Bringing the Drama

I’m going up to Clemson in the morning to go to my first home game since 2006. I sent a couple of FB messages to friends who still live up there to ask about parking, etc. It got me thinking about the old times, when things were simpler. I liked when my biggest decisions revolved around how many times during the week I’d eat Easy Mac.

Also getting me thinking about stuff that happened a while back, was listening to the new David Crowder Band album at work today. Listening to that got me thinking of the night my sister and I went and saw them two months after Katrina. That night pulled us through a lot of angst we had been feeling about the world and each other. I’ll never forget it. I really love the new album, I was getting stuck on a couple of songs today, and hearing a couple of them made me tear up a bit. I’ve been going through a lot of church stuff lately. A small church plant that started off really awesome has now become frustrating. It seems the group just lost focus on what we were there for, building life together as a group. My small group that was so important to me unofficially ended a few months ago, but now there are flickers we might bring it back, only different. I’ve felt lost the past few months with wanting to become part of a church body and being let down. Working with the youth group was awesome, until the youth group fractured and some kids stopped coming. Between work and school and YG being canceled a lot over the summer, I haven’t been back in a while. When I heard about the drama a couple of months ago, it hurt to hear about how adults unintentionally (i hope!) messed up the YG. Can’t anyone just focus on what’s important? Back to the DCB, hearing “oh how He loves us” over and over again, it was like I was Will Hunting and Sean was saying it wasn’t my fault. I know I knew all of that before today, but things lately just have made it hard to see.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Remember how I said it was inevitable I would join Twitter? Well, I did, at the beginning of the month. It was bad for a while, but I think I’ve gotten into a groove and not felt the need to CHECK ALL THE TIME. I posted a bunch of pictures on Saturday while I was in Baton Rouge for the LSU game. It’s cool, and I’ve already had an argument with an accomplished writer through Twitter. Of course, he went with the direct messaging so people couldn’t see his statements, and maybe that’s company policy. Now to get a reply to someone famous who I actually like!

Lots has actually been going on. I’ve been keeping track on my good things for September post, and I’ll probably elaborate on some of that later. However, I just got home from the store restocking on yogurt. I have been addicted to yogurt the past couple of weeks. It first got into my head at work when I saw a friend eating some one afternoon. Then when I was in Dallas for Macca, the hotel had yogurt as part of the continental breakfast. I tried some, and it was not as bad as I remember. I remember one time thinking vanilla yogurt would taste like the stuff from TCBY. Since that day, I really didn’t want any part of yogurt. After Dallas though, I was at the store and grabbed a few things of yogurt in a bunch of different flavors. It’s delicious, and now when I go to the store it’s like a kid in a candy store. There are so many flavors to choose from! I can’t get enough.

In other news, I’m going to my first NOLA Eat Club tomorrow night. It’s going to be a kind of double date thing, and I’m stoked. My friend Chet and I have talked about the Eat Clubs, but they’re usually pricey places in NOLA. We spied a place on the northshore for $45 a person all inclusive, and pounced. I cannot wait, I might even get to namedrop my friend Alton. (BTW, I have not gotten his book yet, but if you have, let me know what you think)

Last night I was going through pictures on my computer and came across one that I had never posted about but had fully intended to. I will now.

I had posted the story of when Jacob and I went and lived the good life at Jazz Fest, but the thing was, I wasn’t able to get a poster that day because we went on the last Sunday, so all the posters were long gone. I absolutely LOVE James Michalopoulos’ style. It’s messy and intense. It’s that whole impressionistic type that gets you to feel the painting. The 2001 poster he did is perfect IMO. You can feel that sweaty but satisfied feeling Louis Armstrong has as he steps out of the club. JM did the 2006 poster, and since I had such a magical time going that year, and I loved his work, I wanted the poster.

I scoured eBay for it for months, and just never pulled the trigger. My parents tried finding me a copy for Christmas in 2006, but couldn’t find one. Things kind of petered out on my search until I went to a local frame shop to get my Masters poster framed that I had gotten when I went to Augusta. Someone had brought one in to get framed and I saw one in person for the first time. It was beautiful. I wanted it.

