(Fallen) Idols

When I was about 9 years old I was selling girl scout cookies outside Petrini's in Foster City when the muther effing Hulk walked out of the Gold's Gym next store.  I wasn't a real big wrestling fan in my girl scout heyday but you KNOW who the Hulk is.

I remember my dad was there and he was kinda geeked out about it. So was this little boy, maybe about 9 also.

The Hulk screamed at the kid to leave him alone.

We were shocked. How could a man made up of choreographed "wrestling" moves, roids, and fancy spandex yell at a boy who clearly sees him as his hero?

Has this ever happened to you? It's happened to me two more times that I can remember.

Last summer I went to see Trombone Shorty at Red Butte Gardens.

Being a diehard NOLA fan, this was ah-mazing. After a completely kick ass show, the Shorty and his band, Orleans Avenue were SIGNING CDS! My friend Stacey and I rushed over to meet the guys and purchase their disc. Sidenote: do you know how gorgeous Trombone Shorty is in person? Swoon.

It stops there.

The guys of Orleans Avenue were very nice; thanking us for being there, joking about where they can get a beer in this town. But not Shorty. No. He didn't even make eye contact. He signed my CD and brushed it to his right for the next person to sign. Before I could get more than, "fantastic show!" out of my mouth, he'd reached for the next person's disc. I was crushed.

So a few weeks ago, Josh and I went to see The B Side Players.  Now, take how much I love NOLA and times that by 100 and you'll see how much I love San Diego.  During my nearly 9 years there, I became a very big fan of much of the local music.  B Side is a Latin salsa/funk/reggae multi-piece band that will rock your sox off.

Per usual, I went to see these guys thinking it would be as slammed and sold out as when I saw them in their hometown.  There were maybe 40 folks there. I got a great seat! Front row.

The lead singer was gracious and interacted with the crowd.  He thanked us for being there, rocked out and the whole band played a really solid show.

As we were leaving the venue, I spot the lead singer at the swag table! I was star-shocked for sure. I told him how wonderful they were and that I couldn't believe it wasn't sold out and that I'd seen them at least once a year each year I was in SD. The other guy sitting there engaged me. "Right on!", "Thanks for coming out!". But not the main man of the band. He barely looked at me and gave me a very sad, "cool" in response to everything I said.  I was so crushed. When I came home, Jim asked how the show was and I couldn't even muster back up the high I felt as I was leaving my seat, it was gone now.

Given this track record, I expected little when I went to see Dear Sugar (aka Cheryl Strayed) at her book signing last night.

As she walked through the (very crowded) room, I had to fight back tears just aching to gush out. This woman’s advice column (and books: Torch and Wild) have literally changed my outlook on life. I even had to ditch the Q I had for the Q&A session because I just knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it together.

Her reading was great, the woman is hilarious. My favorite part was when someone asked what she “learned” during the tragic loss of her mother and the following three months of solidarity along the Pacific Crest Trail (as documented in Wild), she replied that she is still learning from these experiences, nearly 20 years later.  That, in the moment of life’s great losses, tragedies, or other stressful events, you don’t necessarily learn anything. It’s really in the reflection. Preach. On. Sista.

Anyway, after I waited in the very long line to get her to sign my book, she was incredibly gracious. She wrote me a little gem, “Always take the balloon” and posed for a photo. I held in my tears as my faith in meeting idols of mine was restored.

PS:

You know who is a GREAT band to their fans? California Guitar Trio. Not only do they sign CDs after the show, they stick around as long as they need to in order to engage nearly every fan.