Gambling, Punk Rock, Stoner Rap... and marriage!

So the marriage certificate arrived the other day. Alison and I are officially husband and wife. It'll take a while to get used to the ring, but it feels good. It feels right. More real, I guess, more official. We'd always said we didn't need to get married and that it wouldn't change things, but it definitely has, and all for the better. Life just feels more solid right now and I know we've done the right thing. I couldn't be happier, really. Sure, life can still be complicated and yeah my back is sore from working in the warehouse today and okay, fine, my credit card bills could be lower than they are but these are minor things, things I can't really be bothered to fret over. Not to say I intend to shirk responsibility in these matters, only to say that money's only money and my back will be fine after a good night's sleep.

But yeah, the wedding was perfect in pretty much every way. I've talked about it elsewhere and don't know that I need to repeat myself at this point but it went off even better than I think either of us imagined. Noland did a really great job on the ceremony, treating it all with the right amount of respect but never coming across as stuff or dulll, while Mr. Miller's guitar playing was entirely appropriate and beautiful in its own goofy way. Alison looked stunningly beautiful and she continues to remind me daily how lucky I am to have her. I'd have liked to have seen more family there from my side, but not everyone can afford to travel and some of those who can afford it just can't do it. Period. So obviously there are no hard feelings there, even if there is a tinge of sadness about it.

So after the wedding she and I went to Atlantic City to see Social Distortion. This was my seventh time seeing them, having been a fan since I was twelve or thirteen, and it was the best show I'd seen in quite some time from them. Mike Ness seems content to play in a rock and roll band now rather than a punk band, and while the merch booth was expensive and far too extensive, at least they didn't play Antifashion and make hypocrites of themselves. Mike's not getting any younger and at this point in the game I can't begrudge him making some money off of the name so long as he keeps putting out good music and putting on good shows and so far he has. Which is good, cause tattoos don't come off all that easily.

The morning after we decided to gamble $20 each and at the first slot I played I left with $965.50, at which point I decided to call it quits for the day. We had a nice dinner and wandered around and under the boardwalk, saw some sights, encountered a weird guy drinking Busch light and watched idiotic surfers catch mediocre waves in really cold temperatures. AC was neat. It's like Coney Island and Vegas rolled in to one. Just be careful where you go, cause parts of it are obviously tough.

A few days after the wedding Teenage Bottlerocket came into town with The Cobra Skulls supporting. It was an early show, I got there just as the Cobra Skulls were going on. Alison, sadly, missed them. They were great. High enegry, agreeable left leaning political rants, great guitar riffs and just a really solid bounciness to them. I talked to the guitar player and the vocalist briefly after the show simply because I wanted to tell them how much I appreciated their music lately. I also felt really old, the only guy over thirty pogoing up front in a see of teenagers. But whatever. Teenage Bottlerocket came on next and we opted to sit at the bar and watch from afar not because it was a rough crowd but because we were tired. They put on a solid show too, and ignored my hollaring at them to 'PLAY A LILLINGTONS SONG!' They did do a cover of Poison's 'Talk Dirty To Me' that was pretty funny, so I guess that counts for something.

Last week I won tickets from a radio station webstite to the Cypress Hill show in Times Square. I still get a kick out of them even if I'm not into weed and their glory days are behind them. We're going to go check it out, cause why not, it's free. If we're bombared with second hand smoke or don't like the environment we can always leave and not have to worry about having wasted money. I think it'll be fun.

Other than that, Halloween is on Sat. and Jackson Heights always has a good Halloween parade where all the kids dress up and cruise up and down the ave. our apt. building is on. It was fun last year and it'll probably be fun this year too, even if it is supposed to rain.