"Look how close I've come"

Saturday was one of the best nights of my life.

Waiting outside the club for the doors to open for the Ben Lee concert, I heard a man behind me say, "Excuse me," as he unloaded gear from a nearby van into the club. Behind the van I spotted a certain curly-haired male Aussie exiting a car. I left my place by the door and walked towards him--unsure of my plan.

"Hi Ben!"

"Hello," he said in his adorable accent.

[Awkward silence.]

"I'm really excited for the show tonight!"

"Oh cool. Thanks for coming."

[Awkward silence.]

"I LIKE YOUR NEW ALBUM!"

"Aw, cool. Thanks."

[More awkwardness...]

End scene.

Wow, not my best work.

Anywhoodle. Andrew met up with me after the embarrassing small talk with one of my favorite musicians, and we claimed the best seats in the house for ourselves and some friends who were about 20 people behind us in line. I sipped on a drink that tasted like a melted blue popsicle while I enjoyed the opening act, Low Vs. Diamond.



Immediately following the band's last song, Ben Lee took the stage. He paid special attention to our table... making lots of eye contact and telling us, "Just flip the tables over. It's cool. I own the place."



We refrained from trashing the place, which is a little more than I can say about Ben. (Kidding.) He was way more animated than the last time I saw him perform four years ago. At one point he climbed on top of our table and somehow managed to avoid spilling everyone's drinks... though he was less than an inch away from dancing on top of Bri's pizza...

Throughout the show, people shouted various song requests, but he ignored them all. At one point he said, "Sorry. I love you guys. But I'm playing whatever I want."


Paying homage to his punk rock days, Ben played a song from within the audience.

I don't really understand why performers are so weird about song requests in general, but I can understand wanting to stick to a set list that you thoughtfully crafted. So party on, Ben. Even if you didn't play one of my favorite songs in the entire world, "Gamble Everything For Love." I still love you.

"Hey, I just want to let you guys know--I don't really do encores. If you want to get the full rock show experience, maybe I can turn around for a minute and you guys can clap or something? Or I can just do a stage dive?"

Okay, when I'm standing two feet from anyone who declares their intention to dive off the stage on top of me, I get a little nervous. Thank God he spared my life and jumped off our table on to the people behind us. Phew. I could be writing this post from a full body cast if he wasn't so kind. (I mean, the dude's tiny... but maybe you've heard... so am I.)

After the show, the club emptied quickly. Bri and I asked Ben if he would mind getting a picture with us. Grunting a little bit, I hoisted myself up on the bar next to him.


BFFs

While we are on the subject...

I shared this little gem on Twitter a few weeks ago, but it's back on Craigslist. I feel as though not sharing this on my blog would be a crime. Enjoy.

Vintage Mahogany OB/GYN Exam Table w stirrups - $625

We will be OPEN on Mother's day! Unusual mahogany wood OB/GYN doctor exam table. The back rest raises up for your upper body (bracket is missing), there is the wood shelf to stand on to get up on the table, also includes the original wood stirrups for other exams. The drawers slide out on either side of the table (missing knobs on one side). Would this make a great buffet for the doctor in your life, OR maybe you want to play doctor! Come see it in our shop: Red Chimney Antiques and curious goods, 525 Wallace Rd., Wexford, Pa., 15090. 724-934-1295 hours: Wed.-Sat. 10am-5pm, Sunday noon-5pm. redchimneyantiques@zoominternet.net... Why buy particle board when you can buy real wood?

There's so much I can say about this. But I'll leave that up to you.

WANT!

This is where having a tumblr would come in handy I suppose...

Butterfingers

Yay! I won a second chance to get intimate with my gynecologist's speculum this year! How lucky am I that some dope at the lab dropped my specimen? High-five!

Seriously? Does this kind of stuff constantly happen to anyone else? Or am I just really blessed?

A Man and His Towel

Andrew and I both suffer from allergies. The difference is that his allergies are related to furry critters while mine are related to dust, pollen, strawberries, and the sound styrofoam makes when it rubs together. *PUKE*

When we visit my parents, Andrew turns into a miserable sniveling, sneezing, blob of snot. My parents, who own two cats and a VERY NICE LOOKING DOG NAMED RINGO, do everything they can to remove allergens before our visits. They vacuum the entire house, including the furniture, they run an air purifier, and try to keep the cats in the basement. Usually their efforts are in vain. Despite preemptive Claritin attacks and minimal contact with the pets, we usually cut our visits short to spare Andrew the days of misery that follow his exposure.


Ringo is fierce

What does all this have to do with a towel? The towel, my friends, was given to us by our friendly local greyhound adoption volunteer. After learning of Andrew's allergies, she promised to "prepare" an object for us to use to test his reaction to greyhound dander. One of the reasons we are so interested in adopting a greyhound is that they rarely shed and are thought to be very good for allergy sufferers due to their light coats. Andrew's allergies didn't respond to hanging out with the greyhounds at a meet and greet we attended about a month ago--so the towel is just an extra precaution.

What are you supposed to do with a sick towel covered in the fur and dander of multiple greyhounds?



Hang out with it and watch the hockey game, of course!

The things that boy does for me. I love him. :)