Bringing the Drama

(this is one of those stories that happened during my blog absence)

Here’s the setup: I am not one to have a strong opinion about different cities, but I love NOLA and HATE Houston. The hate started when I went to Houston to see Coldplay in 2007. I ate dinner with friends in SE Houston, then drove back to my friend Andy’s house in NW Houston and the trip was more than 70 miles. If I drive 70 miles, I want to be in another city. I drove 70 miles and I was still in Houston. It was like the Twilight Zone.

Last summer when I went to Denver despite Bono throwing out his back, I flew from NOLA to Houston and had a connecting flight to Denver. My connection time was probably between 30 and 45 minutes. We landed in Houston and I found out the connecting flight was a train and a bus away on the OTHER SIDE of the airport. THANKS CONTINENTAL! I have now learned that IAH is laid out so it is impossible to make a connection if you have less than an hour. The train moved very slowly. It is nothing like ATL’s train that whisks you from terminal to terminal with ease. I could have run faster than this train at IAH moved. After the train, I had to take a bus to the outpost where my connecting flight was, which apparently was an older terminal. The bus driver drove like he had nowhere to go, ie SLOW. The terminal had two sides, and my flight was on the 2nd side. We pretty much wasted a stop because no one got off at the first one. At the 2nd one, I hurriedly exited to try to make my flight. As my fellow Denver passengers and I walked up, the plane was backing away. We had missed our connection to Denver. We were trapped in Houston! I shook my fist in the air with fury!

The lady at the desk was able to book us later flights, but the damage had been done. We all had to ride the bus and train back to the bigger terminal to wait for the flights later in the afternoon. For those who enjoy diagrams, this is how my time at IAH went:

Arrive –> Train –> Bus –> Missed Connection –> Bus –> Train –> Depart

Instead of arriving around lunch, I would be arriving around dinner. I walked around and found a place to eat, and later a Clyde Drexler handprint that I compared my hand to. Finally, I boarded the flight to Denver and met up with my friend Adriene in the middle of a severe thunderstorm. Of course I did. Thanks again Continental and IAH for the ridiculous travel adventure.

My dad and I have a very complicated relationship with my BR family. As an update to the last time I talked about this, I had somehow been cut off from my uncle and grandfather too. That was until this past November when a great thing happened. I ended up getting my grandfather’s phone number through a 2nd cousin and then calling him. I had literally dreamed of calling him before actually doing so. In the dream I started sobbing, it was ridiculous. And then it happened in real life. We talked for a while. I had gone years without talking to my uncle or grandfather. My uncle moved my grandfather to an old folks’ home, but did not tell my dad or I where or anything. I found out my uncle screens his calls and does not answer any calls from our area code. His wife told me that last time I called, because I started leaving a message and she picked up. That was before I was banned though. Luckily my dad’s cousin was able to help us.

My grandfather and I have talked at least once every couple of weeks since then. I went and visited him the weekend before Christmas. I had not been over to Plaquemine since I was a kid. He’s excited about the wedding, and says things like he wishes he could go but he probably can’t. I’ve been telling him not to worry about that, we will figure out a way. It sucks seeing him without a car and not being able to go anywhere on his own. Before his fall, he was still cutting his own grass, driving his Jeep around town, dealing with the d-bag college student neighbors parking their car in his yard, etc. His mind is all there, but the body’s not. I’ve been encouraging him as best I can to see the good things in his new situation. His sister lives around the corner, and his brother lives a couple of streets over. Our visit a couple of weeks back was fantastic. I’m going next weekend and bringing CZ, so I’m really looking forward to that. I know which side of the building to park and walk in on now too.

The goodness of the trip did not stop there. On the way home from Plaquemine, I stopped at the Five Guys in BR. I love Five Guys. This time I ordered a burger with no cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions, green peppers, and jalapeno peppers. The no cheese thing was kind of by accident, but it won’t be next time. Everything was so delicious, I did not need cheese. It was Burger Nirvana. The jalapenos added just the right flavor and now I will have to get that every time I go back.

