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Entry date: 11-15-2022 - Weekend Update - Letters to My Friends

Dear Friends,


We had a really nice weekend. It’s good when that happens, of course, and it was also nice after the week I had of feeling like shit. I’m glad the sickness seems to be in the rearview mirror, although I could do without the coughing and the sore abdomen from coughing so hard.


Friday night we hung out with our friends and had a little unofficial birthday celebration for Tom who I wrote about on Sunday. Dinner was spectacular, as usual, and it was fun to see my people cut loose a little bit. I stayed pretty mellow because I was still in the recuperating process. Again, it felt very nice and was a good way to enter the weekend. We played a fun game that we made up on the spot where we share our favorite movies by different actors going around the table. It could make for an excellent (and inebriation inducing) drinking game.


On Saturday, I spent the morning prepping for the DJ gig that Rhondi and I had that night for a local non-profit that does great work. It was a bit different than any other DJ gig we (or I) have had in the past, so I wanted to listen to some records that I have bought in the last few years in a different context. It was a lot of fun to spend the morning spinning records.


This was the first time we ever played zero punk rock records in a DJ set. I have to admit that I loved the challenge, and it was even more fun to discover that we have amassed a really well-rounded record collection. It could be more well-rounded, of course, but the great thing about that problem is that we can address it and have fun doing so.


Before we left, Dad and Lori stopped by and dropped off some birthday presents they had for me. It was so good to see them both and it helped me realize that I have been so busy lately that I haven’t been a very good or attentive son. I hate the reminder of how much distance we have had in the past and I need to do a better job of letting them know how much they mean to me. Life is too short, but I also have to remember what’s really important when I’m booking myself for all kinds of things.


After a nice visit and then a shower and such, we headed to Park Central to set up and start spinning. The first hour was a cocktail hour and the only request our patrons had was that it would be mellower, musically, and good background music. I think we pulled it off. I played some Henry Mancini, Dizzy Gillespie, Brenda Lee, Bobbie Gentry, Ella Fitzgerald, Blues Brothers, Climax Blues Band, Maurice …. So many cool records. Lots of soul and funk and people were visibly tapping their toes.


That’s the best feeling for a DJ.


After dinner it was pretty much just for us, so we played a lot of New Wave/80s stuff and had a blast. Rhondi took over and she did a great job. DJing is so fun that it is hard to share, but I think we are working out a good system where we make it easier for each other. The only real challenge is that she likes to plan her set out and I like to feel it out based on the crowd. We will find our happy place.


After the evening was over, we pretty much decided that we were going to start a DJ side hustle. I think it could be a lot of fun for us and definitely pay for itself and then some. I don’t know that I would want to do it every weekend, but maybe three gigs a month would be cool. Definitely need a lot more practice, so dear reader, if you know of anyone needing a DJ, hit us up.


I loved spending the time with my wife and working together on something that we both really enjoy. It’s also another way to really get to know each other better, too. I particularly liked seeing how she reacted to some of the music she was less familiar with and seeing how her brain worked when she was thinking of what to play next.


On Sunday, we had to prep for having some family over. Rhondi’s sister and brother-in-law were in town from Hawaii and we did a little carne and pollo asada feast. Elise, Morgan, Sky, and their roommate, Will, came. Doug and Frank also came, so we had a nice gathering. I grilled up the meat before I had to head out to Zia and attend a reading by Dan, an author I’ve really come to admire.


I was supposed to be some sort of emcee for the event, but that didn’t end up happening. I did get to have a wonderful conversation with him, though, and I hope that I have made a new friend. Read his book, Marlowe’s Revenge (R&R Press) if you like a good murder mystery kind of thing. I wrote a New Times piece about it, too, which I will eventually post in the articles section here.


After that, we had Bourbon Witch practice for our gig on Friday at Yucca. It was a long day and I was beat, but it was fun to play some loud music. Really loud, actually, and with my still-clogged sinuses, I was fucking deaf when I got home. I’m a terrible lip reader, so I hung out with Rhondi and Kerri and a tuckered out Jeff for a bit before heading to bed myself.


It was a nice way to get ready to start the new job yesterday. I am excited about my new class and my students. They were very inquisitive yesterday. I can’t wait to see how today plays out as they are all mine, all day. We will all have a new learning experience, that is for sure.


See you tomorrow.



The few from our DJ set up. The Creighton University building is a killer spot.

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