Surprise!

Yesterday morning, Matt and I went about our usual everyday stuff. I got out of bed late, stumbled to the kitchen, put on the kettle and sat down at my laptop to check out how many more advertisers have my email address. I heard Matt doing his usual morning rumblings, but was then quickly lost in the progressive blogosphere, wasting time until the tea kicked in.

Usual morning.

Then Matt walks out, showered, fully dressed, including shoes and a shit-eating grin. Now, if you know Matt -- and I know Matt -- you know that this is unusual. This is not usual morning activity for Matt.

So I asked politely, "What the hell are you up to?" He couldn't stop smiling and just said, "Let me show you something." He then takes me to the bedroom, where he has packed an overnight bag. He says, grab enough stuff for an overnight trip and don't forget your swimsuit. I had to admit, he really had me in a delightful tizzy. But, I had to play the part, so I said, "WHAT??!!" and remonstrated against his pleas to get moving. So I finally gave in and giggled the whole way out the door and into the car where I see Matt has prepared us for a road trip with recently burned CDs.

We head down 75 South, picking up a hitchhiker on the way. (OK, Darren actually.) They both enjoy holding out on me the ENTIRE road trip. We get a ways past Lexington and I start getting a little less tickled and just slightly more anxious. Where the hell are we going?

But they won't tell. They DO however agree to stop at a Cracker Barrel for some old-fashioned road-trip country cookin. I have the Country Morning Breakfast and the guys have the Country Dinner with the spicy grilled catfish. Good times all around with the whole peg game -- you know, the one where you have to jump the pegs till one's left. Turns out we're all "Just plain dumb!" Then back on the road. I start getting less anxious-excited, more what-the-bleeping-jesus-freaked out.

But Matt's road-trip CDs are good, so we enjoy the ride for a while.

Then we get to the Tennessee hills. OK, that's enough for me. So after a few rounds of the Oprah or strawberries game (if you don't know it, ask; it's pretty fun) I start to play the silent treatment. That'll show them! Turns out they don't care that I'm not talking. They find it cute. They think the whole "not telling Jamie what we're doing whilst transporting her over state lines" game is fun.

I'm starting to realize though: this must be good. No way they'll drive all the way down here for one night unless it's REAL good. (Not like those Yoplait commercials, "Not having to wait in line for the girls room" good, but like real life "holy fucking shit I love shooting this AK-47 machine gun here in the woods of Vietnam for only $10"* or "oh my god I'm about to jump off a bridge over the mighty zambezi river."** I mean, really good.)

Turns out, it was pretty damn good. We ended up at the civic auditorium in Knoxville to witness the ONE, the ONLY, Tom Waits.

That's right. You're jealous. I saw Tom Waits. It was incredible. Like, "I just saw Tom Waits in Knoxville" incredible. "Make it Rain" was one of my favorite sets of the night. The concert was amazing. More performance art than run o' the mill concert.

Now, you can find a lot of videos of his short 2008 tour on youtube. But I think they all suck. So I found this one from a while ago that is *kinda* close to the feel of the concert. It really was incredible.

Enjoy.



Matt rocks. What a great surprise for a lazy summer Sunday afternoon.


*Matt, cu chi tunnels, Vietnam, 2000
** Jamie, on a bridge above the Zambezi, Zambia, 2004