My week started out pretty great - I was driving to work very groggy and not-yet pumped with coffee, when I heard the "best of" Dudley & Bob show on the air. I don't much care for morning radio shows, but something they were talking about peaked my interest for some reason. They went to a commercial, then some live person came on air & said, "caller 10 gets passes to ACL fest, call now!", then the commercial immediately started. It was so fast, I almost thought I didn't hear it right. I grabbed my cell anyway, and started dialing. First try - busy. Second try - busy. Third try - ring ring. Much to my surprise, I turned out to be caller 10 and won myself a pair of 3-day passes to ACL this coming weekend.
If you aren't familiar with my bizarre talent for winning things off the radio, this is a perfect example. My whole life, I've had the ability to win tickets, CD's, dinner for two - you name it. I'm convinced it's why I will never win the lottery. Instead, I'm destined for a life of random excitement, and lots of concerts, which is actually ok with me. To date, some of my more memorable winnings have included tickets to Morrissey, STOMP, Depeche Mode (which included backstage passes - yes, I thought I might die from that one), and a box set of Six Feet Under, one of my favorite shows of all time. Now I stumbled onto this. Here was my instant conundrum though ... I don't really want to go. I know, I know, it's unheard of and out of character for me NOT to want to go see the likes of Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, Thievery Corporation, Flogging Molly, Ben Harper, Phoenix, & The Toadies (just to name a few) for free, but I guess I'm just getting old. The thought of having no choice but to use port-a-potties all day long, while mingling amongst very large groups of intoxicated people just doesn't sound appealing to me. Believe me, I understand the power of live music. It's been a driving force in my life since I was taken to my first concert at the age of 8, but these days, I'm just not up for fighting the crowds, especially outside. Oddly enough, there is a huge part of me that's actually sad that the desire isn't there. I know myself, and ten years ago, I would've begged, stolen, or borrowed to get a ticket to ACL. But now? Eh. *shrug* To give you an idea of how many people I'd have to put up with just to hear one of the bands, ACL's site has been keeping track of people who tag certain artists they plan on watching. As of today? 27,187 have marked Kings of Leon as a band they plan on watching.
27,187?!
Kill me. I'd rather listen to them on my iPod on my sofa or in my backyard. Thievery Corporation? 14,188 people. Pearl Jam? 20,821. Nope. No thanks. Besides the fact that I'm terribly claustrophobic & large crowds make me anxious, the thought of that many people standing in the exact same place I want to stand doesn't sound like very much fun. Unless you camp out all day long in front of the stage until your band comes on, you will be ground-level behind throngs of sweaty people, and the performers will most likely look about 3 inches tall. Those days are over for me, folks. I prefer smaller venues, smaller crowds, and being able to really enjoy the music. Not being elbowed by college kids, smelling the weird smells that come with outside events, and trying to hold my urine in all day to avoid a trip to the shit box.
*shudder*
So, I decided to go with my gut feeling & sell the tickets instead of toughing it out down there. I struggled with this decision at first, because the young me couldn't believe I would be passing up the chance to attend a 3-day festival, chock full of kick ass bands, at no charge. But, the older me won out, and made a better case in my mind to sell them to someone who wants to go but couldn't get tickets (they sold out ages ago), and put the money I make away for our impending cruise. I can't say I'm not still a little disappointed in myself for taking the money over the music, but it is what it is, and I have to own up to the fact that I'm not 25 anymore. Live shows aren't what they used to be, at least not to me, and I can't pretend this one will be any different. I'm just not that person anymore. Growing up & realizing things about yourself like this sucks sometimes.
Aside from my ACL quandary, we made a trip down to The Pecan Street Festival this weekend, as we do every year. I know, I just finished saying how much I hate crowds, then I go to something like this, but PSF is different. At least you can keep moving - that's a big thing for me. We saw lots of neat vendors, ate our way through $40 rather quickly, and met a really cool dog.
Drew.
He is a five-year old Cane Corso, and it was love at first sight. A rescue group for Cane Corso's was down there taking donations, and Aaron was so excited - he's always wanted one of these dogs. See, they are descendants of Roman war dogs, and you know how much Aaron adores anything Roman. They are gentle giants, very even-tempered, good with kids, and a quiet breed. (Essentially, the antithesis of my Elijah.) Drew didn't much care for cats, but that was the only thing his handler could tell us that was anything but complimentary. I wish I could've captured how gigantic Drew's paws were - males are between 90-110 pounds, and he was no exception. He was amazing! We may have to consider this breed when we get our next round of fur-children down the road.
As I mentioned, we ate our way through the festival, which included Aaron's tradition of shrimp-on-a-stick, my tradition of a Greek gyro, and Z's tradition of funnel cake. He was in absolute heaven.
His funnel cake, frying up nicely.
The finished product.
The momentous first bite.
It passed the test.
My guys.
I'm also happy to announce that we recently started a workout regiment that kicks a bunch of butt! I stumbled upon this page on Facebook called "Couch-to-5k" and it's a workout plan that can get you off your couch & trained enough to run a 5k without dying - in just 9 weeks. Sounded intriguing, so I showed it to Aaron & Z, and they were on board. So, we started week one on Monday, Sept 21st, and it rocks! We actually look forward to going each time, it's so great! Zach has been doing it with us as well, and he's amazing! Only drawback at this point is that we all realized we need a new pair of running shoes. Ouch. Guess that will be on our list of things to do this weekend. Since I have such ferocious feet problems, I have to go to a specialty store and fork out a little extra cash to get shoes that will help me, but until then I'll just keep doing a lot of this:
Three things I'm grateful for today:
1. Winning ACL tickets.
2. Stumbling upon the Couch-to-5k plan.
3. The continued rain.
Peace and pastries to everyone, until next time. ♥♥♥
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