Estoy Nueces

It's late Friday night and Mark is on the road on his last official road gig with Guy. His last official gig will be Sunday at Antone's and I will be there. He has a couple of gigs booked with Guy in June and beyond, but those are just because his new girl drummer can't do it for some reason. I've very sad about the ending of this relationship and I think Mark is, too. He's seen it coming and has been a little disillusioned at the relationship himself (is this like romance or what?), but this has been very good for him and he is not ready to let it go. Or maybe he is not ready to let the IDEA of it go, or the band that was there a few months ago go. He is ready to let this new singer/songwriter new direction of Guy's to go. I wish Guy well and I do enjoy what he is doing, but I wish he could do it with Mark on the drums.

Wednesday's show at the music series with Ray was amazing, as I wisely predicted. He is such a fabulous storyteller. I proved myself a liar when Mark did come to the show and had a good time and was sweet through it all. It was weird to introduce Mark to a music friend there and to find they have known each other over the years and, of course, the guy had no idea I was married to Mark.

Today was a long day with a remote and a hellacious airshift with computer problems and more, but a nice night at Reckless Kelly's CD release at Stubb's. Great show despite the heat. I'm still a little heat-stroked, or is it just the beer. I've been reading the journals of other Austin writers tonight but I don't think I've absorbed a word they said.

I'm writing in my online journal to get some of it out before I go and e-mail it instead of putting it here (as Kramer has informed me that I do---is that guy psychic?).

I have spent a week counseling others in their marriages---obviously people who don't read my journal. My sister and her husband are still having great difficulty overcoming his feeling of betrayal when he read HER online journal. She talked on the phone with my therapist and they went to a marriage counselor today and have more sessions set up for next week. It will all work to the good, I'm sure, but it is dicey for now. They had their 21st anniversary yesterday (note that I didn't say they "celebrated"). I do think it is a good sign that even though they decided they wouldn't be celebrating it, they did each end up giving a card and a small gift (chocolate covered cherries to him, roses to her) and that means something. My old radio friend has called and e-mailed the details about the affair he is having, cheating on his wife, but then the mistress dumped him and he is feeling especially cheated, betrayed, attacked, etc. I have not been able to talk to him today and I hope he is okay. I hope they find a happy ground between them, but, as I've written before, it is weird because I never quite saw them together in the first place, but they've been together for 20 years so there had to be something. And, yet another marriage in trouble (is it the mooon? Mercury? the smoke from Mexico?) a co-worker came to me to see if she and her 4-year-old could stay with us beginning this weekend as she leaves her husband when they lose their house. I was cruel and heartless and bold and said no. The only room we have for company is THIS room, the room I write in, and a visitor with a child that I really don't know all that well to begin with (and don't like her all that much) with a no-set-end-date visit.... All bad news. I did tell her I would help her with a hotel if she needed financial assistance, but I didn't have room at the house. All of these marriage troubles seem to point up to me how good my marriage is, and maybe that is the point of the whole exercise.