Blather, rinse, repeat

STAND BY FOR TL/DR

So I had really low expectations about last night's concert. Short set, crappy venue, etc, you know the drill. But as it turns out, barring a few stressful asides, it was an awesome concert and an all around awesome night.

Because this is me, you can expect me to begin at the beginning, or at least the beginning that is relevant to me, which is early in the afternoon as my Mom and I went to pick up Jo-chan from school. (Okay, let me speak plainly; her name is Meg, I'm sure most of you know that by now, and I certainly introduced her to enough people last night anyway.) It was a weird feeling, because we picked her up from school the last time we went to a 30 concert together. We took my car and put my iPod on shuffle and talked the whole way. I like driving places with my Ma because then we get to talk and I get to foist all of my favorite songs on her. (Another odd aside: I've noticed that people in my family and social circle never "play a song" for someone else: you "show them a song." Like, "I've got to show you this song that I love.") So I showed my Mom some songs, and then when we picked Meg up, Meg showed us some songs from her iPod. Back home, you can imagine that I was a jittering freak, but I like to think I kept it all chill. Meg had forgotten her 30STM T shirt, and I thought that was actually kinda fortuitous, because I wanted to make one for her. You may remember from my last post that my shirt was the phoenix with my favorite lyric from 30's song "Attack": "Surrender to nothing." It's what I painted on my escaped bride costume for the Halloween concert. That's not my favorite song by a long shot, but it is my favorite that they do live, and I always love to scream those lyrics out like it's my job. Meg picked the phoenix design too, and her favorite lyrics: "It's not a matter of luck, it's just a matter of time" from "Edge of the Earth" (which, incidentally, is my favorite song that they do.) So we made her T shirt and then we painted some gold stuff on there. We didn't know what to do with the negative space: Chinese caligraphy (since 30 is all about CHina these days,) or the Echelon X or some other glyph or symbol? Eventually she settled on the Echelon X and--I kid you not--the Triforce. We LOLled.

Then we had pizza, I got directions to the coliseum, and off we went.

( The word of the day is BOTCH. Getting lost and getting there. ) I said to the security guy, "God, I'm getting too old for this." He smiled and said, "No you're not," and ushered us in.

( the pit, Saosin, Senses Fail )

The set of the Taste of Chaos tour revolves: that is, it's built on a revolving stage. So when this band went off, all they had to do was turn the stage around to reveal 30's new set. I like this set ever so much more than their "masked masses / banners" one. This new set actually is reminiscent of my living room, with red lanterns and hanging Chinese charms and banners with kanji calligraphy on them. (For those who dont' know: 30 Seconds To Mars did a video for their song "From Yesterday" and they filmed it in China. It even had Kung Fu in it! So now they are all about Chinese art and myth. And I'd like to add, for the record, that I was all over this style before From Yesterday came along. ;D I could've told you this stuff was cool like ten years ago.) I thought it would be terribly exciting when they turned the stage around, but it really wasn't all that mind-blowing. We waited around for a few minutes while some stupid bimbo sat on some guy's shoulders and flashed her boobs to everyone in the audience. We looked at the time. I told Meghan, "When 30 comes on, don't let the crowd panic you. Have fun, dance, mosh, scream, do whatever you want: no one is going to hurt you. We might get shoved, but that'll be the worst of it. Iv'e got your back and so does this guy here." Indicating the security guy we'd sort of latched onto. Immediately there was a difference. I think I needed to say that to her for both of us, because then we both chilled out and decided that we were just going to have the best possible time, and I felt really safe where we were standing. Meghan had a great view to the stage and so did I.

The lights went down, and the screaming started. After years of seeing shows in clubs exclusively, I'd forgotten how loud an entire forum of screaming people can get. LOUD. Manic. Lights down and the beginning of O Fortuna, which I never miss the opportunity to joke about (Ozzy used it, Michael Jackson used it, it's in eveyr movie in the world, it's played out, etc.) but which still always makes my arm hairs stand up when it starts playing and the lights start flashing. Meghan was giggling her head off out of honest excitement and I thought of myself when I was 14, hearing this same song in this same coliseum, waiting for Ozzy Osbourne to come on, only then it was in high seats miles away from the stage. And even then it still made me scream and leap up. I could imagine what Meghan was feeling just then, so close to the stage, the music so loud, her favorite band about to come storming on ... Onto the stage... At some point. It was really taking a long time. I like to videotape this part but watch it, too (I find that when I don't live things as much when I'm looking through the viewfinder, so I hold the camera over my head,) and I had the camera trained on the stage, wondering where the eff these guys were.

And then Meghan: "Oh, LOOK! LOOK! TURN AROUND!"

( Those sons o'botches were right behind us! )

You can't see it from that recording because I edited it in MovieMaker, but after I got jostled by the fangirls and grabbed my camera again, I kept recording ... upside down. BWAHAAA! For those of you who don't have flash or didn't feel like clicking on that video, here's how it went: the guys surprised the bejesus out of all of us by entering through the audience a few yards behind us. Then the went running through the barrier, Jared leading them with a bunch of roses, Shannon and Tim with flags (I think? It happened really fast,) right past us. Hundreds of hands reaching out. Tim went last and I screamed to Meghan, "That's Tim, the new guy!" I wasn't sure how I felt about that, though.

( Wait a minute...Why does someone fall in the pit at the same time during every show? A Beautiful Lie. ) I thought it would be a good show for them. I underestimated. They blew my frigging mind this time.

I've always loved Attack live, beacuse I like when the audience sings along, but most of all I like when Jared says that "this is a song about freedom" and the way he sings "surrender to nothing" and then I get to scream "I AM FINALLY FREE" along with everyone else. But instead of the usual "song about freedom" blahblah, Jared just started screaming "FREEDOM! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!" and there was something so anthemic about it. Earlier I (rightly, I think,) suspected his honesty about people falling down in the pit. I had no suspicions of any kind of insincerity or reliance on cliche when he started doing that. Meghan and I were screaming it along with him. And in the video, you can hear us both: "I AM FINALLY FREE!" Because when you're down there on the floor during a concert by your favorite band, there's nothing else but you and the music and the jumping around madly. Earlier in the night I had told Meghan to jump, scream, mosh, have fun; what I meant was "be free." And then there was me during the second chorus when he sang that line again, spinning in a big circle with my arms spread out, looking at the flashing lights and screaming along with the words. (We actually had the space to do this. We really did choose a perfect spot.)

