I STOOD THISCLOSE TO CHINGO BLING

The Orange Show (a folk art museum and amusement park dedicated to, you know, oranges) hosted the East End Christmas Party last night. You are going to die when you hear how cool it was. First of all, there were lowriders parked all over the street. Then, as soon as I walked in, somebody handed me a hot buttered rum. Oh, yes. They also had beer and iced tea. Good call on the refreshments, eh?

Upstairs they had tamales and hot sauce from Big Daddy's Ass Burn -- there were three varieties; I really liked the Flaming Lips one. It was made with pineapple juice. I talked to the guy from Big Daddy's for a minute. He's friends with the Flaming Lips, he teaches Math at Memorial High School, and he looks like a member of Metallica. He let Becca rub his beard.

There were crafts for the kiddos, and the entertainment -- oh, y'all. There were three Spanish-speaking acts. The highlight -- the one who got all the Mexican teenage girls a-jumpin' -- was Chingo Bling. He did a really small set, but it was fun. Emmet was dancing like a fool. Of course, I bought one of Mr. Bling's t-shirts, and he took this picture of me and Letitia and some of our friends:


I don't know what else I can tell you about the sheer awesomeness of it all, but I was thinking of you when I took this last picture.