September 2004

September - a Month of birthdays, and two more Palooza’s!

First I must apologize for the delay in getting this Journal out. As usual I’ve managed to put so many other things higher on my priority list. Also, something new to my journal this month is pictures from my cell phone. Some are great and some are so-so. It all depends on the lighting. It’s just another way to get you more impromptu photos of day to day life.

It’s obvious that all of our parents were gettin’ lucky during the holidays, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many September babies. Sharon’s and my birthdays are in September as well as no less than 5 more of my closest friends. It makes for a busy, drunken and expensive month. (Why should this one be any different than any other?)

I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday this year - at least not publicly. I just wanted to have a nice dinner with Sharon somewhere. But, everyone managed to convince me to go out and check out an open mic night at a local tavern. We had fun, and it was nice and mellow. Later, we even stopped by a strip club a friend of ours bounces at for a little while. So much for our private, quiet dinner. Ronn gave me an awesome gift card to Express for men - one of my favorite stores. But, I must say, the highlight of the night was the gift from Riki and Deane Laseter (Johnny Phoenixfrom the festival circuit). They gave Sharon and me two nights stay at the Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Studios for Halloween Horror Nights. (See next month’s and Last October’s journals.) We can’t wait to go!

 

Arrow-head Sharon at the Mall

Jef with a Stormtrooper at the Mall

Moose-head Deane at the Mall

Other than the massive amount of Birthdays and preparing for the next sortie of palooza’s we were able to spend some quality time at the MALL OF AMERICA! - Or the MALL OF GAMMERA as we affectionately call it. We spent many a day wandering its 5 levels looking for a bargain and partaking of its entertainment venues. This was one of my first chances to get some cool photo’s with my new camera phone. It’s really neat but takes a while to email all the photo’s to myself for access on the computer.

 

Deane Laseter and Liz at the Mall

Me and Shamus outside Applebee's

Palooza after-party

I’m not gonna talk too much about the Minnesota Palooza shows in this journal. I think I’m gonna do a special supplemental journal of pictures for that. I’ll just say that after all the stress, both nights went well, just like the Florida show. The only difference? - Two nights. I think that was our only mistake. Instead of maxing out or selling out one night, we split our audience in two. Both nights were still busy and very well received but we would have saved a lot of $$ if we rented the auditorium for only one night. Lesson learned. No more multiple night shows until we start selling out. And Friday night shows are always better attended. We have to remember that not everyone works the funky weekend-only hours we do. Don’t worry, we already have Palooza two written and are going into production in November. Nothing can stop the great Palooza machine! Other than Palooza, September also brought some dental cleanings which I was enough of a geek to get some self-portraits done with my new phone. I’m such a dork! But, a dork with nice teeth! Riki and I also made a great new friend in a fellow named Chad. He does after-market car and truck customizing. And since Riki just bought a new car (I’ll get to that in a second) the timing of his arrival seemed perfect. Riki got a nice alarm with auto start put in his new truck. I on the other hand had a truck with a couple of years on it and a liner-less bed that was screaming for attention! It was so scratched up! I had him put a spray in liner and it looks like new!

 

Jef at the dentist

Jef's truck bed before

Jef's truck bed after

Now, on to the new vehicles... yes, I said vehicles - plural. I finally got to live out a fantasy of mine: to buy a car for my wife for her birthday. I got her a loaded Nissan Maxima! It wasn’t totally intentional but she couldn’t get the financing we wanted in her name, so I had to buy it! It only seems fitting since my truck is in her name. The last time she bought a car, Riki bought one the same day. Well guess what... they did it again! I’ll tell ya we really know how to make a salesman’s day! Riki picked up a Nissan Titan, also loaded. It’s so much more of a vehicle that he’s ever owned. I’m very happy for him. Sharon too.

 

April and the baby at Sharon's Bday party

Suzie and Sharon the Birthday Girl

More of the gang at Sharon's party

We managed to make it to North Carolina with only one blowout on the trailer with very little damage. Sharon took it a lot better than the fiasco on the way to Ohio. We were stuck on the road for her actual birthday so I called ahead to get all of our friends in North Carolina together for a little shindig at one of our favorite restaurant/bars... The Galway Hooker! It’s a neat Irish pub that serves great food! It was nice to get everyone together for her special day especially when we were stuck on the road the night before. She got to show off her new car and all had a wonderful time. We also managed to sneak in a trip to Florida after the first weekend of CRF. We hadn’t been home in months so it was good to see the old homestead. We also got to spend some time with one of Sharon’s best friends Tiffany. She just got engaged to her boyfriend Terry and asked Sharon to be her maid of honor, so they have lots of work to do. But it’s an excuse to have some more cool parties!

 

Newly-engaged Tiffany and Terry

Dinner in NC with EJ and Charity

Let’s see, birthdays, Palooza, dentist, cars... I think that’s everything. I promise I’m gonna try to get the next journal entry in sooner! Until then... ciao for now!