VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've had at a wedding?
BLAKE NELSON: Back in the early Nineties, I was chosen to be one of the opening "spoken word artists" for a Grateful Dead concert/party that Ken Kesey was having at his farm. Many of my friends thought this was funny since I had been quite the punk rocker and had constantly denounced the Grateful Dead any time I could. Still, i was excited to do this huge gig, which would put me in front of more people than I'd ever read to before. But then about a month before the gig, Jerry Garcia died. They still had the party and I read, but I felt guilty the whole time, because all anyone talked about was how cool Jerry was and how much he would be missed. Later, a beautiful girl on acid found me standing by myself by the stage. She took me into her arms and told me not to worry, she would love me. Which in one way made me feel better, but in another made me feel worse.
