Great Concert

Shelley and I attended the aforementioned concert by Great Big Sea Saturday night. What an absolute blast we had. We had to agree that it was the best concert by far that we had been to. Some of the determining factors for that were perfect weather, excellent performance with lots of humor and crowd interaction, and drunk girl. Obnoxious drunk girl. So drunk in fact that she just didn't care what or who was around her. "MARGARITA" she'd exclaim at the top of her lungs. We didn't know if it was the name of a song she wanted to hear, or that her glass was empty. Probably the latter. That small detail aside, it was really truly excellent.

Given that the show didn't start until 7:30 that night, I thought showing up at 6 would be plenty of time to arrive and get a great vantage point. After all, these guys are unknowns. I had never heard of them before getting the concert schedule in my email from JoAnn (thanks babe!). Man oh man was I wrong. People had started showing up at NOON and claiming their lawnchair wide patch of earth. When we did get there, there was no place to sit in the actual bowl-shaped stage area. Fortunately for us, LLBean thinks of everything. Just in front of the bowl, beside the retail store, they set up a huge video screen and speakers for the overflow. Yeah I know that doesn't sound great, but it really was! To our surprise, we could still see the stage, at quite a distance, but we had a better view than most because the projector was excellent. We probably saw more than those who were waiting all day to sit closer than us.

After the encore, we got up and folded our chairs and walked over towards LLBean's retail store. From there, we were able to stand on the bottom row of temporary bleachers they had and Shell could get a nice close-up view of the last couple of songs they performed. Yes, the concert was great on the big screen, but we still wanted to see a couple of songs performed in plain view. To any of you who didn't go. Too bad. It was great great great. Shell screamed in delight pretty often, so I pretended I didn't know who she was a little..

On our way to the car I committed an act of rampant indiscretion, thinking we were alone of course. Shell just kind of froze and stared right at me... needless to say, I'll check behind me more carefully next time. Two people were traversing the sidewalk right behind me and did their best to act like nothing happened. Shell and I just jumped in the car and laughed ourselves silly. See what you miss by staying home?

For more information about a really great band, CLICK HERE.
Later~

What the..? Again?

Yep.. Back again. Blogging twice in one day should keep my critic's at bay for a while.. then again, it is technically Sunday now, so...

I just wanted to send out a reminder to all my pals. This coming Saturday evening at 7:30, the L.L Bean Summer concert series is presenting Great Big Sea. They are a really good celtic rock group hailing from Canada. I am already committed to going with at least 3 other people in tow. Wayne, Nancy and JoAnn. If you would like to join us, call or email and let me know. Click THIS to see one of their music videos on YouTube and click THIS to see another. Listen closely to the words of "Ordinary Day". Very uplifting. I listen to it frequently when I am not happy with my current place in life. I love how it gets me through some of the rough spots.

Now I AM going to bed. No, really.

~Later

Don't Fall Down!

Yep.. Don't be shocked!! I am blogging again already. One day after my re-surfacing from the abyss of blog-neglectdom, I am here doing my duty to instill wisdom, humor and smart-assery to the masses. Ah, who am I kidding? I know I only have about 3 or 4 regular readers.. I must give credit to Richie for my use of the word smart-assery. Your royalty check is in the mail.

Today was another steamy, muggy one. Mid-upper 80's with 100 percent humidity. So much moisture in the air in fact that it looked like fog in the lower areas in the woods and along the road. It was the second day in a row that I had to turn on the A/C for most of the day. Of course I used the power saver setting for most of the time. Must save resources for future generations to waste I guess..

My mission, this morning, was to find some sandals to wear for the remainder of the Summer. I ventured to Reny's in Bath, but it was wiped out of the type I was looking for. I either wanted to find some Tiva's or some HiTec's, but no luck.

With tears of disappointment welling in my eyes, I headed home empty handed. At the last minute, I thought I should check out Target here in Topsham. YAY! No. They didn't have the brands I was originally looking for, but they had some nice ones for cheap. The tag said $19.00 . I thought that was an ok deal because I liked the design and leather. At the checkout, they rang up $9.00. YAY again. I like surprises like that. The big downer was that they were on sale for early Fall clearance. Early Fall Clearance. If that wasn't bad enough, all the summer stuff was noticeably absent from the store, and back-to-school crap was everywhere. How long before we start seeing Christmas crap everywhere? Mid September? Say it isn't so. 2007 is 7/12ths gone.

