Rest, Van Halen-style

The three of you, my readers, know that I've been busy lately, due to fun and work. That's a challenge for the delicate boy who's newly returned to the work world, one that I anticipated and have prepared for. Meditation, mindfulness and a bunch of other things have helped me keep an even keel.

The good news is that while the preparation for a calm, energized life is real enough, my commitment remains skin-deep. I've had to adjust my activity/rest plans on the fly because of opportunities that come my way. Many would define that as "life."

After a busy three weeks -Kansas City, Seattle- I was really looking forward to a calm weekend of calm, writing, cooking and calm- the basic regenerations. Calm. Late Friday afternoon, one of our directors pulled me into a conference room and closed the door. I am an optimist so I expected something good. "I know it's short notice, but would you like to go to Portland and see Van Halen on Saturday?" Ha, it was something good!

Another director rented a Ford Canyonero ("smells like a steak and seats 35") and we headed off to Portland on Saturday morning. We met our vendor benefactors at Doug Fir, a sweet eatery, downed some nouveau comfort food and headed to the Rose Garden to shed a few unwanted hertz of hearing range. Mission accomplished. Plus, the upper registers of human hearing are WAY overrated.

Great show. Those old dudes sure can bring it. David Lee Roth was an adrenilated version of Captain Stubing (from the Love Boat, not Salton Sea). Eddie just ripped the place apart. What a monster! The sound quality was typical arena fare: loud and distorted when the whole band was playing. When Eddie soloed, it was fine and he was locked into making noise on a massive scale. Noise- good.

As loud as the PA system was, the crowd was often louder. Early on, Dave (he is our buddy, after all) asked, "Are you having half as much fun as we are?" The answer appeared to be yes. Those guys were having a ton of fun. It was a thrill to see them breathing fire and enjoying themselves so much. We had fun too. Not just because of the cocktails, or the witty banter or because we tried to see how many people we could fit into our rolling warehouse on the way to the concert.


The younger folks among us had the extended-play version of concert fun. They went to the hotel bar after the concert (no, not me. I said "younger"), encountered guys who wanted to fight, a vomit-covered women's restroom and a fellow, face down on the floor, who'd been mugged in the men's room. Now, that's good times. I was quite happy for their near misses but glad I'd opted out. Been there, done many of that.

So today, I'm a bit yawny and will go to bed early. Monday, I'll begin my restful period. Really. Nothing ever happens on Mondays at work after a soothing Van Halen weekend, right?