True Story.

I was pleasantly surprised to come back to this story on my instant messenger at work.
True story: this is a real instant message conversation. The actual storyline, however, is subject to speculation.

imfriend: where ARE MY HARDBOILED EGGS!?!
Nikki: I don't know so stop yelling at me
imfriend: I'm sorry. I get carried away sometimes
imfriend: by ants
imfriend: when I'm picnicking
Nikki: that would be so cool
imfriend: you'd think so
imfriend: but it's not
imfriend: it's the most terrifying experience you will ever experience
imfriend: because it's tickly
imfriend: I often wake up in the middle of the night with "tickle terrors"
imfriend: the doctor said the only cure was to spend ONE NIGHT alone in the haunted mansion at the top of the hill
imfriend: only then will I inherit my great aunt's fortune
imfriend: but I'll be sadly surprised to learn that her "$5 million" is in the form of hundreds of thousands of personal computers from 1989
imfriend: but I will have learned a valuable lesson:
imfriend: not all ghosts are bad. Especially not when compared to your crazy great aunt Meredith.
imfriend: el fin
imfriend: (the end)

A Little Bit Country and a Little Bit Rock and Roll.

Finally, the moment you have all been waiting for...
STAGECOACH Country Music Festival!
Just one weekend after the rock and roll indie fest, Coachella, we spent another weekend down in the desert; this time with some down home, country lovin' folk.

We saw some new country, some old and some REEEALLY old country music, and luckily, no camping required!

Dierks Bentley put on a great show. He danced awkwardly with the sign language interpreter, and made young girls in the crowd do embarrassing things. Also, I couldn't stop staring at him.









2 Foot Fred. If only I could describe this particularly bizarre experience. It simply is not possible.






George Jones. One of my all time favorites, although every year his face looks a little more stretched and his voice sounds a little more geriatric. He is a country classic.








The Judds. This was back then, and the very reason I came to Stagecoach.











This is now (somewhere between 16 and 20 years later). Some things should remain nostalgic. Why do people plasticize their faces until they look like velociraptors? Perhaps that is one thing I will never understand. We are not sure if Naomi ever sang, but Wynonna had the same beautiful voice I remember from that last show in 1992. Ashley is still my favorite Judd.




This time around we spent more time in the shade, eating BBQ and funnel cakes, making faces at each other, and spent some time watching the shows from backstage (where the free water was). We are quite obviously Very Important People.

Nikki! Don't pet the lion, IT'S NOT EVEN A REAL ONE!!


Shane wanted to make the weirdest face possible to scare away the lion.
Instead, he scared away the stranger taking our picture.


Love this face.





That's love.

Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates are playing at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. Tickets are only $200 each.

A friend's (aka thisisconlan) translation of what this really means:

"Hey, remember when we played here a hundred years ago? Nobody knew us then, and this place and it's patrons helped propel us to international stardom. Now that we have the chance, we're back to rape your wallets."

COACHEEEEZZZZYYYYYY

COACHELLA! 3 days of music in the desert! If that isn't enough, throw in two nights of camping, make-shift community showers, and $2 bottles of water. We had a lot of fun... together... thats how it usually goes.



NIKKI LOOKIN PRETTY IN TENT CITY


SHINEY HAPPY PEOPLE (this picture is going to be awesome in 20 years)


MUSIC Highlights: HOT CHIP, ST VINCENT, BRETT DENNEN, MIA, VAMPIRE WEEKEND, MY MORNING JACKET, THE NATIONAL, GOGOL BORDELLO, DWIGHT YOAKAM, RILO KILEY, STARS, PRINCE, and ROGER WATERS

ST VINCENT (Miss Annie Clark was so dang cute... righteous cover of Dig a Pony)


BRETT DENNEN (Great way to start a Sunday morning)


I'VE NEVER BEEN SO EXCITED TO SEE A PIG... ITS PRETTY MUCH RIDICULOUS...


SOMEWHERE BETWEEN DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE AND MY MORNING JACKET... FRICKIN ADORABLE IF I SAY SO MYSELF


Celebrity sightings: Alicia Silverstone (less hot in person.. it ain't the 90's anymore), Steve Tyler (kinda looks like a teradactyl... Im not sure how you spell it but its a creepy dinosaur that flies. He was definitely escorting 2 ladies... or two escorts. Not sure which), David 'The Hoff' Hasslehoff, Sienna Miller (She tried to steal me away from Nikki and make out and stuff... but I told her no. Nikki's the only girl for me). Jared Leto and his entourage. Paris and Nicole were supposedly running around but we didn't ACTUALLY see those hookers. Sean Penn, Kelly Osbourne, Ummmm Phoebe's brother, you know, from Friends... He was there too.

NIKKI TELLING ME TO STOP LOOKING AT SIENNA MILLER


ENJOYING THE VIEW



HOTTER THAN A SON OF A GUN...


Sooooooo that was Coachella!! Or as Prince said 'Co-uh-chella' We left our cheap Target tent in the sand... Next week: Stagecoach!!! but this time we'll do it in a Palm Springs Resort. BOO YA! Peace and Love -SHANE

Santa Monica and Old Friends

Casey is an old friend of mine from my Livermore days. We shared lots of good times, including building apartments in Romania, sight seeing in Budapest, swooning over cute boys in Mexico, surprises in Scotland, and even some pancake breakfasts in San Diego. Somehow we have let years go by without even talking. We finally reconnected in Santa Monica, over art galleries, coffee, and shopping.

Casey and Jimmy sittin' in a tree...
This is Casey and her boyfriend Jimmy, before he was her boyfriend.


Shane met Casey for the first time. As usual, he was acting like a friend stealer.


Our best attempt at a "Juno" picture. No real Fertile Myrtle here.


Like no time has passed at all.


Love.


jimmy. casey. erin. nikki. shane.