We left for Phoenix Thursday last, late morning, stopping in the Valley for lunch at
Lulu’s. Half a caprese sandwich and salad, nomnom, plus a mocha to go. It was strange to be there without Christine or Jenn, and without my laptop, though. After a brief stop at a Radio Shack to pick up an auxiliary cord so we could plug in my iPod or Ken’s iPhone for music, we were on our way to Phoenix. We stopped once for gas, as well as some homemade beef jerky to supplement our road food, on the way. Good music, good conversation, good company.
Our friend Sara and her husband Lee had been at their timeshare in Sedona until that afternoon and wanted an evening in, so we picked up coleslaw and BBQ kettle chips to supplement their planned picnic in front of the TV (deli meats and cheeses, etc.). We watched an ep of
Castle that Ken and I had missed, plus Nathan Fillion in a leather kilt on a talk show (mmm), and then Sara and I talked late into the night about all things Styx and Ren Faire and goodness knows what else.
The next day we took them out to brunch at
The Good Egg and they took us to a
fantastic used book store, where I only bought books on my list, I swear….
We’d hoped to meet up with some friends before the show, but none of the arrangements worked out, so the three of us (Lee isn’t into crowds) had dinner at an
Irish pub (note to self: fish and chips plus a pint of cider isn’t the best meal before a show) and got to the venue comfortably on time. We had second-row pit seats between JY and Tommy, and it turned out that two of our friends (from LA) were directly in front of us. (Actually, Ken and I had the second-row seats and Sara had a third-row seat a few seats over, but Ken traded tickets with her and then smooshed in behind me.)
Sara had never gotten a “green bag” (the Styx-logoed tote bags that each member tosses to the audience at the end of each show) and this was probably her only show for the year, so she had a sign asking for a bag, and I had a sign asking for her to get a bag. To our delight, Tommy not only saw the signs but made sure his bag got to her. I also managed to duck a security guard to get her a set list after the show was over. :-)
We stayed up far too late playing the “Spot Dayle in the Audience of the
One With Everything: Styx With the Contemporary Youth Orchestra DVD Drinking Game,” so peeling ourselves out of bed the next morning wasn’t an easy prospect. But we did, said our sad farewells, and made it home in time to snuggle with the kitties.
We didn’t have to leave for Fresno on Sunday until just after lunch, so we were able to spend a productive-ish morning at home. We had fourth-row tickets for this show, but snuck up to the first row for the encore. Another great show! but then we had a 3.5-hour drive home… Yawn.
My camera crapped out after the Phoenix show—the pictures looked fine on the camera but wouldn’t download to the computer properly—but I’ll upload the ones from Fresno soon. Really. Honest.
Fast-forward to Thursday, when we hopped on the bike and headed to our friends Nanci and Lenny’s so I could fluff-and-buff before the show. Ken went on to San Bernardino to pick up a couple of vats of gumbo (long story) while I got ready and hung out with Nanci, then we rode with her to the show. Sixth-row seats on Tommy’s side again, but damned if Tommy didn’t spot us in the crowd during the very first song. And Lawrence sang a line of “Come Sail Away” at me, so we were totally feeling the love. :-)
Oh, and much to my great amusement, when we found our seats, we were next to a woman doing kumihimo braiding! She does Ren Faire rather than SCA, but we still had a great chat, and I need to e-mail her with the heart braid pattern I found online.
Friday afternoon Ken headed up to Hanford with the gumbo; I stayed home to try to have some modicum of a productive weekend. Alas, I was suffering from Post-Concert Depression as well as a severe case of I Don’t Give a Sh*t, so I gave myself some time off to regroup. Saturday I went to Morgana’s and we cut out a leather bodice for me for Pirate Tournament—provided I can get the spring steel boning in time, we’re talking three long seams, two shoulder seams, and sewing the boning channels, plus grommets. Piece of cake. Afterwards, she and Brian invited me to dinner. I actually did get some writing done later that evening, and then Ken arrived back home last night from his bike adventures.
Yesterday I went to CB&TL, but I hadn’t seen Ellenie in months, so we spent our time catching up. A good recharge, though, and we have a writing date for Wednesday evening. Plus I got a little writing done yesterday evening.
After I finish the
PUM scene on my agenda (it’s written in my head…), and review Teresa’s, and send more
Waking the Witch proposals (now that all of the
PUM and
OOTFP proposals are in the mail save one that was recently returned), and write a short story, and…
Never a dull moment ‘round here!
