A non-baby related post: Henry Rollins

Back in the days when the Janal Fonda (Janelle) and I lived together, our Sunday morning ritual consisted of rolling out of bed at some ungodly hour of the morning (I have never been able to sleep in) and planting ourselves in front of the Family Channel for hours. Clearly there are better things on in the morning than Lizzie Maguire, but something about the Family Channel ritual helped ease our Sunday morning hangovers. Years later, I still turn on the Family Channel on weekend mornings, despite the fact that the Disney corporation goes against everything I believe in. So here I am - Saturday morning, Kris has gone to work for the day, and I'm watching Disney in my ratty robe that barely gets around my belly, reflecting on a most amazing night.

Last night I went to see Henry Rollins' spoken word tour. I first went to one of his shows in 2000 - I found the ticket stub in an old box last month. I have gone just about every year since. On the way there we drove by Ontario Place and Niki mentioned that it was one of those places you go thinking it's going to be amazing and then you're disappointed. I replied that this is something that happens to me just about everywhere I go. Everyone laughed, but it's true. I have no idea why I am so hard to impress, but I went to Machu Picchu and I was just sort of "eh, this is ok." Anyway, my point of telling you all this is not for you to think I'm spoiled and ignorant, but to let you know that when I see Henry Rollins, I freak out. I become impressed and then I take that ten levels higher to some new world of impression that I heart and mind rarely visit. It's the result of a few factors - (1) He's 49 years old with a full head of gray hair and still makes my heart skip a beat. (2) He tells stories about travelling to places I will never, ever go and they are AWESOME. (3) He tells stories about growing up with Ian MacKaye. (4) he is SMART...so, so, so SMART. Yet the absolute best part about Henry Rollins is the way he talks. He's articulate and talks fast and I will forever be IMPRESSED by people who can combine these attributes. He talked for three full hours last night, never even stopping to take a drink of water. He didn't flub or trip over words, he didn't say anything that made me cringe internally (people make me do this all.the.time), he made opinions and told stories that were smart and funny and endearing.

And guess what? Tickey loved it.

Thanks to my dedicated clicking of the "buy now" button that started 10 full minutes before tickets went on sale, we were front row and centre (a long way from buying scalper tickets in the rain in 2000). Tickey rolled and kicked his way through the performance, responding to the thunderous laughter and applause from the audience and clearly loving the show. I warned Kris that if this happened, I would be incredibly inclined to name our baby Henry if it is a boy (I will restrain myself - our names are picked, there's no turning back).

I hope that Henry Rollins continues to do spoken word tours for many years to come (which I highly suspect he will) so that one day I can bring Tickey outside of the womb. Still, I think going to a Henry Rollins spoken word show at 8 months gestation counts for being the coolest kid ever.