November 29th, 2017

Holy crap! Gus Jones just endorsed the tree in LODO! My phone was blowing up between Hal and Max talking about it. There was so much chatter between the two of them that I was trying to relate that I offered to give each of them the other's phone number. I think Hal took the hint, and he's agreed to meet Max the next time we have dinner. Not that I didn't want to hear about it, but they were responding to each other through me. It's a pain to forward everyone's text, just text each other!

So yea, they aired Gus's B-day party live on VH1 and had live youtube channels dedicated to it. It was a pretty fantastic event for being last minute. Though, it wasn't as last minute as I had thought, turns out they'd been advertising it pretty heavily for the last week or so. With everything going on, I just hadn't noticed it. Hal, Max, and I were all watching from our own places and talking through text about it. It was a lot of fun, and really impressive how many artists from different genre's they found. I was thrilled that SHEL was included, as a local group they had to be.

And Gus, despite this being his B-day celebration, I don't remember them saying his age. But I could'a swore he was older, seems like he's been around forever. The guy looks good however old he is, and so talented. He was up on stage with everyone, and playing a different instrument, or singing, every performance. It was so much fun to watch, he's got stage presence down to a science, and even knows how to take the back seat when needed allowing the other performers to shine every bit as much. Even the other artists mentioned similar thoughts in the interviews after their performances. All talking about how he influenced their music and inspired them. It was amazing.

At the end of the night, Gus finally stepped up to the mic and thanked everyone for being there and all their well wishes. It was a touching address, and he even brought out his assistant, Shannon, who he credited as being the mastermind behind it all. Before he stepped down, he brought up the tree in LODO, and said that we had a responsibility to protect that tree as an endangered species. We shouldn't be trying to tear it down. He called it The Crow Tree, and said he'd be making a new album honoring it. All proceeds will go toward conservation efforts.

While I was texting Max and Hal all night, I did try to include Sam and Candace. Sam said they were enjoying a quiet night though, and didn't want to turn on the TV. I understand, but I'm sad they missed out. Candace would have loved this. I'll have to bring over a couple of Gus's CD's tomorrow. Sam did say though that they were discussing my offer to do something for Christmas. He was wondering if we knew anywhere we could go sledding. So I posed the question to Hal and Max, and they all thought it was a great idea. Hal said he knew a great place up past Winter Park, one hill for sledding, the other for tubing. But we'd have to call ahead and make reservations.

Sam said that sounded great, that if Hal got him the information he could set it all up. So we'll have to discuss when a good time for all of us would be. Sam had already said that he and Candace have plans before Christmas, so it'd be better afterward. But I know that winter break for Hal and Max won't last long after Christmas, so hopefully we can find a window that'll work for everyone. My biggest hurdle will be getting time off from work. Especially after these last two days.

As much fun as this afternoon was, I had a nice morning with Mom. Since she had insisted on helping me get around for my usual chores, I got them done a lot faster than I usually would riding public transportation. She even joined me at the gym, it was kinda cool. And with all the time I suddenly had, we went out to eat. Of course, Mom had to be a mother, and was asking all sorts of questions about Hal. She was still under the impression that we'd been dating all this time, and embarrassingly enough wanted to make sure we were being safe and using protection. I'm glad she's open and supporting about that, but O M G, could you make things any more uncomfortable? And then she mentions that her and Dad are just concerned and want us to be happy and healthy.

I don't think I'll be able to look Dad in the eyes ever again. Even if Hal and I aren't doing anything.

I don't mean to dwell on the unfortunate incident that was my Mother's prodding, we did have a good day over all. It was nice just being able to have Mom's company away from home. We weren't cleaning or doing... well, we were doing chores, we just weren't doing laundry. Mom was mostly interested because it had been so long since she was going to the pharmacy to pick up my medications and pay the Dr's office. And she'd never been to the gym before. It was a nice day, and ended with some spectacular music.