To my faithful reader(s), in the eternal words of Michael Jordan….I’m back. It’s been a while since I even started to type an entry. I’ve been keeping the good things posts and all, but over the summer was not very interested in blogging. Most of the stuff that would happen was because I was unemployed, and that was not very fun to talk about. It was embarrassing, and I know it should not have been, but I hated talking about it. HATED IT. So I didn’t type posts, because I felt everything that happened was somehow related.

The anger I had towards my old job has mostly subsided. I really hated working there the last few months. Nothing made sense, managers were clueless, and program directors had no idea of what actually went on. I think I was axed because I was truthful about looking for another job rotation because of the grim program outlook. I even buffered what I said with “I’m just trying to find out all my options.” When it came down to it, none of my managers were helpful trying to find me another job. I’ve learned in recent grad school classes how managers should behave, and none of my old managers did any of that. No wonder the program is on shaky footing.

I went on an interview to ATL (with the same company) over the summer and eventually was offered the job. The job seemed interesting enough, and the guys I interviewed with were cool, but the pay increase was peanuts. I had always felt underpaid, so to move to ATL for a 5% pay increase was not worth my time. I was in touch with a recruiter for that job, and when I showed doubt about the offer, he made me feel like the company was doing me a favor because of all the layoffs in NOLA. Thing was, I was the one who found the job and I was the one who applied. No HR person helped me, even though I had heard people were supposedly doing that. When I turned it down, he asked me what I was going to do, as if I did not have any other options. Of course, that’s his job, to get me in that position, but I just felt most of the people I dealt with whether it be the recruiter, or the worthless people who worked in the ‘transition center’, did not know how to deal with an educated person who knew his options. I explained to the guy that I was dating a girl at the time, and engagement was imminent, also that I did not think the salary was worth me moving away from her and all my friends for a job that was not THAT great. I even told him “it’s not like I’m taking a pay cut because I’m signing with the Yankees.”

I eventually found a new job thanks to a friend at a job fair. The interview went well, and I weighed the pros and cons. The only con was the commute. I grew up at my grandparents’ in Metairie during the day while my parents worked downtown until I went to 1st grade. I remember those long drives in the evenings. I never thought I’d be doing that. I needed a job though, and this one seemed to be giving me a good opportunity I had never had before. I had grown tired of sitting at home and reading books. Not that there’s anything wrong with reading books, but I wanted something to do. (Incidentally, I reached my goal of reading every HP book before the first movie) The commute has not been as bad as I thought. I wake up by 4:30 am, leave by 5:30 am and get home around 5:30 pm. I’ve gotten used to the drive, and the times I am traveling on most days it has only added 15 minutes to my commute. The job has been awesome. So far so good.

So I told you I would be watching the US/England game in Denver, right? I ended up watching the game with a couple of thousand other people in the middle of a blocked off street in the light rain. It was awesome.

Since my friend Jacob ended up not being able to come to Denver, I was determined to show up two hours before kickoff to watch the game at an Irish pub near Coors Field. I walked out of the Hyatt with my American flag bandana on, because of all days to wear my patriotic bandana in public, June 12th would be a day. The Irish pub plans changed after I showed up and saw no empty seats and the viewing angles for the possible areas to stand pretty much sucked. I ended up at this place called the British Bulldog. My mom had actually found out about it in a magazine or something and told me about it. After a phone call and a google search, I had the location and started walking.

I arrived about 11:15 or so, a little over an hour before kickoff. There was a pickup soccer game in the street, and the beer line wasn’t long. They had what looked to be Carlsberg on tap at the truck outside, but I did see someone with a can of PBR. I never went and investigated where the red, white, and blue cans were though. Adriene and Brandy were going to meet me there later in the day, so I got a spot under an awning and started to wait. There were a ton of people there already, but as the kickoff neared, the crowd swelled. I’m not sure how the Irish pub ended up, but this place to watch the game was WAY BETTER. The beer line grew to half a block. I had chosen not to start drinking until closer to the game, but with that long line I just abstained.

