicians perform at the end of this month. I am, to put it mildly, excited. Plus, it's at a venue that I like, the Palladium ballroom, which makes it even better.

In general, I am never particularly interested in the musicians that open for the main show. Not to say that I haven't been pleasantly surprised before by some good stuff, of course. However, I have been listening and watching videos of Iron and Wine, the act that is touring with them. And, you know, I'm getting even more excited! The 29th can't get here fast enough. In the meantime, enjoy some Sam Beam goodness.