Wednesday 6/18   I was hanging out at the coffee shop when I realized there was a full moon. A full moon means one thing, midnight bike ride. I’ve only been on one other midnight ride and that was the moon tower tour. That ride was fun and I’ve been meaning to go on one of the full moon rides for a long time. For one reason or another I never make it. Anyway, I was at the coffee shop when I realized the full moon ride was coming up. I grabed my bike, went by the house for a bite to eat and took off. I made it from my house to the Lamar Street pedestrian bridge in a record setting 18 minutes! Once there I was shocked to see over 200 people waiting for the ride to start. The midnight rides are one of the reasons I love Austin. The ride was fun, we toured the eastside hills, trails, roads and all.

Thursday 6/19  David Sedaris made a stop at Book People during his book tour for “When you’re engulfed in flames”. After waiting in line for a while I got to hear David Sedaris read some excerpts from his book, his diary, and his works in progress. He is so incredibly talented and funny! I’ve read one of his books but prefer to listen to the audio versions, his delivery adds so much. Currently, I’m half way through his new one and it does not disappoint!

Friday 6/20  When I woke up I checked the mail and there were a couple of checks waiting for me. I can continue my kick ass summer!

Saturday 6/21  I had heard rumors that there was a bike race in town and that Rock Racing would be at Mellow Johnny’s. I rode down there to check it out. I made it in time to see the Junior Men, Pro Women, and Pro Men race. I was absolutely floored! The pro men were so fast! I could not believe the power those guys have. The course was short which was good because I could walk around and see them pass at different points. I don’t know how to relate how cool it was for me to see these pros ride.

Sunday 6/22  TOM WAITS in Houston. I’ve been a pretty big Tom Waits fan for years now. After reading about his experience at SXSW in ’99, I’d pretty much accepted that I’d never get to see him live. While looking at youtube clips I came across the  press conference. Tom Waits was coming to Texas. I bought tickets the minute they went on sale.  This was a hard show to get too excited about, I kept thinking something was going to go wrong. Fortunately nothing did. The show was amazing! Tickets went on sale at 10am, I got mine at 10:04. I purchased the best available which turned out to be about 30 rows back. While my seats weren’t great the show was. It was one of those time I knew I was seeing something special.

Monday 6/23   TOM WAITS in Dallas! This was THE show to see. He played at the Palladium, it was a general admission show. Doors opened at 6:30, Tara and I got there at 4:00 and sat in line. It was totally worth it! We were about 5 feet from the stage, dead center. The energy was totally different from Houston, in a good way. I couldn’t believe how incredible the show was! It was jaw dropping! Seriously, and I’m not exaggerating here, it was the best show I’ve ever seen! I was floored! First off being that close was amazing, but his set list.... I’m not sure I could have hand picked a better set list. Every song blew me away. I’ve been walking around today with perma grin.