Friday Roundup: A Series of Lists (Covering the Last Four Months)
Hiking with my Pa at Wallowa Lake.
With a name like Truckstop.com, you can expect some travel, namely: Louisville, in April, for my second Mid-America Trucking Show, where I consumed no less than three pork chop sandwiches and auditioned for a new job in broadcasting; San Antonio for TIA’s annual convention, where I toured the historic Crockett Hotel and got serenaded with a little Herb Alpert on the River Walk; Atlanta in May, for Salesforce Connections, where I spotted an albino alligator at the nation’s largest aquarium, joined the whitest crowd to ever attend a Stevie Wonder show, and talked Fabio (!) into an #uglyvideoselfie; and back to Texas, in August, for my first GATS in the Big D, where I picked up the softest, tackiest shirt ever made for Siggy and squeezed in a quick #uglyvideoselfie with one of the guys from Deadliest Catch.
The Posies played The Fairfield. Highlights included: Jon and Ken absent-mindedly harmonizing to random songs on my pre-show playlist during set-up; AKA Belle providing the team with some killer guest vocals; "Burn and Shine;" Jon Auer performing a solo version of Ween’s “Baby Bitch” to Siggy and I on the back porch after the show; getting my vinyl copy of "Frosting on the Beater" signed; waking up to Ken Stringfellow, wrapped in a bath towel, trying to figure out our ice dispenser the next morning; getting handed a vinyl copy of their fantastic new album, “Solid States;” and the fact that a band I quoted in my high school graduation speech played my living room fifteen years later.
How I spent my summer vacation: Having beers and the odd Jello shot at the Center of the Universe, Idaho; doing some touch-up work on The Fairfield; dusting off my boots and Wranglers for the Caldwell Night Rodeo and the Snake River Stampede; renting the Boise Racquet Club for a private swim party; discovering a new, favorite karaoke joint; and picking up our wristbands for Treefort 2017.
Congratulations are in order, per: My oldest and dearest friends Torii and Kyle finally tying the knot (and getting everyone blotto at the reception); my parents both retiring, my Dad from teaching middle school for over twenty years and my Ma from her role as a dual credit specialist at the Oregon ESD; friend Jessica Holmes for handing over the reins to Story Story Night after six years in the saddle; old MFA classmate Erin Rose Belair for taking 1st place in Glimmer Train’s “Short Story Award for New Writers,” (which I’m guessing has inspired at least a little jealousy beyond just me); friend Nic Darlinton’s fresh start at a new school, with some slightly older faces staring back at him; friends PV and Renee welcoming their daughter, Lady Gray Vomocil, to the world; and likewise for friend Erik Arturro Lopez, doing the same with his first son, Eames Arturro Lopez.