That's it, I'm wearing my leotard next time.

Last night, my friend A and I went to the Lady Gaga concert. Having never really gone to one of her concerts before, I wasn't quite sure what I'd find there, but I knew it would be interesting to say the least. Since I'm not super involved in the Little Monsters fanhood (like I am with the Glamberts), I wasn't familiar with sayings such as "paws up", or with the ways that her fans like to dress when attending these Monster Balls. I got an inkling that there would be sights to see when I read the dress code for the concert. It mentioned no masks or broken glass, but beer/soda can hair rollers were A-OK (as long as they were empty). Hm, interesting. I guess my cute little headband just didn't cut it, not there anyway.

After paying way too much for a beer, we took our seats and they started playing MJ songs to keep the crowd entertained. I had to fight every inch of my being to not stand up and dance when they played Thriller (but I did dance in my seat). A was trying to dare me to get up and dance to it. I had not consumed enough alcohol to take her up on said dare, so you will not find videos of the crazy Thriller lady on YouTube (sorry folks, maybe next time).

At one point, they were flashing a phone number on the jumbo screen. You could send text messages to that number and they would come up on the screen. A was thinking of something to text so she could embarrass me and she was holding her phone ready to type, when all of a sudden she glanced up at the screen and freaked out because it said "Claudia Mylastname put your paws up!". She and I started cracking up and freaking out. It was so funny because here A was trying to surprise me and somebody else had beat her to it (I figured it was my friend M who was also going to be there). It was pretty cool because we were quite lucky that I actually got to see it since we both weren't necessarily paying attention to the screen at all times.

The opening act was OK (don’t even remember the name). A and I kept wondering, is that a man or a woman? and making commentary on the wardrobe (A said, I've got a pajama like that). Then Lady Gaga took the stage. She's such a show-person. She's got great stage props/backdrops and she really knows how to work the audience. She seemed really nice up there. She interacted with fans that were close to the stage (giving them stuff, playing with their costumes, accepting/wearing their gifts). She even grabbed her phone and called a fan in the audience during the show...lol, that was neat. The dancing was great, the costumes were crazy and the pianos were pretty cool (one was shaped like a car, the other one was on fire). There was a huge monster on stage and at one point, and even her clothes were shooting off sparks (Gaga's, not the monsters; monsters don't wear clothes silly!); never a dull moment. She doesn't lip-synch and she really gives it her all (no half-assed performances there). It was lots of fun, too bad I was sitting so far away. Unfortunately the tickets were so expensive that I didn't really have a choice.

A and I found out the hard way that when you reach a certain age, you just need to buck up, start shelling out the money and get closer seats. For starters because you can't see. My little glasses weren't cutting it especially since she and I were sharing them in order to see, you know, details, like whether the opening act singer was a man or a woman. Then at some point Gaga starting singing a song with the line "show me your teeth". Poor A was wondering what body part she wanted us to show her. She kept asking me, what did she say? Fortunately A did not comply with the request of showing what she thought Gaga had said..... Feet or Teet, neither of which would have been appropriate.

There were lots of people dressed up in crazy outfits too (painted faces, soda cans in the hair, wigs, tulle, leotards, bows made out of hair, hair made out of bows, crazy looking heels that I would so never wear, beautiful eye makeup, jazzercise clothes); it was fun to look at. I think there were even two lost Glamberts in the crowd because they wore mainly sparkles and peacock feathers. A was appalled at how many women looked like hookers...lol. I would've liked to have done that too (dress up crazy, not look like a hooker), but since I went straight from work, not really an option; perhaps next time. Yes, we both felt very old-ish and overdressed (as in wearing too much clothes, apparently pants were optional), but we sure had a great time!

Part II: The Hard Rock M & G

Alright, time for Part II! This one's gonna be a long one.....have a seat.

On Sunday, I woke up very nervous and excited. I knew this was the day I would meet Adam Lambert. I felt that, knowing me, this could go either really really well...or very very badly (I'm prone to embarrassing myself).