Then Jared asked if there were any old-school mother-effers in the audience, and I started to raise my hand up and bordered on shouting "WOOOO!" but stopped myself when I realized that I have only liked this band since last Spring and am hardly old-school. But I knew they were going to play something from their first album--my favorite by them--and I got all excited anyway. It was Buddha for Mary and I turned to Meghan and said, ( Cover me, boys, I'm goin' in! )

Yes, that is me screaming along with the "I don't believe in god" part. And you might not be able to tell it from that video, but he is standing on people just then; they're all holding him over their heads. I've seen this a million times and it still amazes me. (Or as he said in an interview once: "A 750 pound woman could jump in and the crowd would catch her. When it's a skinny punk like me..." :D )

Oh, then they did Savior. Not a favorite of mine live, but I love the defiant lyrics to this one, and they did a great job. I'd heard that this song was difficult for them to do live, but they didn't seem to have a problem with it last night, because it came across really well.

( DON'T YOU SEE YOU CAN'T MAKE IT! )

Next came From Yesterday. I've heard them do this at every concert I've seen, and usually Jared doesn't go for the highest notes on this one when he does it live, which actually sounds just as good. It doesn't sacrifice the melody or the intensity, and I have always appreciated the fact that it's not a song you can really do night after night for months without losing your voice. But last night he did it all the way through and hit every note just like in the song. He totally shredded his voice, I thought. I mean, it had to hurt. But holy crap, it sounded so intense. Meg and I were just looking at each other with our jaws on the floor.

( Battle of One, personal mosh pit. )

Then came Meg's favorite, ( The Mofoing Fantasy. )

And then it was time for what is usually the biggest number of the night, The Kill. I'm not cutting this because if you watch no other video in this writeup, this is the one to watch. Okay, so I get that this is a controversial song because it signaled some change in the band from old-school to sell-out or whatever, or that it brought in a lot of unwanted fans (the biggest stigma in 30STM fandom: "BROUGHT IN BY THE KILL!") Hey, too bad. This is the song that got me into this band, and aside from that, it's an awesome song. Call it what you like: mediocre, common, radio-friendly, whatever. The song is masterful. The video is masterful. And I love it when they play this one live, because the entire audience sings along and the group vibe is really strong. Jared made us wait forever with this one. "THIS SONG!!!" (pause) "IS CALLED!!!!!" And I swear to you, he stood there dramatically with his arms crossed over his chest for about two whole minutes like he was waiting for some sort of acknowledgment or something. And then, just like he did on Halloween: "Shhhhhh!" (Which cracks me up every time.) "THE KILL!" And this is everyone's cue to go totally off their collective nut.

Usually Jared does a stage dive during this song; occasionally he does something dangerous and just goes running through the audience. But this is a HUGE venue so I wasn't counting on anything like that. And I admittedly got a teeny bit worried when all of a sudden he disappeared from sight. One second he was on stage, the next he was gone. I joked with Meg, "Uh uh, man down. J's out of sight." Meg leaned up against the guard rail and said, "Oh my god! There! There!" And lo: Jared, way the hell across the stadium, standing up on the barricade on the other side. He was still singing, too, it was like he just emerged out of the depths. For a second I said to myself, "Huh, no fair: how come the folks on that side get their own personal show?" And then, like a second later my brain said, "Oh ... Wait. Jared. This freight train's going all the way around."

And then my camera batteries died.

BUT!! I knew it would take him a few seconds to get all the way around, so I shut my camera off, quickly "fooled" the batteries by switching them, closed it back up and turned it back on. And just in time for this:


Seriously, he hopped up onto the easily-four-foot high barrier like he was a little cricket--DOINK!--off of one foot and landed with perfect balance. When I saw it, I thought I must have seen it wrong. But when I watch the video back, I can see him take that leap up there like he was Peter Frigging Pan. Does gravity not matter? During this time it also occured to me that there's something reptilian about Jared Leto. The slow blink, the flick of the tongue, and in all honesty, how he stops you dead when he turns his basilisk eyes toward you. I know I've said this before, but pictures and videos don't do him justice. He's all crazy eyes, white teeth and sharp jaw, and he doesn't have pores. Totally unnatural.

Back up on stage he was all drama, head down and emo fringe over his eyes, head thrown back and "worship me" pose. I think he's like a psychic vampire sometimes; he feeds off the group vibe, and negativity probably gives him aura-indigestion. ;D

They finished with about 45 seconds of that "new" song they've been "introducing" for a few years, but the intro was just Shannon and Tomo and Matt going "BANG BANG BANG" and Jared yelling "JUMP JUMP JUMP" like in that hip-hop song. Jared was jumping and Tim was doing that moshing thing of his and Tomo was whirling all around, pulled by the centrifugal force of his guitar. I can't imagine how he doesn't crash into things when he does that, like for instance the other guys in the band. Tomo was all OVER this botch last night: here, there, this other place, switching places with Tim, throwing himself to the side, the back, the front. I'd heard he's been sick, but he must have been feeling better last night. He was a joy.

I have always snobbishly maintained that there is an actual ending to O Fortuna which is also exciting and dramatic and all of that, and why did everyone always leave it out when they use the beginning of the song? Last night, that was their exit music and I was very gratified.

( After the show, looking for the boys, following my zen. ) She said, "I like that, 'follow your zen.' Where does your zen say you should go?" I told her, "Outside, man. Outside."

( JARED LEEEEETO! )

So we went the buses and we hung. And hung. And hung. The guys from Chiodos came out of their bus and did an impromptu acoustic set. That's a nice gesture, guys, but you're not 30 Seconds to Mars. (Although "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is always fun.) Meg and I stood around, still kind of excited and hopeful. I had the gut feeling that we really had already missed Jared and Shannon--and probably Tomo, because he does tend to bugger off to do his own thing sometimes--but I decided to try to hone in on my zen anyway. Just chill. Be in the moment. Have fun. Look around. Turn around.

( Wherein I end up awkwardly hand in hand with the new bassist. ) After he left, Meghan was just glowing; saying, "I'm so happy. This is the best adventure. I love this whole night. I miss Matt so much, but I like that guy."

I like that guy, too. And yeah, I found myself missing Matt, still.

I also found myself missing that feeling that the four guys were all kind of linked up, that whole North-South-East-West, Water-Wind-Fire-Earth, 4=1 feeling that used to resonate. The three guys leaving without the new guy, the feeling that Tim is temporary, that maybe Matt will never be replaced and they'll just have a revolving door of bassists. I could be reading too much into it, but Jared once said that the four of them "fell in love with each other" and I couldn't help but feel like this new dude was left out of that whole vibe. Meghan pointed out that the stickers that they gave out perforate exactly where the picture of Matt begins. Weird, huh?

But not as weird as how effing LOST we got going home.

