Ole Miss and ‘Ol Mr. Ornery

Being pent up on a tour bus for hours on end can make one crazy. Arriving in a new city just as the sun is coming up, and the world is still asleep, (and of course, there is fresh coffee at hand…)
…that time of solitude makes the long drives worth it.

Ole Miss (Oxford, Ms), is a cutesy little city straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

As soon as we arrived, we grabbed a cup of coffee…

…and had our run of the town-as its inhabitants slept.

When you throw a little caffeine in Biceps after driving all night, he starts to get extra wily.
Especially in front of his most preferred audience of one-me.

He started by jumping into the frame over and over. That’s his blurry, cute face in the frame far left.

And then he started doing this with his coffee cup-over and over and over and over and over….

Boy, did he think he was hilarious.

Knowing he would continue to do this with each shot, I decided to dig into this man’s psyche.
After a thorough analysis, I was able to comprehend the motivation for the orneriness.

Like a little kid, he just wanted his picture taken.
My cute, ornery man can be so easily appeased sometimes.

Naughty Biceps

He may look innocent enough. But underneath that sweet exterior is a man fraught with all sorts of naughtiness. At a recent festival, Bicep’s naughtiness got the best of him.

And, Biceps got into trouble. Real trouble.

The show was at midday with all sorts of promise. The best thing about a midday show is the ability to photograph the band well lit.

Another bonus to a midday show is the ability to go to bed at a decent hour and not have slumber party stomach the entire next day.

But, I digress. I wanted to tell you about Biceps’ naughtiness. See the back of this lady’s head who is sitting side stage, far right in the picture?

All heck is about to break loose.

Biceps precariously climbed up onto these speakers for a dramatic emphasis during the set.
There’s a man in the back of the shot with wispy hair, and he is rather concerned and alerts side-stage lady .

Oblivious, Biceps rocks on.
Until the side stage lady weaves her way past the drummer-during the song-points her finger at Biceps and tells him to get down. Tisk, tisk!

Naughty Biceps…I don’t think he was very happy about being chastised by a mother figure during his cool guy rock and roll show.
But, we laugh about it now. Or at least I do.

The Best Sight to See

Biceps went away on tour. For too long and without me.
The night before he was due back, I stayed up way too late, prepping for his return.

I put these little notes, ‘I missed you here’, all over the house. He was finding them days later stuck to his yoga mat, his coffee mug, his t-shirts….

I got a wild hair and made this dress from a pillowcase that same night. Nice tan lines, eh? He liked it. Boy, did he like it. Dress=success.
I’ll teach you how to make it down the road, don’t you worry.

The morning of his return, I donned my new cute dress, made Biceps a ‘Welcome Home’ sign and arrived at the airport 20 minutes before his flight landed. I was a little gung ho. That’s him coming down the pike, or is it pipe? Whatever…that’s him. He’s calling me to tell me he’s here.
What a silly boy.

I am telling him at this point that ‘I’ll be the one in green, just in case you forgot what I looked like.’

We are saying ‘goodbye’ on the phone and ‘hello’ in person. We are such nerds, and we just don’t care.

He’s back in Tulsa, with me. I laughed, I cried, I asked him what my present was….He brought me fancy lotions from all of the posh hotels he’s been staying at.
What a good man. I am so glad he’s home.

ABOT’s, Bruder and Popcorn Balls

Bruder, Biceps’ and brother’s band, was nominated for two awards this year:
‘Best Indie Rock’ & ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’ at the ABOT’s.
(The ABOT’s are given to those considered the Absolute Best of Tulsa and are based on city folk voting for their fav thing.)

Biceps couldn’t attend, so I tagged along with brother & his wifey solo. Aren’t they the cutest couple?
Yes, that is a cage behind them for cage dancing. And yes, baby brother did get inside of it and strut his stuff for a moment. No, I won’t show you the photographic evidence that I have of said dance.

We had a limo ride that lasted .006 of a mile. But, it’s always fun to be escorted in a limo anywhere, no matter how short the ride…

This year, the ABOT’s were held in the historic Cain’s Ballroom in downtown Tulsa. I love Cain’s-it’s a venue where time has stood romantically still.
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys played here. The Sex Pistols played one of their very few American gigs here.
I held hands in public for the very first time with Biceps at Cain’s, while watching Weezer perform. I love Cain’s for oh so many reasons, but this one is the most important reason.

About halfway through the night, the announcer called out the nominees for ‘Best Indie Rock’. The winner was announced.
It wasn’t Bruder.…it was ‘Scales of Motion’.
The band is super talented and it was right that they won. We were neighbor’s with the guy on the far right-he and his wife are pretty stinkin’ cool.

While sitting somewhere in this general picture area, waiting for the second category Bruder was nominated for, I noticed that my ‘swag bag’ contained a cookie and a popcorn ball. The popcorn ball was gone in ten seconds flat. The cookie soon followed. After my gluttony subsided, they announced the nominees for the Best Newcomer of the Year. My heart stopped…

Bruder won! Baby Brother waltzed onto stage, accepting the award, sans his other band mates.

He thanked his fans and what-not, saying very cool and debonair things I am sure…I was just too excited to really listen.

He looked so much like the rock star that he is. My sweet baby brother is all grown up.
I needed chapstick after smiling from ear to ear for so long.

The only thing that could have made this evening any better was if Biceps was able to be there.
Wait…what is this?…

What in the world? I guess he was there….
Congratulations guys, I am so proud of you!