This time unfortunately, I didn't have my FLGlambs to help me with my make up (I have the make up skills of a 4 year old), so I asked my dear friend Cristy to glam me up. She was a little afraid of going overboard; she kept saying "more Claudia? are you sure?" to which I would reply "Yes! Make me look like a drag queen! The bigger and sparklier, the better!" Fortunately, she didn't listen to me. When I was done, I was neither a queen nor a prince, but a sparkly princess. Just right. After hair and makeup were done I jumped in my car (no Dukes of Hazzard style this time) and drove an hour to the Hard Rock, I was still on time, but cutting it a little close.

Once I got there, I was surprised that I was more excited than nervous. Ever since I bought the M&G pass, I'd been a nervous wreck. I didn't know what I was going to wear or say or do. For once, I finally felt at ease (somewhat). I looked around the line to see if I saw any of my friends from Melbourne and quickly found my buds Katie and Donna. While Neil was checking our names off the list, I was checking him out. He's pretty cute I said at one point. Very serious though. After our check-in, they gave us our lanyards and we stood around for a bit. I was hoping to find a bathroom around there so I wouldn't have an accident later on (I had never done one of these M&G's before, so I had no idea how my body would react...lets just say, I wanted to play it safe). No bathroom in sight. Ugh.

After a little while we were paraded down a hall where Neil gave us the low-down. No kissing (boo), no groping (boo), one picture per person (boo), 2 items signed. Then they stood us in line in front of a large black curtain. All of a sudden I felt like I was there to see the Wizard of Oz (oddly enough, I actually tweeted that on my way to the concert). Although some would argue that I should've asked for Brains, what I really needed was some Courage (liquid courage)! Especially since every time the curtain parted for someone to go inside, I would get a little peek at the Wizard himself. Eeek!

Donna and I were towards the middle of the line. They were letting in two people at a time, so I asked her if she'd take a picture of me with Adam with my phone. Although I had a real camera with me, I didn't want them to say no, I figured the phone would be a little less inconspicuous. Our nervous Nelly selves stood there deciding who would go first and how we would take the picture. I got my props ready because I knew my hands would be shaking in about a minute and I wouldn't be able to do it later. Then, the black curtains parted. It was our turn to go inside. They asked us to put our purses on the table, so I got my phone and folder out and prepared myself. There were two people ahead of me, so I had to wait (and freak out) while they talked. I shuffled, I paced, I played with my phone, I took pictures. It felt like an eternity. And then...they said NEXT!

As I approached Adam I had a million things going through my head. For once, I couldn't believe I was finally doing it. I was also trying hard not to lose my shit and flail out. Composure Claudia! You don't want him thinking you're a nut now! He had his hands open and he greeted me with a smile. He said "I love your sparkles!". That threw me for a loop because it wasn't part of how I figured the conversation would go in my head. I looked him in the eyes and said "Thank you! Hi, I'm Claudia" and I shook his hand (I think). Then I said "Can I have a hug?" and he said "Sure!" and he hugged me. I was so in lala land that I can't even remember it. I forgot to smell him...lol. After the hug, he looked right at me waiting for me to say something. I was a little shocked so nothing came out of my mouth right away (other than drool...jk) and so he asked me something. Since I was off in space, I didn't understand what he said. It sounded like the Charlie Brown teacher to me "whah whah whah". Oh crap Claudia, come back down to Earth. So I said "huh?" or "what?" and he repeated himself slowly (I felt like a turd at this point) "Are you looking forward to tonight?" I said "Oh yeah! It's going to be great! I was there on Friday too!". After that he said "whah whah whah", OK not really, but I zoned out again, so I don't know what he said. I'm sure it was something to the effect of "oh that's great" or some other nice Adam-ish thing. At this point I realized I need to pony up and get with the program so as he started signing my pictures I started talking:

Me: "I wasn't sure what I was going to say to you today so I asked my 5 year old son for ideas"
For those of you that have heard my stories about my son, you know something crazy is coming.
Him: "Oh yeah?, What did he say?"
Me: "He said to tell you that you sing really nice"
Him: "Aww, that's sweet" (I think, it sounded more like whah whah whah).
Me: "and he said that he wants you to sing at his birthday party"
Him: (he probably laughed)
Me: "and I'm not lying...he said to ask you if you shave under your arms" (OK. Stop laughing. My son really DID say that.)

