So, by luck of the draw, I was here in the parking lot of my other neighborhood Starbucks store in Thousand Oaks with another Midwesterner that, like me, doesn't have family to go grill out with, had to work most of the day, and is essentially new to town. We thought to share the time and get to know each other more than just passing ships in the night versus the other option--sitting at home doing nothing alone and wondering. The picture is one of many colors that lit the sky, and how the night ended, but certainly not how the day started....
Saturday began by my buddy Fallon's Dog barking. I ended up passed out the night before on the sofa, a more familiar crash spot since the LA Marathon. We stayed up watching a documentary on the Eagles and having some Mexican food as we figured out if we should really consider putting a band together beyond us singing...ya know... like have a guitarist, a drummer, and someone to play bass. We've been talking about it for just over a year now. Well, it's been me talking about it and getting Fallon on the bandwagon. But, after playing him the track that I cut at my other buddy's place, Tim, I think he saw some possibility. It wasn't that he doesn't think I know how to sing. I think it's just getting the horse to the recording studio and making it happen. That's why people need managers!! LOL.
As usually is the case, I woke up with a sense of urgency, but I gradually put it in check and made my way over to grab a coffee before a run down the Venice walk/bike way. By then, the roads were already packed with people trying to get to the beach for a holiday experience an watch the parade. I thought about my very recent beach experiences with other locals and my former only to laugh cause it's what I thought I would be doing this holiday (going to the beach), but I got to run instead. The run was cleansing physically and mentally. It felt good. It was only made better with the number of songs I downloaded from the Eagles to go over before the next day's karaoke session. I got some of that Peaceful, Easy Feeling (Click for the video) back for the first time in a long while, and it let me breathe again.
Eventually, I made it home to clean out my Jeep in case I actually had a guest in it for the night's activities. LOL. I'll be honest, I didn't know if she was actually gonna show up or not. As men, any good outing is graduated by this small point, the girl showing up!! Anything after that is really just honey to sweeten the pot. Med pros can be delayed in leaving work if something serious comes in, and being it was a holiday weekend, it was busy. Not to mention we had only connected the day before; so, meeting up for a burger and a beer and maybe watch the fireworks seemed fun as neither of us had anything better to do.
After discovering that most places I thought to go to were closed for the holiday, we ended up at BJs Bar & Grill. I walked in and made my way to the bar checking for a short, blonde, and petite gal along the way (cause ya never know...I could happen. Hahaha.). To my relief, the bar counter was largely empty. The bartender, another green eyed gal from Minneapolis, was mildly surprised to see my ID, and like happens every other time I run into a Homelander, we instantly decide we should exchange information to meet up again and tell the other person how we escaped! The lack of genuine people will do that to Midwestern people; we just want to believe people are like us when in fact they probably could care less. It's true. We laughed a bit as I waited for a tall dark haired woman to make the scene, and when she arrived, I strangely felt relieved. I have no idea why. Maybe I was just afraid of being alone considering where I was, and as most of you know, I have no issues being alone. I guess I'll have to think about that a little more.After some back and forth on how she ended up there from Michigan and me from Minnesota, we laughed, finished our drinks, and made our way out to Starbucks for some coffee and dessert. It turns out that any of those parking lots were where people in the immediate area staged themselves to watch the fireworks. It was cool and became even better when the fireworks finally started. It seemed we had a lot in common and were politely surprised by the others' actual person beyond what we knew of each other. She did ask if we were on a date to which I was quick to call it a social outing! LOL. Calling it a "date" implied there was some intention to go somewhere with it--the outing. If you take that off, the 'dating' title, the pressure is off, and you can just chill. Admittedly, I was much more interested in her after the outing, but we'll see. Dive bars and karaoke is in our near future it seems! LOL.
On a different but related topic, I've started the process of getting my story to book format by sending it to various publishers. A few of them got back to me, and one, Dorrance Publishing, presented me with the best package deal that will not only make it digitally available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, but also in formats compatible for the Nook, and other digital readers. They will market it on all of the available outlets available. They informed me that the work had been accepted and that they would like to present me with the opportunity to be one of their authors as an autobiographical and inspirational piece. I think I was driving when I got that email (phone call later the same day). I nearly drove off the road from my eyes watering from what seemed to be an all encompassing sensation of relief. It's the best word I can use to describe that sensation. The book will be available this late Fall 2015 as one story in three sections with pictures, commentary, and time-line of events charts. It's true. "And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (The Bible.)." I"ll keep you posted as the process progresses.
No comments:
Post a Comment