My kid brother graduates!

I spent my actual birthday day down in Corvallis to witness my little brother graduate from Oregon State University. The day kicked off all kinds of rotten, but by the time we managed to ward off sodden-ness from the rainstorm (mist storm, really) and found my mom and her husband in the stands (an entire SECTION away from where they said they were), things started looking up.

Because the people-watchin' was downright fantastic.

First of all, there was a little girl sitting several people down from us that kept staring directly at our little group. I'm not sure whether she was transfixed by Jay, or my sister and the nephew, but it was tripping my sister OUT! And that was entertaining right there. I love how amped up my sis gets about weird kids. I tend to ignore them unless they're making actual sounds, but she just doesn't even like them lookin' at her. I'd wager it's karmic payback for being one of those weird starey kids her ownself back in the day, but she'd never admit to it.

Checkin' out the look-at-me! look-at-me! types was also quite fun as well. I mean, can you seriously tell me that this chickadee wasn't just dying for attention? C'mon now...

But the thing that threatened to make me lose my cool completely was this guy right here. This guy that's wearing his wife/girlfriend/sister's sunglasses and is under the mistaken belief that his soul patch hides his massive underbite:

But that guy wasn't nearly as funny as mah mans, who truly did get me to bust up inappropriately when he borrowed my sister's sunnies to steal that fella's look:

And now for the serious biz - a special note to Jeremy:

Congratulations, little brother. You didn't have it easy (though our sister would argue you had it easier than us - she's a hater that way) but you made it through to graduation.

I'm so proud of the way you worked your way through community college to transfer to OSU, and of your mad radio station management skillz. I can't quite get over how you managed to survive living in a house with what seemed to be 19 other guys, or the fact that you were never overcome by a mold-related illness from that appalling bathroom in the last house you lived in.

I know the next few months might be tough for you, trying to find a job and leaving the college mentality (drink! drink! drink! snooooorrrrre) behind. Know that you can always count on Jay and I for a hot meal and the occasional cash donation for food or gas (plus, I've got a whole case of Ramen in the garage with your name on it).

I can't wait to see what the next chapter of your life brings, and I hope you'll always remember the two pearls of wisdom I offered you right before graduation:

- You're responsible for your own happiness

- Be a class act

I love you bunches, Fer.

Mah Birfdey Celebrayshuns 2009

Because my little brother's graduation fell on my birthday this year, I decided to celebrate a day earlier, using an itinerary remarkably similar to last year's birthday.

My bestie Shaz and I headed out to McMenamin's Edgefield early on Friday morning for spa treatments at Ruby's. The main reason for making the trek a million miles to Edgefield is because of the singular awesomeness of the soaking pool - a soaking pool that is only available to hotel and spa guests.

Following our lovely treatments and before we kicked it in the badass pool...


...we headed over to the Loading Dock Pub by way of the flower garden, where I saw the cutest lil' hummingbird!

At the Loading Dock, Shaz and I had a fantabulous lunch complete with tasty pints of beer (beer! for lunch! on a weekday!) and I had a field day making snarky commentary both in person and on Twitter about this chick and her Kanye West sunglasses. I mean, WTF? Is she from the future?

After lunch we headed back to Ruby's Spa and the soaking pool. But not before I snagged a few sippy containers of Shiraz out of Shaz's trunk. We proceeded to soak up the sun in the lovely salt water of the pool whilst toasting to my birthday, friendship and summer with our wine-filled plastic cups. It was pretty much a magical afternoon.

Once we'd had our fill of soakin', Shaz dropped me off at my sister's house and Faith and I headed out for pedicures at her regular joint. I have to believe that the wine had a lot to do with my reaction once we were seated in the pedi chairs. Because the thing is? I'm pretty sure that pedi massage chair got to third base on my shiz. I felt mildly assaulted, really. There was a whole lot of deep muscle tushie massage that I've never experienced in a nail salon before. And I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Faith had no idea what was wrong with me.

Once I enjoyed a post-encounter cigarette (I keed, I keed - no smokin' for this girl right here) we rolled back to Faith's place, collected our menfolk and went to dinner at Laurelhurst Market.

Laurelhurst Market had been a convenience store all during the time Faith, her husband Alex and I had grown up in Portland, but it recently reopened as a butcher shop/dining establishment. All four of us got down on some serious steak action and they were all delicious, save for Jay's smoked tri-tip, which was not good. Like, at all. We shared bits of our steak with him, so combined with the sides (so good!), he managed just fine.