Him: "nah, I'm not really into that".

I can't believe he answered the question! The problem is, I didn't really want to know the answer to the question.

I was attempting a joke-clearly failed.

Now I felt like a double turd because I thought oh great, now he probably thinks I really wanted to know that and used my son as a guise. After that odd exchange, I didn't really want to open my mouth anymore and get myself into even more trouble. It's a good thing Neil interrupted by asking us to pose for the picture. I tried to regain my composure and put on a smile. If I looked frightened and worried, it's because I was. I have a sad, deer in the headlights look and my hair is a mess. I wish someone would have told me. I felt like I was looking at my 7th grade yearbook picture all over again. Why oh why couldn't I have come out looking like this? Fortunately he looks super cute. Then again, that man doesn't take a bad picture.

Normally, what happens after the picture is taken is that Neil looks at it to see if our eyes were closed (or our hair standing up) and tells us it's OK and then you're done, but I didn't give him a chance to do that because I wanted a prop picture too, so not one second after the picture was taken, I turned to Adam and said "OK now can we take a picture with this moustache on?" I don't know what he said (the whah whahs were coming back), but I think it was something to the effect of "Moustache? Um, oh! OK!". He put it on, I put my mouth on (but the stickies weren't working, so I had to hold it up myself) and this is the result.

That picture alone, makes up for all my dorky blabbering. I love it and I love Adam for indulging me. I figured it was worth a try; what's the worst that could happen? he would say no? (If I had a dollar for every time that thought process has gotten me in trouble).

After the picture, he took the stache off and gave it back to me. I thanked him and started to walk away when I remembered I also had a card for him. "OH! I have this for you too, should I put it on the table over there so you can get it later?" I asked because I didn't want for him to have to hold it for the rest of the M&G. He said "No, that's OK, you can give it to me...Thank you!" and so I did and then I zoned out again. I don't remember what happened after that. I'm guessing he said bye and I did too. I wish I would've asked for another hug. I guess the whole experience was just emotional overload and I needed it to be over because the internal flail was about to erupt and rise to the surface. Retaining one's composure is hard work!

I went back to the table and gathered my belongings which were all over the place (apparently I had left them like that). I dropped some things and as I picked them up, I tried to get my act together. I stuck around a bit so I could get a picture of Adam with my phone. The pictures kept coming out blurry though so I kept trying. About 3 more people went up after me and I was still there on the side, taking phone pictures of him, the security guy was like, "OK if you've gotten the pictures you need, you can step outside now" and I said "yes, I'm done" and I left....and the moment I stepped out of Oz...the oxygen returned to my brain.

Am such a dork.

The whole thing felt so rushed and disconnected. I felt like I was so worried about not forgetting to say/do what I wanted to that I wasn't really in the moment. I was on autopilot. Unfortunately I think Adam was a little on autopilot-answer-question mode too (he answered the crazy question instead of laughing at it). I hope I can get another M&G for the next tour. I need to redeem myself.

After the M&G, I hung out for a little while with some friends that I met in Melbourne and then it was getting close to show time, so we parted ways. I went solo to this concert so I was hoping to sit next to someone friendly (who am I kidding this is an Adam show...everyone is friendly!). I hit the jackpot because my seats were right between these two fabulous ladies. We chatted before the show and during the intermission. I was an amateur fan compared to them; they had gone to at least 7 concerts each...and here I was at only my 2nd. The pre-show ambience wasn't as good as the Melbourne one was (everyone was sitting down here), but things finally picked up when some dude on the floor started dancing to Single Ladies (seems like that song always does the trick). That brought everyone to their feet. Then, it was show time. Even though I had promised myself not to bring a camera and enjoy the show, I did it anyway. I didn't take any pictures though because the security guard told me that I had to put it away because professional cameras were not allowed. Thanks to him, I actually enjoyed the concert. I was not worried about my camera and trying to get a picture. I just enjoyed Adam and his beautiful voice. The visual feast had begun and boy was I hungry. I won't review the concert because there are so many other better reviews out there (and hello, this has turned into a novel), but I will say that when he's on stage, he just seems larger than life. He sings like nobody's business and I love his theatrical performances of each song. He makes the greatest faces while singing and they make for some pretty cool pictures. The diversity in the crowd is another thing that always catches my eye. In the first row there was a little girl about 7 years old and in the third row, there was an old guy with glowsticks that was probably over 70. Where else do you see that? WHERE ELSE? Nowhere else but at the Glam Nation!