We said goodnight to JeT'aime and her friend. JeT'aime, if you're reading, you are a sugar pie. ^_^ In the parking lot, I met up with Mizzy (the Queen of the Blood Ball, some of you might remember) and some other Echelon who rode here in an Echelon Car, I kid you not. We chatted for a few minutes. It was really nice to see Mizzy again, and not covered in blood. Then we got into the car and I left through the wrong exit. We rode around in a strange ghetto town for like twenty minutes, stopped in a gas station for directions (which no one could give us,) and then finally I saw a cop on the side of the road and I pulled over. He told us we were on the right track. I thanked him, told him how cute he was (because he was,) and then off we drove. We didn't get home till 1:20; later, I think, than when we saw them in the city.

And of course I have some pics, but very few. The camera is really crappy from a distance, and the ones of J that I got are capped from MovieMaker.

( Jared during the entrance... )

( 4 guys: Chaos. )

( Tim )

( Tim again (we were standing on that side of the stage... )

( 3 guys; Tomo was very hard to capture and was very far away... )

( J, capped from the video... )

( Jesus Christ Pose )

The whole thing was so entirely worth it. Actually, what really made it worth it to me was how happy Meghan was with the whole experience. On the way home, she talked about how she can't wait until they come around on tour again, and it doesn't matter where and when it is; she'll be there. She loved the whole night. She did really want to meet the other three guys--and I hope that next time she gets her chance because they really are a joy--but for just then it was all it was supposed to be and tons more.

I brought Sano in to have his pre-dental blood test done yesterday, and also because that diarrhea problem of his came back for a few days. His kidney values were .02 points elevated. But Rob is sure that it's because the recent diarrhea dehydrated him. He says that otherwise everything is perfect and the dental is a go. If there were anything really going on there, then I think more of his results would be skewed, even just a bit. Plus, Sano is young; he's only seven. So I'm not going to worry, and that's all there is to it.

Haku just mysteriously pulled a 20 dollar bill from between the cushions of my sofa. I have a suspicion of how it got there, (Kim, that basket was a gift for you, stop trying to pay for food! ;D ) but I could be wrong. It was just so funny to see him poke his long, skinny woofer into the couch and come out delicately holding a 20 dollar bill between his little white front teeth.

Last night my three dogs were running around like maniacs and getting into everything they could. Trisky is so bad that I can tell her "NO!" right to her face and she'll just looka t me like, "...Please leave; I'm busy. And lower your voice, too." The Ninja Wizards: Untamed, Untrained, and Just Plain Bad. I have very bad dogs.

I'm going to miss them fiercely when I go away to Florida next week and I have to board them.

So more pictures and videos from Halloween night keep on surfacing as people keep uploading them. This one person videotaped the costume contest and sent the links out, so I managed to get some screen grabs. I couldn't get pictures of my place in it because, well, I was in it, but now it's like someone else got them for me. ^_^

( This is me with Shannon. I am a strange combination of doofy and nervous. My eyes look so weird, don't you think? )
There was something like, "Oh my god, this is my favorite drummer" going on in my head just then, as well as, "Wow, a cute boy!" Hence the look of OMGWTFBBQ. Which is just how I'm built. You should have seen me trying to get a word out to Keali'i Reichel the other day without sounding like a moron, it was pathetic, and he's someone I've talked to at least three times before.

He ahiahi poina'ole, ae? I think so.

It's raining very hard today, chilly but not windy. This morning the rain was too light to really be rain, and too heavy to really be mist. There's currently a mockingbird outside my window, perched on top of the archway to my yard, singing his crazy little heart out. Or maybe he's complaining because he's getting wet, who knows?

I have to call Laura and make sure she's ready to take my birds on Tuesday. O_o Mustn't forget!

And tonight is my first night back at Kung Fu. I feel so out of shape; it's been about a week and a half. Although we did work really hard in Hula this weekend, it's just a different set of muscles, isn't it? I'm probably all tight and will need to do lots of stretching. I've lost a few inches off the side-split I'd been working on. Damn, but that's so hard to get back.

Oh, I know what else: I went to the eye doctor today for a basic regular checkup and to get my year's supply of contact lenses. I mentioned that I was having a harder and harder time finding ones that didn't dry out and irritate the crap out of me, and I asked if I was a good candidate for surgery. He said I was, and told me about all the risks and how the chances of them happening was getting lower and lower all the time. I think I might do it. If I find I'm covered for it, I might go ahead and do it. Yikes, though. Eyes freak me right out the door. We'll see.

If I don't count when I work at Kung Fu, then really I only have three more days of work until vacation! When I look at it that way, I get a tingle of excitement. I could use a week of just going on rides, eating at restaurants and, well, starting my Christmas shopping, really.

And of course: hurray for Democrats. Not so much "hurray for Democrats" really as "haha for Republicans." Maybe things will start to change, and if Democrats don't do anything to screw this up within the next few years, then maybe things can continue to change on a grander level. Let's hope.

I realized I had never gone into the last night of the Hula seminar. Well, it was wonderful, as Sunday nights usually are when I spend them with Kawehi's group. My wonderful friend JoNathan wasn't there, but some of my other wonderful friends and extended family were, such as Kawehi, Kamai and Kahea. Also there were the girls I call the titas (Julia, Jonna and the other two whose names I can never seem to hold on to,) some Hula buddies from Ohio (or Wisconson?) a few more folks from Kawehi's group, Uncle Ernie from the band (beautiful falsetto, clear as a bell,) Leigh (who drove us all to Walmart last May,) Noe, another "honorary long distance halau member" of Kawehi's group, and Kumu Johnette, Kumy George's alaka'i. This night we all just sat around in the emptied out dining hall. Kahea had a CD player and it's just an informal ho'ike. Claudine and I showed up around 6 with Chinese food, while most of the others had pizza. Then we just all started to dance. I love watching Kawehi's group because they all move as one, in fluid and powerful movements that I so hope to master someday. I brought along my own performance CD and we had the 'uli'ulis with us, so we did A Kona Hema, Pearly Shells (we were talked into it!) Waikiki Hula, and I did O Keahi A Lonomakua. One of the best moments of the evening was when we started A Kona Hema and I heard Jonna (whom I absolutely admire,) call out, "This is Sonny Ching! Oh, you girls rock!" And, admittedly, the applause I got for O Keahi A Lonomakua. Other hightlights included: Free footrubs for all in attendance from Kawehi (wow, that was awesome!) Noe's makeshift ipu (she used a tin box top,) while Uncle Ernie sang for her; Auntie Johnette dancing while we all sang Kaulana Na Pua for her (no one had that on CD); Kawehi's group doing the firs tone from MKH's first CD (my favorite chant by him of all time); Leigh taking a sip of her water, laughing, and spraying it everywhere and then saying that she was doing a Hula "about the spray of the sea!" (which made me laugh so hard that my stomach ached for about an hour); and really just being with Hula brothers and sisters.

