I'm all alone in my little cubicle area. I could hear the guy on the other side of the wall until I put my headphones on. Listening to Ben Lee's album - "hey you. yes you." It's turning out to be a long morning for sure and I'm feeling in a funk. Just too much going on in my head and I feel like tears are on the brink of welling up in my eyes. Pretty much not the normal hangover feeling, although I did have a few drinks with friends last night.
It was a long while ago (okay, February) that I first searched out whatever happened to the guy Steve from Blues Clues. I'd heard that he'd retired from the show. Anyway, that's when I discovered that he was doing this music thing and was friends with Flaming Lips. Curious, I downloaded and found that I actually dug the music. Well, in Newbury Comics in Boston I noticed that his cd had finally come out but you can go to his website and watch videos and listen to the entire album. If I would have been thinking I might have gotten it today when I hit up Borders and bought Josh Rouse's lovely album, "1972", along with the Jayhawks' "Rainy Day Music"...damn you Ear Snacks for getting me hooked.
Original plans for the evening were to go to a local bar and see a band play that was mentioned in the local paper. Problem is, those who I called to go flaked out or didn't return my calls. Yea yea, I know I could go alone but I wasn't in the mood to do that. Odd that I can easily drive to solo to LA to see a band play but I can't make the 15 minute drive here... So with all this free time I was feeling a little creative and put together a little something to remember the trip back east. Slightly cheesy, but Viv did snag the setlist off stage for me and I wanted to do something with it rather than just throwing it in a box with everything else.
With all the cross-country travels I did over the long weekend and taking Monday off, I've been slightly baffled by what day of the week it is. That means that while today is Wednesday I kept thinking it was Tuesday. To make matters worse, tomorrow is Thursday, but I have Friday off so it's more like Friday tomorrow. It's still work, but at least I have Big Boy there to keep me company.
Please realize that what I write below probably doesn't do the trip justice. I spent most all of the flights back yesterday writing in a notebook all the proper feelings during the moments. This only captures the chaos and essence. In the end I came away with amazing memories and just as amazing friends. Read on and enjoy. Photos to follow.
Tuesday evening. Viv sends invite to Romper Room after show party after Guster plays (here forward known as RCMH) in New York City. I jokingly reply back asking if I came could I sleep on the floor.
Wednesday morning. Viv replies yes and suddenly someone I don’t really know is looking up airfare for me. Feeling that I would regret not taking the opportunity to go we explore the options. Kathleen asks when I could leave. Tomorrow I say dead seriously. Meanwhile I ask another fan, Greg, about a spare ticket he has. It’s mine if I want it. 4th row, Orchestra (sweet). The morning is spent in and out of intern presentations and trying to figure out flights. By noon I have a ticket to Baltimore leaving at 5:30am the next day from LAX. What the hell am I doing?!?
Kathy and I carpool to LAX leaving at 2am from Bakersfield. She’s headed to Pennsylvania for a long weekend also. I somehow miss Gorman where I figured on getting gas and was low on fuel by the time we got to Castaic. LAX Lot C, we park. Ticketless check-in and I breeze to the gate. Fly to Baltimore. Arrive in Baltimore. Wait in Baltimore. Hear about power outage in NYC and beyond. Think, “that would suck if the show is cancelled.” Wait more in Baltimore. Viv and Kathleen pick me up. Drive to Towson through the ghetto where they have stores advertising Meat and Beauty Projects. Continue driving through the ghetto. Mapquest sucks.
Arrive at the venue – there’s already a line – it’s sold out. Park and haul recording gear to venue. Kathleen had emailed Pasty about another guestlist spot for the show on Wednesday and he came through. Not sure if it’s more of Kathleen’s persuasive powers or the fact I decided in less than 24 hours to board a plane and fly across the country. Either way I’m in.
We stand and wait. Kat sets up the taping rig. Talks to another taper who later gets schooled by Gordon on how he should set up. Funny stuff. Opener comes out. He thinks he’s a cross between G. Love and Howie Day (looping guitar). Not bad, but could have been better. Between sets we talk about the venue. Looks like Trading Spaces made it over with some elegant cave lighting. Big tank of fish in the back. I wonder if any of them die from the stress of the loud music. Cookie and Ross Miller arrive and Viv introduces me. Okay…a bit bizarre to meet the parents of one of the guys in the band. Funny to hear them talk about all the tapes of the shows she has from Viv, much like a proud mom cutting out newspaper clippings of every boxscore of your high school basketball game.