If you've read all the way through this kudos to you! Thanks!

I love you Adam, thanks for putting up with my dorkiness.

Melbourne or Bust!

I went to my very first Adam Lambert concert in Melbourne on Friday and what a whirlwind trip it was. I asked my friend Melanie to come along for the ride, we jumped in the car (Dukes of Hazzard style) and we were off. She, not being a HUGE Adam Lambert fan that I am, was promptly introduced to his music on the drive up. I was going to convert her for sure!

After a 3 hour drive, I met up with a bunch of fabulous ladies from the FLGlambs fan group in the hotel room and we all got dolled up for the concert. Once our eyes were painted, fake lashes glued-on and glitter tattoos applied we headed out to the GlamFest Party at the King Center where we met up with even more fun folks from the FL Glambs and from the FLamberts group too. There was food and raffles and Lambertinis (very strong or maybe my stomach was a mess cause I was so nervous/excited). I bought two tickets to the raffle and I ended up winning two items. A framed photo of Adam and a tshirt. Yay!

After that, it was time to go sit down. My friend Melanie and I went to take our seats (row E) and the audience was having so much fun! Everyone was standing and dancing and singing along to the music. There was even an Adam look alike that fooled many people that were sitting far away. He was in my row, so I managed to get a picture with him before he got "famous" for doing the Single Ladies dance. Ha ha. Dang it, why couldn't I come out looking this good in the real Adam picture...grrr. I digress. If you'll notice, at this point, I only have rhinestones under one eye..after a long battle between the eyelash glue and the sparkly strip, it won, and I just ripped the offending sparklies off. I figured if Adam can do a one-eye make up thingy, why can't I? Oh...I digress....

The actual concert felt a little rushed and a little tamer than I'm used to seeing on YouTube. Since it was my first show ever though, I loved it anyway! Too bad I spent so much time fiddling with my camera's settings. Most of the pictures came out crappy, but this one was pretty cool.

I promised myself, I wouldn't take pictures at the next show (Hard Rock) so that I could really enjoy it. A funny moment in the concert was when he reached down to touch the ladies in the front row and I was sooo jealous. My friend Melanie then said "Claudia, you're going to get to meet him on Sunday...and hug him...and he will say 'Claudia I love your hugs'...don't be jealous of the lady touching his fingertips" LOL! That really put things in perspective. The entire show was quite a visual feast. I loved Adam's outfits and he looked so stunning that I often caught myself drooling (jk-ish). I especially loved the intro to Sleepwalker with the cool picture in the background and the long coat. Unf, sexy man. I sang and screamed like a 13 year old girl. I danced till I could no more (I even brought a change of shoes!)....and just like that, it was over. My ride-mates were very tired, so we didn't hang out by the buses to see if we could sneak a peek.

I was so pooped by the day's events that we headed back to the hotel. Once there, I was super thirsty, so I left our room on an expedition to find a soda, but I got lost and found a hot tub instead! HooYa! I ran back upstairs and convinced Melanie to join us (Julie, a new friend I found in the elevator, that was also in search of a soda, was with me too). Aaaah relaxing, now if only Adam could join us too, that would be....um anyway. I digress again....

After the midnight soak, I returned to my room and noticed this
on the bed. Quite appropriate. With a view like this and a day like the one I had. It was easy to comply with their wishes.
___________________________________

Stay tuned for Part II of my AdamFest weekend blog series....

The Hard Rock....coming soon.

Make of that, what you will.

