when ryan adams had announced his tour dates late this past summer, i was hoping for a show close by that i didn’t have to road trip to. we got mobile, at the saenger, the site where i’ve seen nickel creek twice and david crowder band once. it is a great venue. the following two shows were scheduled for houston and dallas….within reasonable driving distance. i looked at my work calendar and saw that i could see all three and only have to take one vacation day. i still didn’t think it would be any good, until this past weekend. i thought, there was no reason i should not go. i know someone to stay with in houston, and i know someone to stay with in dallas, and at worst, i’d get a hotel room. i have been checking tickets for both houston and dallas just to see what was available. today i saw someone trying to sell a ticket to houston for face value plus ticketmaster fees, and it was row L. this was much better than any of the tickets i had seen for sale on the ticketmaster website, so i gave it some thought. i went on the TM website and put in a request for one ticket. BOOM! row C, center section. oh yeah, THIRD ROW CENTER! i finally got lucky with ticketmaster and vanquished their backwards way of selling tickets. why would third row tickets be available three days before a show? i bought the ticket right away….trying to forget about the total of $15 in “charges” because it is THIRD ROW. anyway, i’m going to the show wednesday and then on thursday. Friday is still up in the air, because if i see good shows wednesday and thursday, i may be pushing my luck on getting a third great show on friday. he’s been having some issues playing an entire show lately. i feel bad, because a lot of friends are seeing shows in different cities, and i hate it when they have to sit through a meltdown, no matter how minor it might be.

also, the Saints game last night was great. i thought before the game, that they might just come out with one of those games like the Dallas game last year. Sunday night fooball, a road game against a good team….you kind of expect them to lose. then they come out and look awesome and beat down the other team. FINALLY they got up off the mat. whether or not they can still make the playoffs is another story, but it feels good to get a win!

plus…i got my five year award at work today. the way it works is when you make a certain year, you get to pick a ‘gift’. obviously the 30 year gifts are nicer than the 5 year gifts. i remember when my friend Andy made 5 years, he chose a volleyball set that we had fun with for about an hour before it broke. i looked at the list of 5 year gifts and saw the volleyball set. i may get it just for old times’ sake. i really don’t need a ring, cordless phone, or tennis bracelet. i think i’d be much happier with a cash option. :)