2002-06-30 :: 1:39 a.m.

getting amazing seats at the yard for less than face value: priceless

Soundtrack: none

Nick is living the MasterCard ad where the two guys visit every MLB stadium, only he's doing it on his own and meeting people at some of the games when he can. Tonight we saw a great goddamn game. The O's just crushed the Phillies, and we had beautiful seats, 5 rows up from 1st base. In the middle we called Miriam, a Philadelphian for most of her life, and informed her that we were trouncing her beloved team, so hahaha, it was currently 5-1 and the Phillies had 2 errors already, hahaha suck it.

There is a slew of stuff to be done before I move out of here, but this was one moment I could not miss. I had been to the game on Tuesday with dad (a Father's Day gift), also with very good seats. It may be a little too uber-Americana, but these will be really happy memories from the post-college/before-work-kicks-in period.

Wednesday was also a night out, with the sister taking me to the 9:30 for a birthday surprise (Bebel Gilberto was playing). It was arguably the best concert experience I've ever had. Thunderball (of the Eighteenth Street Lounge) played a long DJ set (A Guy Called Gerald cancelled), which got us a bit antsy since we needed to take the subway home, and it shuts down before midnight, but Bebel took the stage at 10PM. I was front and center and there was no security barrier, so I literally tapped along with the drumbeat on the stage, and Bebel was about 5 inches away from me half the time. She waltzed in front of me at one point and flashed her smile when our eyes caught, and I just grinned this goofy speechless chimpanzee smile back at her, and then I looked over at my sister, who I knew had been watching it happen and was now displaying her amusement. A young Brazilian kid showed up next to me during the show and waved a bunched up Brazilian flag, and Bebel sang to him for a bit, which was really cute. When she left, pre-encore, the kid's dad showed up and tied the flag around the mic pole. Bebel came out and promptly danced with it while she sang, then wrapped it around her like a sarong. Everything she did was extremely sexy in this really effortless way, down to how she said "Thank you" when we applauded. The volume was such that earplugs weren't even an issue, so the full sound could be enjoyed. Given that Bebel's Tanto Tempo was the only CD I could stomach on pre-interview nights, it was a real treat to see her up close, in person, etc. Her music is energizing, but relaxing -- sort of like happy audio valium.

Now that I've showered off the stadium schmutz, it's time to conk out and wake up for the college graduation party tomorrow, where I will have people from all moments and areas of my life, and will no doubt find myself repeating the same speech over and over again, but it will be good to see everyone. (Okay, presents never hurt either.)

I've been thinking about the imbalance between good things and bad things that are recorded in my journals, and the obvious reasons why that is. I need to find better ways to describe happiness and good events instead of resorting to the usual greeting card adjectives (good, great, lovely, wonderful, pleasant, nice, enjoyable, etc.). There has to be a better way to do it than that.