As a surprise for disbandedtoastr's upcoming birthday we saw Jonathan Coulton in concert last Saturday. Full credit for this brilliant idea goes to reddheaded and her husband. So droidgirl, Redd, Toast, and I crammed into my VW Beatle and headed out.

I wish I could have inserted a memory chip into my brain to record all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and feelings from last Saturday's concert event but that technology hasn't been invented yet which makes this post limited by my small memory capacity, exhaustion, and a limited vocabulary. In short, IT WAS SO AWESOME!

Over the next few days I do intend to do a series of more descriptive posts about the concert, the detours, post pictures, Toaster's Stick Figure Theatre illustrations, and maybe even videos.

But first let me introduce JoCo Caramel!
Thanks to Redd's spotting a Russell Stover billboard advertising Free Chocolate (free chocolate?!?!? I'm there!!) we made a side trip and that's where Toast picked up our trip mascot - JoCo Caramel the Traveling Bear. We got pictures of JoCo at nearly every phase of the trip, the only exception being actually with Jonathan Coulton (duh!) and that will be remedied next concert. On the ride home we decided JoCo needed his own journal to document his adventures so we've created a community called jocobear and are hoping to get everyone to join. This is our first attempt at a community and we have no idea what we are doing yet so bear with us... (a pun!) Oh, that community is probably where the Stick Figure Theatre will be showcased so if you want to see Toaster's drawings (and trust me, you do) you will have to go there.

That's all for now but... Coming Soon!
* JoCo's response to John's amazing T-shirts.
* The proper way to handle a detour.
* What not to do in front of a cop in traffic.
* How to respond when flicked off.
* Fate at the Heliotrope!
* Guess the number of ThinkGeek shirts at a JoCo concert.
* Poll - name your favorite song for closing out a concert
* Is a blouse appropriate "rockstar" attire?
* Guess the number of Dragoncon faces spotted at a JoCo concert.
* What is keeping right and how can you achieve that?
* When is the proper age to start wearing Depends?
* Why is PMS and Russell Stover a dangerous combination?
* Four girls, a bear, and a VW Beatle

Toast & Droid came over tonight (Redd had a show) for pizza and Skullcrushing. My husband designed tshirts for us based on Skullcrusher Mountain. Redd and I came up with the idea of tshirts and ran through some ideas then at Azteca (after Toaster figured out our suprise) we started brainstorming for reals. I gave him some thumbnails and he took them and made them BRILLIANT. We each made two shirts. One is made up of four quads. The first square is full of monkeys, the second has a my little ponyesque pony, the third a half-pony/half-monkey monster that was a blend of the monkeys and the pony; and the forth is the actual Skullcrusher mountain complete with howling wolf atop the mountain, a skull shaped rock feature, road to cave, and a direction sign marking the Secret Lair & the gift shop along with a beware of wolves sign. The Skullcrusher Mountain is so great we made a t-shirt entirely based on it in addition to our 4-quad shirts. I will try to post pictures. He printed out posters for us to get autographed plus some for Coulton to keep. I can't wait to hear his reaction - they are really impressive.

Oh, and the pizza was really good, too. Boy Scouts fundraiser Little Ceasers Pizza Kits - I highly recommend them! Add fresh mushrooms and green peppers and they are even better.

But now I have to get to bed! Still have to clean out my car for tomorrow!

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ATLANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
COULTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Atlanta or Bust!!

Okay, I really missed LJ yesterday! LOL! I'm such an addict. Not like I could have posted anyway, it's been a busy busy week. I'm curious what people hear about the strike and if it had any effect.

If you want to hear about my week ...

MONDAY – Double hit for me! I was hit by BOTH the Celery Stalker and the Lobster Serial Killer. Apparently the lobster had been there since Sunday and I hadn’t noticed… The Celery Stalker left some really good beans!!! OMG!!! I will endure the presence of celery for BBQ beans!!! Yum!! I meant to thank him but I’ve been so busy this week I didn’t get it out yet. So THANK YOU!!

I met Redd, Toast, & Droid at Applebees Monday night to show them the designs for the Skullcrusher Mountain t-shirts and by the time I got home I just didn’t get a chance to post. (The daiquiri probably didn’t help…)

TUESDAY – pottery!!! I’m doing a lot of Celtic designs and am pleased with them, hope they don’t crack. Plus I glazed my moon. My teacher made a weird face so I’m not sure how that’s going to turn out. I told him I was going for the look of impact craters and he nodded and said that would probably do it. Then American Idol took up the rest of my night (Beatles, I must watch).

WEDNESDAY – the play!!!! 12th Night was so well done and so funny. I'll do a tiny babble in a separate post.

THURSDAY - pottery!! I tried the wheel for the first time. Next week is our last week for new projects so I have two more days to try the wheel. I don’t know that I made enough stuff for everyone to get a Christmas present but please know I tried! They do not always turn out…if you know what I mean. I am hoping to take this class again in the future so there may be more. We were there extra late Thursday; we actually got kicked out. Then I thought I lost my wedding ring (panic) had to bake a brownie for a work luncheon, do a ton of laundry, and start packing for the ROAD TRIP!!

FRIDAY - Awesome lecture on breeding striped rabbits at the Science lecture today. Luncheon. And tonight we’ll be ironing shirts for the road trip!!! Coulton tomorrow!!!!

SATURDAY - we leave for Atlanta!! Jonathon Coulton!!!! Squeeeeeeeeeee!!! My girls!!!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Happy Easter to everyone!!!