Time shifts based on position, motion, and perspective. They say time flies when you're having fun. It's hard to believe it has been almost four years. And, this adventure does come with a disclaimer. Our lifestyle and relationship may be confusing to some folks. It's okay. That's the glorious thing about the human experience! None of us are the same. There were two things I said I'd never do. One, move to Texas. Then, once I moved to Texas, I said I'd never move back to Louisiana. Never say never, right? So, of course, in the summer of 2018, I found myself living near my hometown in Central Louisiana. I would visit friends near New Orleans and go to Pelicans' basketball games or just hang out somewhere around the city. There was always something to do.
During the weekend of July 20th, we originally had plans to see DJ Mannie Fresh at the House of Blues, however, we didn't realize the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s 81st Grand Conclave was the same weekend. The Mannie Fresh show was sold out and we needed a Plan B. My Facebook search revealed The Egyptian Lover was playing at the Southport Hall the same night! We agreed this was a good chance to take a little "trip" to the other side of reality, as well. All three of us were part of the 90's rave scene in New Orleans, so this was right up our alley. Back then, the now infamous promoter, Disco Donnie was just getting his start. My first big rave was a party hosted by Donnie at The State Palace theater called Khemistry. Somehow, someway, I ended up hanging out in one of his hotel rooms that night and the rest is history.
This is a point where I want to clarify a couple of things. The phrase "doing drugs" means very different things to different people. I've experimented with street drugs throughout my life. It's not something I'm proud of or condone. In contrast, I've taken very few over-the-counter or prescription drugs. Everyone is not the same. Kristin tried a few things here and there but for the most part, she wasn't interested in it like most in the scene. Drinking and snacks make her happy. However, after everything I've seen, I do believe there are healing properties in certain substances, whether deemed legal or illegal. It's the misuse that gets us into trouble. Psychedelics, in experienced hands, can lead to great healing. If they're used in the wrong mindset or physical setting, the experience may be traumatic. I stopped using them in the late 1990s, however, I dove back in on my 40th birthday in 2017. So, as we continue the story, keep an open mind.
About three weeks after Egyptian Lover, I convinced two of my friends to come with me to a music event I found at The Joy theater in New Orleans. Unbeknownst to me, The Joy was a smaller version of The State Palace and they were just down the street from one another. In the 90s, all of the rave parties had some kind of unique name. One name that I always remembered was a party called "Super Phat Hong Kong Phooey". So, when we got to The Joy, I saw the name from Facebook on the marquee. It read "The Origins Tour" and I also saw the phrase "Ganja White Night", so I thought that was the name of the party. Prior to our arrival, I decided that it would be proper to take some psychedelics. Things were getting a bit warm and fuzzy and definitely on the move. When I walked into the venue, I could feel the bass reverberating throughout the building. It was a very familiar feeling from what seemed like a different timeline. As we entered the main auditorium, all I could see were flashing lights, red lasers, and a mysterious logo floating around in the array. It was a skull with two hands over the eyes and said "Peekaboo" underneath it. Turns out, that was the DJ's name and he was so good! By the end of the night, a DJ duo called Ganja White Night took the stage. They were from another planet. I'd never heard sounds like that before. And, the last song of the night featured a Louisiana native, Boogie T. He came up on stage with an electric guitar and began to shred while the Ganja White Night played. I was hooked!
The next day, I found an app called Radiate and looked up where the tour was headed. It was on its way to Dallas! One month after the New Orleans show was the Global Dub Fest at The Bomb Factory. But, I needed a Partner In Crime. It was an "All Ages" event and my seventeen-year-old son lives in the DFW area so I talked him into coming with me. VIP tickets were purchased. Round two was set. And it did not disappoint. The Champagne Poppers got things poppin' and Ganja White Night put on another amazing set! Something else caught my attention too. A group of people behind us in the VIP section were wearing all black and white checkered clothing. At first, I thought I was seeing the same person over and over, however, once I realized there were several folks wearing this pattern, I was intrigued. The night ended with Flux Pavillon and some great memories.
