Beautiful World, Part Two.
July 31st, 2007 | Posted by Shannon
Life is weird. One day, you are bored and nothing is happening and you feel totally removed from everything, and then one day everything happens at once and angst spews, and then, one day, you have so much fun that it makes up for the boring or uncomfortable days, and then that day stretches into several days. It’s at these times that life is really and truly a fantastic experience.
Over the weekend, my friends Sue and David came to visit from San Jose. For just over twenty-four hours we did the tourist thing in Ocean Beach. It’s a wonderful thing, to show friends around a place that you love, especially when they seem to take to it right away. We ate and drank and walked all over this fabulous little town, taking in the sunset, and the Sea World fireworks; walking along the longest pier on the West Coast, and eating a fine spread of sandwiches, fried foods, fish tacos, and pizza. Not to mention the libations.
Ocean Beach – food and drink wise – is pretty awesome considering it’s small size. Sunday, as we ate a sumptuous meal of fried shellfish chased with white wine, bloody marys and “Arnold Palmers” at the South Beach Bar & Grill. I ran into one of the local bar managers here. I was like, what up? And she said, well, I’m hungover. And I said, there is no place better to fix that than South Beach. Good Fried Food, she said. Alcohol, I said. And that pretty much sums it up. That and the blue skies and Harley exhaust. We live in a beautiful world.
Last night I went to see Rush at Coors Ampitheatre with Brian and his friends Joe and Michael. There is something really special about an arena show and somehow, Coors is the one of the best places to see one. All the diehard fans seem to come out, and the dusty parking lot is filled with vehicles from all over Southern Cali and also, Mexico. People tailgate and throw frisbees in what only can be described as perfect summer light. Once again, a beautiful world.
Once in, I ran back and forth between my own seat with Brian and Joe and Michael to box seats held by Mark, Andy, and a bunch of other dudes. When I first got there one of them asked me if I was going to blog about the show! Well, I must say, I feel very badly for neglecting the blog when out of nowhere here comes a reader. Oh well.
Then Rush comes on and what can I say? It was an incredible show, effortlessly performed. Those dudes play for three hours and they don’t appear to ever break a sweat! And they don’t overcharge for tickets, yet put on this stellar, long, show with the audience in mind. I can’t think of any other band that does it quite like that.
Geddy Lee sings “One likes to believe in the freedom of music” and I do. I believe not only in the freedom, but also in the way music makes me feel. Music makes me feel like I am in love every single day. Music slays me, uplifts me, and sometimes rapes me. Last night, with several thousand other people, music – Rush’s music – made me happy, beyond young, in awe. We live in a beautiful world.
On the way home, we stopped at a 24 hour taco shop on Midway called Santana’s. I have passed by a million times but have never been there. It was a Monday at midnight and I was eating a chicken achiote taco, totally in love with life. Now it is Tuesday and I am still in love. Sometimes, life slaps you to remind you what it is you have been missing, or taking for granted.
I’m a masochist I guess. Bring it on.
