About a month ago, I bought some concert tickets to reward myself for doing the sensible thing and not trying to take even more time off than I’m already taking this quarter for ski trips, so Friday night instead of stuffing myself with pineapple fluff, I took Mr. Karen to see Jonathan Coulton with special guests Paul & Storm. I first heard Jonathan Coulton’s music on a knitting podcast (the long since podfaded Pointy Sticks); the song IKEA was my gateway drug, and it wasn’t too long before I had about half his catalog in heavy rotation on my iPod. These Paul & Storm guys I had not heard of before I bought the tickets, but with the internet at my fingertips, I soon sampled their podcast and listened to snippets of their songs online and then went ahead and bought a bunch of their MP3s, so by Friday I sorta kinda knew what to expect from them. I also put Mr. Karen through a crash course in these gentlemen’s music. We listened to the Geek Cred interview on our trip to Idaho, and I played what I guessed might be some of the songs we’d hear in concert on our drive to the venue. Nothing like cramming at the last minute.

The show was a lot of fun from the very start; my cheeks got sore from laughing so much. I didn’t know all the songs (I still don’t have quite all of Mr. Coulton’s music on my nano, and hadn’t gotten a chance to listen to absolutely all the Paul & Storm I’d bought before showtime) but I knew plenty enough to feel at home in the audience. We didn’t brave the crush at the merchandise table so I don’t know what was on offer; I figure if I’m meant to have something, it will be available online.

* I do not actually feel fantastic. I feel rather tired; I blame this “spring forward” crap.