A week or so after Global Dub Festival, I went back on the Radiate app to see if there was anything else I could get into. And there it was ... a group photo of the people in the black and white checkered gear. I sent a message to the person who posted, Tex, just saying I'd seen them at the show. He responded and we connected on Facebook. Soon after, I received a notification that it was Tex's birthday. They celebrated at Hooters and even made a video of him standing on a chair to sing the Happy Birthday song. I commented on the post and moved on with my day. That evening, I went back online and saw another notification saying that my friend, J.D., also commented on the post. I immediately sent him a direct message. We'd known each other for a few years, so it was strange that these two also somehow knew each other.
JD responded by saying yes, that he indeed knew Tex! He reminded me of some stories he'd told about them together when they were teenagers and all the trouble they'd get into. How was this the same guy? Tex and I continued to chat online and after JD vouched for me, they invited me into their Facebook group called the "Checker Gang". It's really hard to explain what the group was. Basically, it was a group of friends that traveled to music events and festivals together. There was a sense of community and the group added new members daily.
This paragraph is for some clarification. The way everyone in Dallas knew each other was crazy and confusing. The fact that Tex's birthday celebration was at Hooters was not a coincidence. Kris started working there around the same time as his party. Tex's best friend, Luke, was good friends with Grace, who was Kristin's roommate, co-worker, and, at that time, friend. Kris met Emily in high school and Zach is Emily's older brother. Kris, Emily, Grace, and Zach all lived together with Emily and Zach's mom. Kris moved in with them in the fall of 2018. Now that we have that part out of the way, let's continue.
During this time, I was working as an office equipment salesman. The owner of the company I worked for had New Orleans Saints season tickets. The Saints were scheduled to play to Redskins on Monday Night Football during the second week of October. They invited me to go with them and of course, I agreed. The night before the game, we went to the French Quarter to have a few drinks. While we were at one of the bars, I was acting silly and dancing around when all of a sudden, I tweaked my right knee. I'd dislocated it many years ago and this just re-aggravated things. The next day, I lay in the hotel room in pain pondering whether or not to go to the game. At the last minute, I made the decision to go. And, I am so glad I did! Drew Brees broke Peyton Manning’s career Passing Yards Record and the Saints won the game 43 - 19.
My knee was swollen for a week or so and started to mend itself. I'd been messaging with Tex and Luke about a Halloween-themed music festival in Houston called "Freaky Deaky Texas". They were renting a house for the weekend and invited me to join them. I drove down after work on that Friday, October 26th. The fact that I'd never met anyone in person was definitely a bit awkward when I knocked on the front door. A cast of characters greeted me. We were all a bit standoffish at first but after just a few minutes, it was like we'd known each other for years. Casey and I are very close in age and shared stories of the early rave days. Gee was the matriarch of our group. Several of us soon became good friends, as well. Saturday was spent hanging out and pre-gaming before the show. It was time to head out.
When we arrived, the festival gates had not officially opened. I purchased a one-day VIP pass and only then did I realize that I was the only one in the group who had the VIP access. So, while my new group of friends was all standing in the General Admission line together, I had to go over to the VIP line. There were several people already there waiting too and I started making chit-chat with a guy in front of me. Within a minute, he lit up a joint and passed it my way. My New Orleans brain said that this was okay but I wasn't exactly sure since I was in Texas. After a puff on the doobie, my spidey senses started tingling. As I looked forward to where the gate entrance was, I saw a Harris County Sheriff's Officer walking up through the line walking a drug dog and I threw the joint before anyone saw, but it was too late. The dog came over and sat down directly in front of me.
Now, I found myself in a soccer mom-style tent off to the side waiting to be searched by the police. I was a bit aggravated, to say the least. As I stood in line waiting to be frisked by the fuzz, several of my checkered comrades started filing in the line behind me. What in the absolute hell was going on? Once inside the tent, there was a small table in the middle and a couple of chairs around it on each side. After the cop was through giving everyone the business and not finding anything on anyone, I decided it was time to be a smart ass and get out of there. I said to him, "It really sucks that you have to sit in this stinky little tent all day feeling on balls and draws while we're about to go have a great time inside with all these pretty ladies. Who did you piss off to get this assignment? You really should have thought about a better career path because I don't think this is working out." He'd had enough of me and sent me on my way. The rest of the night's details are a bit blurry but I know I had a great time. We saw Alison Wonderland and Adventure Club along with several others. There were 40,000+ attendees throughout the weekend and I'd completed the next step in my journey. Halloween and my 41st year on this rock were both the next week. I didn't have any plans but I knew I'd find something to get into.