Alex and the nephew take a quick five after consuming their dinners (Steak Frites for Alex, bottled formula for the nephew)

All in all, it was a damn good birthday celebration, not the least of which was due to the arrival of my favorite birthday gift this year - the WTF? stamp given to me by one of the Portland Based Girl Gang chicks, Miss Dee. She asked that I not abuse the stamp through overuse at work, but that's just a promise I can't keep...

We *heart* Aqua Net

Time for a little catch-up now...

Jodles' MegaFantastic80sBacheloretteParty was a few weeks back, but as I've been on blog strike (general laziness) I've not been able to update you on the night's shenanigans. And shenanigans there were.

Mels and I met up at Kates' joint a few hours early to pre-func for the big event. And by "pre-func" I mean hair crimping, artful eyeshadow applying and the use and abuse of several bottles of Aqua Net hairspray. We weren't messing around, nosiree. I was initially going for giant, bouncy curls in a half-up side pony configuration (don't act like you don't totally know what I'm talking about), but my hair totally wouldn't cooperate - despite the fact that I'd employed the assistance of two giant curling irons and a year's supply of the Aqua Net. In the end, I decided to go fully crimped. And it was amazing.

We were slammed for time after beautifying ourselves into Ladies of the 80s, so we swung by a Burger King on our way to the initial meet-up point, the home of another one of Jody's friends. For some reason, I had it in my head that we'd use the drive thru, but Kates proclaimed herself unable to eat and drive, so in we went. I'd love to say that we freaked the hell outta the BK staff, but this is Portland after all...there are freaks every-damn-where here. Leave it to the hipsters to steal our look.

After playing what had to have been the coolest board game ever modeled after an actual person that I know (Jody!) the 20 or so of us headed down the road to Good Foot to shake our groove thangs to the Michael Jackson tribute band. Jodles was ready to get-get-get down that night.

We claimed a few tables to the left of the stage (is it still a stage if it's the same level as the rest of the venue? just wondering...), grabbed some drinks and waited for the band to take the stage. During the very first song, I noticed a woman across the way lock eyes on a spot right behind and above my head and make a beeline straight towards me. Turns out, she was utterly enthralled by Kates and her giant leopard-print hairbow. Seriously, I thought she was gonna squeeze poor Kates' head off with the lock she had around her neck. I almost intervened in the sitch, but then P.Y.T. came on, and all bets were off.

I totally dug the bongo-playing lead singer's MJ jacket, but we could not figure out the deal on his Blazer-esque warm up pants. Oh yeah, and his silver lame (that's lam-ayyy, not lame as in stupid - I just can't figure out how to make that lil' en francais symbol thingie) shirt. Rick-diculous!

Also rick-diculous? This chick's baby toe:




For reals. I was traumatized by that toe. It was sooooo small compared to the other toes! What's that about? Did it not get enough nutrition in the womb? Did it suffer a sports injury early in life that led to stunted growth? GAH! Now, I'm not saying I have the most adorable feet myself - in fact, mine are odd little Flintstone feet - but at least I have the good sense to keep them covered up most of the time! I mean, dag. And PS - since when is it a good idea to go barefoot on the skanky all-weather carpet of a dive bar? WHERE WAS THIS GIRL RAISED?

Total highlight of the night? When the band got to Thriller. The place went mad. MAD, I tell you! This fella in front put down his sax to do the creepy Vincent Price rap in the middle of the song and with the assistance of some voice-warpy thingie, he sounded just as scary. He also totally reminded me how terrified I was after seeing the video for Thriller the first time. I mean, like completely-convinced-there-are-zombies-in-the-attic terrified. I had a really overactive imagination as a kid.

Holy crapsticks! She's back! A bunch of us headed outside during the band's break and crazy neck-squeezing, head-popping-off chick accosted Kates once again. Here she is holding forth on Kates' impressive attire of sequined tee and bedazzled denim. Much more attention from this chick and she was on the next train to Stalkersville. I'm just sayin'.

Despite the zombie flashback and Kates' public groping times 2, we had a lovely night and sent our girl Jodles off to become a Missus. Success!

Somebody take away my exclamation key.

And while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and install some kind of password-protected text messaging function on my phone. Because seriously? I have no business texting after midnight. I mean, I'd wager that MOST people have no business texting after midnight (don't you suppose that most of the posts on Texts From Last Night were sent in the wee hours? I totally do.)

