one week ago

so one week ago tonight, something very blog worthy happened. i jotted down some notes after the event so that i would remember everything that i needed to write about.

last monday when i got off work, i had a voicemail message from my friend rich. he was calling to tell me that he was going to be playing downtown at this showcase and that if i wasn't doing anything i should come down. i went home, fixed some dinner and asked my roommates if they were interested in going with me. we decided on that random monday night that there wasn't anything else going on, so we were in. around 8:15 or so we headed out toward downtown and we had no idea what kind of adventure we were in for. seriously...it's definitely the top of my random list for this year...maybe even the last couple years.

first of all, the whole way there, my roommates talked about nothing but professional wrestling. i had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. but they found a way to talk about it the entire way there. we drove past the place at first and had to turn around in the "gentleman's club." we found the place and parked the car and got out. before we ever even set foot in the warehouse, the craziness had already begun.

there were a lot of ridiculously crazy sets. there was a man who had a conference call on stage praising the name of Jesus. there was a woman who couldn't sing very well. there was a girl who kept playing and i didn't ever think would stop. there was an all male group who jaclyn referred to as "philips, craig, and dean."

and then, i saw my idol. there was this old lady running a video camera right in front of us. she had to have been about 60. she had a water bottle attached to her hip with this weird contraption. i leaned over and told jaclyn that i wanted to be her when i grow up. we laughed about it a lot. then, later...we saw her beating herself with a rubber mallet. it was very strange.

there was a lady in the corner painting a picture. at first i thought it was going to be like bob ross and she was going to actually have some beautiful painting. but you know when bob takes a big brush stroke and you never think it'll turn out after his big screw up? well, hers never made that transition into masterpiece. at first it looked like an ocean. then at one point it looked like a horse head. then it turned out to be this green warior. yeah, don't ask...cause no one around us knew either.

we were getting restless and rich still hadn't played yet. it was getting really late and we were debating on leaving. but for some reason everytime we went to leave, something else forced us to stay.

i met this guy who was exteremly weird. he asked me if i was on myspace. i hated to tell him the truth. but he knew i was rich's friend. eww.

At one point, we realized there was food. jaclyn made her way to go get some, but all she came back with was a handful of chips. she put one in her mouth and gave me a disgusting look. she looked at me and said "that chip was wet." eww.

there was a gospel reggae group that sang a song...they were actually pretty good until they busted out the "salute da king" chant accompanied by some weird hand motions.

this crazy guy came up to jaclyn and said "i've been dying to ask you this all night. were you in the crucible at belmont?" at that point i was doing everything i could to not crack up in the poor boys face. even after she told him that it wasn't her, it's like he didn't believe it and he kept asking if it was her...or if she had a twin. he was soo strange.

then, finally, after we'd been there for 4 hours, the best part of the evening came. rich did a set with his friends and it was absolutely amazing. it was sort of folkish...with a cello. very cool, calming stuff. it was neat to get away from the craziness of the evening and just sit back and see people worshipping. after that, rich did a set himself and closed down the evening. it's always fun to see people i know use their God-given talents to worship. it's always such a humbling experience to see them in that light.

it was a great night...