The night ended with Kawehi singing a love song to Kamai while playing the ukulele.

Some pics from Saturday and Sunday:

( Keali'i's exhausted class during a break. )

( Keali'i's class photo. Claudine and I are towards the left, second row from the top. )

( My lovely friend Uncle Dennis dancing at ho'ike Saturday night. )

( FABULOUS picture of Kahea dancing while Keali'i chants. )

( The inspiring Marie Cassidy (93 years old) and her Hula sister Sue Gould (70 something?) dancing at ho'ike. ) Aren't they gorgeous?

( Saturday night's after show show. )

( A new friend, Uncle Arthur, who took Claudine and I out to dinner on Saturday. ) He took a nice picture of Claudine and I that I'll post as soon as I have time to scan it.

( Claudine and I doing the single most bizarre step in A Kona Hema during Sunday night's informal hui. ) You rarely see crossed legs in Hula, but that's Kumu Sonny for you. Geez, I really miss him.

( Kawehi, Kamai and their group dancing at Sunday night's informal hui. )

You can see how chilled out and mellow and just plain lovely that evening was just from those photos, I think. I've got some videos, too, but I'm not sure they have a place here in public. People dancing, choreography, stuff like that. You have to respect that perhaps not everyone wants their Hulas broadcast. Anyway, it was a relaxing night, and to be surrounded by all that Aloha was a joy.

It made me really start to consider the difference between contentment and stimulation. I really do think that you need a little bit of both. Sunday night I was tired, but content, relaxed, totally zen. Comparatively, on Tuesday during the 30 Seconds to Mars concert and after party, I was hyperstimulated, frazzled. Out of my comfort zone, yet having a blast. That's healthy, I think. Right?

Anyway, I have some more pics from Tuesday, some that I took and didn't feel comfortable posting until I spoke to some of the folks in them, and some that I'm in but didn't take. (Surprise!!)

( Jared, the adorably sweet Matt Wachter, Tomo, and the winners of the ball. )

( Jared's silly hat. ) If I may take a moment to squee like a fangirl? Jared is a good-looking man. Honestly, he could be wearing a pelt of rotting animals and he'd still look good.

And the two pictures someone else took that I ended up in:

( That's me on the left of the makeshift stage talking to the Dracula guy while Jared talks to the crowd. )

( That's me on the right, admittedly having a TEEHEE JARED!!! moment. Sorry. ) I actually think I look not too bad in that photo, for it being a shot that I had no idea was being snapped.

Anyway, that's my re-cap of the last night and my pic spam for today. ^_^

Someday my great great grandchildren will read this and look at these pictures and say, "Holy crap, great great grandma spent Halloween with 30 Seconds To Mars?!" (Because I'm pretty sure that people will still know of the band then. Or at least I hope so.) Anyway, let me preface this with a few disclaimers: Those of you who know me, who have heard me talk, know that when I get most urple and crazy and effusive, I'm usually being tongue in cheek and self-mocking. (At least I hope you know.) Keep that in mind when I go on at length about Jerrod and Shannon Frito Layto and whoever the hell the other two guys are. ;) Also, because I'm me, I have to write down every detail. I have some kind of weird neurosis that unless I write things down, they didn't happen. So this promises to be long. Also, because I was listening to some music while I was mentally writing this out, there are quoted song lyrics throughout that seemed to go with what was on my mind. It might read like a song-fic. O_o Bearing all that in mind, off we go.

It seems that The Train Gods either hate me or really don't like when I go to see 30 Seconds to Mars. Recall last Friday, when all of a sudden there was "rail work" as they said and they cancelled all the trains home and would have stranded Meghan and I in the city if not for my Dad. Well, Tuesday came around and I got up bright and early, all packed and ready, dressed in my finest black pants and 30STm shirt that was a gift from Jeremy, my "concert kit", and the gifts I had made for the band with help from my beautiful and awesome friend Kim. I had asked my Da to drive me to Ronkonkoma station because I didn't fancy leaving my car there overnight. There I was, all excited and with my leftover ticket from Friday, and I went to the desk to ask which track to take, only to be told by the vaguely discourteous teller that all the trains were cancelled. Yes, all of them, to everywhere. Because of sudden "rail work." So I called my Dad, who had only just turned the corner. I had a train to catch from Penn Station to 30th st. station in PA and I didn't have a lot of time between trains, only 25 minutes. He came back and ended up driving me all the way into the city. Again. With time to spare.

Until he couldn't find the perfect spot to let me off at the station. I swear we passed the entrance 3 times but he kept going around for like 40 minutes while I kept saying, "right here is fine, I can walk!" But that's not how Dads do things. Finally he did let me off a few yards from the entrance and I booked out of there like my butt was on fire and my head was catching. I wasn't feeling too zen when I got to the teller to get the tickets, and she must have sensed that because she gave me a lollipop. I needn't have worried about being late, though, because my train to Philly ended up being delayed.

But I still got there in plenty of time, and my cab driver to the hotel was very nice, unlike the NY cab drivers. He was a big black guy and we got into the subject of racial profiling, and from there he mentioned that he was into martial arts. I always feel, when men say that, that they expect women to change the subject. Because they always seem surprised when I say, "Really? I do martial arts, too. What kind do you do?" and then hold a conversation about it. He told me about his son, who was 11 and had that natural zen state that most martial artists study years to master. It seemed like "zen" was the order of the day, so when I got to the hotel I unpacked my bathroom stuff, laid out my costume, and because I had a few hours before dinner and the concert, decided to zen walk. Zen walking is when I just start walking with no destination and I just look at things. I ended up going into a "world culture" store and buying some trinkets that I thought I'd work into my costume. But then I ended up not using them anyway. I didn't really see or do much on my zen walk. Then I stopped for a slice of pizza and went back to the hotel. I was too nervous to finish the entire pizza (and I'm still not sure exactly why--I'm nervous now just writing about it,) and then got into my costume, all a-jitter. I think I thought I was going to be late.

