Family-tastic

So we had 4 days of nonstop family craziness. My Dad and his girlfriend Tina came Wednesday night and we went out to dinner with them Thursday and Friday nights. We also took them to the Alberta St. last Thursday art walk, which was interesting. The highlights were the repeated comments about needing a new coffee maker, about getting too many netflix movies per month, about working too much, etc. We also heard engrossing information about retirement with lots of details about the 43 or whatever number of orchids they have, all the different kinds of species, the specific difficulties with each kind, how often they water and fertilize them, when they put them outside vs bring them in, etc etc. Thank god we had Kyle and his new girlfriend Sarah there on Friday night or I think I might have snapped (I practiced all the quips and comebacks I'd make at work that day). On Alberta, we had to practically drag my Dad from booth to booth as he was stopping at every chance he got (Oooh, that's interesting....wow, look at that!) and speaking to all the vendors/artists. Luckily Dad and Tina weren't offended by anything they saw nor did it seem they offended anyone.

Then Derek's cousin came to visit and we were psyched. She was getting us close-up tickets to the Pearl Jam/Ben Harper show for Saturday night. However, she had just undergone sinus reorganizing, or whatever they do to straighten out a person's curvy sinuses a few days before coming and still had nasal splints in with lots of nasal drainage. I think she was feeling self-conscious or maybe just drugged up (she has fibromyalgia too) because she alternated between total silence and manic 20 minute talks about a variety of topics. Sometimes tangential, she'd talk about prior Pearl Jam concerts she's been to (this was number 102), the likely lineup for the night's shows, other festivals and various shows she's been to, what she and her friends ate before the shows, where they stayed, the times that Ed (Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam) looked at her during the show or the few times they've met, etc. She didn't seem too interested in hanging out, moreso it was about the show. It felt a little surreal hearing about all the experiences and viewpoints of a truly diehard fan. We were fortunate enough too to meet another diehard, a classic 50-something rocker/hippie who was touring with the band . The show itself was pretty spectacular. We ended up getting an awesome concert poster and 2 trailblazers-esque shirts. The crowd were a mix of older folks like us, older former frat boys, teenagers (wow some of that brought me back) and a few girlie girls sprinkled in. Derek and Liz were in the 3rd row and I was back in row R, which was still pretty close. I switched with Derek for the first encore and got to see the lead singer from Sleater Kinney in a duet w/ Eddie Vedder and later Ben Harper came out with Pearl Jam. All pretty amazing from that close. Then I went back to row R, but was still amazed. Great show. All in all, we're pretty thrilled from the concert and a renewed interest in Pearl Jam, exhausted from the family time and weirdness/guily feelings about not having done enough, and overall feel grateful for having at least halfway decent social skills. Honestly it makes me want to spend less and less time with family and more time with friends. Anyway, Maui is coming up, which will be a nice little treat. Maybe New Zealand is closer than we think...