The Delaney and Waylon Diaries

You know you're at a Taylor Hicks concert when...

- the back half of the concert hall is empty, leaving lots of prime choices for comfortable aisle seating.

- the first five rows are full of tipsy soccer moms swinging to the music and waving their arms in the air (when they're not busy throwing panties on stage).

- the 85-year-old volunteer ushers gather in the back of the theater and actually listen to the concert as if the symphony was performing.

- the line to the men's room is longer than the line to the ladies' room.

- your husband is the youngest guy there (besides Taylor) and he's 53.

We actually had a good time but I think it had more to do with the fact that we were out of the house after dark with bellies full of sushi, mojitos (in my case) and gin and tonics (in Roger's case) than our concert experience. We had the most fun sitting on a bench in the very back of the theater talking, joking  and people judging watching. I was a bit disappointed in the overall experience from a concert standpoint. Taylor sang well, but the ads I'd seen for the concert made it look more like an intimate, almost acoustic, evening with "your buddy Taylor." In reality, he was much more removed than that and seemed to be going for a big-time-star kind of show. He didn't talk to the audience much and he was backed up by a capable, seven-piece band (with an awesome bass player) with a sound much larger than I expected. Maybe that's how the American Idols roll, but I think Taylor would have benefited from a more intimate concert setting (which I think could have been accomplished even in a 2300-seat theater) and more time connecting with the audience. His familiar and friendly qualities were, I think, what led to his win. He should have capitalized more on them. The next day we read a review that said only 1200 tickets were sold. Maybe Simon (and CityMama!) were right after all.

CityMama will not be proud

Have you ever read CityMama's hilarious American Idol recaps? They're the best out there and if you watch AI and don't read CityMama, you're totally missing out. I tend to agree with most of what she writes about the contestants and the show, but last year she was pretty vehement about her dislike for Taylor Hicks. I KNOW! How dare she? Taylor "the winner" Hicks! She even called him, "AARPie McSeizure," and, although I love Taylor, it was so accurate and hysterically funny that I peed my pants the first time I read it. So even if you don't always agree with her, even if she has lapses in judgement (she liked Ace Young - 'nuff said), she'll still crack you up. As an aside, I wish Roger would write an AI recap each week too. He's spot-on and just as funny with his comments while we're watching the show (later, on DVR, I might add. What? You think we sit through it all? No siree. We speed through the long, slow, bad parts and there are plenty of 'em. Look, not all reality shows can be as captivating and sophisticated as The Bachelor, m'kay?). Last year Roger picked Taylor as the winner waaaaaay back in January when America first met the silver-haired crooner when he appeared before the judges for the first time hoping to nab a golden ticket. After Taylor's audition Roger said, "That guy's gonna win it," and he was right. But Roger didn't make fun of Taylor's gray locks or jerky moves because although Roger's still got all his original brown hair (with nary a gray hair in sight) he's an old guy and Taylor's an old soul. Those kinda dudes gotta stick together.

Anyway, Taylor's coming to town so I bought tickets to his concert so we could have a hot date night. Crazy, right? We're aging non-hipsters but there we'll be, sitting in snug seats at the local concert hall grooving to some Doobie-Brothers-like, Soul Patrol beats and having a blast. Except for the few hundred or so times Roger complains about the close proximity of the seats (he hates this particular theater). And except for when I try to beat 2,000 other women to the bathroom (where there are only 6 stalls) between the opening and headliner acts (The chardonnay, it runs right through me. What can I say?). And except for when we kvetch over the sucky parking before (and probably after) the concert. But trust me, it'll be great. Do you think adult contemporary lovers stand during concerts? Because really, I don't think our knees can take that.

Sunday Confessions

Have you ever headed out for a sweet and romantic date with your husband only to have it turn spontaneously into a wild, rowdy, hyper-competitive, disco bowling tournament for two, complete with beer-swilling that'd make fraternity boys blush? Uh. Yeah. Me neither.

Clueless

Why is it that two reasonably intelligent people fortunate enough to get a babysitter never have any idea what to do with themselves once they leave their house? Sheeesh.

NaBloPoMo: Longer than the Tour de France and just as grueling

Is it really only Day 12? Hmph. I could've sworn it was more like Day 25 or 26.

I'm finding it exceptionally difficult to come up with posts when I leave them until late in the day. Strange, because you'd think that by the end of the day I'd have lots to talk about. Thing is, even when I do, I'm too tired and lazy by this time of night to put it all together in a coherent manner (This post? Case in point.).

I guess I'll start off by talking about the fabulous time I had at the wine/food festival last night. My friends picked me up around 5:30 and we headed out to volunteer, an arduous task that involved learning about several different wines and sampling them so we'd be knowledgeable when pouring tastes for attendees. After about a hour of slurping wine educating others about the wines we purveyed, additional volunteers relieved us of our duties and we set out to enjoy the festival. We sampled decadent delights prepared by chefs from over 30 local and regional fine dining restaurants and tasted a few of the more than 100 international wines available. It was a wonderful way to spend time with my girlfriends and I was home by a respectable 10:00 p.m. If you ever get the chance to volunteer at such an event in your area I advise you to jump at it. It's a totally hot setup. You work the event by providing minimal assistance for an hour or two and then you get to experience everything the paying customers do, all at no charge (tickets to this event were $70 per person!). Girls' Night Out doesn't get any less expensive and is rarely more fun.

I continued my weekend of getting out and about by going on a movie date with Roger today. My parents watched Delaney while we saw, "Stranger Than Fiction." I loved this movie! I finally understand all the hubbub about Will Ferrell--he's truly talented. And ever since I started this blog I've had a ridiculous way of narrating my own life in a bizarre and completely annoying manner inside my head every day (does anyone else do this? anyone? anyone?). Maybe that's another reason I identified with this film so much. Still, I've always liked stories that are sharply clever, just left of center and require you to suspend your disbelief a bit more than most (movies such as, "Being John Malkovich," and, "Adaptation," are others like this that come to mind). I found "Stranger Than Fiction" to be an enthralling departure from my reality and I can't wait to see it again when it comes out on DVD. It seems like the kind of gem that reveals itself anew each time you see it.

I'm off to bed now. Just think, tomorrow's Day 13 so that means we're...not...even...half-way...there...yet.