( This was my costume, the escaped wild-woman: )
The front there reads, "Surrender To Nothing" which is a lyric from the song "Attack", which the first time I heard it I thought, "God, this song isn't about violence, it's about freedom." Much to my self-satisfaction, whenever Jared introduces this song he says, "This is a song about freedom." See, the gist of this costume is the wild woman who has escaped the prospect of confining marriage. And because this costume party was a blood ball, she obviously escaped it violently. One was supposed to think, "You should see the other guy!" The hand print was supposed to look like part war paint, part would-be groom's bloody handprint like, "OMG, somebody get her away from me!" The broken ropes, the blood, the feathers, all of that, was all supposed to mean freedom. But I knew that most people were going to take a look and say, "Hey, Bloody Bride!" I thought I'd correct them, "Escaped bride!" But, uhh, you'll see that I didn't.

The cab ride to the venue was sort of fun, everyone was looking in the window and I'd give them this cheesy "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" grin. One other cab driver who pulled up beside me cracked up when I did that.

I needn't have worried about getting there late, because I got there at 4:30 and doors weren't until 7. There were maybe 30 people on line by then and I felt like there was enough time to wander around. Except there was really nowhere to wander. The Electric Factory (the club where they played) was the only business on the street, it seemed like, aside fromthe Red Cross blood donation place across the street. (Appropriate, no?) I wandered around the back of the building and was stopped by three guys before I got to the other side. They asked where I was going and I told them that I wanted to see how big the place was. I refrained from saying, "I'm so totally not looking for the band's tour bus. Really!" One of the guys said, "Oh, it's pretty big. It goes from back here all the way to the front." The other two guys snickered. "Really big," they said. "Huh huh. Heh heh. Really big. Goes all the way to the street. Huh huh." I rolled my eyes and walked away from Beavis and Butthead and Beavis.

On my way back I passed a group of Echelon pouring fake blood (hereto referred to as just "blood" and you'll all gather that I mean fake blood,) all over themselves and each other. "'Surrender to nothing,'" one of them quoted to me. "Awesome, girl. You look beautiful. Great job on the costume." I thought, Here's someone who gets it. ^_^ Then as I was getting back on line another group of girls passed and said, "What a great custome!" and "YOU'RE LOVELY." Which made me think they had to be from the bulletin board, because "JULES YOU'RE LOVELY" is kind of an inside joke over there.

Also on line was this couple all in white, splattered liberally with blood. The guy had on a floor length, hooded robe with hand-painted Echelon X, glyphics, red arrow, and "PROVEHITO IN ALTUM" written across the bottom. They were having a marvelous time with their bottle of blood, up until security came out and told everyone that they couldn't do any more blood splattering in the parking lot. (I wonder if this was because the Red Cross was across the street. ;D )

I got on line behind a girl whose forum screen name is She'sMorbid. I sat down and whined, "I'M BORED!" She asked me, "How long have you been here?" "Five minutes," I told her, and she laughed. Then three other folks got behind me and sat down. It was only 5 PM and we had a loooong wait. I decided to talk to the nice people behind me which ended up being one of the best ideas I'd had all night. I whipped out the necklaces I had made with the help of Kim and said that I really wanted to get the chance to meet the band tonight and give them these. By the way, ( these are the necklaces I made: )
For those not in the know who might be reading, I've already explained the glyphics in a previous post, and the phoenix is another one of their symbols.

( The waiting adventures of She's Morbid, Blender Girl, and Hilarious Girl... )

Once inside, I lost Blender Girl and Hilarious Girl, but was right beside Pretty Goth Girl and her Cute Boyfriend who looked very very much like Sehing Tristan from Green Cloud.) I also met up with Katie and her Mom, who were the two awesome Echelon I mentioned after the last show. Behind me came two young girls (maybe in their late teens to very early 20's) who were both shorter than I am. I repeatedly offered them my spot but they would insist that they could see just fine. For a short while, they did.

I think I can safely say that I was not the only person there whose back was aching like mad after about fifteen minutes of standing around. I think it had something to do with the uneven floors. You kept having to shift your weight and you could never get comfortable. I was leaning on the railing, thinking, My God, I have hours of this. The two girls behind me started chatting with me to pass the time, and thank god, because there was a lot of time to pass.

( Onto the opening bands and THE BROS: )

It's also worth noting that there was a girl of around 14 behind Janna who had a scream so high and piercing that it felt like a shiny steel spike going through my head. It was so bad that everytime any of the bands said, "MAKE SOME NOISE!!!" as bands are wont to do, I'd put my hands over my ears. And the scream would go right through my palms and into my ears anyway. Why can't all 14 year olds be like Meghan? Eventually Janna turned around and said, "Look, you know, you don't have to make that noise. It's not going to accomplish anything." I'm surprised dogs weren't howling all over Philly.

They finished around 11:40, and the club didn't even bring the house lights up before O Fortuna started to play at around 11:45. ^_^

( Scraping the skylines with hypnotic observations Swooping and surfing over lyrical substations Embrace the flame again and again Like passion and pain hand in hand with each other. )

( What do you do when someone falls...? )

( I'm just a crazy mixed up kid Out comes the truth when you take off the lid And whats it all gonna mean When audio psychosis spills from the speakers cones And I can hear the music tear Tearin through my bones... )

( Why Jared calls his brother Shanimal: )
What was next, The Mission, I think? I tried to tape this, too, because I knew it was going to be fabulous. It was. I only discovered a little while ago, however, that I must have been right underneath the speakers for Matt's bass, because on the playback all you hear is a fuzzy, steady, "FOOMFOOMFOOMFOOM".

( Matticus )
Let me take a moment to address the various personnae of these guys in their fake blood. Tomo, okay, Tomo looks like he's covered in fake blood. His face is too sweet and unassuming; I think he'd have to work at it to look threatening. He's just boyish like that. Jared's blood-splatter looks like he freaked out momentarily and whacked someone with an axe. He's like the mercurial killer, like he could have just as easily not killed you, but hell, he was jumping around like a cracked out monkey and you and the aze happened to be there, oh well. Matt, on the other hand, for as nice a person as he is, comes across as a methodical serial killer. Here's a guy who takes his time, maybe even a few months. I don't know, it was Halloween, they were covered in blood, my mind wandered. Shannon didn't have any blood on him, WTF was that all about? Get with the program, Shannon!

( I'm the silver surfer hearin' lucifer Lay on the ground and nobody dies... )
I'm so bad at remembering the set list. Jared asked for requests and then did what he wanted to do anyway, which was Echelon. He did this one by himself ("Hang on, this was a long time ago. Let me see if I can remember it.") They did The Story (it used to be people would light their lighters when the slow songs came on, now it's cell phones.) What else? Of course they did The Kill, duh. I tried to tape this, too, like I always do. Once again, terrible sound, me getting jostled around, the audience singing most of it for Jared. Nice crowd walk in this one, too. He prefaced this song with, "Shhhh! This song is called The Kill!" I just had to giggle at how serious he was about it.
( The Kill )

To my annoyance, The Bros knew a few words to this song. The rest of the time they just stood there like big square blockheads being in everyone's way and falling drunkenly over each other. When The Kill came on, they vaguely mouthed some of the words like, "Oh yeah, this was on the radio." MOVE, DOUCHBAGS, BEFORE I PUNCH YOU IN THE VAGINA! God, I hated those guys.

