(a)typical austin weekend
Music: David Bowie: Stage (1978)
I had a pretty action-packed weekend of love and live music (and a leetle frustration), and am still trying to collect my wits for a week of writing that must happen or else! More guests arrive late in the week for this weekend's commencement festivities and a rhetoric people pot-luck.
Friday started off with a phone call at 10 a.m. from my neighbor who said "the plumbers are turning off the water now." What? I was in my pajamas and smelled like bed. I told Mrs. K. how inconsiderate that was, and promptly went outside to my mailbox area where there were two plumbers. "I have a meeting in an hour or so and need to bathe. Can you wait a half hour?" Sure, not a problem they said. I asked what they were doing. "We're putting a pressure valve in your neighbor's water line," they said.
Now, last week Mrs. K. kept pestering me about this valve, which I figured was in part a little-old-lady scheme given the cost she quoted me. She absolutely had to put one in, YESTERDAY, and wanted me to go in on it because it would save her money. "If you get one too, it's only $150 for each one of us," she says. I relay again I cannot afford it. "Why don't you spend your economic stimulus check?" she returned. Angrily, I said that I have a conference to go to, owed the feds $600 and would see no check, and just had a $1200 car bill. She kept on and reasoned that perhaps the plumber would take payments. "Look," I said, "if you can wait until July I'm teaching a summer class and might can afford it then. But I need to research it." She insisted that the plumber would be reasonable and said she'd talk to him and get back with me and let me know. This was last Sunday. She never called (and the work was to be done on Monday), so I had assumed the plumber said "no-can-do."
So I bathe, leave, have a great catch-up lunch with Adria, and return to find a plumbing bill in my mailbox for $350. Some of you will remember the joys of my cantankerous 80-something neighbor who behaves like a petulant teenager (for refreshers, read here and here). Well, she struck again. I called the plumber and left a message that I could not pay the bill and we needed to talk. I've yet to hear back from the plumber.
The weekend resumed to the greatness I had at lunch, however, in the early evening with birthday grrrrrrl festivities (both Dana and Adria got older this weekend). A group of folks started the evening at Lambert's BBQ (delicious!) and then a surprise happy hour for Dana. Later that night we saw the amazing Greencards play a sweaty set in Threadgill's sweltering outdoor theatre just off of Riverside. I realized to my chagrin the Greencards had apparently relocated to Nashville, which sucks: they used to play all the time here; now it's only once or twice a year. Although I'm not that big of a fan of their recent, Grammy-nominated album---it’s too "adult contemporary for my tastes---their first two albums are smoking and their set consisted (thankfully) mostly of the old stuff. Wow they were great. Then opening act was the amazing and local Sarah Jarosz, whom we were too late to see play by herself but who often played with the Greencards on stuff and in all the jams (the second video on Jarosz's page is from the show we actually saw; and someone has a gallery of the night we saw here)
Saturday I managed to get a little writing done and then cleaned house. Rebecca arrived from Baton Rouge just in time for dinner, so we hit one of my favorite places, Vivos, for some cucumber margaritas and grub. After that we headed to Club DeVille downtown in the Red River district where we were "entertained" by a Smith's cover band, Sweet and Tender Hooligans, and even more entertained by the barely legal Austin hipsters dancing 80s-style and hamming it up with the Hispanic-looking Morrissey impressionist (sans back-pocket Gladiolas, to my disappointment). Let's just say the band was "ok," Rebecca and I were returned to our 17-year-old-selves momentarily, and the lead singer took his shirt off way, way too early (like four songs into the set). We got out of downtown ahead of bar-time (always recommended to avoid the drunk drivers) and gabbed it up at my place until Rebecca left for her very-late-night party with other buddies.
Sunday began with a nice relaxing morning and a long phone call with mother for Mother's Day. I decided to make some crawfish etouffee so went to the store and got the goods. About the time I got cookin', Dana dropped by to gab a bit about our essay together and then Sadie dropped in for a visit with Jesús. Sadie brought along Roger and Amanda for the ride. After a good hour of the Butt-Sniff Carousel (as Amanda called it), the two tykes finally figured out how to play together. I was proud of Jesús, who treated Sadie like the 11-week-old that she was (very gentle). My god puppy pugs are cute as hell! I swear we could have watched them play for hours. Here's a gallery of their playdate.
This was quite a weekend for me. I'm usually lucky to get out one night a weekend. I know I appear the swingin' type, but in my old age I stay in more than go out . . . my how times have changed. And this weekend's series of outings reminded me how much I like to get out---how much Austin is an awesome place to live!---and probably would do so if I didn't have things falling apart all the time. And neighbors like Mrs. K authorizing hundreds of dollars of plumbing work without my consent.