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Dave Wakeling Day

From here on out, June 5 will be known as Dave Wakeling Day. This is because I actually met and spent time with Dave Wakeling of The English Beat (and General Public), a man I've been a fan of for 25 years. I've loved his lyrics, his music and his voice. 

One song, "Ackee 123," held so much meaning for me that I put it on my license plate. (Click here to read why and see song lyrics.)

Here's how it happened...

The English Beat is touring and they put out a call on Facebook for Street Team members -- people to hang posters and generally publicize the shows "in exchange for perks." So, I thought "what the hell..." and emailed them. I got my poster via email, printed a bunch, and got busy hanging them all over creation and taking pictures to prove it. I thought that even if I just get a free ticket out of it, it would be worth it. 

It turns out the perks included an invite to the soundcheck as well a spot on the guest list for the show. OK, this is cool.

So, I got word that the soundcheck was going to be at 4 or so on Friday. I booked our sitter and hightailed it there with my "What is Beat" album (I bought it when I was 16 because I liked the cover) in tow. I thought maybe I'd get to meet Dave and maybe he'd be nice enough to sign my album.

So, while waiting for things to get started,  I meet Jai, the stage manager and guitarist. He offers me snacks and a drink. Then, I'm talking a bit with Candy, their merchandiser and head of the Street Teams and she tells me that the band saw my license plate from the tour bus.

Me: I realized as I pulled into the parking lot that it might be a little embarrassing...

Candy: No, they think it's cool!

Whew!

She goes to the tour bus to find out when they are going to come in, and returns to tell me that they are going to play "Ackee 123" at the show that night for me. I died! My friend Liz and I tried to get them to sing it when we saw them last year, but to no avail. (Click here for that story.) Apparently, they almost never play it. 

The band comes in for the soundcheck. Dave gives me a big smile and wave, and about a minute later breaks into "Ackee 123"! I was beyond stunned... I'm standing there alone in Cat's Cradle, this little club in Carrboro, NC, getting my own personal serenade of a song that holds so much meaning for me. And it's being delivered by the man who wrote it! I didn't take a picture or movie, I just stood there, danced a little and soaked it in.

They played two more songs: a new one and the Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There," another of my favorites.

Then Dave comes over to say hello, and we talk for at least 45 minutes! He not only signed my album, but offered to sign a sticker for Liz after I told him about her and how she couldn't make the show that night. Then he gave me a T-shirt and one for Cris. We talked about this and that... how we ended up in NC, how cool it is to have people singing your own lyrics bat at you. I told him how "Ackee 123" came to be on my license plate. He seemed to genuinely appreciate the story, and told me that he wrote it at a time when he needed to "pull myself up off my sorry ass." He took a picture with me and gave me a big hug. He was, in a word, lovely. He even thanked me a couple of times for helping out. It was so cool to meet someone I admire only to find that he is as nice as I'd hoped.

As I was about to pull out out of the parking lot, bass player, Wayne Lothian, stopped me and said "On the license plate? Really? What's up with that?" I told him the story... he actually seemed moved. He said, "Let me tell you how much pull you had today: I've been playing with Dave for 20 years and we have NEVER played Ackee 123 in a soundcheck. That was special."

Wow! 

So, Cris and I go to the show in our matching T-shirts, which gave our sitter, Mollie a giggle. About a half-hour in, the Toaster, Antonee First Class (the new Rankin' Roger, if you're a fan...) looks at Dave and says "Ackee..." I catch my breath and turn my camera to the movie setting.  Then Dave says something to the effect that this is for Michele, who has our song on her license plate, then breaks into "Ackee 123." This one I recorded! Then after he said "That was a special shout out for our Street Team director here in Chapel Hill!"

Cris said on the way home, "You realize that this all happened because we are in North Carolina, right?"

I told him I absolutely did. And then said "that song will never be the same for me."

And it's true. I've listened a couple of times and watched the video. It's not  the same. And I couldn't be happier about that.

To read a couple of great interviews with Dave, click below: 

Mother Jones Magazine

Beyond Race Magazine

Love Thy Neighbor... Well, At Least Their Stuff

So, my brother called last night with another good one. He's a cop, and there's never a shortage of people to crack him up.

A guy was busted for having 86 lbs. of marijuana. Apparently, North Carolina taxes marijuana at a VERY high rate per pound, so whenever there's a bust, the state tax guys come  to take their due. This usually means they empty the house and give the owner/convict a couple of months to buy his stuff back. Then it goes on the auction block.

The police need to be there to keep the peace during these house-emptying events. A few days ago, my brother was doing just that. Then slowly neighbors started coming up to ask him about the stuff and if it was going to be auctioned off. "Probably," he told them.

All of them to a one asked "When can we buy it?"

Incidentally, this was a rookie cop's first day on her own. She pulled the guy over for coasting through a stop sign and when she approached the car, she smelled pot. He had 50 lbs. in his car and 36 back at his house.

Gotta love stupid criminals!

 

No, He's Not On TV

We have a family member who is a police officer in Las Vegas. Recently his mother told us that when she tells people what her son does many of them ask "Oh, is he on CSI?"

Taking a Look Back

I took this photo of my boyfriend's (the one on the right; he played bass) band, Step One, in 1987 for a photo class. I'll never forget that the assignment was "The Thing Itself." So, I shot a band. I was really proud of myself for thinking outside the box. So, on show-and-tell day, everyone in class displayed their photos of various objects. Then the teacher (who was a lecherous jerk, btw) got to mine, and he started to yell at me that I didn't understand the assignment. 

Teacher: This is a bunch of guys!

Me: No, it's a band.

I got an 'A.'  I couldn't have been happier about getting the better of him! 

