The Tommy Story

God is trying to tell me something, I'm convinced of it.

First, there's the Holt run-in in Costa Rica, the most seemingly random event of life EVER. And then, there's what happened on Saturday, what shall henceforth be known as "The Tommy Story."

So a new piano bar called Crazy Pianos opened up last week in Coconut Grove. Anyone who knows me knows I love a demon piano bar and I've been looking for once since I moved down here. My prayers were answered and so a bunch of awesome people from work and I went there on Saturday to rock out.

There were these semi-creepy paintings on the wall of random celebrities. They were... weird. Oprah was watching over us the whole night. Anyway... So we sit right in front of the pianos--I have a direct eye-line to one, and Tanya has a direct eye-line to the other. We're sitting there, and I look at the piano player and I think to myself, He really looks like Tommy from RumRunners. But he can't be, so I move on.

Then the other piano player, the one in Tanya's eyeline, says, "Let's give Tommy a hand!" To which I think, SHUT UP! Then I look closer at him--he's wearing a hat so it's hard to tell--but he really DOES look like my Tommy. At least, what I remember Tommy looking like. I tell the table of my suspicions, and they're all like, "Yeah, yeah, sure it is." They, as Alishea would say, had "no" in their hearts but I had yes. I really had yes.

I had to know if it was Tommy so I grab a request paper (it's a napkin in this case, classy and raunchy at the same time) and write my requests along with "Are you from East Lansing/RumRunners?" on it. Just as I go to take it up, he switches out and I'm like, Balls! Luckily, though, we not only sat by the pianos, we also sat by the bar, which is where ever piano player goes after a tough half an hour of singing and tinkling the ivories. I can't miss this opportunity, so I dart out of my seat and practically attack him. Turns out, it WAS Tommy, my Tommy, from RumRunners. I had "yes" in my heart; I believed, and it was true. Another home-towner shows up in my life, another seeming coincidence. Too bad I don't believe in coincidences.

Anyway, here's a picture of Tommy and I.

Clearly he's very busy and popular. Clearly.

Anyway, it was a great night and we had a ton of fun. I needed a piano bar for my soul. :)

Sunday, as many of you are aware, was Mother's Day. I have not been in the same place as my mother on Mother's Day for about four years, so I called her and sent a card, pretty standard procedure. But my celebration did not end there. My friend Yesi invited me to hang with her family (some of whom are Garcias) and celebrate. There was food, wine, and X Men Origins: Wolverine. How could I say no? So of course I didn't!

Turns out, her uncle used to be part of Miami Sound Machine (yeah, with Gloria Estefan) and there were pics of him rocking out 80's style in the hall. Yesi's grandfather looks like my Abuelo looked, which leads me to belive that all Cuban grandfathers are the same. When I left, he welcomed me to the family. I even got left overs!

All in all, a great weekend.

Monday I attended a seminar on Socratic Circles--how to do them, how to use them, that sort of thing. It was great because a) I learned a lot of practical stuff I can't wait to use next year AND gained resources, 2) I didn't have to go in to work, and d) I had lunch with my friend Drew who lives out that way. Plus, it only took me about 45 minutes to get home, which is awesome 'cause I thought it would take an hour and a half. Woot!

Much love.