New Kids!...Kids?...hmm...not so much

Let me kick the tumbleweeds from this blog a bit to regale you with tales from last night's NKOTB concert. Two words can really sum it up though: HOT DANG!

When I told people that I was attending this concert, I often received snarky comments from haters to the tune of "oh, they're still around"..."oh how cheesy"," are you serious?", " you're such a goober/nerd/dork/insert term here"....but it's OK, because my consolation is that the haters will never know what they are missing. Que sad for them.

But I am getting ahead of myself...

We got to Miami Beach at around 5:30 or so to stand in line and what a line it was. I was telling Amanda that I love the demographics at this concert. Tons and tons of thirtysomething ladies. I'm sure there are some younger and older, but for the most part, 30-somethings. Amanda and I quickly noticed that as much as we like NKOTB, we were truly not "hardcore". We overheard tales of going on the New Kids cruise and crossing the country to go to various shows, and camping out to be first in line and various message board names and fan meetups and tattoos (yes, tattoos) and VIP meetings and....yeah, we were out of our league. We were just two moms with T-shirts and a bunch of New Kids on the Block albums...on tape.

When they finally let us in to the theater, around 7ish, Amanda and I secured a spot in the second level of the pit (3rd rowish) and continued to stand and wait. At 8pm, they put up a countdown clock behind the sheer curtain, which only increased the anticipation and got us even more hyped up (those boys sure know how to press our buttons). At 8:30 the lights went out and then the insanity began. Let me just say this....gone are the days of little teenage boys strutting their stuff on stage whilst trying to keep it PG for the little girls in the audience...oh no sir. There were no teenage boys or little girls there last night, not on stage and not in the audience. The five Boston babes grew up and so did their show. The Fillmore on Miami Beach was packed with hoardes of 30 somethings pining and screaming for their favorite five guys from yesteryear. They sang the old favorites and they sang some of their newer songs as well while putting their moves on us in the process.

These guys really know how to put on a show. I love that they really put alot of effort into their performances and don't just show up to get a paycheck. They go out of their way to involve and interact with the audience by actually going into the audience to sing...I mean, really? who does this? Most stars are too scared of their fans to actually do this. They had a kick ass DJ to entertain us between sets and they also took things easy and sat down for a nice guitar session. Their shows have always been entertaining and now, even more so. I guess they feel like they have to step it up a notch, and that they definitely do.

The highlight of the show (for me anyway) was when Joe took the stage by himself looking like a fellow straight out of Chippendale's. He was decked in a penguin suit (a tuxedo jacket...not an actual penguin costume) and used the mic stand as a prop while he thrusted and gyrated his way through a medley of "Sweet Dreams/Twisted". Mind you, I've always been a Jon girl, but after last night...hm, I don't know. I needed to be hosed off after Joey's performance. It was a little bit Adam-esque at times, (which is perhaps why I liked it so much cause I lurve me some Adam). Wow. But don't take my word for it. Here's the video of when he performed it in Vegas. Go watch it now, I will wait...GO... oh, and have a paper towel ready.

After that performance the ladies in the audience picked their jaws up off the floor and enjoyed the rest of the concert. Another entertaining moment was when I noticed that Jon didn't do his homework on one of the new songs. At one point I saw him pull a cheat sheet out of his pocket. Come on Jon, get with the program...lol. If you're gonna use a cheat sheet, use one smaller than your hand! Lol, poor Jon, he just doesn't seem like he's enjoying the attention. Always looking down, always looking at the other guys to see if he's not messing up the dance moves, never removing any clothes...hm..come on now Jon. The good thing is that I'm sure only those that watch him often (other Jon girls) will notice these things because he does a good job of blending in.

The show ended with a bang just like it began and when the house lights came on, we were all bummed that it was over. Of course this was a pre-cruise concert, so 90% of the lucky souls in that room would be leaving the next morning on a cruise with these fine fellows, but for the po folks like myself that could not (and did not want to) dish out at least a Grand for a weekend cruise, it was over.