So here's the deal...on Friday night, mah mans and I were invited over to our friends Renee & Romo's house for a feast of chicken wings, corn, and lots and lots of cocktails. Whilst we were sitting on the patio, snacking on some appetizers and getting progressively louder and more annoying to the neighbors, we decided to call Shaz to come over and join the funtivities. She showed up a bit later and we tucked into the eats.

The weather was absolutely perfect outside, so our base of operations for the evening was centered on the backyard. When it got chilly, Romo built us a nice lil' fire in the chiminea. There's nothing much better in my book than drinking cocktails outside on a nice day, but when you throw in a fire and the whole staring-vacantly-into-the-flames thing? Well, that just takes the awesome to a whole 'notha level right there.

The next several hours were a bit of a blur, truthfully. I know I talked Renee into busting out the Jack LaLanne power juicer so I could have fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice for an endless number of Salty Dogs. I'm pretty sure I also tried to steal her cat Choco and I can't be certain, but I think Jay may have challenged someone to a wrestling match. Oh, and there were tequila shots. Many tequila shots. I know this because I woke up the next morning with ridiculous Nadia Suleman/Angelina Jolie lips - damn you, salt and limes!

At some point, the three of us chickadees rolled inside to watch a HILARIOUS video according to Renee. I can't really confirm the validity of her proclamation, as I fell asleep almost immediately. I can usually stay up good and late, but put me in a comfortable chair and I'm Narcoleptic Nancy. Out like a light. Gone nigh-nigh and stuff.

I have no idea how long I'd been out when I woke up to find Renee hustlin' around the house and preparing the guest room for Jay and I - but I do know Shaz was nowhere to be found. So apparently, I felt a little textery was in order. The next morning I found this lovely text exchange on my phone:

Me: What the...? You left?!

Shaz: Sorry, it seemed like the party was winding down...also tired.

Me: Whatevs...you're gonna be up for tomorrow, though, right??? [for our girl Jodles' wedding, natch]

Shaz: Hells yeah!

Me: That's what I wanted to hear! We're gonna turn it up!!

Shaz: Looking forward to it!!

Me: F*ck yeah! Do you want to carpool over? I'll totes pick you up. If you want and stuff.

Shaz: That would be super awesome!

Me: No, YOU are super awesome!

Shaz: No, YOU are!

Me: Mutual admiration society, yo! [bonus points for spelling correctly under the influence, right?]

Great giddygods. I'm surprised my exclamation key still WORKS after that. I'm obnoxious. Which is sorta made up for by the fact that I'm totally fun at parties. Just keep me away from the comfy furniture.

My sister is a real comedian

...and pretty much 100% EVIL.

That girl is exactly 20 MONTHS younger than me and yet this is what she gives me on my birthday:

Not only that, but she gives it to me in the middle of our little brother's college graduation party, and there were at least a few of his friends that looked at me a bit sideways, wondering "Could she really be 50? Is there that big an age difference between Jeremy and her?" I wanted to DIE. And then strangle my sister. Fortunately for her, she was holding my nephew. Otherwise, I think she may have would up with cake in her face.

Instead, when she said "C'mon, let's cut that bad boy UP!" I replied "Sorry, getcherself some of that graduation cake - 'cuz this one's going home with me."

Damn straight. She didn't get a bite of that chocolate mousse deliciousness. Evil runs in my family, dontcha know.

A Very Original Wedding Invitation.

What are you doing tonight? Unless you're already in Cincinnati, I doubt you'll be attending Corey and Rachel's wedding. Also? I'm just sayin' - posting your video invitation on YouTube and providing an address to the festivities is a bold move. Let's hope the newly married couple doesn't have to spend all their honeymoon cash covering a bar tab blown up by party crashers.

Cool lil' movie, tho...check it:



(via The Portland Mercury)

Birthday Weekend '09 - In Full Effect!

As the clock struck 5 pm today, my birthday weekend officially started. KICK-OFF, betches!! Let's start the funtivities!

I'm taking the day off Friday so that Shaz and I can reprise the good time we had last year on my birthday. We're headed out to Edgefield for spa treatments, the drinking of copious spirits and soakin' in the giant soakin' pool. It will most certainly be legen-DARY.

But to start the celebrations off properly, I went out for dinner and cocktails with mah mans...


Jay and I were enjoying a lovely mojito (me) and Mirror Pond ale (him) at a local restaurant when a woman a few tables down got up and started heading towards us and the door. Before she made it to us, however, she stopped and began talking to the woman seated behind Jay in the booth next to ours. We both heard her say hello, and the woman sitting down asked her how she was doing. She sighed deeply and said "I've been better. Actually, I'm sick."