There are many reasons why I love this photo:

1. It captured these guys at a time when they were probably pretty happy... they were 19 and playing in a punk band. And not just screwing around... they had gigs. 

2. The looks on their faces. Well, I might have changed the closed eyes.

3. The composition.

4. Their ripped jeans.

5. The Dukes of Hazzard lunchbox. I'm pretty sure it belonged to Joey, the guy in the beanie.

6. It reminds me of my favorite year of college -- my first. I was going to junior college in my hometown, but it felt like I went away to college because my family had moved to Denver. I had freedom, I had my best friends, I had a car and a job,  and I had a boyfriend in a band.

Darrel served me my first real broken heart. (If only I had known then what I know now: there's almost nothing worse on this earth than a 19-year-old guy!) Despite that, I call him my second favorite boyfriend. (My favorite being, of course, Cris, the one I married.) I will always smile when I remember that year. We had a ball together. And I loved his friends. Two of them, Ray and Brian, are still great friends of mine today. I wouldn't trade them for anything. Well, maybe for some really good chocolate... 

It's funny being at that point in my life when there are many people who only know me as married, or as the editor in that cubicle,  or as Max's mom or Cris' wife, or as the new lady at the Y. Funny thing is that now, thanks to Facebook, I'm back in touch with people who knew me then. Who would have guessed that there would be something that connected us all via computers 20-some years later?

Out of 91 Friends on Facebook, I Have...

• Four Lisas
• Four Davids (two go by Dave)  
• Three Judys 
• Two Micheles (yes, spelled like my name) 
• Two Tims 
• Two Danas 
• Two Steves 
• Two Shannons 
• A Michael and a Mike 
• A Cris and a Chris 
• An Elizabeth (goes by Liz) and a Liz 
• A John and  a Jon 
• An Amy and an Aimee 
• A Vici and a Vicky 
• A Cari and a Keri 
• A Laura, a Lauren and a Laurie 
• A Mary and a MaryAnne 
• And a Kristine and a Christina 
• An Ingrid and and Inga 
• And two unrelated people with the last name Chan 

That's 46 people... just over half my list.  Sorry if you find this boring, but I like keeping track of this kind of thing. Care to share about your list?

You Gotta Love Technology

We recently got new phones. We had to because our old phones (3 years old dinosaurs) were interrupting our wireless network. So, these new phones have a talking caller ID. John and Dana have the same phones and they crack up when we call because it says Cohen so fast that it sounds like it says "Call from God. Call from God." Well, I am the older sister... 

Anyway, I just got a call from Wake County Public Schools, but of course it was abbreviated, so the phone said "Call from Wake County Pub. Call from Wake County Pub."

And I thought my son's elementary school was a dry campus...

Friends, Friends Everywhere, Even in the Wrong Area Code

I have been in a reconnecting frenzy. It started with finding people via Linked In, then my friend Megan spoke that evil sentence: "Are you on Facebook yet?" After I'd been on FB for a few days, I called her and told her she owed me 50 hours of my life! But it's been so much fun.

My friend Brian was recently laid off, so he emailed everyone to alert them of his change of email, phone, etc. (He now has time for Facebook and has been in a similar old friend frenzy.) Ray forwarded me his email, so after 20 years, Brian and I are back in touch, and it's like no time has passed. 

So, after emailing a bit, we decided to talk on the phone. I gave Brian my number. So, he called, but he had written down 916 instead of 919.  The call went like this:

Man on the phone: Hello?

Brian: Hi, is Michele there?

Man: No, but this is Chris (I'm guessing he spells it with an "h", unlike my husband)

After a second or so, it became apparent he had called the wrong Michele and Cris. 

He then re-looked up my number and called. Of course, Cris answered.

What's in a Name? Addendum

My sister-in-law told me about a name today that takes the cake. A woman named her brand new baby boy Manas JeTwa. Say it really fast a couple of times.

Max Is One Funny Kid

Lately, Max has been cracking me up. There are five things in particular that I want to share:

1. When he wants to go in the back yard, he follows me around the house with the key, as if to say "I know this thing will get me where I want to go. Please use it."

2. When his babysitter Mollie comes over, he knows she'll take him outside to play in the water, so he hands her what he needs first: the bug spray.

3. One day when I was working from home and Mollie was here, he took like a half hour nap and Mollie stuck around just in case. When he woke up and came down the hall he pointed to me, pointed to the office and signed "work". Then proceeded to head downstairs with Mollie.

4. We often turn on the Today Show in our bedroom. So, now when he comes in to wake us up, he just hands me the remote.

4. (This is my favorite) Sometimes he gets up around 6 a.m., but doesn't wake us right away. He'll then climb in bed with us for a bit before we all get up. Then when we go into the hall, we discover what he's been up to: reading his favorite books by the light of the nightlight (see picture). Sometimes we'll find him there around 11 when we come up to go to bed. His current favorite books are "Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type" and a book about dogs that includes the line "all dogs poop and all dogs pee" complete with a pull tab that makes a Boxer lift his leg. (Thanks, Laura!)

Me to the Atlantic: Could You Be Any Less Pacific?

We took our first dip in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday. Wow, was it warm! And the sand was sooo silky. And the breeze was so warm. And there were shells everywhere! 

Now, don't get me wrong, I love, love the Pacific. I love the way it looks, the way it smells, the way it sounds. But, unless you're in Baja, it's freezing!

Anyway, back to my new friend the Atlantic. We were at Wrightsville Beach, NC, close to sunset, and I have to say it is very strange to look at  the ocean and have the sun set behind you.

Here are a couple of photos. There are more in Max's photo album on the top right.