and then there was rock.

As more things distract me from doing what is on my list of To-Do's, my silly blogs about silly things that mean nothing to you tend to take almost 48 hours to complete. you would think I could add some poignant things in here, but what would I be if 'Rambling Lunatic' wasn't something that described me?
Anyway, here's a thing:

Last night I embarked on a sentimental journey through the forgotten realms of Hell.
These are the levels that Dante thought about, then realized that they were much too tricky to describe.
The parts where mullets go to die.
And yet, they are embraced there too.
I entered a paradox of wondrous eye narcotics tonight.
It was good, yet the most evil I have encountered in my many years as Secretary of Inhuman Affairs. (not an actual position)
Tonight I went to a concert.
Not just any concert.
It was a family reunion of Cheap Trick, Poison and Def Leppard.
To say that it was epic would be saying the Titanic was a nice little yacht or that Seline Dion is pretty good at the banjo. (let your mind go with these things)

Here is my account of an evening that happened only 14 hours ago. No holds barred.
I just got home to Lisa and Jame's house. (From my Step Mom's place in Carmel, where I slept in the bed I slept in when Jr. High was a place to meet people and learn how to dismantle a gun.)I was staying there for a couple of days to help out my Dad. He has a bionic knee, and doesn't move very fast with heavy boxes of books.
Please enjoy.

Father and I enjoyed a nice afternoon of sifting through things.
He gave me many things, and bits of wonderful memories that I am surprised he parted with.
The last few days weren't as bad as I thought they would be. I still wish things were different, but at least both of them (Dad and Judy) know that I love them very dearly. Talking to Amanda helped calm my nerves, as I was about to lose my shit just before I spoke with her. Her timing is uncanny. Like an X-Man.
Lisa picked me up and we were on our way to Jason's (Fingers) house in Noblesville.
There, we ate and started to drink ourselves into a merry stupor.
Stephanie, his wife, and Sophia, their daughter were there to eat with us but did not partake in the rum that was flowing like an avalanche coming down a mountain.
As the time wore on, we were discussing the finer points of how to sneak booze into the concert venue.
I had brought a couple of stowaway airplane bottles that I thought were small enough to hide in a clever place. Sadly, my clever places meant my pants.
I managed to put two bottles in my 'down there' region. I did put them in a ziplock baggie so others might partake should they have become inclined. (and not discouraged by their proximity to my Man parts.
We knew we needed to bring the Rum, but had no way of getting the half gallon jug past security.
being the industrious and aspiring WC Fields that I am, I filled some baggies with the amber coloured Pirate kool aid and then double bagged them for quality assurance.
Lisa stuffed Andrea's bra with about a half bottle's worth of rum. I also filled two baggies and rolled them up in my sleeves, since I am prone to wearing a button down long sleeved shirt even on the hottest of days. But never a short sleeved shirt. never. Ever. It is my way...
So we are now walking to Deer Creek music Center that is now called 'Cell Phone Company that bought it and changed the name so everyone who come to this venue will suddenly switch carriers'
I still call it Deer Creek. I graduated high school there, and am a bit nostalgic. just a bit.
The place to rock is about a mile from Finger's house.
We went from fully developed housing areas that all were a shade of brown to areas that were about to become housing in varying shades of brown. Then we hit corn, and then we walked through the VIP gate of Deer Creek.
It was really just the area where all the Limos that people rented were parked, but we felt like VIP's anyway. First stop, of course was the port o pottie.
Since we walked in lieu of getting a ride from Stephanie, we missed Poison play that one song they play. (Just kidding)
Cheap Trick was breaking the hearts of girls who were not alive when Cheap Trick was a new band. And the amount of people there was amazing. I didn't think it would have been us and a couple other people, but Damn! It seems that these three bands found their target demographic with everyone anywhere ever. There must have been over five thousand, and I think I'm being stingy. We went to the police Cop who was checking ID's and stamping hands with the simple word 'Alcohol'
Fingers went first, and i think Lisa and Andrea got stamped too. i'm a little fuzzy on that.
When I met the PoliceCop, I pulled out my wallet (half in the bag already)and dropped my ticket. Fingers grabbed it for me. Thanks, Fingy. Then I struggled to get my ID out of the plastic thing in the wallet.
Then, as he was checking his memory about whether Minnesota is a real place of not, the two airplane bottles of booze fell out of my underwear. I guess they finally had enough, and now the gig was up. I didn't even get to see my one armed Def Leppard Drummer.
I guess Fingers, Lisa and Andrea saw the bottles fall out and were rolling on the ground laughing at me.
The PoliceCop didn't miss a beat (no pun intended) and said "If you drop one more thing, I'm not going to stamp you."
I told him I wouldn't. And he believed me. The fool!
Of course there was a tent set up where Camel was handing out free stuff, and as I am a sucker for free crap, we all went in and got free packs of smokes and some tins of Snus, that will never be used except for projectiles to hurl at the squirrels who are ruining Lisa and the girls garden at home.
Fingers decided it would be a good idea to spend $12 on a whiskey/coke in a plastic cup.
That's right.
Twelve American Dollars.
Six Dollars is too much, and twelve is 100% more than that.
I did however, think it was needed to pay $5 for a 20 ounce bottle of coke.
We needed something to put the rum in, didn't we?
And put the Rum in we did.