Jay looked at me and said "Then what the HELL is she doing HERE?" I was curious to hear more, so I just whispered back "Shhhh!"

The woman went on, and explained that her chronic health problem was back, and that it had recently gotten much worse.

Jesus. That's no laughing matter or anything, but I've gotta admit - I'm surprised that she shared that news with the woman next to us. I mean, she launched right into some pretty awful news, and I didn't get the impression that the women were very good friends or anything.

In fact, I felt kinda bad for the people sitting next to us. I said to Jay "Wow, that's awful news to hear while you're out at dinner. What if they were celebrating something?"

Jay replied "Umm, you mean like we're trying to do?"

Yeah.

So that wasn't a perfect start to my celebratory birthday weekend, but I have high hopes that things will improve. I mean, c'mon - what about spa treatments, wine and soakin' pools doesn't sound good?

Answer: Not a damn thing, yo.

Office Hijinkeries

I've been trying to remember to drink more water lately. But the thing is, I don't really LIKE water. It's bo-ring. And ever since our water cooler was taken away (stinkin' budget cuts) it's even harder to stay hydrated. 'Cuz I only like water that's really, really cold. In the absence of a fine chilled H2O, I require some sort of flavoring. And my flavoring du jour is this new citrus blend Crystal Light stuff. It's quite delightful.

Until this happens...


I was away from my desk for a hot damn minute and when I came back, some jackalope had tagged my Crystal Light-laced water with this appetizing note.

I drank it anyway. What?

Heroes. Or Something.

On Memorial Day, we hit the river in my Knuckle Len's boat along with my sister, her husband and the nephew. The plan was to tool up the Willamette, eyeball the Rose Festival festivities, then cruise up the Columbia to Hayden Island for lunch at Islands Cafe. Due to a variety of reasons, things got off to a bit of a rough start. As such, our lunch ended up being much more of a dinner-type situation. But whatevs...the weather was beautiful, we had plenty of snacks and drinks in the cooler, and as it turned out, there was a fair amount of excitement in store for us.

We flew up the Willamette, past Swan Island and the majestic St. Johns Bridge, and right on by the auto yards and giant ships. We hung a right at the Columbia and headed east towards Hayden Island, where we had to slow waaaaaay down as we made our way through the channel lined on both sides with floating homes.

We were making our way closer, ever so much closer to Islands Cafe when we saw a canoe floating through the water towards us. Two youngish women were in the canoe, and it looked as though they were trying to come out from one of the moorages and into the main channel area. Unfortunately, they misjudged the speed of the current, abruptly changed their center of gravity within the canoe, and all of sudden, they were in the drink.

We saw them quickly get pushed by the current and pinned against a dock by their flipped canoe. The Knuckle immediately gunned the boat's engine and raced over to the dock on the other side of the two women. Before the boat even stopped, my brother-in-law and I jumped out of the boat and ran to the end of the dock, where we began pulling the women up out of the water and trying to grab their belongings before they sunk or went floating down the current.

Right then, a Jeff Spicoli-lookalike came zooming up in one of those Zodiac inflatable boats. "Everything okay? You ladies all right?" he called. They were both too busy catching their breath to answer, so I told him they seemed to be okay. Jay came over and helped our brother-in-law lift the canoe, dump out the water and place it on the dock. The women assured us they were okay, just a little shaken up, and said they were trying to head up to Islands as well. Before we could offer to tow them upriver to the cafe, Mr. Spicoli shouted out "I can tow you up there! No problem!" I glanced at the chickadees to make sure they were cool with that, and they nodded.

And with that, we were on our way. Rescuers. Heroes. Or something.

Jeff Spicoli and the damsels in distress. Yeah, I took a picture.

Who do you think you're dealing with here?

*** The fascinating conclusion (kinda): We ended up at Islands, and just after we were seated, my sis nudged me and said "Well, look at that right there!" Waiting for a table of their own were the two chickadees and their Zodiac-drivin' tow boat operator. We're not sure if they'd offered to buy him dinner to thank him for his help, or whether he just wouldn't go the hell away once he'd gotten them to Islands, but I choose to believe the former.

'Cuz seriously...Rescuer! Matchmaker! I am a legend in my own MIND, people.

Sasquatch Fashion: A Pictorial Essay

Something you may not know about me is that I fancy myself the eyes and archivist of poor fashion choices. I myself am no fashion plate, but I know enough to not draw attention to myself - well, except in the rare event of an 80's-themed bachelorette party or something. And the Sasquatch Festival a few weeks ago offered me a super delicious opportunity to practice my snarky commentary and surreptious photo-taking skillz.

