A little relief in all the chaos

So, well, this happened:

My cellphone does not take good photos, unfortunately.

Ditto the comment on the photo above.

R and I went to see Neil Diamond in concert last night!  It was so much fun. 

We were watching television last week and an advertisement came on about this concert. I thought to myself, "That would have been fun, but surely there are no tickets left." As with so many things in my life, I also thought, "There's no harm in checking just to be sure." I found reasonably priced tickets (in a suite, mind you), so I bought them immediately. We're unschooled in the way of fancy suites, apparently, because we didn't know that the price of the ticket also included dinner (complete with beer or soft drinks) and a private bathroom.  Score!

It was an incredible performance - nearly two hours uninterrupted - especially when you consider the guy's in his seventies. My favorite song was his autobiographical Brooklyn Roads, complete with family movies from his childhood. 

I have to say this, though: Neil Diamond fans are obsessed. Many a middle-aged woman was sporting a "Diamond Girl" t-shirt and wearing a seizure-enducing oversized blinking ring that they had purchased from the hucksters in the lobby. Their husbands, if in attendance, mostly looked a bit bemused.

My mom loved Neil Diamond, and I grew up listening to his music. It was a real treat to be able to see him in person - not only for the music, but for the memories it brought back of listening to LPs on my mom's ancient stereo turntable. To quote Neil: Good times never seemed so good. Indeed.

Plus, I really love his song from his new album, Melody Road:  The Art of Love.