We found a spot to sit/stand in the nosebleed section of the lawn and everyone emptied our pockets/bras/ sleeves of booze that were now at body temp for easier absorption into our systems.
Then we listened to Def leppard sing about being cool and British. Very British. Even I wanted to help God save the Queen after it was done.

Cut to after the encore, and the thousands of people filed out. We just stayed on the blanket and dreamed about tomorrow or something.
When we did leave, I might have been a bit tipsy.
Just a touch.
I think my blood alcohol level was holding steady at around 56% Of my total blood.
No big deal.
Walking through an Indiana Summer night after being bombarded with rock music and booze is something I want all of you to experience.
Doing it with friends is a must, as they will keep you safe no matter what.
On second thought, no. No they won't.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a Gentleman's wager and claim that I didn't think that anyone would give me 5$ to go into the adjacent cornfield.
Lisa told me she would do just that.
And so I bolted into the corn that was just a bit shorter than I am.
Lisa decided she wanted to get eaten by a monster too, so she followed me directly.
Fingers and Andrea were watching us, walking along the drive, and listening to Lisa and I giggle at our cleverness. All the while, the top of my head was popping up over the stalks of corn. When we popped out along the road that would lead us back to Finger's house, I challenged a big sign to topple down. If that happened, I would have been the winner of an incredible prize: Another $5 from Lisa.
Sadly, the sign was very sturdy, though the passing cars were very supportive of me getting my prize money. They honked and cheered me on. to no avail...
Being bested by a sign that tells you than new homes started in the low 160's is humbling to a normal man.
Good thing I was enjoying the short term memory of a goldfish at that time.
As we strolled(stumbled) back through neighborhoods where the houses all look the same, I tripped and skinned my leg, just below the knee.
These things happen, and chicks dig scars.

By the time we got back to Finger's house, the girls were sober enough to drive home and for some reason we had the obligatory solar lights that I am so prone to acquire during nights of drunken revelry.

Lisa got me back to My step Mom's house and I slept the sleep of the just and true until my Dad got me up to load things into his storage space.

Now I am back in Irvington, and it is Annabeth's First Birthday.
I'm sure we will sit around watching her play with plastic cups and be completely oblivious to the fact that today is her most important day of the year.
But we will all be together, and that's all that matters.

In other news, I was told that Bill and Jen will be getting married next year, to which I exclaimed 'Whoo hoo' upon hearing.
Bill also asked on behalf of them both to officiate their wedding. I am very honored to be asked, and am looking forward to their big day in October 2010.
The days keep flying by for me here,and I am constantly asking myself what happens next.

Till what happens next,

Stay Awesome & Happy Birthday, AnniePants.

Andy