Can't really write

I have tried twice -- this makes three times -- to tell you about my evening. I can't. I saw Rachael Yamagata tonight. She was the opening act for some guy named Ryan Adams. I didn't like Ryan Adams, but I loved Rachael Yamagata. I cried all of my make-up off during the first song. When she finished and they were setting up for the other dude, we went back to the stage door --

Well, really, I went outside to smoke a cigarette during the intermission, and Wesley went to take the camera to the car. (I didn't take illegal pics, but I had promised the security guard that I would put the camera in the car at the first chance. I had brought it just because I *hoped* to meet Rachael.) You would have to understand how old the Tennessee Theater is, and the fact that it touches on three streets of a city block. I was standing at the front door, smashed in a crowd of clueless people (half my age) who kept staring at me because I was still swiping tears off my cheeks and smoking. Wesley went out the front door and down a side street, and on his way back from the parking garage, he saw Rachael standing next to a tour bus and talking to a pair of fans. He asked her if she would be there for a few minutes, and ran to the front just as I was coming around the corner to look for him.

I met her and cried all over her. She hugged me and said that people like me are why she keeps writing. She signed my CD, "Bay, My soul sister! Stay beautiful, Rachael" -- I cried some more. We got a picture. I'm sure it's completely crappy. I look like hell even when I'm at my most pristine. By the time I talked to Rachael, I had been crying for almost an hour. I'm surprised she didn't run away shrieking from the scary bag lady with the mascara streaked all over her face.

Anyway, mere words cannot possibly convey what a lovely experience it was, and I keep crying just remembering it. The girl is a poet. And she's a beautiful old soul.

Ryan Adams was a complete waste of time for me. I like one song, but otherwise... I don't know; perhaps I am too old. I had to keep my fingers in my ears because of the volume. The theatre was full of young people slinging beer in all directions and dancing badly to the loud music. Wesley liked him, but I kept leaving to stand in the lobby and talk to a security guard. I mean, it was more peaceful than the Ryan Adams segment of the evening.

But I would listen to him for four more hours if it meant hearing four of Rachael's songs.

Seriously.

And she didn't even play my most favorite songs. She said she would play them the next time she's in Knoxville. And nuttily enough, I *believe* her.

I'll post the photo if it isn't too wretched.