November 4th is my birthday. Well, kind of. I was born at 11:59 PM on the 4th and 12:00 AM on the 5th. The doctor asked my mom which day she preferred. It really messes with my horoscope! I messaged Tex and Luke on Monday and asked how the Sunday show went. They had a blast and said there were plans to attend another festival the coming weekend called Nightfall. Well, there were my birthday plans. It was a Halloween-themed event too. However, this was different than Freaky Deaky because it was a camping festival and went on all weekend. It was located at The Parker House which was the site of some pretty gruesome incidents.
Kris made her own plans to go to Nightfall, as well. But, between work, school, and the universe, she wasn't able to go. After work on Friday, I left with my camping gear and headed West. Friday night was wild and Saturday was something from a movie. It was a great experience. I was able to see Peekaboo again and hear Black Tiger Sex Machine for the first time. The knee was feeling better so I was able to dance more & more. I love to dance and jump around. My style is very unique. It's therapeutic. As with most things, my body knows my age while my mind is always trying to tell me differently. I brought pot brownies and shroom chocolate I made to share with my camp-mates and they were a hit. I met Zach and Grace that weekend too. Sunday was my birthday and I woke up in a landscape that had been riddled with debauchery for days on end. By lunchtime, I'd packed up everything into my Explorer and headed back to Louisiana. I later learned that when everyone else made it home, Grace and Kris talked about the fun she had and how she'd met me and wished Kris was there. What if she had been?
It took me a few weeks to recuperate after those two weekends. The gang said they were going to see Dirt Monkey and SubDocta at the Deep Ellum Art Company in Dallas the week before Thanksgiving and that I should come. And, wow, once again, it was a whole vibe. Even Dirt Monkey said during his set, "It feels like there's some kind of voodoo in the air here!?!" and there was. That night was the inspiration for Voodoo Flow LA. I danced my ass off at that show. Something felt different inside and couldn't figure out what it was. On Thanksgiving Eve, I went to New Orleans to the Gobble Wobble at the Republic NOLA with a few of my long-time friends. And, unexpectedly, Tex came to visit me at home for a few days during the next week.
In Dallas, Kristin went to The Green Elephant with Grace to see Emalkay on December 1st. That night, she also met several of the same people I'd met at all the shows over the past couple of months or so. Toward the end of the night, Kris was at Gee's apartment hanging out. Wherever their conversation led, it came to a place where Gee told her, "I have someone you should meet!" A few days later Tex and I were sitting around the house hanging out. He said, "Oh yeah. Gee told me to tell you she has someone she wants you to meet. But ... I think she's a lot younger than you". I'd never dated someone that was her age. At the time, my oldest son was twenty-three and he was older than Kris. I wasn't sure but I sent Gee a message anyway. She told me I should send Kris a friend request on Facebook and see if she'd accept it.
About a week went by and Kris still had not responded. Gee messaged me asking if I'd heard from her yet and I said no. Kris got a message from Gee saying, "Why haven't you accepted Michael's friend request?". She told me the reason she didn't accept it was several people from The Green Elephant reached out and she just stopped responding. That evening, I checked Facebook and saw a notification that she'd accepted my friend request. We started chatting immediately. I was so nervous to say the wrong thing. I even told Gee, "I don't know what to even say!?". She said, "You should ask her on a date to the Snails show in a few weeks!". I did and she said YES. I told her, "I'm either going to impress you or embarrass you, but either way, you'll have a good time." The Shell 2.0 Tour with SVDDEN DEATH, Liquid Stranger, and Snails visited the Southside Ballroom and the whole night was absolute madness, in a good way.