Later in the afternoon, my sis Shelley called me from Brunswick to see what I was doing. Silly me, I was anticipating some visitors, but hadn't heard from them until after Shell came to pick me up and take me out cruising. Sorry guys. (you know who you are~!) I am so in demand and popular that I will have to start keeping a date book and schedule my time out so everyone can have a piece of the majesty that is Dan. Book early. Tickets are going fast.

Shelley, Will, Ken and I had a fun cruise up through Monmouth, Green and Leeds and headed back South to make dinner and care for her dobie pups, Annie and Rusty. I made my magic A1 chicken, guacamole and bruchetta with baguette bread. There were no leftovers except a couple of pieces of chicken. Will, who is not a tomato lover, devoured my bruchetta like a wild potassium starved chimp on a banana plantation. Shell couldn't believe he loved it so much. Ken eats pretty much anything without complaint, quickly converting anything and everything he eats into methane.. as we found out in the car. I bestowed an Otter Pop blessing on my visitors and they were quickly converted. Otter Pops are Awesome! Go to RiteAid and get some before Summer is over and they're GONE again.

That's how I see it.. and now.. to bed!
~Later

Bad, Bad Boy.

Ok.. I get the message. Get back on the horse Dan and blog dammit! Thanks to Roy and Chief for the words of encouragement. I didn't really need them, but time does allow for me to get back to this a bit.

The car show mentioned in the previous blog was a big hit. It was the 4th annual Casco Bay Car Show held at Pine Tree Academy, my old school, in Freeport. Here is a link to the pictures my niece Ashley took. I shot some video, which I have no time to edit right now, but hope to in the future. Maybe a promo commercial will be made for next years show from it.. who knows.

So.. what is taking up all my time? Well, as some of you know, I am dealing with a really bad, but much improved, skin disorder Psoriasis. It got so bad last December, that my Doctor pulled me out of work and had me apply for disability. Since then, I have been injecting myself weekly with the miracle drug Enbrel. It has made my life livable again. The disability checks have kept me afloat since April and it is truly a miracle I was approved for them so fast.

With regard to that, a good sweetie of a friend has taken an interest in my Photoshop abilities and is helping me to polish my skills in it and also learn Adobe Illustrator. As for why it is taking up alot of my time? Well, I'll tell you. I have a long way to go to become proficient, but once I manage to produce at a high level, it could turn out to be quite lucrative. YAY.. No more disability checks! No looking for a job. I could work from home editing and illustrating in my underwear. (sorry for that visual). That also means... no commute.. no time clock.. no limit to how much or how little I want to work on a particular day.. In short.... AWESOME.

What else have I been up to? Well, I still show up at the gym every weekday and pump my iron and put in my dreaded cardio time. My sis Shelley is steadfast in her coming to workout every day and it is really beginning to show. Though she doesn't see much change, everyone else at the gym is noticing. We are all our own worst critic. False self image has alot to do with that. Shelley had a particular glow about her this morning, but nobody knows why... He he..

Cooking is still one of my free time endeavors. I got the ingredients from Elizabeth's bruchetta and made some last weekend. We all loved it. She is so nice to have shared it with me. I also try to get to the Hong Kong market in Portland about once a week to stock up on their rediculously inexpensive curries and shitake mushrooms. Gotta get my curry in me. Nothing makes me sweat like a good prik king curry with chicken and rice. Wow is it hot. Wow is it good!! Burns me twice. (no kidding about that)

I'd like to send out a thank you to Elizabeth and Roy for introducing me to one of the greatest (best kept secret) lunch locations in Portland.. Yes, I am talking about Market Street Eats. Since you spoiled me there I have been there 2 more times. With my buddy from dermatology Dennis and his wife, (Dennis went ga ga for it) and then with Dennis and my Dad a week later. We have a new lunch location forever. Everything is right about that place. The price, the location, the menu... and Colin is really nice. A real entrepreneur who does his darndest to make you feel like his only customer. All these things make us go back again and again. (try the Basil Wrapbone sometime should you find yourself in the old port district of Portland). If you know the old port, Market street is a one way street running uphill one block to the left of Exchange Street if your facing the waterfront. Find it. It is SO worth it.

That's it for now. I will not neglect you so badly again. Promise!
Later~