Every year (um for me, that means the past two years) we go out for John and his sister's birthdays since they are only two days (and four years) apart...and every year we go to Red Lobster. This is what happened at this year's luncheon:

Along with other gifts, John's dad gave him a newspaper clipping of the Star Wars exhibit in the city. It was really cute because his dad took notes to show John how cool it will be for him. His dad was utterly shocked when I told him that John didn't want to go to see it! And then I went on to explain that John's "trying" to branch out and find more interests other than just Star Wars (which isn't really true...he already has TONS of interests other than Star Wars but I was trying to get everyone to understand that). I mean, I'm doing this for my own self preservation. I now live with a Darth Vader cookie jar, we have Star Wars chess, DVD Trivial Pursuit Star Wars edition, and a life size fathead of Darth Vader down in our bar***none of which was purchased by John***, but honestly? I don't really want to have to keep decorating around Vader. He's cool and all...but he doesn't quite mesh with my love of Crate and Barrel.

Good thing I stopped explaining the lessened interest in Star Wars when I did because just then, John's mom arrived with three lovely gifts. A plush Vader who inexplicably had a baggie of jelly beans tethered to his arm, a Vader coin purse in the shape of an egg and a Star Wars Easter egg decorating kit. The jelly beans were quite tasty, and I will use the Vader coin purse because I won't look as dorky as John will if I leave it in my desk drawer. I guess we'll have to make Easter eggs and post the pictures because...well...that's just what you do when you receive an egg decorating kit.

Our waitress looked very frightened of us and very new...this appeared to be a messy combination. She became flustered when dropping off the entrees and ended up spilling butter all down John's brother's back leaving a very greasy and ugly stain. Let's just say he wasn't happy and he quietly expressed his unhappiness with the rest of the table. But John can't let anything go, so he flung cocktail sauce on the shirt (I'm not sure why? But he did it with glee...that much I know), which led most of the people at the table to believe that the waitress spilled that too. John cleared it up to keep his karma slate clean and received glares from his brother and a bemused look from me...I'm still not sure why he was flinging sauces!

Because John's brother was so upset about his sweatshirt, both John's sister and mom went into what I call "Mom Mode" (you know when your mom does anything and everything to make something right, even when you don't want them to) and began plotting the demise of the waitress...OK, so they didn't so much plot her demise as they plotted on getting free meals out of the deal. In fact, in a very loud voice John's sister exclaimed, "You should at least get a free dinner for that, or maybe even three!" She, was just trying to be helpful and cheer her brother up but it was loud...and it was embarrassing! In fact, so much so that John and I ran away from the table just to get away from everyone and the whole sweatshirt debacle. We received more than a few glares on our way out for our temporary reprieve. Because we all love each other, all was forgiven when we got back to the table but of course, John can make a joke of anything so we heard this from his mouth:

-Man, crab legs are messy….. Miss? Could I get more of my brother's shirts when you get a chance?

The rest of the long lunch almost alludes me because between our Alotta Colada (insert alotta vagina jokes here...) , Red Lobster's code word for ENORMOUS pina colada shared Lady and the Tramp style between John and I and my belly full of food, causing us both to slip in and out of a food coma. I came to here and there listening to John's brother talk about the military, Iraq, shooting things and martial arts. Don't get me wrong, his stories are always interesting but I was too focused on how much longer I could keep my jeans buttoned without dying.

Lunch with the fam, obviously there's never a dull moment. Seriously, it was 3 hours of pure blogging gold but I couldn't take notes at the table!! Next time, I'm just going to do it!

Today's John's birthday but last night I surprised him (well, I might've surprised him a few days earlier) with tickets to see Daniel Johnston. He is a man who suffers from a whole slew of mental disorders but is a musical genius. Self taught he wrote and recorded his first album Hi, How Are You? and in his weird little way, introduced it to musicians, DJs and just about anyone who would listen to it. And although Daniel isn't known for his singing abilities (he's very high pitched, nasal and off tune) or his ability to play the guitar (he's amazing on the organ/piano but he's a little sketchy with the stringed instruments) there was something magical in his lyrics. People say he's right up there with John Lennon, that his raw talent is greater than Bob Dylan and anything that he produced with the Basement Tapes (this part is stolen straight from the documentary), but I don't think he can really be compared to anyone. Bands such as Nirvana and Sonic Youth (amongst others) wanted to take him on tour with them in the attempt to help him achieve commercial success but his mental problems always have been too strong to allow that to happen. If I can suggest something to you, it would be to rent the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, click here to see the trailer. Even if you're not a documentary lover (which I am), this movie will do something to you.

The Daniel Johnston we saw last night, is much older than the picture above. His hair is just shocks of white that hang over his thick, dark eyebrows. He's heavier now and his left arm shakes noticeably while he plays and sings; but his lyrics were just amazing and I was moved last night sitting in the balcony listening to him-- just as I was when I learned about his life, his struggles with depression, mania and the desire to be an artist while his family struggles to keep him happy, safe and on his medication which they know stifles his creativity. Believe me when I tell you that his music isn't everyone's cup of tea but there's just something that makes you want to listen to it, that makes you understand the sadness, the madness and the ultimate genius that is Daniel Johnston.

PS. Love you Babe! Happy 29th!