So tonight I went out with my friend Cat to see our friend Ronnie play in his band, the Uncas Old Boys!!!! We got there at 10:30 and the second band was setting up to play so we had some time. We had a couple of drinks and had a good talk after having a great talk at my apartment. Who knew that if you donˇ¦t know what Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales is people might think it's a green penis with a face-especially if that person is studying nursing and has anatomy on the brain. And then they might think that Larry Boy is a green penis with a face and a STD, who would have thought his suction cup ears could remind someone of genital warts - only Cat! So anyway Ronnie found us and was SUPER happy that we had come - he is so awesome if I wasn't dating Foreman I would have a huge crush on this guy. And he brought us over to his table where our friend from nursing Mrs. X and Ronnie's girlfriend MedJack were waiting. As I was walking I noticed who I thought was Dr. Teeth's brother Dance Pants and earlier I had seen Dr. Teeth's friends from the Beef Eaters so I was starting to think going to this concert might have been a bad idea seeing as how it was Dr. Teeth's crowd and there could be the potential for some uncomfortable moments. But whatever, I sat with my nursing buds and saw Stoner from choir (which was great - he's going to teach chemistry in Mexico in January) and had a great time with my pint of Trad and my crazy friends. Then Uncas Old Boys came on FREAKIN' AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe how awesome they were, they're energy, they're creativity, their musical ability - it was so impressive. I was blown away. Ronnie said he played in this "little band" and it turns out to be this freaking awesome band. And not only do I know him but I recognized this other guy who I thought was Dr. Teeth's friend Aldosterone (can you tell I'm in nursing with these names!) but actually I found out later was Aldosterone's brother Shane (who I have always thought was incredibly cute). So anyway they played for 2.5 hours or something like that with incredible energy - they even busted up Shane's childhood guitar on stage with a skill saw and a power sander. And Ronnie played the slide guitar like it had never been slid before. And when he wasn't sliding it he was playing it behind his head. There was jumping and climbing on counters and all sorts of crazy shit. And I got to dance. Really dance. Dance like you forget where you are and all you can hear is this amazing awesome music run through your veins like it's your own blood. Some guy I was dancing beside today said ˇ§ You probably don't hear this but you're a freakin' amazing dancer. It's a privilege to dance next to you. And that was really an awesome compliment (so was the guy's next to him who said I looked "really fuckin'" hot and that he just needed me to know it" - where do you go in a conversation that begins like that???) but just to dance like that, like the world's gone away. I probably haven't danced like that since NOMEANSNO. I have Dr. Teeth to thank for that, for reinspiring my love of music. The other amazing thing that happened tonight was Dance Pants. I have been so unsure how to act around him since Dr. Teeth and I broke up a year and a half ago. I wasn't sure if I could talk to him or if he hated me or how I was supposed to behave. But I missed him terribly - how nuts he can be and how he has cared for me and how I have cared for him. So when I finally figured out that it really was him halfway through the night on the dance floor I wasn't sure what to do (Interesting note: he was dancing with Friesen's old girlfriend from high school - freakishly small world) and then something weird happened. He came right over where I was dancing, ignored me completely and asked my friend Mrs. X to dance. Actually he didnˇ¦t ask he said "You're going to come dance with me" - ever the Rico Suave that Dance Pants. Well, she was taken completely aback and he wasn't getting anywhere fast so I leaned in and said "Don't worry you can trust himˇ¨ and he looked at me and realized who he was looking at (he was possible a little inebriated) he shot me that sly grin that I will always remember and took her over to dance with him. It was so innocent but it reminded me of countless times he'd asked me advice about girls or we'd talked about girls and here we were again with a topic that seemed to sort of break the ice between us. We couldn't deny the existence of the other person anymore because we'd interacted. So then after the concert ended we ran into each other as we were leaving the dance floor and we...talked. He told me he was going to Italy next semester and that he was studying and life was relatively good and he asked what I was doing and we talked a little bit about the band and how we knew those guys and it was maybe a 2 minute conversation but ...he hugged me. After we knew that we needed to go back to our friends and we knew that we weren't going to "keep in touch" because that wasn't the nature of our relationship anymore and probably due to the fact that Dance Pants had some alcohol in his system we hesitated about how to end this brief moment but he took the plunge, reached down and hugged me. And it was so wonderful. I had missed him so much and had felt so guilty for hurting him too (on top of the guilt I felt for hurting Dr. Teeth) but I had never had the chance to talk to him but in some ways that hug felt like forgiveness and tenderness - like he had always shown me since the first time we met. This is not the first time Dance Pants has healed my soul and I hope that I can be there for him if he should ever need anything from me. Because even though he seems a little awkward and rough around the edges sometimes he is one of the finest, most loving people I know and I felt privileged to spend that moment with him tonight. So thanks to the Uncas Old Boys for the unexpected joy of their amazing music, reminding me of my love of that deep kind of dancing and appreciation of sound and for the moment of healing and happiness I had with a long-hoped for friend.