Then, of course, they did Attack, and The Bros, surprisingly, knew even a few more words to this one. At the end of this song about five tons of orange and black confetti started to come down. It was actually a beautiful visual. I was recording already because I was getting some really cool shots of the crowd surfers and stagedivers, so the confetti thing was a nice surprise. ( Check it out: )

They closed with something I didn't recognize but felt like I should have. It was just all too hectic. After the four of them gathered together around Shannon's drums:

they disappeared before the confetti stopped blowing around.

And then, my dears, it was time to line up to get crap signed.
( Hey, Bloody Bride! Go and wait by the tour bus. )
So off I went to wait for the guys by their tour bus, in an alley between the club and a warehouse, with huge garbage bins and a loading dock about four feet high that we were all sitting on. There were at least thirty other people there, and I managed to find Janna and Megan again, as well as Katie and her Mom. We decided to wait by the end of the line (we were actually at what we thought was the beginning,) because we figured the crowd would thin out and we could actually say Hi and get some pictures.

Tomo came out first and very quietly said, "I'm sorry guys, but I have somewhere to be. If you'd like to take a picture, I have to do it now." And then he very patiently went down the line saying Hi to everyone and taking a picture with anyone who wanted one. Janna and Megan didn't have a camera, so I got pictures of them. Then Janna took one of me with Tomo. As I went to step up to him I fell into a huge hole in the pavement and almost took him down with me. The picture is blurry--my fault for not telling Janna to hold the button down for a second to let it autofocus.
( Blurry but nice. )
I thought about handing him the package of necklaces, but he was in such a rush and I didn't want to hold him up. I figured I'd probably catch Matt, because I know that Jared has been going into the bus to work on their video and stuff, and I wasn't sure if Shannon was in the habit of hanging around for too long, either. Jared actually did come out of the bus for a second, got mobbed, and went back in. After a few minutes, Janna nudged me, laughing, and said, "No one knows that's Jared. He's got a mask on." Now, the entire time we was walking by in the bloodied white tux and stupid furry mask, I was staring at the huge garbage bin thinking something along the lines of, "That's a really huge garbage bin. It sure has a lot of garbage in it. I wonder how much. There's probably, like, chairs and tables in there. Jeez, my feet hurt."

Echelonic Lord and Lady showed up, too. We watched Jared get mobbed for a while and I asked, "Should we be, like, mobbing him too? Because it doesn't seem polite." Echelonic Lord said, "Nahh, he'll come over here. He wants to see us." So we waited. And eventually, Jared did come over, and he jumped up onto the loading dock and started giving directions. Unfortunately I was still pretty deaf, but I got the gist of it.
( Everyone dressed in white and covered in blood, come up here and stand against the wall. )

'Round about this time, Shannon was milling around all the contestants. Echelonic Lord asked me, "Did you get to give them their gifts yet?" I told him I hadn't; they were busy and everyone else was sort of mobbing them and I didn't want to be rude. Echelonic Lord just went, "Okay, hold on." Then he hooked Shannon by the shirt and said, "Excuse me, this girl has something for you."
( BZZZZZT! )
After Shannon's effusive and sincere thanks, I saw Jared still milling around on the makeshift stage, still sort of getting mobbed. As this was going on, some girl came running down the street screaming at the top of her lungs in very much the same manner that Meghan and I were making fun of on Friday: "BLBLBLBLBAAAAAAA!!!" ANd then--I kid you not, people--"JARED LAYTO! JARED LAYTO!" I saw her doing something with her shirt, so I think she flashed him, but I could be wrong.

Jared turned around and, dude, without missing a beat, said, "Oh, yeah, hey, go have another drink." Rumor has it that Jared can be just slightly straight edge when it comes to stuff like drinking and smoking and whatnot, which is what makes all the comments like "Jared's on crack!" that much more ironic. The comment was a perfectly timed barb and everyone around him busted out laughing. However, I'm pretty sure that was the comment that started all the trouble for him. Because that drunk girl was a package deal, and the other parts were a handful of very aggressive Drunken Retarded Fratboys.

Which is, in fact, why Jared looks so paranoid in the picture he took with me.

( Strip-tease traffic lights Cut throat beer fights Poison friends/fakers and takers Stoic spectators And youre all cold, cold heartbreakers... )
After a few minutes of this, and while the security guards were trying to get rid of that group, Jared made his way back to his bus. Around then, Janna and Megan had to leave. "Those guys ruined it for everyone," Janna said. I told her that they might still be hanging around, and I'd walk with them back to the parking lot instead of going down the street where they'd left. Just as we got to the fence by the lot, I was a few steps behind and I turned around and saw Missy and Echelonic Lord and Lady by the bus and I thought, "They never got their prize." I called out to Janna to tell her I was going back to see those guys, and I guess she didn't hear me because they went back to their car.

I went back to the bus and found that the party was still going on. Jared leaned out of the bus, now in a blue T shirt and a silly hat with a red pompom on the top,(but whatever, he could put dead swer rats on his head and he'd still look good,) and said, ( Are those c---s gone yet? )
Dude and then Matt came out with two white, autographed Fender Strats.
( I think Echelon Lord and Missy were a little overwhelmed. )
*Sigh!* Le Jared. I took a bunch of pictures to send to the winners. I also did manage to tap Jared on the shoulder and say, "I left a gift for all of you guys with Shannon; I hope you get a chance to see it tonight." He said, "Oh, hey, thanks!" Then some girl very cutely tried to give him a balloon animal, much to her friend's chagrin ("No! Don't give him that, it's stupid!") and Jared said with a smile, "Um, you can keep that if you want." And then Shannon came back out. I smiled and he waved, then came over again and said, "Thank you so much." BZZZZT! "Uhhh ... you're welcome. There are four of those. Three more for, you know, three other guys..." And then he just grabbed me and hugged me, probably so that I would shut up. And again I got to say, "Thank you for such an awesome show and party." "No, thank YOU," Shannon said. Now when we do this at work, it could go on for minutes until everyone is giggling, but I have to remind myself that these are not my friends at work, just a band being nice to the people who are nice to them, so I just let him go and said, "You're welcome. I'll be sure to come out and see you guys next time."

