Caution: Objects in This Blog May Appear Cooler Than They Are

OR The All New Misadventures of Trucker Brown and the Hand Job Trio

OR Wu Twang Forever

I've kept a journal since I was about 13. The early entries were kind of perfunctory and sad. Excerpt from May 8, 1993:

Met a cute boy named Mike. He's from Dover. I think he plays football really well.

I have a million old volumes of 123Valerie's life—some are really nice leather-bound journals I've gotten as gifts, some are 35 cent notebooks from Dollar General, some are even computer print outs a la Doogie Howser. Sadly, the content hasn't changed much. Excerpt from October 12, 2006:

Met a cute boy named Mike. He's from Wisconsin. I think he plays guitar really well.

The point is, if I'm stuck for something to write about, my journals usually offer up a tidbit of bloggy goodness, but for your sake my pretties, I sometimes have to embellish or rearrange or combine. It's all true, mind you, but true in the sense of edited for T.V. movie dialogue:

"Well, *forget* you, man. You're a real *dishrag* sometimes. Why are you such an *apehole*?"

You get the point. The essence is there, but some of the details have been changed. In any case, normally, this blog is about 98% unadulterated truth. That's a good percentage. An A-plus for truthiness, as my friend Allison would say. That tiny 2% ensures you get more than just stories about all of the cute Mikes I have met along the way. Nobody wants that. Well, I would like more cute Mikes, but whatever.

All puffing up aside, believe me when I say that I had an awesomely amazing rockin' n rollin' good time last night making music with my friends Byrd, Har-Har Harwell, Kristin, Megan Jane, Miles, Mike and Scotty.

After the big camp trip, Scotty had the brilliant idea for an indoor jam session. A resounding "Yes!" was the reply. So, we got together last night with guitars and bongos a-go-go. The wine flowed, well, like wine, and harmony danced around us. It was beautiful.

I feel recharged. Everyone brought something special to the mix from Miles' ukulele to Scotty's incessant lyrical innovations to Megan Jane's trumpet trousers to Mike's wicked cool homemade guitar and case to Kristin's sharp eye dedicated to documenting the whole mess to Byrd's lilting laugh as background percussion to Har-Har Harwell's zen-like concentration on keeping the melody going.

It was lovely. Scotty got us all hopped up about actually going out and doing some open mic nights as a group. It could very well happen, so be on the look out for Trucker Brown and the Hand Job Trio, affectionately known as the Wu Twang Clan, in your local dive bar.

In the Comments section, tell me if you'd come to hear Trucker Brown et al play somewhere. Anyone who says "yes" is a winner, and every winner gets an invite to the next open jam night.

Be sure to stop by Candy Sandwich, Kristin's lovely blog, for further details on the evening that she may put up soon if you ask really nicely. K took all the photos and was also a very good sport about having to drink red wine from a sippy cup.