When we weren't rawkin' out to one of the awesmazing bands playing on one of the three stages, Shaz and I were trolling the grounds, doing some of the best people watching EVER. Some of the fashion choices on display were amusing, some contrived and others were...jebus...totally effing bizarre.

Take the guy below for instance. Uhhh...that's an awfully small t-shirt you've got there, sir. Wait. Is that a shirt? Or a tie-dyed adult sized ONESIE? Are you rockin' three snaps down there, guy? And you think that's okay? No, sir. NO IT IS NOT.



And what's this? Marilyn Monroe/Andy Warhol-style leggings? I don't like the way your pants are staring at me, madam. PS? Your denim short-shorts are a train wreck.

As we approached the Wookie stage and saw this fella, I immediately told Shaz "There's your boyfriend." I mean, who wouldn't wanna check out Slim Shady over here with his bucket hat, rolled-up Dickies cutoffs and slouchy socks? The only thing this ensemble is missing is a child molester moustache...

Oh...and there it is. And I'm sorry, but what is that on his upper right thigh? Is that a prison-quality octopus tattoo? I feel all sort of...oodged out now. Blergh.

Okay, so here's the thing. It was a beautiful day on the Gorge. The sun was shining, there was a lovely breeze, and a whole lotta people were stripping down to their bare minimums to enjoy the day. But this...this is just not what I wanna see. Seriously, a sweater on a 80+ degree day? Who DOES that?

Until she sat down right above us, we didn't realize this chick might be in costume. She'd been dancing - and later, stumbling - around on the walkway behind us in her scrubs, and we wondered if maybe she'd come directly from her shift as an emergency room physician, gotten sh*tty drunk and stumbled into some face paints. Turns out she was wearing some official "Grey's Anatomy" scrubs. How adorable.

Ladies, when heading out to enjoy some music at the Gorge, remember two things...your sunblock, and a hoist for your bazoombas.

Huggy Bear over here appears to have sacrificed an innocent teddy bear to make himself a hat and shoes. I don't know what to think about all that biznaz. But I do wonder if he's the guy that my mamacita encountered when she was walking about the grounds offering "Hugs. Free hugs." Seems likely.

Shazzy's favorite look of the day was modeled by Mr. King of Neon. That headband, those spandex pants, the fanny pack and socks-with-matching-wristband...that's a bold statement right there.

Oh come the eff on. Yoda backpack? Really? Seriously?

I swear, a solid 20% of the Sasquatch Festival attendees were outfitted in American Apparel wear. And it was not good. The short-shorts and string headbands bore me. I kind of enjoy the fringed boots, though. Don't you judge me.

Oh mah giddygods. Excuse me, sir - I think your skirt clashes with your mutton chops...

When attending an all-day music festival, comfort is key. Which is why I'm totally baffled about the birdie costumes modeled by these fellas right here. Doesn't that look HOT? Jeez.

We saw a lot of tattoos on display at Sasquatch, but these are the ones that confused the heckfire out of us. I mean, maybe that's a nice spot to draw attention to now, but what about 10, 15 years from now? I'm guessin' that those bows are gonna look a little cattywhompus...

Right. So...there's not actually anything at all wrong with this fella right here. Nosirreeebob. That's all good stuff. Sometimes fashion policery has its perks, that's all.

Best Bachelorette Party EVAR?

Meet Miss Jodles. She's got a winning smile.

Miss Jodles' bachelorette party is this Saturday and I've been looking forward to it for 3 reasons:

1) Jodles is the shiz

2) I get to hang with the East Side Set of my girlgang

3) Jodles' other friends are FUN TIMES

And today we got this email from the planner of the bachelorette party festivities: I wanted to send a reminder email for Jody’s super awesome bachelorette party this Saturday. I also wanted to encourage any of you pretty young things to dress in 80’s inspired gear if you feel so inclined. Because as you know, love is a battlefield and we have to thank our lucky stars that we have this opportunity to dance all night long. Since I’m pretty sure that you girls just wanna have fun let’s break out the plastic earrings, the bracelets, maybe some shirts with snaps, the hair crimper, denim jackets, fishnet stockings, you know….all the good stuff and party like it’s 1999!

What? WHAT?!? There is one thing I like better than dressing up for theme parties, and that is dressing up for 80's themed parties. Our extensive Halloween costume collection out in the garage includes some fine, fine 80s clothes and accessories. I think I might have to replace my hair crimper, but I'm set with most of my other necessities for 80s badass-ness.