I searched eBay off and on, and ‘watched’ auctions to see how much the poster was going for. I even recognized some of the sellers after a while, and knew who was legit. Finally in January 2008, I went for it. One of the sellers I had recognized was selling another poster for under $300 with a Buy It Now. I used some money I had gotten for Christmas and took the plunge. I waited anxiously for it, and when it came I immediately took it out of the tube to look at. There it was, the poster I had been after for so long was mine. I took it to the frame shop and got it framed and brought it home.

It’s one of my most prized possessions, not only because I like the style, the feeling of funk and happiness, but also because such great memories are tied to that day at the Fairgrounds, swaying with Jacob to ‘Easy’. (what? it’s just two guys enjoying Lionel Richie!)

Do you ever have one of those nights where everything comes together in spite of adversity? I got up Tuesday morning knowing the day I had been waiting for over a month was finally here, the Mute Math Album Release show. I remember checking the twitter constantly for updates after the initial tour dates came out because I was not sure if the NOLA show would be invite-only or something. Then the tickets went on sale and I bought 4 as soon as I could….then I waited.

I finished up stuff at work Tuesday evening and headed downtown. I met up with the girl in the parking garage, and we walked over to the HOB box office so I could leave two tickets for my friend Vince who bought the tickets of the two people who were late scratches. It had started to lightly rain as we walked over, and after we finished up at the box office, it started to POUR DOWN RAIN. We tried to find shelter in a doorway, and it helped a little bit. I thought for sure the heavy rain wouldn’t last more than a few minutes. We people watched the tourists who bought ponchos with fleur-di-lis on them and the kids going to the show who thought they were cool by being completely soaked. A few minutes turned into 20, which turned into 30, which turned into 40. At 7:52 I remember looking at my phone and saying “okay, at 7:55 we need to just make a run for it.” Not one minute later Crispin, the leader of the new Bible study I’m going to, runs by and I yelled out to him. Then a couple of minutes later my friend Chet and his wife and another friend run by as they make it to the box office. They all came wandering back to the doorway where we exchanged greetings. Crispin didn’t have a ticket, and the show was sold out, so we wished him luck and all headed inside.

The inside was PACKED. I haven’t seen the HOB packed many times, and the handful I have, I’ve gotten there earlier and had a better spot. We checked out the merch upstairs then tried to find a spot downstairs. We found a spot on the far left side next to the bar. While we’re standing there, I spotted Vince. They joined our group, and we were all together, not one extra phone call or text to gather everyone. As cool as it was, the group did not stay together. I stayed downstairs, while Chet and Vince went upstairs before the show started. Once the show started, sight lines improved, so it was halfway decent for a sold out show.

Mute Math came out to a hero’s welcome. The place was crammed with people, and I felt claustrophobic just looking at the floor section, so I was thankful I had breathing room where I was. They led off with The Nerve, and then briefly joked about how now they have old songs and new songs. The new song highlights were definitely Burden and Clipping. They both were incredible in a live setting I thought. The other new songs like Spotlight were great too, but a couple of songs like Backfire I was not feeling that great about. Of course they played a bunch of old songs mixed in, like Plan B, Typical, and Noticed. They played the title track of the new record as the main set closer, AND brought out the Rebirth Brass Band who played on the track. Having a brass band along with Mute Math was cool, but they kind of drowned out Paul singing at times.

The encore though was where I thought they went above and beyond….maybe because I’m partial to the songs anyway. They did Reset, which people had been chanting for, then segwayed into Break The Same. The first time I saw MM headline was before they had their first album, so Break The Same was something I had never heard before. I still love that song. When they started with “we have one more song for you” and started Reset, I was a little sad that Break The Same wouldn’t be played, how could they not play it? The transition though was great, and they closed strong with one of my favorites.

After the show I turned around to walk upstairs to pick up a copy of the new record on vinyl when I saw Crispin. He had made it in via a sound guy he knew. Awesome. I saw Chet after the show too. We all had a great time. I told Chet before the show how cool it is that every MM show has a group of us go. It just makes it that much more special when you can go to a show with great friends. I made it back home before midnight, crashed for sleep around 2:30 and woke up again at 5:30. Macca tonight.