This past weekend, I went to Athens to visit Emily. I knew that Dave was providing the Athens area a free concert. I was told that nothing in life is free, so naturally Emily and I were hesitant. We went to this 'Island Party' that was hosted by a fraternity and upon arrival we were just welcomed into a muddy field. As we entered, Andy Davis was playing. The crowd knew his music, but I came to the notion that people really came to see Dave Barnes. I can't really blame them.
Barnes finally came on stage. Emily and I stood as he serenaded me into a coma, which I greatly appreciated. **Footnote: Speaking of standing, we both came to a conclusion that everyone else is taller than Chell's. Okay, so we know that we are short, but is it really necessary that every tall person in the field, at one point or another, had to stand DIRECTLY in front of us? No reall
y, is it? I think so. I think that due to our name, we are cursed for a lifetime.** I digress...(To the right we have a little piece of goodness that I like to call Dave Barnes. Sigh)
So we watched him sing, listened to his stories, which by the way- HILARIOUS. (Ask me and you shall receive a synopsis. But ask Dave and you shall receive a 10 minute tangent) After he is done being perfect, he then says goodbye and leaves. Me, being the stalker that I am, followed him up the stairs with my eyes. I told Emily, like 5 minutes later, that I saw him go up. We slowly crept up and saw some beautiful man with these two other ugly people.( I am not this judgemental, I just think it reinforces my love for Dave Barnes. After we got up the stairs, Emily and I went off to the side to have a pow-wow to decide on what action to take. We did not really know what to do. She told me to go. I did not really want to. After all that- I started to walk over to him. Being more than prepared, I went to the liberty of bringing a Sharpie and the album cover in a Ziploc sealed baggie (Emily's idea). I went over there, standing at a distance. He then started to walk my way. At this point I probably have the world's most stupid grin on my face, but it really did not matter to me, seeing how there is little that I can do now. He put his hand out for me to shake and said, " Hello". Thinking more of it now, I mean there really is no point to the whole introduction thing, we both know that I know who he is, but I introduced myself out of habit. I said, " Hey there. I hate to be that person, but do you think that you could sign this?" With almost a shock, he said, " Yeah, no problem" and took my Sharpie. He was ready to write a name down, and he asked me who to make it out to. I told him Grayson and continued with the spelling of it. (This is when our 'moment' began). He said, " Oh Grayson... My friends are having a baby girl and they are naming it Grayson- only they are spelling it...G-r-a-c-...i-n no e-n, I don't remember, but it has Grace in it." Again with that stupid grin, I told him how uncommon it was to know of a female with that name and how special it will be. As he was writing his message to me he noticed my shirt. ( I was wearing a Gray Dave Barnes shirt). He asked me where I got it. I told him that I got it from his Atlanta show. At first he looked a bit perplexed, probably because he was going to do the Atlanta show the next night. I told him that it was the one he did with Matt back in November. ( And yes, we are all on a first name basis, jealous?) I saw the light bulb go off. He nodded and agreed with me. At this point in our deep conversation, Emily is still off to the side. It was until Dave actually rubbed his right hand over my head three times consecutively and said, and I quote, " I like this." I told him, a bit under my breathe, that I shaved my head about a month and half ago for children's cancer. I don't think that he heard me, but I was a bit distracted by his serenading touch. At this point, Emily's jealousy was enormous ( joking, she just noticed that this was not going to be a quick 'hello/ goodbye' thing, so she was now approaching us. This is when the manager or 'security' man started to tell Emily that Dave was going down to the table soon thereafter. Insinuating that she should not bother him at this moment. Emily told him that I was her sister and that she had no intention of harassing him as I did. I told him thank you and he started to leave to go down to the table for signing of cd's and doing the whole social thing.
This was a great weekend in Athens. I got to meet Dave Barnes and it made me so happy. I think that my hair made some sort of impression on him. So, for once, I think that I stood out from all those other blond, college, sorostitutes in the Athens/Clarke County region.
*Please note: Some of the events recorded above are a bit exaggerated in some areas. Although that is true, the general ideas are in fact accurate.