Guster walks on stage. Great show – we know from talking to Pasty earlier that it’s going to be the same setlist as RCMH. Had to laugh standing next to Viv as she jots notes down during the show and her and Kat whisper back and forth. They’ve got to enough shows together they recognize the little nuances. Skipping details of the show itself, we hung around for a short time after talking to Cookie about the future and how the album maybe isn’t doing as well. Interesting to hear the point of view of a mother concerned about what her boy will do if the tank runs dry. I try to assure her that “Amsterdam” is just getting airplay on the West Coast and smaller markets. Not sure if that helps.
Time to hit the road. Off to New Jersey we go. Stop off at the Maryland House (glorified rest stop) and grab grub. Viv has to take photo of Kat and me next to the Big Boy sign. Food in hand we hit the road. Drive drive drive while listening to all sorts of music, some new to me (new and good – must have Kathleen make me some cds). Check off Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey for states I’ve been in. Arrive at Viv’s Mom’s house. Watch news on the Blackout. Wonder if it’ll be back on in time for the show. Crash.
Wake Friday morning wondering where I am. Running theme of the trip is “What the hell am I doing here?!?” Hang out in Princeton having pancakes at PJ’s, buying cds and vinyl at Princeton Exchange, go to the grocery store, and have an official New Jersey mall experience. Buy books at Borders for return trip (books I won’t end up reading). Viv makes lasagna for dinner and her mom makes her famous egg rolls. Bizarre combo but delicious. Egg rolls served with “Banana Sauce” that seems to be mislabeled ketchup. Kat and I are inducted into Valenzuela family and dubbed Violet and Vanessa respectively. We head out to go bowling but buy beer and liquor first (lots of it). Cosmic bowling. Team Filipino vs Team White People. They win, we win. Tied. We go to Princeton for ice cream – Blend-ins. Sleep is welcomed.
Saturday. NYC day. Up and raring to go. Final stop to get snacky foods for the after party and Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Viv gives me shotgun and I’m supposed to navigate!?! Kat points out the NYC skyline which is somewhat hidden in the overcastness. Into the Lincoln tunnel we go. I try to navigate but misinterpret the directions. Mapquest sucks. We find our way towards the hotel. “Quick quick Mel, there’s Broadway!” “What the hell am I doing in New York City?!?” We arrive at the hotel and can’t check in yet. The bellhop unloads the cargo of bags and beer. “Bachelorette Party?” Kat responds, “no, our friends are playing RCMH.” Our room won’t be read for 4 hours so we set off to off to wander. Walk to RCMH. See “Guster” on the marquee. Rok on. See another fan – evident by wearing a Guster “piggy” shirt, gold Elvis glasses, and giant backpack – take a photo of the marquee. I stealth photograph him after we cross the street. We go into the lobby. Kat confirms their seats. Front and center. Insert emotional breakdown here. We exit to the side street and sit along a step for a while. Head off to an Irish pub for some food and drink. See Times Square. What the hell am I doing in NYC?!? Back to the hotel to wait wait wait for our room. Finally done we get settled in (which includes getting more beer and orange juice). Fridge stocked we pre-show and primp. It is RCMH…you have to dress up. Well you don’t have to, but we did.
Show time. Amazing venues – grand entrance. Swap seats with Viv’s husband, the taper Dave. I’m now in the FRONT ROW!!! The Thorns open and are great and underappreciated. I text message people the fact that I’m sitting in the front row at RCMH. Some are amused. The Gusters play. I’ll spare the details because I could go on and on and will later. The best show ever – even if I didn’t get to see the full effect of it (full sound and lights). Take lots of photos. Encore. Woo! After the show Viv and Kat walk over from their seats and hand me Adam’s set list that I had eyed and assumed two annoying blonde girls had grabbed. “You came all the way from California so we thought you should have a set list.” Good people…great friends. Head back to soundboard where Dave was taping and hang out for a short time. Must get to the suite for the after party. After party we did until 3am at least.
