David and the Wolfe

Every once in a while, some work drama flares up. Often, I'm peripherally involved, bemused at the sidelines. Not this time. My co-worker of 5 years, and superstar of my team, decided to quit. Good for her, cause she wasn't so happy. Not so good for me, cause she was our ringer. Simultaneously (and convincingly unrelated-ly) I got my first promotion since I've been working at Oracle. I'm now the equivalent of a jedi serf. Booyeah.

That was the start of my Thursday.

I was also involved in an amazingly well orchestrated plot (by Andrew, Sarah, and Natalee) to throw Dave SG a surprise birthday treasure hunt. So I'm driving home from work, trying to get to my designated location on time. I get home, jump in a cab, and get to the panhandle a couple minutes late. Dave SG is there, and is totally surprised when I walk toward him. What am I doing here? Oh, I have plans to meet up with Sarah (who's already present). He begins to regale this tale of how he went to the Seward Park Slides (a huge 2 story concrete slide) and the cardboard he was using to slide on had messages scrawled all over it, many which had random personal significance. He and Andrew determined that it was part of a treasure hunt that they happened to stumble upon, and decided to go find the next clue in the panhandle. His mind is totally scrambled and they're off to a bar for the next clue. Do we want to join him? Maybe for one drink. At the next bar he runs into Josh and Deanna, and during our time there it dawns upon him that this isn't so much a coincidence.



It was so awesome being there in the panhandle when his mind basically imploded with the supposed random synergy of his day, totally unsuspecting that it was a setup. That was an honor to witness.

After Bar #1, he had to go to a park and climb a tree in the dark, somewhat drunk. He had to do it three times till he found the clue. He picked up two more friends there, who had been hula-hooping in the park. Then to bar #2 (Fly). More friends. Then to the liquor store across the street from his house (more friends), where his last instruction was to buy a Miller High Life. In the store was a 40oz Miller that was labeled "drink me". Passing it around, he and his entourage took care of draining it, getting out the tiny plastic capsule that contained the message: "Go home Dave. Go Home."

Dave and his crew went across the street, where Dave walked in where another 20 or so people yelled "Surprise!" and the party at the house began. The house was all decorated and everyone was it great spirits.

It was undoubtedly the best birthday of his life.





But my day isn't done yet.

My friend Sharon gave me a call on Wednesday. She's a sound engineer out of Montreal, and runs the sound board for bands. She told me that her band, Wolfe Parade, was rolling through SF on Thursday, and they hit @ 11.

So upon leaving the party, as two people are heading to a car, I ask somewhat jokingly if she'll give me a ride to the Fillmore. Astonishingly, she says yes, and low and behold I get a ride. Sweet!

I roll into a fairly full Fillmore, with an all access patch on my shirt. The band is pretty good.



Sharon's running some good sound.



Towards midnight I'm starting to get tired and famished, and begin to lose focus. I figure this is the only time I'll ever go backstage at the Fillmore, so I decide to check it out.

Its better then I could have imagined. The room itself is small and uninteresting, but there's a table FULL OF FOOD! I make myself a phatty sandwich and head to the balcony to watch the show. I guess they just finished up their final song, cause everyone is cheering and the band isn't on stage. Turns out they're heading up backstage, where I'm smack in the middle of the tiny hallway, blissing out on my sandwich and free water. I'm totally in the way, and by the time I realize it, I'm just bemused. Everyone's cheering, people backstage are handing out accolades, and I'm creating a traffic jam, eating a sandwich.

Awesome.

The band plays their encore. Everyone leaves. I get to hang out with Sharon for half hour or so and catch up.

Quality Thursday.