I need to post about my bday celebration on Feb. 18 before I completely forget. Dios Malos was playing a free show at Luna Music north. Amy & Alex decided to join me after they realized I was going by myself. Too bad they missed all of Dios Malos heh. They were really good, but only played a few songs. I’d never been to Luna before, but living so close to it now, I think I shall have to frequent it. It’s awesome! Surprisingly, there were 2 more bands playing that were completely weird but exciting!

Now I saw the girls in the next band when I first walked in and I recall thinking, wow they are dressed really cool, so it made sense they were in a band. I was feeling a bit intimidated at first, thinking all the locals dressed like that haha. So they were the Dandelion Junk Queens (first pic), and when I saw the instruments in hand: little guitar (name anyone??), saw, accordion, bucket drums & a washboard, I couldn’t help but wonder how cool they were gonna sound.  Both their sound and the lyrics of the first song completely sold me. I had to buy their CD. Here’s first song they played & my fave: Port Townsend. They completely rocked in a gypsy/witch sounding kind of way, to borrow a friend’s reaction.

Their CD packaging was crazy clever too. It was a small brown paper bag, folded in half with B&W xerox artwork glued on the folded on front & back with some stamps on it. I stayed in Port Townsend when I was in WA, and so I talked to accordion girl (with the incredible hat) and she said that’s where she bought her first accordion. Pretty cool.

So after they left the stage, the real freaks showed up. I had no idea what they called themselves, but they were the true reason I faced the cold to grab my camera. Alex thought the girl was a 14 year old boy until she sang beautifully. She sang awkwardly loud and seemingly made love to her accordion. There were a lot of things about their performance that truly freaked us all out. Amy had me take photos of the man’s feet, knowing they would make a great reference for an animated character :) They were good though aside from the girl butchering the clarinet.

We headed out before their encore performance to make our reservations at Bd’s Mongolian Barbecue. When I was at the Mongolian BBQ in Tampa,  I decided right there that I wanted to celebrate my bday at one, so I did :) Mitch, Abby, Drudd, Allison, & Adam eventually joined the three of us. We were at an awkwardly long table, so I didn’t get to talk to everyone very much, but I was told over the next couple days how good of a time they all had. Adam just cracks me up. I can’t even begin to put his comedies in words. 

So Mitch asked Alex how many rounds he was aiming for. Well, silly me, I held up 4 fingers, and it seems in doing that, I pledged myself to that number as well. I was full-ish after round 1, so on round 2 I put together the most random mix of ingredients. I got points for eating it hehe. I knew I didn’t need round 3, so I pleaded to Alex for a compromise. He was in the same boat, so we agreed 3 would do it.

It was a really fun evening. I can always count on Mitch for a chuckle at my obscure comments and to be eavesdropping on the same conversations. I missed the context of the one, but I did catch, “Well, this is a $48 bra” coming from the bar with a group of 55+ ladies, who had clearly been there awhile.

Unfortunately, Mitch, Drudd, and ladies headed for home after that. The rest of us were debating seeing Date Movie for kicks, but before anything, we had promised Alex he could get some coffee. We ended up going to Starbucks and spending the rest of the night on some couches sipping on our selected beverages. I tried Earl Gray tea, because it’s the rave around the office, and it was completely lovely. I think most of our conversation revolved around bike wreck stories at Purdue. It worked out we’d all gone there, so could understand locations and such.

And for once, I was the one bidding others a safe trip home, since my new lil place was only a mile from Starbucks. I was sad for the evening to end, but little did I know, there was still excitement in to the night. I got home about 12, flipped on the laptop on the kitchen counter and made myself a seat there and by some act of god, I was getting an awesome wireless connection from my neighbor, which hasn’t been possible since then. Mitch the night owl was online of course. I fear it was mainly Abby wanting to get home earlier. Oh well. We exchanged photos that we’d taken that day and had a nice chat as always. So while I was talking to him, Johnny asked me to help him pick photos to print for his new apartment. I think we chatted for about 3 hours about photos and how his new job was going. I finally had to cut off at around 3am.

It really took me back a few years, having long chats late in to the night in my empty apartment. It was relaxing and a nice cap to a really fun night. What I liked most about this birthday was having no smoke or alcohol involved. It was just simple fun with some good friends. I woke up the next morning, still really happy. I have realized that when I end the night with a really good chat, my next morning is a million times better. It’s been consistently true.

Anyway, this was my long overdue celebration report. Since then, I’ve made approx 40 2-way trips up & down 2 flights of stairs moving boxes and paid $740 for 3 men to load up all the things I couldn’t carry & move them down here. I’m slowly getting things in their place. It’s tight quarters but it did provide a bonding moment with president Dave at work, b/c he had also moved from a 1650 sq ft house to a 900 sq ft location back in the day. He completely understood my pain. Photos of the place will come when it’s prettified and I find a camera with a fish-eye lens hehe.

Oh and I should toss this in here too. A major catch-up post. On Friday, a big group of us went to Grinder’s for lunch. Pres Dave was gathering people to go, so I road along with him, Brian, and Mitch. I told them of my first Grinder’s experience and how I was absolutely starving and consumed a 10” chicken parmesan sub, unable to even socialize with the people that joined me because I couldn’t stop eating. Brian followed my lead and got the same thing. He was very pleased. Mitch & I pretty much had our own private convo, aside from pushing Dave away when we caught him eying our food. haha. It seems Mitch & his dad bought a house in Broad Ripple that they’re fixing up. Really cool. I hope I get a chance to see it complete. Dave was asking me when I was going to buy a house in Carmel. I told him my dad said I shouldn’t buy anything before I “find myself a husband”. Of course, the odds are I wouldn’t find a handy husband, even if I did. But a funny convo ensued from that comment:

me: Well, I posted a bunch of online profiles

Mitch: Yeah Dad, I found this guy. He’s only 47.

Me: But he has a steady income

Mitch: he’s separated but promises he’ll divorce her

Me: And he only has the kids a few weekends.

hehe I shared that with my parents that evening, when I met up with them in Lafayette. They got a good laugh out of that. And I think that’s enough catching up.