I think she was impressed. We spent the rest of the weekend together and made plans to see each other the following weekend. She invited me to a friend's Christmas party and we went to see Bear Grillz at the Lizard Lounge. It was a pre-party to Lights All Night. The event is a yearly New Year's party in Dallas. Neither of us had ever been. There were 30,000+ attendees at past LANs and this year was no different. Friday night was a lot of fun. Learning to navigate the venue was a feat all in itself. We were able to see Jai Wolf, Kaskade, Rezz, CharlestheFirst, and Diplo just to name a few. Saturday night was absolute insanity. I understand that I was in an altered state of mind, however, some things happened that are still unexplained.
Before we left for the show that night, I took some psychedelics. This was quite normal for me at the time, so I was confident about how I would be able to handle myself. Usually, at these get-togethers, friends can be extra generous with party favors. Kris would drink alcohol but she was always hesitant to try anything too exotic. We arrived earlier than the night before because it took so long to get in. The plan was to see HE$H, TYNAN beat to beat (B2B) with G-REX, Gucci Mane, and Excision, and finish the night with What So Not. Not long after we got there, a friend pulled me over to the side. "I have something for you.", he said. I saw him digging around in his bag but seem to be struggling. His frustration grew as he continued to have problems with whatever he was trying to give me.
The next thing I knew, in one swift motion, he stuck a large piece of psychedelic into my mouth. I was shocked! I just started chewing. It took all that I had to get the strength to swallow. But, I did. The effects of what I'd taken earlier had already kicked in, so this was about to be a hell of a ride. We still don't know exactly how much he gave me. Partnered with the other dose, I was in for more than just a novice experience. Thank goodness I'm a moderate psychonaut and have been on some very enlightened journeys in my life. I've taken some pretty scary trips too. As I mentioned, it's all about your mindset and the setting during these situations. Kris and I decided to explore the venue and continue the night's journey. The last thing my friend told Kris as we walked away was, "Don't let him leave or drive anywhere!".
By the time Gucci Mane started, I was seeing fractals. Kristin was leading me through the crowd to the front which was a chore in itself. Towards the end of the set, we sat down next to the wall on the right-hand side of the Supernova stage. I was having a hard time seeing clearly. There were waving lines with a spectrum of colors accompanied by the lasers and it was like being inside a kaleidoscope. In between sets, it takes a moment to switch the artists' equipment and reset the stage. There wasn't any music playing, however, you could still hear sounds coming from the crowd and the other stages in the venue. I wasn't sure what we were going to do next. Then all of a sudden, I felt the ground rumble with bass. It brought me to my feet!
Excision took the stage and things got intense very quickly. We were about three rows back from the rail, so we could clearly see Jeff in the booth. During the first few songs, he played "Gold (Stupid Love)", which Kris and I consider our song. I continued seeing crazy visuals but we were hugging and in our feelings. As he transitioned to "Rumble", an array of white lasers and strobes started flashing and I could feel the music pulsing inside me. The lights shifted back and forth and I began to see what I called "the fabric of reality" tear away and it was as if I could see into another realm or dimension. The building and everything around me seemed to digitize. I could see several series of numbers within the makeup of the entire room. The moment seemed to last forever yet for only a few seconds. I cannot explain what I saw but it scared the shit out of me. I turned to Kris and said sternly, "Get me the fuck out of here!". She grabbed my hand and we made our way to the back of the Dallas Market Hall. It was like swimming upstream in a river of ravers.
In the back corner of the hall, there was a room with swings, pink neon hearts on the wall, and inflatable chairs of all sizes. After sitting in the corner for a bit collecting my thoughts, Kris asked, "So what should we do?". All I could remember was what I was told. "He said not to drive, so we can't go anywhere. But you should go find him and tell them to come here", I responded. And that's what she did. After we rendezvoused with the crew for a bit, Kris and I went to find a friend of hers that was there that night too. She was somewhere to the left of the stage but we were not sure exactly where. The Excision set was almost over and the crowd was packed in and on fire. As Kris was looking around for her friend and chatted with her on the phone, I saw a bright light that seemed different than the others in the show. Near the front of the stage, there was a group of goons in all-black suits standing in a circle. In the middle, there was a man that looked like a hybrid between The Egyptian Lover and an actual Egyptian Pharaoh. He reminded me of some type of historical figure and the goon squad seemed to be protecting him.