Morning comes too quickly. Time to pack up, load the cars and me to head back to Baltimore for my flight. Go have breakfast first though. I ask the leading question of, “does Southwest fly out of the Boston area?” “Why” Kat questions. I’ve decided to change plans as there’s no reason for me to go to Baltimore now. Call Southwest and change my flight to be out of Providence, RI Monday afternoon. Drive back to Boston with Kat talking the entire way since Drew is being a little bitch (cd player wouldn’t work). Add Connecticut to my list of states. Nearing Boston we call Beth, a mutual friend/Guster fan. She agrees to meet us for dinner. Kat gives me the unintentional Guster tour as we drive to her house. What the hell am I doing in BOSTON?!? Beth arrives and we head to Harvard Square for Mexican food New England style. Good, but doesn’t top the Cali style.
We walk around Harvard Square for a short while but exhaustion sets in. Beth takes us back to Kat’s house. Almost time to return to the real world. Fall asleep on the couch after watching The Restaurant. Morning again comes too quickly. Kat’s off to work and I sit and wait for Viv to pick me up to take me to Rhode Island. Rain, oh glorious rain. We listen to the RCMH show on the way. Viv gives me a copy. It’s good to be friends with the taper’s wife. I sit in the airport and have coffee while waiting. The plane is delayed 30 minutes. Finally board and arrive in BWI with barely time to get in line to board the next plane. We take off and have to land in St. Louis for more fuel because of headwinds. I’m nearly an hour late into LAX. Hopefully Kathy is waiting with the truck. She’s not. She’s waiting at the gate. Her flight was delayed an hour also. To baggage claim with us to wait for my bag. To the curb to wait for the C Airport Bus. Round and round go the B and G line busses. No C. Finally it comes. We are first on. Slowly slowly it goes picking up more and more passengers until we are filled to capacity. The bus arrives at the C lot. We miss the first stop which we could have gotten off on and have to ride through the rest of the stops. The guy yells the stops but most people can’t hear him and get mad. Kathy and I are the only ones on the bus having fun as the planes take off right above our heads. WRROOOOOMMMM. Finally the next to last stop and we get off. The truck! All that’s left is the drive back to Bakersfield. Along the way I comment to Kathy on the surreal moment I’d just had. Driving in the darkness of night, it almost feels like we are just heading to the airport and it all had never happened. Just like a dream. What a damn good dream it was.
Exactly how I ended up here in Boston for the second time is a long story which I can't quite put into details yet, but here I sit with a cup of coffee on my right, typing away on a new friend's computer, passing the time away until I head to the airport for the return flight to my "normal" life.
This extended weekend vacation has become proof positive that things happen for a reason. It was my restlessness at work that lead me to make the decision to hop on a plane with less than 24 hours notice and from that point on events triggered other events. The full details will have to wait until the last page of this journey is completed but know that the words I will write, can in no way truly convey all this weekend was for me.
Is there any other way to buy honey than in a bear? I mean really, you've got your normal squeeze bottles and the many jars but that bear just calls out to you and says, "..." well it doesn't say anything because it's an inanimate plastic bottle of honey shaped like a bear. Growing up a family friend would bring by this huge gallon jar of honey - fresh from his farm. That my friends, it a lot of honey.
I'm fighting hard against the weekend ending. Don't you have those Sunday nights where try as you might, Monday is coming despite all efforts to stop and rewind time to Saturday night? Just me then? Here I sit, working on a little something something to mail off to a friend who'll be volunteering at Camp Mak-A-Dream again. I should be there too, but I'm not. I had these grand intentions of using my vacation days for some big trip but I can't decide where to go and beyond that, part of me wants someone else to go with me. Kathy even got the globe down tonight in attempts to narrow down my options. After the many suggestions such as Turkey, Ireland, Peru, and Costa Rica, she suggested started to show signs of frustration and suggested Liberia - evidently it's "booming" there [sarcasm intended].
Until then I'll be sitting in Bakersfield where the most exciting thing of my weekend may well be the creation of the BPT. Much like a BLT, it's a sandwich comprised of the requisite bacon and tomato, but in absence of lettuce (okay, we had some but it was browning and as my mother could atest to I'm particular about my leafy greens) I substituted the only other greenness in the fridge - snow peas. Not so bad really.