The crowd was pretty electric considering we were outside in the light rain. I moved out into the street just before the game started. When Gerrard scored, the smattering of English fans cheered while everyone else stewed. We had been so amped up and it all came crashing down just a few minutes in. It did not help that it began to rain harder too. Dempsey’s goal shot new life into the crowd. It’s one thing to celebrate with some friends, but with a couple of thousand other people it was great.

Adriene and Brandy showed up just before halftime, and the rain stopped. Things were looking up. Everyone collectively was up and down during the 2nd half. No goals were scored, but there were some close calls. It was nice to have the same reaction as other people like when Altidore struck the post. When Rooney missed on a header in the 2nd half, I yelled out something about how he was going to be eating beans in a trailer. I’m not sure how many people got that I was referencing the Nike commercial, but at least Adriene laughed.

Since the game ended in a draw, nobody really went home disappointed. Well, except maybe the English fans. I was kind of hoping for a miracle win or something, but I could live with a draw. It was cool walking away from that place with people wearing flags and face painting with people driving by and honking. It was definitely a game we were proud of, and I got to watch it in the middle of a blocked off street with a couple of thousand fellow crazed fans for free. Can’t beat that.

BTW, that’s my unemployment beard. I stole the idea from Coco.

If you missed the game here’s a 4 min highlight reel.

Today the USA soccer team takes on England. I’m currently in Denver, lamenting Bono’s back injury and my friend Jacob’s absence. I’m also going to be watching the USA play England. Remember back when I posted about how excited I was when the US beat Spain? Imagine that, then multiply it by 1000. I’m so so so excited for this game.

Here’s a video giving a glimpse of what the team went through to qualify for the WC.

It’s going to be long odds for the US to win, but like that quote I posted last summer, and like I’ve read in articles leading up to today’s game, we’re Americans. We always believe there’s a chance and we will not give up until it’s over. Here’s hoping today is a game we can all be proud of.

ABC, 2:30 pm ET, in HD.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

one of my favorite pictures from when I went to Europe in 2008 was me running from a giant metal spider outside of The Louvre in Paris.

My travel companion Lori persuaded me to do it after a short discussion of “can we walk on the grass?” It was the first real tour day of Paris, and it was at the very beginning, before we found out The Louvre was closed.

Anyway, the reason I’m posting all of this is I found out via Ryan Adams (really, I’m not obsessed, I just clicked on a link of someone’s FB or something, and then he had posted a link with a picture of a giant spider like in the picture) that the artist responsible for sculpting the spiders (which are placed around the world), Louise Bourgeois, died last week. She was 98! She was known as the Spiderwoman. Imagine that.

Back in 2003, I was planning a trip to Los Angeles to visit a friend who at the time was working out there. He currently is in grad school in Budapest, by way of China. I was still rather green when it came to ordering drinks in bars, and knew I wouldn’t be able to go to LA and order beer, I wanted to order something that sounded more sophisticated. My friend Dean at work told me about Maker’s and Sprite. It was genius. As a big fan of Swingers, we made a trip to the Dresden where I ordered the drink. It was easy to say and sounded classy. Ever since then I have usually kept a bottle of Maker’s Mark in my liquor cabinet. I had just bought a new bottle a couple of months ago, but bought a new one tonight. Behold, a special edition bottle with black and gold wax! Thank you Maker’s Mark! WHO DAT!

Sometimes at work I’ll be looking something up on Wikipedia, and then the next thing I know I’m reading something I had no intention of reading, yet it is fascinating. One day a few months ago, I happened upon the page talking about Andrew Jackson, and read how the famous statue of him on the horse that I knew from Jackson Square in NOLA is also in Nashville and Washington DC. Intrigued, I made a plan to get my picture taken with all 3. At the time I had plans to go to DC for a youth conference, but those plans fizzled. When I made my plans for Nashville, I remembered reading about the statues. Luckily on Saturday, I was able to get my friends Brandi and Aaron to swing by the state capitol and Brandi got my picture. It was ridiculously cold BTW.

