Weekend of Extremes

Every once in a while a cosmic singularity occurs in our marriage...

...a series of events that make a single weekend a blessed encounter where nothing else exists except us...me and her...together exploring the world's awesomeness...

A few weekends ago (November 13th) was one of them:

• Our groupie band, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers was playing in St Paul
• My work travel stopped and provided points for a fancy-dancy hotel
• Our kids were away at camp (the three littles at a weekend church camp, and the oldest at a 20 week Military Police camp)
• The dog was at grammas
• The weather ... November! ... was warm enough for our Miata 

...and when it was all over, it was one of the best weekends ever for us, but I couldn't help but think about the extremes that surrounded this weekend...for some reason we were in the middle of this cosmic singularity protecting us and providing us this glorious weekend, while extremes could have meant the exact opposite...like...

Roger Clyne vs. the opening 'band'
While I always enjoy hearing RCPM, the band was extra-awesome this weekend.

...which was completely opposite of the opening band. I won't even write their name in the off chance that the Google will link this blog to their internet presence. They were beyond bad...disgusting? vile? I've actually never been embarrassed for a band before. Sure I've heard angry bands who make a statement...but this duo was just sickening.

Maybe once Roger and crew took the stage the difference between the bands was why I was so impressed with RCPM, but I think there was more to it. They were recording every show so that may have pushed them, but to me, it was like they met earlier in August and said, "We're sounding pretty darn good...lets see how good we can actually get". Each song had nuances I hadn't heard before...syncopated hits, guitar riffs, the bass and kick drum were more in sync than ever, and vocals were great!

We left overflowing with happiness...and happened to find their bus and thought it would be cool to measure the extreme difference of our traveling vehicles :-)

Flowers vs. Dormant Grasses
We went to the Como Zoo conservatory. Inside was lush, flower, beautiful...whereas outside was approaching winter. Everything inside was colorful, alive, vibrant, whereas everything outside was brown, dormant.

Weather
Normally, November can be brutally cold...not really in temps, but in combination of damp, cold, windy...yuk.  But THIS November weekend was superb!! 55-60, sunny, calm, no need for jacket, simply delightful!

Safety Vs. Danger
We were always safe. St. Paul is a great city, and the RCPM fans, us 'Peacemakers', are kind, supportive and awesome. We all gathered for a concert to listen to our favorite band and rock out with a bit of tequila and amazing musicians.

This was in stark contrast to fans in Paris who on that SAME NIGHT also went to a concert to listen to their favorite band and rock out...only to be attacked and many killed. This was awful on so many levels, but to me it was especially bad since it was during something I love so much...listening to awesome, live music with a community of like-minded fans.


Commitment Vs. Slumps
We saw Bonsai trees that have been in training for many, many years, and have been living for even longer. The level of commitment is stunning to me...and I should know.

I used to own around 30 Bonsai trees at various levels of training. Over time some of them died due to mysteries, and others died due to my mistakes. But last year I had a down period and I just gave up on my last two. One I had for 20 years and it was alive for probably 30 years. My hard-heartedness still surprises me that I'd just give up on it and let it freeze.

But for a moment I was able to stand in the presence of wonderful Bonsai that have been lovingly cared for...and it inspired me, and reminded me that anything truly remarkable takes time, takes commitment, and takes grit to push through low times because the result can be awe-inspiring.

Superstition vs. Reality
I didn't even think that it was Friday the 13th. While I'm not superstitious, it still impressed me how the reality of the weekend was so outstanding...that it completely wiped out any thought that it could have been a weekend of disaster, dread, or 'bad things gonna happen'.

But then again, that was our reality...and the reality of others was, in fact, filled with disaster, dread, and countless bad things.

I guess in the end, all I can be thankful for is our reality. That our weekend was filled with extreme love, music, beauty, craftsmanship, outstanding service, food, and above all, the weekend was with an amazing wife that I get to spend all my days (and nights) with.

Here's to life!

The Secret At A Taylor Swift Concert

I haven’t blogged in a long time, which is weird because SO MUCH has happened in my life, our family's lives, that I should be posting a couple times a week.

