End o' week musings

It's a new year with plenty o' promise, but so far it's been pretty tough...

I ended up spending the better part of my New Year's Eve in a barn on the Triple C Ranch in Menifee/Murietta. We're talking a long drive and a confusing collection of snaky dirt roads leading to just shy of nowhere. Once there, I had to set up a tent, which was a difficult endeavor as it came with a clutch of metal poles that were supposed to fit together to make it stand up right and no instructions. My friends helped out and we got it up, but I wasn't sure if it would remain that way all night.

The excitement continued with my key breaking off in the trunk lock of my car, a 1981 VW Rabbit Convertible. It happened to be the key that goes to everything - ignition, glovebox, etc. - except the drivers' side door. So now I was stuck until morning no matter if the evening was yucky, as no locksmith would be able to find me unless he had been to the ranch before. Problem two here was that my sleeping bag and warm clothes were in the trunk and it was starting to get dark. A bass player and a cowboy took charge and finally managed to get into my trunk from the inside of my car-- at least the scenery (you know what I mean, grrrls) was nice while I waited and hoped.

The bands that played in the barn were all quite good, although some were a little on the self-indulgent side. There was a hot bluegrass group, a guitar-driven outfit which favored Satrioni and Hendrix, a male pop/rock duo (they were twins too!) with lots of looped grooves and one of my favorites, Andrew's Bad Stuff (see photo of lead singer Andrew above), who offered up cover tunes from Motown through today and had everyone dancing. The ranch served a lovely turkey dinner and there were also lots of little trinkets passed out such as glow bracelets and funky sunglasses, plus a Dixie cup champagne toast at midnight.

If the goings-on inside the barn weren't to your taste, you could venture outside to the fire and chat or sing along with an acoustic guitarist. Here, there was a nice friendly vibe and plenty of nice people who were more than willing to let you join in on the conversation.

One of the people I spoke with was Skyler. I've known him and his wife and child for a while, but I never knew he was an artist. He had a small exhibit of his landscapes decorating one of the barn's walls and explained that they were all scenes from around the ranch. Some were in regular frames, but others were framed with found wood or ranch wood remains and still more were decorated with ranch finds, like horseshoes, bolts, wire, etc. I'm not much for this kind of art, but there was something about Skyler's work that had me thinking where it might look nice in my apartment. He also showed me his studio on the ranch. There he had all kinds of styles in a range of media. He had designs painted on gourds, a sculpture boasting a collection of Hot Wheels and Matchbox vehicles, a very classically drawn mermaid series and more! It was intriguing and impressing!

After the bands were done, various people took turns on the stage jamming until around 5 a.m. I managed to hang out until about 3:30 a.m. and then took my last walk to the Porta Potty before hitting the sleeping bag. I was OK-warm in the tent, but I'm sure the blanket inside and the one on top of my sleeping bag helped. The fog rolled in thick and deep and then a tad of rain fell (or was it super heavy condensation?). At around 7 a.m. someone began beating the drums in the barn and people were getting up to continue the party. I managed to sleep - albiet fitfully - until around 9:30 a.m., then I wandered out and joined my friends for a mimosa and peanut butter cookies.

I called the Auto Club and by 2 p.m. a locksmith showed up. He was confused even in the daylight and I had to hike most of the way to the main road before he found me so I could guide him to my car. It took all of 10 minutes for him to extract the broken key and make me two new ones that worked! One consolation was that the locksmith told me that this was the most common problem he encounters-- and he turned out to be a vocalist and harmonica player in a blues band in Beaumont, so we had a nice talk. Loaded up and ready to go, I made the trek back to civilization for a warm shower and a long nap.

Coming back into the office Tuesday, we were told that our one of our computer systems will be deleted as of February and we would need to transfer all our files to our hard drive asap. If you saw the cat photo at the top of my "rant," that sort of sums up how I feel about computer stuff.... Could you just pass me a hammer?? Actually, I did the transferring successfully this week so I'll sleep OK now.

For a change, I have plans for a quiet weekend. Next week is the Body Arts Expo and then NAMM is the following weekend. I'm sure I'll have plenty of adventures to share!!

In rotation this week: Upground "Feel the Vibe," Bred in Captivity self-titled release, Sammy Hagar "Hallelujah" and another shot of Tribe of Gypsies.

Keep on rockin'

Mickie