oooooooooohhh I'm back.

and I'm sad. I want to be back in California playing with Kelly! we had so much fun! also, I've got a raging sore throat/head cold combo that's making me really miserable. my sore throat is the kind that's gone from sore to scratchy. this means I'm constantly swallowing in pain and subsequently burping up hot air from all my empty swallows. but anyway.

California was great. the concert was great. it was in Indio, which is essentially the desert. on the drive from San Diego, I was transfixed by desert scenery. it's so sparse and desolate and littered. we passed that field of wind generators, you know, those gigantic metal windmills that stand, row after row, to generate power. they are quite a freakish sight. then, when we got to Palm Springs, I was astonished that the town was essentially the result of "hmmm, this looks like a great place to live, I'll just lay down some grass, build a house, and...there we go! a town!"

I was happy that I got to see most everyone I wanted to see at the concert, including Bjork, Belle & Sebastian, Elbow, the Beta Band, Mars Volta, The Strokes...I saw Pete Yorn perform for the first time and he was good, although rather coked-out, I thought. Jurassic 5 were pretty cool too. during one act, I looked off to the side to see Sean Lennon standing with that crazy girlfriend of his, Bijou Philips. just after I'd pointed him out to Kelly, he came to stand right in front of me. all I could think was, "holy fuck, the son of John Lennon is two inches away from me." Kelly reached out to touch him but, horrified, I slapped her hand away just in time.

now let me just take a moment to expound on the super powers of SPF 45 sunscreen. it's incredible! I was in the desert for up to 10 hours at a time and I've come away with not an inch of burned flesh! thank you, SPF 45, for your super protection of my pale skin.

it's funny, when you stand for 10 hours straight, two days in a row, dancing at times, apparently your ankles get really mad at you. mine chose to express their anger through ugly swelling. fat ankles. not desireable.

oh yeah, during Pete Yorn's set, this guy a few rows behind us kept yelling out, "Peter Yorn fuckin' rules!" after the second or third time he yelled it out, I turned around to see that it was that Jesse Camp, MTV's inaugural I Wanna Be A VJ Contest winner. but of course. I'm so happy that the semi-famous Jesse Camp chose to draw attention to his semi-famous self. of course, not long after, people started talking to him. then, as we exited the venue on Saturday night, there he was again, just hanging over the fence where everyone had to walk by. he is a master of subtlety and covertness.

on Monday Kelly took me to the Hotel del Coronado, which was absolutely beautiful. we went through the hotel for a while and then sat on the rocks at the edge of the beach. I realized it's been years since I was last at the ocean and it felt so good to feel sand against my feet and to smell the strong salt air again. I had the urge to collect seashells and to dive out in the water so I could get the taste of the ocean in my mouth again.

yesteday Kelly took me to the airport to say goodbye and it was so sad! every time we get together, we both get really sad when it's time to part ways again. Kelly started crying, which made me cry. on one hand, it's nice to know that your friend cares for you so much. but on the other, it's frustrating that we don't live closer. she'll probably be there for a while since her boyfriend's just applied to graduate schools for an MBA. it stinks.

ho hum. Kelly and I also spent a great deal of the weekend wishing we were rich and could just play all day and travel all the time. sadly, this seems not to be the case. so here I am, sat at my job, getting ready to leave so I can sleep off this damned throat pain and be sad about being back in the real world, where I know what day it is and where I have bills to pay and work hours to pass.