An entry that is more than a year late.
So for some reason, ever since I moved away from Athens, I have been unable to meet up with Katie within anything remotely like a reasonable amount of time. I’m always at least an hour late, and, again, I under-estimated the amount of time I would need when I drove to Tallahassee for WillFest 07 in mid-October of … well… 07.
(Although I totally was only five minutes late for this year’s WillFest. Ha!)
In my defense, it was not entirely my fault. There was a terrible accident that left traffic at a standstill for an hour. So I’m off the hook for being an hour late, but that leaves two for which I have no excuse.
Anyway.
Katie called to check in.
“Katie, did you know that Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi?”
“I did know that.”
“Well, I believe it now. I’m still in south Georgia. I’ll die in south Georgia.”
“Oh no.”
“I swear I am on my way.”
Made it to Tallahassee; got turned around in downtown.
Katie called.
Before she had a chance to say anything, I said, “I know you must despair of my ever getting there, but I swear I am almost there.”
“Where are you?”
“I just passed… __ street.”
“Oh you’re really close.”
“Yeah.”
“Every time a tall, skinny guy comes in the bar, I look up, but it’s not you.”
“Aww. One day it will be. I swear.”
Finally made it to the bar and just stood around and paced in place from sitting for so long. I gave Katie her belated birthday presents; met Kara, Lindsey, and Danielle; got to see Susie again.
I rummaged around in my pockets. “I stopped at a gas station, and I was hoping they would have a ‘I’m-Spending-My-Grandchildren’s-Inheritance’ shirt, but they didn’t. I did find this awesome thing. Hold on.” I pulled it out. “No wait. This is chapstick. You’ve seen this before. Surely.”
“Wow.”
“I know. It isn’t it great. Vanilla flavored. How do they do that?”
I pulled out the right object. “It’s a fake battery that is supposedly to house legal medicine. But come on! Who needs to hide their medicine in a fake battery? This is clearly for ecstasy pills at least.”
“I love how it says ‘Fancy Brand Batteries.’”
I told the racy story. Our waitress kept coming by at especially salacious parts, and for some reason, at one point I thought she was coming over to kick us out.
“We don’t like those kind of stories. This is a family bar.”
Went to the FSU student center, which totally looks like a mall, to see Okkervil River. One of the opening acts, who was also a member of Okkervil River, played a banjo and was very intense about it.
“Now, I’m a sucker for a good banjo, but wow,” Katie said.
Danielle said, “He is the Ani DeFranco of banjos.”
“This always reminds me of the Bronze from Buffy,” Katie said of the student center’s … bar/club.
I agreed. It did look like it.
Yay! Okkervil River!
(Although I totally was only five minutes late for this year’s WillFest. Ha!)
In my defense, it was not entirely my fault. There was a terrible accident that left traffic at a standstill for an hour. So I’m off the hook for being an hour late, but that leaves two for which I have no excuse.
Anyway.
Katie called to check in.
“Katie, did you know that Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi?”
“I did know that.”
“Well, I believe it now. I’m still in south Georgia. I’ll die in south Georgia.”
“Oh no.”
“I swear I am on my way.”
Made it to Tallahassee; got turned around in downtown.
Katie called.
Before she had a chance to say anything, I said, “I know you must despair of my ever getting there, but I swear I am almost there.”
“Where are you?”
“I just passed… __ street.”
“Oh you’re really close.”
“Yeah.”
“Every time a tall, skinny guy comes in the bar, I look up, but it’s not you.”
“Aww. One day it will be. I swear.”
Finally made it to the bar and just stood around and paced in place from sitting for so long. I gave Katie her belated birthday presents; met Kara, Lindsey, and Danielle; got to see Susie again.
I rummaged around in my pockets. “I stopped at a gas station, and I was hoping they would have a ‘I’m-Spending-My-Grandchildren’s-Inheritance’ shirt, but they didn’t. I did find this awesome thing. Hold on.” I pulled it out. “No wait. This is chapstick. You’ve seen this before. Surely.”
“Wow.”
“I know. It isn’t it great. Vanilla flavored. How do they do that?”
I pulled out the right object. “It’s a fake battery that is supposedly to house legal medicine. But come on! Who needs to hide their medicine in a fake battery? This is clearly for ecstasy pills at least.”
“I love how it says ‘Fancy Brand Batteries.’”
I told the racy story. Our waitress kept coming by at especially salacious parts, and for some reason, at one point I thought she was coming over to kick us out.
“We don’t like those kind of stories. This is a family bar.”
Went to the FSU student center, which totally looks like a mall, to see Okkervil River. One of the opening acts, who was also a member of Okkervil River, played a banjo and was very intense about it.
“Now, I’m a sucker for a good banjo, but wow,” Katie said.
Danielle said, “He is the Ani DeFranco of banjos.”
“This always reminds me of the Bronze from Buffy,” Katie said of the student center’s … bar/club.
I agreed. It did look like it.
Yay! Okkervil River!