2004-06-06 - 9:46 a.m.

I am soooo old

I should know better than to keep running around with this rock chick alter ego of mine... she's way too young for me. She's going to be the death of me for sure.

Yesterday she took me to this 12-hour-long music festival. There were three stages and no way possible to see everything. Since I was interested in everybody playing the main stage, I figured I'd just stay out there. General admission standing room only? No problem. I've stood through shows before.

Okay, wonder woman... not for TWELVE HOURS in the baking sun and humidity. After an hour and a half waiting for the thing to start in the first place and then an hour of seeing the first act, I think I was closer to heat stroke than I ever hope to be again in my life.

Okay, no one freak, I wasn't all THAT close I guess. Poetic license. With heat stroke you can't sweat - and I was sweating JUST fine, thank you.

But after that first act, I could feel the strong possibility that I might pass out, and that didn't sound that great. So I ducked into the air conditioning for about 15 minutes then headed back out.

Another hour out, another break inside, and I went back out - made it all the way up to the stage again. I have determined that I have stage-hugger's disease (SHD). In severe cases, this disease prevents you from listening to your common sense if it begins to tell you that you should back away from the stage for some reason - like, you've been there for three hours in the hot sun and you are beginning to feel like you might be sick if you don't cool down (now that's a classic symptom of heat exhaustion). But I did go back inside - after the artist I was watching finished playing. It was only one more song after I started to feel kinda not great.

I stayed inside for a while, so unfortunately I did miss some acts on the main stage - but on the plus side, I got to see some of the stuff on the side stages, and those were great. One was a guitarist giving a short demonstration/talk about style, technique, music theory - you name it. He was a blast. I'll love him forever now - if you explain the theory of relativity as it relates to music, then point out that the neck of a guitar is really a cartesian system and that if you really wanted to, you could express any chord as a quadratic equation - well you've got me, heart mind and soul. And although it may not sound it, the talk was extremely well-received by the entire audience - the guy is funny as hell, and when he goes over some people's heads once in a while, he's so charming and entertaining about it that no one minds.

So anyway. When I went back out in the late afternoon, I found a seat on the sidelines and figured I'd just stay there and use my binoculars. But then every time a new act would come on stage, rock chick would say, screw being this far back, let's go up to the stage. And off she'd go dragging me with her. Then we'd go back and sit down after they were done, with all intentions of staying put this time... then as soon as there was music, back up we'd go. Finally my feet threatened to kill her if she didn't let them have a break, so I did sit through the last few.

Right now trying to figure out how I'm going to explain the sunburn at work... thank goodness it's only on my arms so maybe I'll get away with it. I put sunblock on my face because I knew I'd be outside all day. Apparently at the moment I was bright enough to think about putting the sunblock on my face, my idiot brain figured I would be leaving my arms inside... I don't know. I just work here.

Oh, and I did decide to check a bag for my flights - with the laptop and the way I overpack when I'm going to concerts (you don't want to hear the logic of how I packed seven shirts for my last two-day trip - there is logic in it though), I had to. And I wasn't leaving the laptop home this time. If I had - what would you fine people be reading now?

And even with overpacking I don't have enough. At the moment I'm DEARLY wishing I had something else to wear instead of jeans. Oh well - I'll live. At least for today's activities, even the rock chick wasn't insane enough to suggest getting a standing room ticket for a show at a freaking football stadium.

I like the hotel. More later.

Probably. You know how I am.

my mood -

the mood of the whole world wide bleepin' web -