I turned to Kris to get her attention, and they weren't there when we looked back. She could not connect with her friend and we decided to move on. For the last set of the night, the original plan was to see What So Not on the Intergalactic stage, but we saw Tiesto's set on the main stage instead. About fifteen minutes in, we reconnected with most of the group in the back of the venue and shared some of our stories of the night. Everyone was standing in a circle chatting and I said, "Did y'all see the Pharaoh guy and his goon squad up by the front at the end of Excision?". The puzzled look they all gave was priceless. "Ummmm, no?, they replied. I asked, "Y'all have got to be playing with me? Like, for real". They were not. Apparently, that never actually happened. We spent the rest of the night wandering around the venue and getting food. Kris was so excited to get her plate from a food truck that was parked near the Planet Prime area of the market hall. As we walked back into the main room, another girl from out of nowhere accidentally ran into her knocking all of her food out of her hands onto the floor. We stood in disbelief. I felt so bad for her because although I wasn't hungry, I knew she was. We ended up in a drive-thru on the way to the hotel and decided to call it a night. And what a night it had been.
Although I had to leave the next day, I convinced her to visit Rock City the next weekend after New Year's Day. The small community was called Rock Hill but was renamed after the song Rack City after I moved in. It was secluded in the woods off a long dark road. Kristin asked, "Are you going to kidnap me?" as we pulled up in the driveway. "Not unless you want me to," I answered. We spent the entire week like we'd been together forever although it had only been about a month. Kristin's 21st birthday was the next week, so we went back to Dallas to see Riot Ten at the Lizard Lounge on Friday and the Swamplex Tour with 12th Planet and Shlump at Stereo Live Dallas on Saturday night. It was another fantastic show!
During her visit to Rock City, we had a talk about what would it be like if she stayed longer than a week. Kristin asked, "Are you telling me to quit my job and move to Louisiana?". Even though she moved out of her parent's house, the idea of moving to an entirely different state was a big decision. "Just think of it as an extended vacation," I replied. Little did I know, her dad's parents caught wind of Kris and me seeing each other. Because of our age gap, they started investigating things in more depth. There wasn't anything to hide on my end but they didn't know that. In Grandma's online research, she concluded that I was the leader of a gang that trafficked under-aged girls. She found a "Checker Gang" based out of Los Angeles and assumed they were connected to the group in Texas. In Louisiana, we tend to wear L.A. Dodgers gear because of the "LA" logo. So, you can see how Grandma might have thought she was onto something. I tried my hardest to get Kris to skip work and come with me to New Orleans to catch the Boogie T's 2-Night Hometown Takeover at The Joy but she wouldn't do it. Even her co-workers were giving her a hard time for not going. I met Boogie's dad, Tribbey, at that show and also met my friend, Kendall, for the first time, as well. Since she missed the trip, we went to see Black Tiger Sex Machine and the Boogie T.RIO Tour at Stereo Live the next weekend after that. Those few weeks absolutely flew by!
February 7th was a Thursday. Dillon Francis and Alison Wonderland were playing at the Southside Ballroom. Alison played the cello during her set and... Holy shit! It was one of the coolest things I've ever heard. When we left Texas on Saturday, instead of leaving Kristin's car in the Hooter's parking lot like we always had, she followed me all the way to Rock City. She was there for the extended vacation she'd been promised. It was the middle of Mardi Gras season and Fat Tuesday was coming on March 5th.
One of the most iconic raves in New Orleans is called Zoolu. It's always the weekend before Fat Tuesday, marking the end of the festival. I was at Zoolu 2 in 1996 and now we were about to attend Zoolu 25 in 2019. A few of our mates from Dallas came to New Orleans to enjoy the festivities with us. We also made new friends, Doug and Rachel, from San Diego through my buddy, D-Low. Kaskade headlined the Saturday night event at The Metropolitan and, since we saw Dillion Francis a few weeks prior in Dallas, we decide to see Midnight Tyrannosaurus and Downlink at the Republic NOLA on Sunday. For Lundi Gras, we went to Lundifest after the Orpheus Parade, and once again, Juvenile made the hometown crowd proud. It was Kristin's first Mardi Gras and it was a success!
