Saturday, March 14, 2009

the best birthday week ever

My birthday week kicked off on 3/3/09 by having lunch with a dear friend that I hadn't seen for nearly a decade. My favorite part was seeing photos of her beautiful daughters, nieces, and nephew--almost brought tears to these cynical eyes. Thank you, Beth, and I promise to stay in touch.

On 3/5/09 my buddy Harry and I saw Monte Montgomery play a rare solo gig at the Winchester in Lakewood. Do yourself a favor: go to YouTube, and check out some videos of this guy, especially his version of Sara Smile. What an incredible guitarist.

On 3/6/09 I had a small gathering of friends at my house for a pre-birthday celebration. Thank you to all who attended, and thank you for all the great gifts, including the following two additions to the 2009 Countdown/Obsession:

48. Rush -- Retrospective 3
49. Johnny Cash -- Unearthed

3/7/09 was my actual birthday: Lordy, Lordy, Matt is forty (going on thirteen, as a wise-cracking co-worker once observed). Harry and I drove down to Akron to see ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro at E.J. Thomas Hall. Again, please check him out on YouTube, especially his mind-blowing rendition of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I picked up a copy of his latest release:

50. Jake Shimabukuro -- Live

I'm still riding high from such a great week. Awesome music, awesome friends. I am a lucky man.

1 comment:

Beth said...

Wait till you meet them in person, betcha you cry in the first 5 minutes, cause they'll be driven you freakin insane. Love you, Happy B-day again