MP debut and mail.

After weeks of excuses, I finally got up on stage and "performed" at the open mic night under the name "Moon Patrol". People briefly wondered where the rest of the band was. I played a cover of a Lemonheads song, and two originals...concluding with the soon-to-be smash hit "Swimming in the Sky". I was really surprised by how nervous I was. My stomach was in knots and my voice wavered. On the first two songs I sang everything an octave low for fear of being screechy and off-key. Instead, it ended up being a sort of a flat quiet mumble. I relaxed by the third song and felt more comfortable on stage, enough to move my eyes from the microphone (where they had been transfixed) to the faces in the crowd. I forgot the last line of lyrics (how do you forget your own lyrics?) but ad-libbed something that worked and actually rhymed. Oh, and I think I also booked the all-time lowest "Fingers" score ever. I'm not...uh...I'm not...I'm not good.

On Friday night, I splurged and spent $15 on dinner and drinks. I knew I would be eating like a king for free in the upcoming days so it was not a irresponsible decision. Saturday was a gorgeous day and the early part of the afternoon was spent at the beach. The marine layer was hanging over the coast so the sand by the bay would have to suffice. What a wonderful, 100% free, way to spend a day. There happened to be a car show going on at the park that we chose. I certainly hit my quota for Corvette viewing for the year.
The IRS recently contacted me and asked for back taxes from a poker tournament win in 2006. I neglected to claim it on my return that year because the Rio failed to send me a W-4 or 1099G or whatever for they should have sent me. I figured that they didn't report it so I didn't write off my losses. Turns out they did. So I had to mail the IRS an amended return claiming the losses that would offset the winnings. This required me to purchase a stamp. I honestly cannot remember the last time I used the mail to send something, so I had no clue that a regular first-class postage stamp now costs a whopping $0.42. Jeesh. I scrounged for two quarters and went by the midway post office to make my purchase from a vending machine.

The rest of the weekend a bit later.