The APEX Tour came to the Toyota Music Factory three weeks afterward and although we saw Excision at Lights All Night, nothing matches the PK Sound system and Paradox visuals that traveled with his show. The funny part about it was that when I was watching digital dinosaurs leap out of the lasers and melting my mind, Kris was at the concession stand eating snacks and drinking shots with our friends. We definitely had a very different experience that night but both had a great time!
A couple of weeks passed and we found our way back to New Orleans at The Black Heart Ball also known as Emo Prom. It was a wild night and it was the first time we saw TVBOO. He didn't play dubstep that night but she and I said to each other, "There is something different about that guy," and we were right. This was the third time Kris had been to the Republic NOLA in about a month's time and she'd seen an EDM, a Rap, and an Emo show there. You gotta love New Orleans! Her grandparents decided it was time to meet me in person to form their own opinions and what my intentions were with their granddaughter. As awkward as it sounds, things actually went really well. I met her parents too and although her dad is only one year older than me, things seemed to be good.
At the end of April was the Ubbi Dubbi festival at Panther Island in Fort Worth. If Ganja White Night was playing near Dallas or New Orleans, I was going to do what I could to get there. On the first night, while Space Jesus was playing, Kris got an alert on her phone that there was severe weather in the area. We pulled up the radar and saw there was a thunderstorm west of the city. During the Zeds Deads set on the Dubbi stage, the storm took a turn towards the venue and we could feel the energy shift in the air. I turned to her and said, "I think we need to get out of here," and I was right. The pavilion was on a small island that connected to a parking area via a pedestrian bridge near the Ubbi stage. It was on the opposite side of the venue from where we were and as we passed the stage, Galantis had a drop that sent the crowd roaring. At about the same time, a torrential downpour insued and everyone in the crowd scattered. We scurried for the bridge as quickly as possible while thousands of other people ran for cover. There were multiple reports of severe injuries from the stampede as well as possible overdose deaths, one during the NGHTMRE set. Regardless, it is very sad when there was a loss of life at an event that is supposed to be fun and make people happy.
The next night had a different vibe. And once Ganja White Night's set was over, we watched Illenium close the festival out. We were standing in a group in the middle of the crowd at the Ubbi stage. There were so many people around. As I blinked my eyes rapidly from seeing so many tracers in the lights, my left contact popped out of my eye. I'm very near-sighted and do not see well without corrected vision. A few of my friends saw me in despair and started helping me look for the lens on the ground. Ureka! Someone found it. As they reached across to hand it to me, several undercover police officers rushed in as if they'd busted us with something illegal. "What is that in your hand?", the cop asked. "A fucking contact you asshole!", I replied in jest. Soon after, we went back to the hotel room and freshened up to go to the Ganja White Night after party at The Yard. I don't get tired of hearing them play. Yes, I'm a Ganja fanboy!
We took a weekend off and then went back to Dallas to support the Champagne Poppers and see The Widdler and Bukez Finezt at the Green Elephant. This was the first time we were there together. It had been five months since we'd met and both knew then that our relationship was special. Our birthdays were twenty years, two months, and nineteen days apart. That's 7,385 days! But we seemed to understand everything about each other. I'd never been with someone who I was also a best friends. It always sounded cliche and a type of pie-in-the-sky situation. But now, this was real. In June, my friend in Metairie, Jo, asked if we'd like to rent her mother-in-law's quarters as she was going through a divorce and had extra space. Her story is something that should be told all by itself, so we'll save that for another day. Anyways, we decided to move to New Orleans and get away from country life. If you've ever lived in a town with more Dollar General stores than traffic lights, you know what I'm talking about. I'd always wanted to live there and now we had the chance.
When I found out Ganja White Night was coming back to The Joy in August, we bought tickets immediately. They always put on a great show and this time Yheti and bawldy were there for support. It was a month before their new album "The One" dropped and they had the entire place feeling the wobbles. The week after the show, Kris received a phone call from Grace. Without going into details, Kristin broke her trust and, understandably, they were not friends anymore. I was aware of the situation prior to it becoming more common knowledge. I appreciated the honesty and accepted her apology for it happening altogether. Of course, Grace did not do the same, which was absolutely her right. We've all made bad decisions and the only thing you can do is learn from the mistakes. You cannot change it nor fix the hurt. But, you can ensure it doesn't happen again. And, I truly believe everything happens for a reason as all parties involved, including us, seem much happier now.
