Several hours earlier I had declined an invitation to get Jeordie to her show, which I knew was all the way across town, because I was meeting a now-mutual friend (see prior blog) and my ex-roommate at Dave & Busters in Tempe Market Square for the NFL Kick-Off game. Plus, I was still feeling dizzy for reasons that remained a mystery.
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| I cannot image Jeordie with any other vehicle. |
Usually, my imagination doesn't get the best of me. Ordinarily, my conclusions are reached through logic and not jumping to the worst case scenario. Maybe it was my dizzy spell, or maybe it was the guilt from not staying for a movie with them on Labor Day, but my concern grew by leaps and bounds in record time. I didn't eat when I got home (of course, it was also after 11PM and I still hadn't eaten dinner, so it's highly likely that I would not have eaten regardless).
At some point, I had enough rationale to decide that I should give them 12 hours before I started to worry (not that I didn't have the news channels on already) so I bartered with my mind to give them until 9:45AM on Friday morning. As it turned out, that wasn't the best plan ever since I had a remote meeting at 10AM local time in another building, but I managed to text their drummer at 10:05 (yes, during the meeting) to ask whether he had heard from them, since I knew he lived nearby and I expected he would have been the most likely person to assist. Unfortunately, he had his own gig at the same time so they declined his offer to help if they needed him when they asked what he was doing, and he had not heard back from them. At least now, I knew they made it to the gig that night. But that was really all I knew for sure.
Fortunately, I heard from Chad about an hour later. He let me know where they were, where the car was, and that everyone was fine which was an obvious relief. Jeordie called me about 45 minutes later while I was at lunch, so I got to talk to her.
Then, I noticed something happen. I started having a GREAT day! Even as I walked out of Chipotle (btw, Chipotle > EVERYTHING!), I ran into her part-time percussionist Larry Schneider and chatted with him briefly. The rest of the afternoon just felt better overall. I wasn't even reeling from my earlier dizziness anymore.
That night, Chad had a substitute gig at a dive bar in Phoenix (near Thomas on 16th Street) from about 6-10PM, and he had texted Jeordie to "grab Brutha Kay and get down here," so we arrived about 20 minutes before the end of the last set. The guy with whom Chad was playing wasn't the coolest guy in the world, just in his own world I understand, but to his credit, he had a Black Crowes shirt on, so two things became abundantly clear: first, I really AM not old enough for TBC. And second, I should at least give this show a fair shake. Unfortunately, neither revelation changed my long-term thinking. I told Jeordie, "after you guys leave town, and I grow old and am no longer cool, I can come here!"
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| If you can't see this band, you're not missing much. |
As soon as the band finished its last song, Jeordie genuinely said to me "that (band) was pretty good!" It wasn't. Think of a garage band's mid-life crisis, and you will get the idea. But it's comments like hers that remind me that I will never be as positive and bright-minded as Jeordie. Plus, it was a nice reminder of just how in love Jeordie is with Chad. In response, I supportively said, "I want a girlfriend just like you!" She said, "we'll have to get right on that," followed promptly by, "Oh, that reminds me, I forgot to tell you about the creepiest thing ever!"
We actually shared a hearty laugh at the poorly executed segue, and I even told her about my old pet peeve of her dedicating songs to me. Because it was never a song like "Forever & Ever," "Diamond," or another flattering song. It's just, "let's play Kay's song. This is Kay's song, it's called 'Love is Cruel'." OR, my favorite example, I brought Amy to a gig when we first started dating, and Jeordie said, "this next song is dedicated to my friend Kay" and she proceded to start a song with the chorus.... "You're a long way from being my everything!" I had to do damage control for that one!
We kept laughing, and she told me the story about the creepiest thing ever. Apparently, another guy had fallen in love with her overnight again. Kinda lame, kinda sad, but I had to share the revelation that I had the prior night while fretting her fate: "my life went from 0 to 60 as soon as I met Jeordie!" Truthfully, I understand perfectly what happens to these guys. Unfortunately, they think they have some great mutual connection, but in reality, Jeordie's life is just that awesome. Either way, it makes your life much better. It may just be charisma, but it really feels like more. A lot more.
After the gig, the three of us went out for sushi since it was still early and we were hungry. Unfortunately, we tried Crazy Fish Sushi at Rural/Scottsdale Rd by the 202, but the whole building reeked of bleach, so we went to Sushi 101 at University and Rural, except it wasn't as early as I thought it was and the place closed at midnight. They directed us to Saki Bombers on Broadway near McClintock, which was open until 2AM (although, not really) and they had enough options available for us to satisfy our sushi hunger for under $30, surprisingly.
The only thing we had left to do was get Chad and Jeordie home, and let Playmate (a.k.a. Peekers) back inside since she was uncooperative when Jeordie and I left at 9:30, about 3 1/2 hours earlier, so we left her outside. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found when we got home, but they let out Moonpie (a.k.a. Pookers) for a second or two, and she immediately re-appeared. I missed it happening, but it sounded like it was more or less exactly how she came into our lives the first time. Something about that kitten, I'd bet her presence has ramped up Moonpie's life from zero to sixty as well.