The problem is I start to second guess myself. I think, “Uh, oh. It's been a while. The next entry has to be awesome”…after all, all the people in the world that read this will expect an amazingly thoughtful piece of work after so many months of inactivity.

Which made me start thinking, "Why am I even doing this?".

It's not for the money, it shouldn't be for vanity.

I had to remind myself that it's for my future family: My future self in 5, 10, 35 years, my wife, my kids, grandkids...anyone who is interested. If others enjoy it? Great. But There some pretty interesting things they may want to experience through my eyes that if I can capture a glimpse of what I thought as these experiences whizzed on by, and they can learn/grow from it, then that's all I hope.

So what better time than a weird moment I'm experiencing at this second to start blogging right now!

This is my view right now after dropping my girlies off to the Taylor Swift Concert. I thought I’d try to find myself an “extra” ticket by wandering the streets. You know what I found? Tons of others wanting a ticket, and 15 professional scalpers who are giddy that scalping is now legal.

I did hover (Stalk? Leer?) around the will-call window in hopes someone would shout, “Dang, I can’t believe Sally couldn’t come…what ever are we going to  do with this ticket!?!”

I never heard that.

What I did hear is, “Fraud!?!”  “Decoy” “Fake!?!” Several folks bought craigs-list or street corner (just outside of the arena) tickets, walked in, and they couldn’t enter. They were out hundreds of dollars (the sad part was a little girl was usually next to them crushed I'm sure).

That got me to the point to not even ask, “you have an extra ticket” because the only thing worse than not getting a ticket to a show I’m marginally interested in is to get a ticket that is FAKE and be out $50-$100.

I’m sure you’re thinking, “Wow, you got 26^th row on the floor near the catwalk you must have purchased them months ago”.

Well, you’d be wrong.

I bought them yesterday.

Turns out, thanks to a chance AC/DC concert, I learned a secret from a wise “yeah I been to 87 concerts and never bought a ticket more than a day before” concert-yoda-meister.        

The day of that AC/DC concert, I decided I wanted to go. I called ticketmaster and they said, “Heck ya, we’ve got section 102, 12^th row”. I looked and it was just off the stage…so close I could almost touch Angus’ AC/DC labeled boxers (if you haven't been...don't ask).

Once I sat down I commented how crazy-unique it was to get a ticket the day of, and concert-yoda leaned over and said, “I’ve been to 87 concerts, and buy all of them between 3 and 4pm the day before the show. The radio/contest tickets get released, and you can pick up REALLY GREAT seats…far better than anything you’d get buying them the day they go on sale…and you’ll know your schedule works for the concert!"

So, yesterday at 3:30pm I look up tickets and found 2 great seats on the floor next to the runway where she walks down the center of the floor. Since I didn't have much time I chose 2 tickets only since 3 together would have been a long shot.

I got them at face-value, no risk of scalpers, and now they’re enjoying a fantastic concert.

I love providing my kids concert experiences. My oldest I took to several hard-rock concerts, and the girls I bought tix for Miley Cyrus, Lindsey Sterling, and now Taylor Swift.

My next goal is to find something that my youngest wants to see. He’s unique in that he’s a GREAT drummer (at still 11), but he hasn’t found a band he can really sink into yet. We do play along with some classics, and we jam to blues and other songs to increase his chops. In fact I had him learn a “You’re a drummer? Prove it” riff.  Now he can rip off a really cool intro, beat, interlude groove, and ending that will summarize his skills. Awesome.

There ya go. soul searching, history, tricks, and fathering all in one post. Phew! 

PS: Now that I’m at the nearby pub, I see all kinds of people who were looking for tickets along with me. Reinforces I made a good decision to mellow and type my thoughts (with a Surley on the side). Turns out this is a focal point for all the scalpers! So interesting to hear them talk about the night…who they scammed, how much they made with each ticket, I wonder who they know that gets them these great seats? Unless they're all fakes.

Ah well...back to my Surley.