WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner. I’m only on the second page. I love only being on

the second page of a book. It’s such a feeling of anticipation. :-)

WHO I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO: I heard Todd Martin opening up for Matt a couple of weeks ago in Massachusetts

and I thought that he was good stuff. He’s very muscular, too. Like…the guitar looked small when he held it.

WHAT’S BEEN GOING ON: Well, I flew out to Mass to see Matt Nathanson play and visit my crazy friend Mark a

couple of weeks ago. He is one funny kid! I had so much fun. Mark picked me up at the airport (JFK) with his friend Lou and

we went and and picked up Zuzana and got on the road. A few hours, a diner meal, and a staunch refusal to listen to Barenaked

Ladies later…we arrived in Shelburne Falls. We ran into Sherilyn and chatted for a while, then went and talked with Megan

and Emily at Megan’s restaurant.

We checked into a hotel, chilled, got ready, ate, and got in line for the concert. It was a CCCOOLLLDDD couple of hours, but

it was broken up by a lively discussion of mark’s sexuality which random people jumped into with interesting results. :-)

The show was THE SHIT! People were so quiet and respectful. I gave Matt the second part of my Christmas gift, the cast

recording of The Last Five Years (the first part having been an inscribed copy of Marc Acito’s How I Paid for College: A

Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater).

Then last weekend, I drove to San Francisco for Matt’s final show for a while. The length of the “while” has not been

specified by Matt’s team, so I am assuming it is a long while. I am preparing for the eventuality that I might not get to see

Matty play again until The Rock Boat. So sad. Not for Matt, of course, I’m sure he’s doing a happy dance. But sad for me.

Happy, also, for my bank balance, as I am not a sucker for throwing down cash for a cross-country trip for anyone but Matt.

:-D

The show in San Francisco was SSSOOO good. I am going to copy and paste my reviews from Matt’s board:

FIRST ONE:

awwww…what a great show! i loved it. so cool running into friends i haven’t seen since april. noreen, sarita and

ro…and noreen and i went to this very cool 24 hour diner after the show and had eats.

so, on the subject of “age ain’t nothin’ but a number” noreen was telling matt that her birthday was on tuesday. (HAPPY

BIRTHDAY!) naturally, he asked how old she was going to be. she told him. he couldn’t believe it. (without getting into

specifics, let’s just say that noreen is VERY young and hottie looking for her age ). matt was like, “no way. there is NO

WAY.” and noreen says, “it’s true. ask mel.” i confirmed, and matt says, “yeah, but melanie lies…”

so, i was telling my mom this story this morning (i took the opportunity of being in norcal anyway to come visit the fam),

and at the point in the story where matt says that i lie, she says, “yeah, but how does *he* know that?” HAHA! God. I’m like,

“MOM! He was joking! And I *don’t* lie!”

So my mom starts cracking up, and she says, “oh, no, that’s hilarious…i just thought…you know…you WILL lie to people to

make a joke funnier, you’ll go along with a joke. that’s all i meant. not like you’re some pathological liar.” haha.

and since i had, just previous to noreen chatting matt up, been trying to convince her to use her new haircut to fool him by

adopting the persona of a stripper named regina…well, i guess i can’t really argue with that.

NEXT ONE:

oh, i also wanted to point out how incredibly cool the crowd was at this show…they were very quiet and respectful

during the solemn, emotional songs, but at the rowdy parts, they were so rambunctious and funny!

my favorite part was this: a girl in the front row had requested “new coats & new hats” and matt said he would play it,

but that it had to wait a few songs. a little bit later, this guy in the back with a growly voice yelled loudly,

“VANDALIZED!” and matt stepped back from the mic with this startled look on his face like it scared him. then he says,

pointing out the girl in the front row, “I was supposed to play a song for you. but you’re not as angry as he is.” people

laughed and as it was dying down, she says, “I can be,” in this semi-threatening/semi-seductive tone of voice that was just

HILARIOUS if you heard it. And matt starts cracking up, and he’s all, “that’s kinda hot. i won’t lie to you and say that

didn’t turn me on.”

We love you, Matty Nay! Enjoy your rest but know we miss you.