Brush with fame

We went up to see Anne's mom in Brewster this past weekend. Anne threw her a surprise birthday/retirement party, which went really well. She didn't suspect a thing, and all sorts of people came from out of town to wish her well (including my parents, who came all the way from Vegas). The party was on Saturday afternoon, so we flew up early on Saturday morning. And on our flight from Oakland to Seattle was none other than Gift of Gab from Blackalicious!

I first noticed him when we got into the security line in Oakland, and I was pretty sure it was him, but not certain. We confirmed it was him after overhearing him talking music with someone he met at the gate in Seattle. The two of them met up with someone else, who I think was DJ Shadow. I'm assuming they were all going to the Sasquatch Music Festival in George. A little later, I saw him head off to the food court on his own. I kind of wanted to go up to him, but I wasn't quite sure what to say. "Excuse me ... Mr. Gab? I'm, like, your biggest fan." This is probably my closest brush with fame (except possibly when Krist Novoselic's dog licked my face), but I figured he didn't want to be bothered so I left him be. A friend of a friend, who is a huge Cure fan, once found himself in an elevator with Robert Smith and dropped an "I'm your biggest fan" on him. I didn't want to be that guy, so I just let Gab go about getting his breakfast.

There's still room up here on the bandwagon

Things aren't looking so good for Your Golden State Warriors after last night's game. It's been a great run, and I'd hate to see it end Tuesday night in Utah. So for a little extra inspiration, here's a picture of Baron making a sick dunk over the head of Andrei Kirilenko in Game 3.

PhinisheD

It's finally done. I took my dissertation over to Sproul Hall this morning and turned it in. There was a woman in the office who filed just before me who had the widest, most absurd grin on her face. While she was waiting for them to print her receipt, she would periodically bounce up and down in her seat. I can't say I'm that excited, but I'm not a naturally effusive person. Nevertheless, it's really nice to have that big monkey (fisher?) off my back.

After getting all of the paperwork squared away, I headed over to Telegraph, grabbed a slice of Blondie's pizza, and (predictably) went to Rasputin's to reward myself with some impulsive music purchasing. (Proving that I'm still stuck in my post-punk rut, I got New Order-Substance, Echo and the Bunnymen-Porcupine, and Public Image Ltd.-Second Edition.) Now I'm sitting at my desk trying not to think of the handful of papers I have to grade and the talk I have to give at a workshop in Arcata next week (and which I haven't started writing).

It's nice to be done, and I'm happy I'll be hanging around the Bay Area for most of the summer. The last few months, I don't feel I've had as much time to appreciate living here. I'll be getting started on some of that appreciating tonight over beers at the Triple Rock. It'll be my first (and second, and third...) guilt-free beer in a while, and I'm really looking forward to it.