And yes, it was so great.

Wow wow wow. The trip was "wundebar!", as my 11th grade German teacher, Frau Bird, would have put it. A weekend in the desert with the best music around and 100,000 sweaty people. At one point, I was listening to Stephen and Damien Marley renditioning, "Jamaica Jamaica" and "Buffalo Soldier" and people were literally puffing on a joint on a stick being passed through the crowd. Suddenly all these strangers loved eachother very much. Aside from the blatent use of drugs, the music was so real and so deep. Sean Watkins from Nickel Creek belted "Somebody More Like You", and Chris Thile was the best mandolinist that ever lived, like he always is. Into the evening we listened to Amy Winehouse and her very talented band and back up dancers.. who I wanted to meet more than Amy herself. Of Montreal, Satellite Party, and Rufus Wainright were among other performers that night.

We spent the next day napping on the sand at Oceanside Beach. Very crowded, cloudy, but the beach nonetheless. I thought about my kids, hm, every 10-20 minutes but found that I was very comfortable without them for a few days. Coming back was an anticipation that I haven't felt in a long time. Anticipation to hug and kiss my girls and squeeze their little bods, anticipation to kiss Jake to death and the yearning to be home again. I loved that feeling. I got in touch with my inner hippie for a weekend. Little Katie (Katie is my brother Gideon's girlfriend, Gid is on a mission in Atlanta) and I sang so loud in the car on the way home that my voice has gone hoarse today. We did stop off in Vegas for some Cheesecake Factory indulgence and Louis Vitton window shopping. Very, very, saucy.