So now I have the one in NOLA which obviously shouldn’t be that hard, and the one in DC to get. I have no idea when the next time I’ll be in DC, but I didn’t put a time limit on getting the pictures. I read that there’s one in Jacksonville, FL, but the plaque on the one in Nashville says there are 3, so the one in JAX must be a late addition that won’t be required. However, if I end up in JAX for something, I’ll be sure to make it to the statue.

Because I’ve suffered from severe writers’ block lately but I still want to document the awesome things that happened over the weekend of my triumphant return to Nashville after a 2 year absence, you get the incomplete sentences of the awesome and not so awesome:

- shared plane with inappropriate singer
- lady’s excitement over inappropriate singer
- beer shopping
- trip to recycling collection place
- Dagny!
- well, now don’t you feel horrible for parking where kids in wheelchairs are coming out?
- 2 for 1 High Life
- seeing friends from across the room in the Ryman, feeling like a rock star
- realizing God still chases after me, no matter how unintentionally I seem to run from Him
- sleeping late
- ridiculous federal job app
- meeting blog friend Mandy
- making it to Fido for the first time ever
- Miles!
- Jack White’s house!
- eating sushi for the 2nd time ever
- interesting shop talk
- Hank/Hank Jr mugs
- Jack White’s record studio/shop was closed
- picture of me with Andrew Jackson statue
- Grimey’s with drunk Santa and ‘drunk’ elf
- Saints/Cowboys!
- “chicken/taco/really good whatever it is officially called” soup
- Missed FG! Craziness!
- Saints sadness
- awesome sermon at church
- leading the youth group boys to a gift wrapping championship
- blue coast burrito
- 5 NFL games at once
- free airport wifi
- home

I’ve been hoping U2 would play in the Superdome for their 360 Tour, but thus far nothing has been scheduled. I guess they feel they played the South on their first leg of the tour this year. The new dates for next summer were nowhere really close. There were a couple of weekend shows though, so when the dates came out I had mentioned them to my friend Jacob. Denver and Miami were both on weekends, so the possibility of going to those shows was higher, as opposed to the shows on the first leg this year that were on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

This morning I went on U2’s page wondering if any other shows had been scheduled, and saw the Denver show was going on sale today. In fact, I realized it was going on sale 5 minutes from the time I saw the listing. Intrigued, I thought I’d see if I could pull field tickets, and if I got them, then I’d worry about buying them later. I really doubted I’d get them though, because they are always sold out when I’ve put in for them for every show. Of course, I’d never tried right when the tickets went on sale, but still, I did not hold out much hope at all. There are multiple levels of the fan club and they all have their own presale.

When the tickets went on sale, I put in for 2 field tickets and hit ‘submit’. The page loaded, and loaded, and loaded, then it loaded. FIELD TICKETS FOR U2! What was I supposed to do now? I called Jacob and told him what was happening, he told me to buy the tickets, and we’d figure things like a flight and all that later. I just needed the encouragement I guess, because that’s what I was thinking of doing anyway. Sometimes I just need someone confirming what I’m already thinking to put me over the edge to make a decision. After I cleared the YES I WANT THESE TICKETS page, it came to the billing stuff. I was wondering before I finalized the purchase, if the field seating for the show had different levels. There were two options for GA tickets for Denver. So I called the biggest U2 fan I know, Adriene, to ask her. She told me (this may not be an exact quote) “I’m not sure, but Susan bought me and Brandy GA tickets for Denver.” WHAT? THEY ARE GOING TOO? I told her “whoa, I am buying GA tickets for Denver! OMG! Okay, let me fill this billing stuff out!” I filled out the rest of the page and finished the purchase. I JUST BOUGHT FIELD TICKETS FOR U2!

I realized after buying them, life could be completely upside down in June. I could be living somewhere totally different, working a totally different job (I HOPE), Jacob may not even be the person going with me. Things could be altered massively from what they are right now. I will have Bono in Denver though, and for me next summer, that is enough.