Okay, it was a little hairy trying to get a cab at 3:30 in the morning. In the end it was down to me, Missy, Emma, and two other ladies I didn't know. I think their ride home bailed on them. I was starting to get slightly worried, because when I called the cab company the guy asked where I was and when I said, "Electric Factory, 7th Avenue," he said, "But I need an address. See, this is what happens on Halloween, you people go walking around at night and then you don't know where you are." I was digging around in my purse for the address when we got disconnected, and I had to try again. Finally I got through and he said, "We'll send someone out if we have someone in the area." IF?! It's 3:30 AM, I'm on a street corner in the middle of freaking nowhere, there is no if! I tried all different cab companies and no one picked up. Emma and the others had gone off to try to make calls of their own. The other tour buses had all pulled out (the guy from Men, Women and Children hanging off the outside of one of the windows,) and only the 30 Seconds to Mars bus was still there. Basically I just stood out there with the bodyguards, who were still outside by the door, and waited. Emma and the rest came back, and then my cab came around. I said goodnight to them and they asked the cabbie to come back and pick them up afterwards, which he said he would do. He freaking RACED back to the hotel and I thought we were going to die.

When I got in the lobby, 3:45 AM, covered in fake blood and probably with my eyes standing out from my head, the woman behind the counter looked up and "TSK"ed at me. "Uh," I said, "Happy Halloween." She "TSK"ed again and said, "I don't celebrate Halloween. Thanks anyway."

I just had to laugh. Her loss. I celebrate the crap out of that holiday.

WHEW! What a concert. I could easily say: band was great, crowd was dangerous and stupid, CD signing was not worth the wait, Roseland staff was mostly stupid with a few exceptions, and 30 Seconds To Mars are as polite as they could possibly be in the space of ten seconds, but hey, thi sis me. Is anything ever a short story? Some parts of it were exciting and wonderful and fun, some parts were scary, some annoying (one so annoying that I'm still fuming over it,) and some parts were disappointing, but in a way that was inevitable, so there's no reason to be sad over it or anything.

( On the way into the city: No, it's not Rocky Horror. )
( Waiting on line: Stop looking at my money or I'll cut you. )

( Inside the Roseland pre- 30STM: Almost time for me to smack a ho. )

End rant.

So then, after all of that, the tech guys lowered the lighting rigs with the huge (and creepy) 30STM / mass mask-wearing backdrop attached to it, and when they raised it back up, it had four long, red 30 Seconds to Mars banners hanging from it. Just as soon as they started raising that, the entire crowd cheered and I actually got chicken skin over that. Soon after, they dimmed the lights and the drum corps people came on. They were pretty decent, and I'm a fan of percussion. They reminded me vaguely of this band I used to love when I was in Seattle, !TchKung! (Anyone else ever heard of them?) They were pretty good, but they played for a bit too long: everyone was itching for the band to come out. I had heard that this was how they opened the show, with Shannon coming out to drum with them and start the concert, but instead the drum corps left and they started to play O Fortuna. Some of you may remember me saying the last time I saw them that I think that's a cliche way to start the show, and I still think so. But damned if it doesn't still give me the all overs anyway. The only complaint I have is that they played it so low you could hardly hear it over the screaming. I grabbed Meghan by the shoulder and said (in a low voice, and she could still hear me,) "Jo-chan, listen to what's playing!" And she couldn't hear it either. She just knew that people had started to move towards the stage. Meanwhile I was also trying to get my camera focussed at the same time. "It's O Fortuna!" I told her. "This is it!" And although the music was still too low, eventually it clicked that this was the entrance. The human wave started to surge. ( Meghan started to surge with them. )

And then after a few phrases, Jared stopped the show.

( Take one big step back. )

( On with the show: ON HIS FACE IS A MAP OF YOUR MOM! )

( Everyone hates me. It's over. I'm going to kill myself. )

Among the other crazies in the audience was the Bra-wearing Crowdsurfer (you're a class act, lady,) and the Crazy Hopping guy. The Bra-wearing Crowdsurfer was just that: some half naked chick groping her way over the heads of the audience towards zOMGs JARRED! And Crazy Hopping Guy was this older fellow (and by older I don't mean old, just older than me,) who started to go berserk when the band played what I believe was a Jane's Addiction song. I knew that I knew the silly thing and had heard it at least a handful of times before, but I couldn't make out a word of it. For as great as the band themselves sounded, the sound itself was baffled and almost staticky. Anyway, this guy was just bouncing and thrashing in a small mosh pit consisting of just himself, a few feet away from us. He kept turning back to us and saying, "AWESOME! THIS IS AWESOME! BEST SONG! OH MY GOD!" And when the song was over he said, "YES! DUDE! This is why I FRIKKING LOVE THIS BAND!" And then he made his way to the back of the crowd like nothing had happened.

And for all the craziness, there was this one moment when I looked out into the crowd and saw this one girl crowdsurfing--fully clothed, thank you--looking up at the lights playing across the ceiling with such a look of joy on her face that I had to laugh out loud. I don't think she was drunk or stoned or anything like that. Maybe, but that wasn't my impression. She just looked happy. I wish I'd gotten a picture of that.

( And then The Kill almost turned literal. )

They did Attack, and we had a huge amount of fun singing along with that one, too. I remember at one point the entire little section I was standing in started singing the wrong verse so loudly that when Jared started singing the right verse, it almost sounded like a correction. It was pretty funny.

Then they played some other song I didn't recognize, but it sounded really cool and bouncy. Tomo and Jared started bouncing like Tigger, just BOING, BOING, BOING in time with the music. Meghan and I looked at each other, shrugged, and started bouncing, too. I had to stop sooner than I wanted to, because my pants (which were my tight, SKINNY pants a few months ago,) were down around my hips and almost to my crack, for godsakes. (WTH?) While I was yanking them back up, the band left the stage and I didn't even see them go. I looked at my watch. It read 11PM and I said to Meghan, "Oh, they're not done. They've got an encore." And then the houselights came up. My face must have just said, "WT?!"

( How'd that metal barricade to the ass feel? Any good? )

After about twenty minutes of being moved along like cattle, we were at the top of the stairs, and the first person I saw there was Shannon, looking down the long line of people being bullied by the staff. I don't presume to know what he was thinking or feeling, but he sure did look distracted. I saw him sign a few things before we got to their table; he didn't even look up. He was just looking all around and didn't seem entirely pleased. Tomo was next to him, and I didn't see him look up from whatever he was signing.