This is gonna be EPIC.

Sasquatch. The recap.

Shaz, Mamacita and I hit the road early on Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend. Destination: SASQUATCH! Festival in the Gorge. It was a right long drive.

We'd only bought Saturday tickets because none of us were sure we wanted to make a commitment to the whole 3-day concert/camping extravaganza. Well that, and the fact that I'd totally jacked up the ticket purchasing biz. But that's a whole 'notha story.

We took off from Mamacita's joint southeast of Seattle - headed north on Highway 18, hung a roscoe on I-90 and we were off to the races. The first hour or so of the drive was beautiful, up through Snoqualmie Pass and right by Keechelus Lake. We couldn't help but comment on how lucky we were to get this badass weather for our all-day concert.

Keechelus Lake

The landscape changed a little before Ellensburg to something decidedly more desert-ish. But the sky stayed blue and the weather was warm, so there were no complaints from us. There was, however, some crazy damn-near-pants-wetting-excitement as we drew closer and closer to our destination.

OMG! The mightly Columbia River! Almost there!

ZOMG! ZOMG!! Can you feel it? Can you feel the EXCITEMENT?!?

Touchdown Sasquatch! We went ahead and splurged on the premiere parking, and I'm damn glad we did. We parked just steps away from the gate, and after queuing up with nuthin' but college students for an hour, we scored early admission into the venue. And it was worth it. We skedaddled up the hill to the main stage and stopped for a moment to soak in the gorgeous view at the top before claiming a sweet spot on the terrace down below.

This hill is MINE, betches!

Mamacita was pretty well content to kick back on her twin size air mattress (Shaz and I made fun at the beginning of the day, but by 10 pm, our tuchuses were hurtin' for certain) and guard our spots, but Shazzy and I did lots of strolling about the grounds. There were two other stages for Sasquatch - the midsized Wookie stage and the smallish Yeti stage. Every hour and a half or so, a new band would take the stage, so we were rollin' a lot of the day.

And when we weren't checking out bands, we were checking out the people. Including famous peeps like Mr. Aziz Ansari. Shaz spotted him taking a picture with some other concert-goers and poked me, saying "Hey, isn't that the guy you like?" Uhhh...HELLSYEAH! I freakin' love me some Aziz Ansari. He was hilarious in Human Giant, completely ridiculous in Flight of the Conchords, and right now he's the best part of Amy Poehler's new show Parks and Recreation. I handed Shaz my camera and made a bee line for him. Picture time!

Me and Aziz Freakin' Ansari

Gates at 11 am. Concerts began at noon. By 4 pm, that ball of fire in the sky was starting to melt us. For realz. The hats and sunscreen helped quite a bit, but this giant cloud was the biggity bomb. I was straight up in love with this bad boy, as we got about an hour's worth of shade as it took its sweet-ass time moving through the sky. So good.

Best. Cloud. Ever.

We saw a ton of great shows on the various stages, and Kings of Leon was deffo fantastic, but there was something downright magical about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs set on the main stage. It might have had something to do with the fact that the YYYs are awesome, or the gorgeous sunset, or the contact high I got just sitting there, but whatever - it was hands down one of my top concert experiences ever.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs at sunset. Perfection.

After the YYYs, Kings of Leon took the stage. I didn't think the place could get any more packed, but it did. We'd set up camp for the day on the first step below the walkway, thinking we'd have an easy time getting in and out for bathroom breaks and walkin' around adventures. We totally did, but didn't realize what we'd have to contend with as the main stage area got busier. As the night went on, people got more and more trashed, and their balance got worse. Much worse. We witnessed tons of people wipe out trying to navigate the terrace, and one guy actually fell off the walkway onto me. Not so much a fun time, that right there.

Masses and masses of Kings of Leon fans

Kings of Leon, diggin' the Gorge vibe.

Kings of Leon played a full 90-minute set to close out the first day of Sasquatch. And it was amazing. I couldn't get over having seen them back in October at Portland's smallish Schnitzer concert hall and just a few months later, they were rockin' the 20,000-capacity Gorge Amphitheater. Nice work, Followill boys. Nice work.

Mamacita thanked me for bringing her along on the adventure, but said it was probably her last big rock show. Not so for me and Shaz...we're planning on attending next year, and for the entire festival. And we're gonna camp. So I'd better work on building up my tolerance for patchouli and dirty hippies starting now...