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Goodbye, November

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Where did November go?  Seriously?  It seems as though we just went back to school, and now, we are well past the halfway mark for first semester.  I have to say, my November was packed with lots of fun.  So many new memories made!

At the beginning of the month, I attended a Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) game with my siblings and their families.  Go Cards!  After the game, we all spent time hanging out at my parents’ house watching even more football and eating pizza.  I think it has to become a new tradition.  Even though I don’t hunt, I enjoyed everyone else discussing and making plans for opening day (November 15th for firearm deer season here in Michigan).  I love that the tradition continues, even if Camp Russell is long gone.

The following Friday night, John and I attended the Barenaked Ladies (BNL) concert at Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.  It did not go as planned, to say the least.  Somehow, we did not have the seats we thought we had.  I still have no idea how, why, where, or when the mixup happened, but it did.  First, let me start with the opening band, Toad the Wet Sprocket.  While not quite a one-hit wonder, Toad the Wet Sprocket had a couple of hits with “All I Want” and “Walk on the Ocean” in the 90s.  Honestly, pretty forgettable and comparable to dad yacht rock of the late 70s and early 80s.  Way, way too mellow, even for me.  The aesthetic of the set worked well, but if things were going to start off this slow, we were in for a long night.

Now before I discuss BNL, you have to understand that I waited 20 years to see them in concert.  BNL is a huge part of the soundtrack of both my high school and college years.  In 2004, during my senior year at Michigan State, I had the opportunity to see them at the Breslin Center.  Unfortunately, my firstborn intuitive sense of responsibility kicked in.  I had too much to do.  I shouldn’t spend the money.  It goes on and on.  As I have proven time and time again, I am my own worst enemy.  Buy the damn concert tickets!  Just go!

As much as I tried to lower my expectations for the BNL concert, it didn’t work.  Instead, I left disappointed.  In fact, we left after the first song.  It just wasn’t what we were expecting at all.  We’d looked up set lists from earlier concerts on the tour, and it looked great.  As one would expect, they opened with one of their monster hits and continued to mix their hits with their new, super mellow album “In Flight.”  I’d listened to the new album before the concert and enjoyed it for what it was.  Looking at the supposed setlist, I thought it would work well.  Wrong!

Mt. Pleasant happened to be the last concert on their tour, and for whatever reason, they completely changed up the set list.  They started with the new songs and continued the dad yacht rock vibe with a vengeance.  No telling when they would get to their back catalog.  Also, what really worried me is the fact that their hits could have been played in a more mellow, stripped down, acoustic version a la MTV Unplugged.  I enjoy that type of music at times, but that is the exact opposite reason why I wanted to see BNL.  I wanted the crazy energy of “One Week,” “The Old Apartment,” and the “Big Bang Theory Theme.”  Add in a BNL superfan who insisted on talking to me throughout the entire break between acts, in addition to continually bumping her purse in John’s side, we were over it.  We left.  Again, lesson learned.

Fortunately, the weekend wasn’t ruined.  We spent time at Michigan State on Saturday.  I showed John all my old favorite haunts.  It is surreal though.  In East Lansing, I constantly felt simultaneously back at home and flabbergasted on how much had changed.  I’m just glad that Crunchies, the Peanut Barrel, and the Pita Pit are still there.  Fun note:  Barstool Sports sponsored a pub crawl throughout East Lansing that Saturday.  We were trying to figure out why we were seeing groups of students dressed up as bananas all over campus and East Lansing.  At first, we thought it might be some crazy type of protest.

Now that Thanksgiving and deer season are behind us, bring on Christmas!  December, of course, never disappoints.  Advent starts tomorrow.  I hope to slow down and enjoy it!

Book Review:  The Wedding People by Alison Espach

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I’m not sure exactly what I expected when I started this book, but I did not expect to enjoy it so much, especially given the gritty nature of the subject material covered.  I don’t want to give too much away, but it does deal with such loaded subjects such as suicide, infertility, grief, and love.  Yet, it is witty and realistic as well.  There is definitely humor amongst all the drama.  It is well worth a read.

My favorite is the contrast between our protagonist, Phoebe, who inadvertently crashes a swank wedding week in Rockport, Rhode Island, and Lila, who is a bride-to-be about to kick off a week of wedding activities.  Phoebe has just left everything behind, including her husband, job, house, and cat.  Lila couldn’t be more different, and she is determined that nothing, including an uninvited guest, will ruin her wedding.  Intending to marry in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and losing her father, Lila spared no expense or experience for her guests.  Will it be enough?

Much of the plot revolves around the emotional and social lives of these two women.  The characters, and I do mean all of the characters, are wonderful, even if the reader isn’t inclined to love them all.  They are deeply flawed and human.  One of my favorites is Juice, Lila’s soon to be step-daughter.  While I love the characters and many are highly developed, well beyond just the protagonists, I would not go so far as to say this is a character-driven novel.  It simply isn’t.  The plot really drives the action, and a lot happens in a week.

I’d love to say more, but I do not want to give away major plot points.  While the action certainly hinges on wedding events over the week, the title itself is a bit misleading.  The book is about so much more than just a wedding or even marriage.  It gets hilariously messy, but it is worth it in the end.  Check it out!