No Air to Austin-A Refining Fire

Every tour bus has its issues. I had one that proudly proclaimed that the engine compartment was on fire. Thankfully, it wasn’t. We had a bus throw a drive shaft while cruising down the highway at 65 m.p.h..

The incapacitated bus coasted to the ‘Snap Shop’…on our anniversary.
We drank wine from paper cups and watched Billy Bobs procure their night crawlers and 12 packs for their upcoming fishing excursions.
It may sound weird, but it was actually pretty fun.

A generator failure is a frequent problem on most buses. And usually, a bus has a backup generator or another source of alternative power. This one does not.
When your generator fails, you loose electricity which powers your lights, air conditioning, refrigerator…pretty much everything.

Without air conditioning, the only source for ventilation are two tiny windows in the front and back lounges.

It was a long night to Austin for all of us.

Peeling myself from the leather couch I tried to sleep on this morning, I joined my eternally positive man up front to watch the sun rise. He had driven through the night, aided by Rock Star energy drinks, just to get us to Austin before the sun melted us all. And he did it with a smile on his face. I am too dang lucky.

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.

Bethlehem, Books and Bagels

While researching a setting for my first novel, I fell in love with the city of Bethlehem, PA.
And as if orchestrated from above, we were able to stay overnight in Bethlehem while out on tour.
I was in researching heaven.

I ate the best bagel of my life underneath these two street signs. These streets had been named over 200 years ago and I had already written them into my book. This was the first time my little beady eyes were able to actually see them.

The Moravian’s (the town’s religious settlers) lived a very interesting life-men and women were housed separately, all land and property was owned by the church and no outsiders were permitted until after a flood devastated the town in 1850.
Sounds a little stuffy if you ask me.

This building that you see here is one of the surviving original structures. It’s pretty cute.

We enjoyed our second cup of coffee of the day here.
And possibly another bagel. And another cup of coffee.

Caffeine, Biceps and hands-on research makes me happy.
I can’t wait to go back someday…

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!