I WANNA FLY AWAY. YEAH.

HEY, BRO. DO YOU EVEN FEST? SAW THAT ON A T-SHIRT. 

Even though I've lived here all my life and have a fondness for the music, I somehow had never been to Jazz Fest. 

In my 20s I worked almost every day of the festival. Lately, I've been off on Sundays, but it's hard for me to shell -- see what I did there? -- out $60 unless there's someone I really want to see, someone that's one of my favorites. Not just "oh, hey I like them." 

This year that all came together as I was off this past Sunday and Lenny Kravitz was playing. A Lenny concert from 1999 is still my favorite concert I've ever attended, when Paul and I went to see headliner Smash Mouth but came away from it only talking about Lenny's amazing set. 

We saw him again in 2002 when we got lost in the city, a story I recounted at Paul's rehearsal dinner last year, with the highlight being a drunk doctor telling us "you're gonna get shot."

So I popped my Jazz Fest cherry, with Nicole leading the way, as I had no idea where I was going or what to do. 

The crowd was large but not overbearing, and even though we sat a mile away, I still enjoyed Lenny once again. Granted, he got to Jazz Festy with two of his songs that lasted way too long and he only played nine songs in 80 minutes. 

The dude is still magic on the stage, though. The beginning and end of the set were awesome, and I danced, sang and grooved right along with him. 

Would I go back? I can see going back once a year but certainly not more than that. It's exhausting and expensive. And if there isn't someone I love, it'll feel like a big waste of money. 

What I liked about the Fest: 

-- The Meters. They played before Lenny, and I very muched enjoyed their set. My favorite song was "Be My Lady." Good jam. 

-- Catfish almondine. Also ate crawfish Monica, stuffed crab and a pound of boiled crawfish. All good. 

-- Nicole. A nice day out in the city with my lady. 

-- Got exercise. It wasn't too hot. Nothing to complain about with the atmosphere. 

Things I didn't like:

-- Expense. When you add up the ticket (even the discounted one I got from Joe and Jenna), the shuttle ride and all the food, it was a costly day. Just wouldn't do it like more than once in a weekend. 

-- Crawfish bread. Did. Not. Like. It. At. All. Brought the rest to mom figuring it was just me not liking something, even though it's cheese, crawfish and bread. Mom tried it and immediately spat it out. "That's nasty."

Quote of the day: As I was venturing out for food at Jazz Fest, a dude walks up to me and just says this before walking off:

"How do u know I'm a lazy motherfucker? Cuz I have a free pass to a tent with a bathroom, but it's too far. So I'm using this port a potty. That's how you know I'm one lazy motherfucker."

I'M PROUD OF MYSELF

My lawnmower wouldn't start, and I determined it was the spark plug after changing the oil and gas and cleaning out the filter. I got a new spark plug and a spark plug wrench. I changed out the spark plug, and it started right up. 

I know that doesn't sound like much, but I didn't think I could do that by myself. 

I also fixed my mom's breathing machine when it turned off -- though that was only temporary and we had to get a new one -- and parallel parked for the first time. 

So just really a banner week. 

But then Monday morning I brought the trash can from the street back to the side of the house, only to literally watch the garbage man pass an hour later.

Yup, I'm still a moron.