LSDREAM and Shlump were on the Universal Wub Tour together and it stopped through town in October. Mystic Grizzly was with them too and we were able to meet him after the show. I met one of the founders of the Freewater Society and he let me help them with their Halloween event. We also met a local DJ $kooby McMurda and The Meddlin' Kids and they started inviting us to house parties and other live events around town. It was Turkey Day again and Subtronics, G-REX, and ZIA played for the 2nd Annual Gobble Wobble at The Joy. I'm not sure what they did to the sound system during the ZIA set, but the bass shook so hard you could feel it in your bones. We visited Alexandria and went to the zoo with her parents who'd drove in from Wylie. Then we had Thanksgiving dinner with my folks and it was time to get back to The Big Easy!
When I looked into tickets for Freaky Deaky Texas, I noticed the name of the promotion company was familiar, Disco Donnie Presents. Although I never knew him on a personal level, I hung out with Donnie aka James in a hotel room in 1996. I decided to send him an email and mention that we'd met in the past not expecting him to respond. But, he did. We continued to email back and forth from time to time. I tried to connect with him at Ubbi Dubbi but we weren't able to make it happen. So, when I saw he was having his 50th birthday party in New Orleans, I wanted to see if we could say hello. And, we did! I brought him a nice bottle of wine as a gift and introduced our wives to one another. I told him the story of the night we met in person and without skipping a beat, he replied, "Sounds accurate".
Christmas and New Year's Day came and went once again. It was 2020. LSU won the college football National Championship at the New Orleans Superdome and Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy award for the 2019 season. It was an amazing atmosphere in the city. We lived in Metairie, which was about fifteen minutes from downtown. Living in that area, you are always surprised at the people you run into. They may a local celebrity or a national one. One day, as we were leaving Rouses Market near our house, I noticed a guy walking in the parking lot with a TVBOO shirt on. And he looked like him too. "That guy looks just like TVBOO. Don't you think?", I said to Kris. I said, "Taboo!" really loud and he turned his head. So I knew it was him. It turns out he lived close to the market, which made us kind of neighbors. What a small world!
If you made it this far, jump over to my blog posts, "Take It Slow and Be Careful", Part One and Part Two, to get caught up, as it covers the rest of 2020 and 2021. I wrote them both a few months ago and they tie into this story.
I'm not sure if any of us were prepared for how much life would change during and after the pandemic. We both have become so anti-social and anxious about large crowds. Springtime in Louisiana is very different from springtime in Texas too. Kristin hates bugs and now lives in the Sportsman's Paradise. On a weekly basis, she asks me about another insect that has infiltrated the house and how to kill it.
Belle was born in June 2021. They say these pandemic babies are built differently and they weren't lying. On December 17th, 2021, Kristin and I eloped in New Orleans and had our ceremony in the French Quarter near the Mississippi River. We went to The Joy on the night of our wedding and watched a live art show featuring Mr. Balloon Hands with Freddy Todd, Live in the Dohm. After the New Year, we went to the Peekaboo Black Hole Tour but I overindulged a bit that night and we ended up in the hotel room early and missed most of the show. When I finally came back to reality, I was standing in the shower fully dressed. I told myself, "Well, you have gone and done it now!" as I stood soaking wet in the bathroom. I remember feeling so embarrassed. I wanted to make it up to Kris so we went to see G-Space for Valentine's Day a few weeks later. After the baby was born, things have slowed down tremendously. We are very domesticated these days. If you had anything to do with this story, we want to thank you for your part. I am convinced that our souls knew each other in a past life and found one another again. We finish each other's sentences and usually are thinking the same things.
There are several details that were left out of the story. If it ever turned into more than a blog post, y'all will be shocked at some of the shenanigans that didn't make it into this version. Now, there's no question about how I met your mother. Thank you for reading and please feel free to share. Always remember Love Wins! Don't Hide It, Divide It!
There are two more posts continuing our journey if you would like to read them. Thank you for the support!