Barry Day... Just a Week from Today

The weather today is glorious...... hot and sunny without being broiling-hot. I hope this weather holds for the rest of the year. With maybe one or two cool days thrown in just to make sure we're all paying attention.

Just when all the commotion ended at our house, with the bathroom shower remodeling, the neighbors across the street have their own project going on. Two cement trucks have been to their house within the last couple of days. They must be adding a huge patio because the cement is being taken to the back of their house, not the front. Those neighbors will be at our Halloween party on Saturday, so I'll have to ask them what they've been up to. Just plain old curiosity on my part. AngelBoy is frustrated with the noise again-- his tail keeps slapping against the carpet every minute or so. I can hear him from his hiding place underneath the fainting sofa in my sitting room.

Lots of advertisements in The Chronicle about the up-coming Barry Manilow concert in downtown Houson next week. "One Night Only." Which is all a true Barry fan needs... just name the night, Barry-- we'll be there. We're going to the concert with our friends A & D and J... five of us in the car, my husband driving. And three of us (me and A & J) are Barry-maniacs. I guess my husband will just ask the three of us to sit in the back seat. This way, our singing/dancing-in-our-seats will be contained in the back of the car, and my husband and D can ride with some degree of sanity in the front seat.

My husband and D have been to other Barry concerts with me and A. For the last Houston concert, A & I couldn't sit still during the ride to the concert, and we couldn't stop talking about the concert all the way home. Needless to say, my husband and D just looked at us and thought we'd lost our minds. But this concert, we're adding J to our little Barry-party, and he is just as nuts over Barry as we are, so this should be an event to remember.

A few years ago, Manilow came to the Houston Rodeo for a concert. My husband and I were in the audience, and so was J with other friends (although we never did find one another during the show). Poor Barry..... Manilow and the rodeo just wasn't a good mix. Neither for him nor his fans. We all had to sit through countless displays of animal cruelty, which is what I called that rodeo. (Can you tell it was my first -- and last -- rodeo?)

Grown men running after calves to knock them down and tie their feet up. More grown men attaching a sled filled with hundreds of pounds of dead-weight to mules, and watching them try to pull it. That's when my husband and I walked out of that show-- when one of the mules couldn't pull the weight and his knees buckled. I swear, I wanted to cry. Then they had pig races, which we didn't see. Heaven only knows what they used to get the pigs to run around a track.

After that, we kept asking the workers at the rodeo arena when Barry Manilow's show would begin. Every blessed one of those cowboys said "Barry who?" I wanted to stomp on their hats. But finally, finally, the rodeo powers-that-be started the concert, and they drove Barry out to the center of the arena in the back of a pick-up truck. Thankfully, the lights were dimmed, but Barry's true fans can see that man blindfolded. (Note to Barry: no more rodeo shows, please.)

Next week's concert will be at The Toyota Center. And the seating is set up in-the-round, with the stage in the center. And, if the seating map on the Internet can be trusted, we will have front-row seats. Be still, my heart. The three of us (me and A and J) are all set... we'll be wearing Barry shirts, watches, bracelets. I'll be holding my hardcover copy of "Sweet Life" in the hopes that I can get Barry to autograph his book for me. This will be my third try... I hold the book, and I get my husband to keep a pen in his shirt pocket so I don't have to fumble in my purse when Manilow says: "Is that "Sweet Life" that I see you holding? Well, let's get that woman up here so I can sign my name on that book for her."

As my dear friend Blanche would say: "From your lips to God's ears....."

My husband and I went to a Manilow concert in Houston during the first couple of years after moving here. We had front row seats. Front row! I swear, I was able to count Barry's eyelashes. At the end of the concert, Barry came to me and held my hand. Held my hand! And could I speak? Did I thank him for all the years of beautiful music? No. Not a word came out of my mouth. (And I didn't have my copy of "Sweet Life" at that concert!) But Manilow held onto my hand anyway. Just for a few seconds. Long enough for me to look into his eyes, but not long enough for me to faint. Talk about not being able to sit still. My husband and I got home from that concert after midnight. I wanted to call everyone I knew back in NY to tell them all that Manilow had touched my hand. But I didn't.... too late for such a phone call.

Today is Thursday.... the concert is a week away. Can you tell that we're (I'm) getting a little anxious here? I think the only thing that's holding me together is the fact that we're having a Halloween party on Saturday and there are always last-minute details to take care of.

But come next Thursday.... we're going to see Barry!