For that matter, though, no one looked at the guys or spoke to them much as the staff was all with the "MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" before the guys even finished signing. I put Meghan in front of me and she very shyly put her CD in front of Shannon, who signed it quickly while the staff was still yelling at us to get going. (Allow me my hormonal female moment to say, dude, I know all the talk is always about Jared's pretty blue eyes, but it makes one wonder if those people have ever really looked at Shannon. His eyes are this weird green-gold hazel. Okay, done for now.) I gave Shannon Spencer's CD to sign and when he did, I said, "Thank you, Shannon." Then, he did look up, and he seemed kind of surprised. "Oh, you're welcome," he said with a smile. Tomo did not look up. I'm telling you, the whole thing was so hectic for everyone involved. I made myself be determined not to be intimidated by the yelling security guys. While Meghan was being too shy to murmur "thank you" to Jared, who was last, I handed Spencer's CD to Matt and said, "Hi, Matt!" He looked up, took a long look at my T shirt and then totally made my entire night. "Hi. Oh! Hey! I love your T shirt!" "Finally!" I said. "Thank you!" My T shirt is ( this design: )
And no one outside of my geeky little social circle has ever gotten the joke. I think this may be part of why everyone is just quietly in fannish love with Matt: he takes the time that he doesn't actually have to be sweet to people.

Jared quickly signed the CD for Spencer and I said, "Thank you, Jared," above the constant barking of the security folks. As I was walking away he said, "Hey!" I turned back around and he said, "See you next time, huh?" For one horrible second I toyed with the idea of being my usual smartass self and going, "OMG, how did you know?! ARE YOU STALKING ME?!" Then I decided, thankfully, that no one was in the mood for jokes, especially my special, doofy brand, so I just smiled and nodded. Of note: as I'd heard from a few concert-goers, Jared does look you dead in the eye for what it's worth for all three seconds he's got to say something to you. Of course he does, what has he got to lose? Everyone is always talking about Jared's eyes for a reason: they are intense.

Outside, it was raining like mad. I wondered aloud if Meghan wanted to hang around the tour busses to see if the band would come out for a picture or two, but I pretty much knew that they would not want to hang around in the pouring rain. Neither did Meghan. It was midnight and she was totally wrung out. (She'd gotten up at 6 AM for school that day anyway.) I was disappointed that we would not get our picture, (and I stalled a while, milling around anyway,) but it was clear that she wanted to go home. ( And then my cell phone rang, and my Mom told me that the trains were not running back to Ronkonkoma. )

The ride home was slick and dangerous and we almost hydroplaned into the cement guardrail at one point. My Dad and I talked about the show and other stuff, and Meghan slept the whole way. We got in at 3 AM.

Hold up, I am doing this again on Tuesday? O_o

Okay, you knew this was coming: PICTURES!

( Ghostly Jared in a sea of hands: )

( Ghostly Shannon: )

( Hair flip! )

( Happy, singing Meghan: )
Why, yes, I do see the resemblance. She's much prettier and more symmetrical, though, the lucky.

( Backlit: )

( Tomo mid-bounce behind the amp: ) Boing! Boing! Boing!

( The only pic that came out not blurry: )

( Attempted crowdwalk: )

That's about it. Today we just chatted about the show, played with the dogs in the yard, played Dirge of Cerberus for a few hours etc. Had dinner, then I went to the store to buy some cookie dough which we baked at Mom and Dad's house and then watched Lost Boys.

Good times.

And here we are, with the concert all over and the VMAs tonight and my favorite band nominated.

Yesterday really started when Brittany got here and we ran out to the train station. We missed the first train, but it's just as well, because we got there in plenty of time. The train ride in was uneventful yet fun. The cab ride to Webster Hall was brief and only $7.

( Making the important donation, waiting on line, getting to know my camera intimately. )

( Inside Webster Hall )

( Biting Ozzy's style, how awesome Shannon is, Tomo hiding behind equipment, and the set list. )

( Turorial: how to get acknowledged by Jared, how to get a kiss from Jared. What became of our donations. )

( This is the story of my life... )

Ahh, then they played The Kill, which was the highlight of the night, if you ask me. Not only because it's one of my favorites, but because the crowd was so into it, and the band was so into the crowd being into it, and it was great fun to sing along. Jared did a really cool crowd-walk. If anyone would like to watch the video for The Kill that I taped, you may see it here, ( behind the cut. )

The sound totally sucks. Sorry about that.

( Do you kiss your Mom with that mouth? Or, alternately: No, YOUR mom is in the audience! )

With a slightly (unintentionall, I'm sure) hubristic toss of his black and red hair, an "OMGs I am SO OUTTA HERE!!" hand gesture, and a friendly pat to Matt's arm, Jared was the first to leave the stage. He was followed by Matt and Tomo, then Shannon came down from his drum kit. ( See the ending here. Watch as the sight of Shannon with his shirt off makes me drop my camera. That's me you hear giggling at my own stupidity. )

Seriously, how funny was that?

Sadly, all of my pictures really suck, too. ( But here are a few of them anyway. )

And then it was over! The rest of the night was kind of anticlimactic for me, although it was now Brittany's turn to go all kinds of crazy.

( Drunk girls still love Jordan Catalano. Seriously. )

( Taking Back Sunday, and getting bounced. )

So Brit and I headed back to Penn Station, where some guy was puking very loudly right next to us as we walked to the entrance. I thought that was gross and kind of ignored him. I mean, really! Go puke somewhere else, not in public! Later, I was to have more sympathy for him.

( Obnoxious Bellowing Boy who HATES CHRISTY OMGS!! And a creepy, staring boy. )

The car ride home was atrocious. Props to Brittany for keeping me occupied and alert, but all I wanted to do was throw up. My head was pounding and all I could taste was sour ice cream and orange juice. I've never gotten car sick while I was actually driving before; it was ridiculous. That's the worst feeling. Makes me sick again just thinking of it.

I guess we got home at around 3 AM. I took a shower and checked my email. I had, earlier, entered the latest MTV contest to go to the VMA thing with 30 STM. They were looking for 20 fans to accompany them. I thought, What a wonderful idea, and sent in my entry. Once again, MTV asked for photographs. Once again I sent some, but this time with the message telling them how I felt about their beauty contests--we really should not be required to send photos to prove we love a band's music--and that if that was the case, I knew I couldn't win and really didn't want to. Part of me was thinking, Maybe MTV will respect that attitude, you know?

Needless to say, I didn't win. So I went to bed at around 3:30.

I'm still thankful that I got to see them. It was an oddly fulfilling time, and even though it was like 60 degrees or less when Brittany and I got home, it's still technically summer. Now after Sunday's BBQ--a big, family gathering for one last hurrah, as I like to think of it--I think I can give summer a kiss goodbye for a while, and start thinking about Autumn.

And 30 Seconds To Mars' Autumn Tour. ^_^