Conner's Blog

I apologize if you now have the worst earwig in the world stuck in your head, but I didn’t know what else to call this post.  Our story starts on Tuesday where an awesome friend of mine scored a +1 for volunteering at First Avenue for the Phoenix show.  Now if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I had been trying to get(begging for) tickets  few weeks.  So I was very excited to go.

First, the concert was great, Phoenix puts on a great show and you could tell they were excited to be at First Avenue.  Everything they played was great.  I’d write a big recap but I’m awful at writing about concerts.  Instead I’m going to send you to More Cowbell’s writeup which was pretty much spot on.

During the show though, something happened that later that week really showed off how small this town really is.  About halfway through the performance, I saw the bouncer at the front of the state shining his flashlight into the crowd.  Wondering what he was doing I looked behind me and saw this girl on a guy’s shoulders.  I saw the bouncer yell and then it looked like he headed back there to put a stop to it.  At the time I really didn’t think much of it, crazy stuff isn’t that unusual at First Ave.

The next night I went to Give & Take and participated in a game called “Hi honey, how was your day?”  The premise of the game is to walk up to someone you don’t know and ask them that question.  I didn’t know my neighbor so we both asked the question and we told each other about our day.  It turns out we had both been to the Phoenix show the night before.

Side note:  If you haven’t been to Give & Take yet, you should keep your eyes open for the next event in October.  It’s a lot of fun, extremely interesting, and if you enjoy meeting smart people it’s a great place to be.

Now the fact that two people went to a sold out show at First Avenue isn’t really that much of a stretch.  Yes it’s a small venue, but the idea is not outlandish.  But then we starting talking a bit more about the show.  She started telling me about the show and said that something strange, that had never happened to her before happened at the show.  She proceeded to tell me that she was standing in the middle of the floor when suddenly this guy came up behind her, picked her up, and put her on his shoulders.

Yes, the girl who I saw on the shoulders of a guy in the middle of the floor sat next to me at an event the next day.  How crazy is that?

I love three day weekends.  This one was definitely a great one.  The weather was great and I kept busy doing things I love.  My Friday was spent at work of course, but afterwards I got home, walked to the library to pick up a book that was being held for me and then I biked down to First Avenue.

Side Note: Since I moved to Uptown, I hadn’t tried biking to downtown Minneapolis.  After Friday night I’ll never go any other way.  It took me ten  minutes to get to First Avenue, and it should have taken me five.  It would have taken twenty minutes to drive there and park and it would have cost a lot more.

First Avenue was hosting Rock for Pussy which was a David Bowie tribute concert.  It was a benefit to raise money for the Minnesota Valley Humane shelter.  It was a lot more fun that I had expected and I really enjoyed myself.  I ended up hanging out with Art and Emily, and meeting a  few of her friends, including Stephanie (who’s blog I’ve been reading for a while).  Stephanie informed me the grilled cheese at First Ave is delicious, and I take her food opinions seriously, as she writes about bacon weekly.  I didn’t try it that night, but I intend on returning and giving it a try.

Side Note #2:  Emily’s friend Molly asked me to inform my readers that she recycles.  There was a conversation preceding this, but I had consumed a few too many adult beverages at this point and it’s too blurry to recount accurately.

I headed home early because Saturday I headed up north to a friend’s cabin for a few days.  The weekend was spent fishing, drinking, sitting by the fire, and enjoying as much of the perfect weather as possible.  I managed to win boche ball and won two straight games of cards.  I only mention because winning lawn and card games is something I never do.

I should probably also mention that I took some photos.

This fawn was laying right next to the road when we were just getting to the cabin.  Don’t worry, it’s mother came back and saved it later.

There were a few hummingbirds flying around the cabin.  I probably took fifty photos.  Hummingbirds are awesome.

I managed to snap this shot on our way into the lake we were fishing on. Who doesn’t love loons?

Finally, while were were fishing we saw some people bowfishing.  I was hoping to snap a photo of them actually trying to get a fish, but I settled for this.  It was a 20+ pound buffalo fish thye caught before we showed up.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a fish that large in real life.

On Monday we headed home fairly early and I spent the afternoon relaxing.  I got Chipotle for dinner and vegged out in front of my computer watching my new summer TV show In Plain Sight.  Overall the weekend was a smashing success, and I’m looking forward to a nice short four day week.

Side Note #3: For some reason this year it hit me that I haven’t attended a Memorial Day ceremony in much too long.  I used to attend the one in my hometown nearly every year.  I even read a poem I had published one year.  I think I need to remedy this next year.  Sometimes we forget why we get three day weekends.