As Amanda and I walked outside the venue towards the parking garage, we looked over at the side of the building and noticed a gaggle of ladies loitering about and taking pictures. This is definitely something that raised a red flag, so we took our Scooby Snacks and went over to "investigate". It turns out there were about 20 ladies staring at a window that appeared to be the dressing room where the New Kids were. The shades were down but we could all see that some of them were inside. Some girl threw a rock at the window to get their attention. Donnie and Jordan came to the window, pulled the shades up, opened the window and stuck their heads out to say hello to us. As you can see, I was the first one to get to the window. Child when I saw him pulling those shades up, I was under that window faster than you can say Take me I'm yours NKOTB. They reached their hands down to shake hands with us (I am never washing my hand again). Then Jordan went inside and Mr. Chippendale's Hotness um, I mean, Joe popped his head out the window. I was able to get this picture with my phone before they went back inside. It’s amazing how being in their presence, hearing their songs and being with the same friend I was with back then, makes me feel (and act) like I’m 14 again. If anything, I love them just for their ability to do that, to make me feel young and carefree again....that my friends, is priceless.

So, the haters can hate all they want, and make comments, but it was a wonderful evening filled with great memories that I will always cherish.

I can't wait for the next one. Hey, can anyone lend me a Grand?

They've got the right stuff

...and boy do they know how to use it. The five boys men from Beantown were in my town last night and put on one hell of a show! Meg, Jenny, Amanda and I headed up to Sunrise to see the New Kids on the Block sing again after 20 years.

As I squeezed into put on an old NKOTB shirt that Meg lent me (If you look at the picture, it looks like I peed my pants. No, I wasn't that excited...Meg's erratic driving made me spill my soda; that's my story and I'm sticking to it) I was instantly transported back to when I was 13 years old. Back in those days, my room was wallpapered with pictures from TeenBeat magazine and not one inch of wall space was visible underneath the faces of Jon, Donnie, Jordan (and no, my child is not named after him), Danny and Joe. Back then, I was in the nosebleed section when I went to see them in concert. This time? 6th row baby.

Amanda and I were in row F and Meg and Jen were in row L. I gave my camera to Meg to take pictures and Amanda and I took pictures with her camera, so we had several angles covered. We were THISCLOSE and the pictures came out awesome (all 350 of them).

It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to (yes, even better than Pearl Jam...believe it). I was brought to tears as they sang the oldies that I loved and I found myself dancing and bopping my head to their new songs as well. I only wish I had made a sign to hold up that said "JON is my baby-daddy"...that would've gotten his attention, don't you think?

Exhausted

No more concerts on a work night OK?

Well, the seats weren't too bad. They could've been better, but they also could've been way worse. We were in section 1 (lower level) row Q, but we were off to the side, so the view wasn't all that.

Either way, I still had fun and took lots of pictures (and video, which I am trying to upload as I type can be found below). I got tons of compliments on my shirt. Pearl Jam fans are so very nice and supportive, so many people read my shirt and gave me a thumbs up, congratulatory words and nice comments. There was one other prego there with a similar shirt, but I was never close enough to read what hers said. In the course of the evening I ran into two other prego ladies that wished they had gotten shirts like mine too.

Before the concert started I saw this lady and this little girl come out from the backstage area and pass by our seats (unfortunately I didn't take a picture) and I could have sworn that it was his wife and daughter because they sure looked alot like these people. Later in the concert, they passed by again (headed backstage) as I was headed out to the bathroom. The lady glanced at my shirt and I wondered if it was them...perhaps it was, I'll never know.

Here's the video we took of an oldie but goody, Evenflow:

"It's going to be like Cirque du Steamy Nights!"

...Is what Jordan Knight said about the upcoming New Kids on the Block tour performances. For the $200+ I paid per ticket, that BETTER be the case! No, not all tickets cost that much, but I have floor seats, section 1. I'll let you focus on that for a bit before I go on (here's a visual aid to help you).

I know that it's close to what the Madonna tickets are going for, but I'll take 5 guys over 1 girl anytime. I really wasn't in the mood to sit in the nosebleed section and break out the binoculars (like I had to when I was in middle school). I'm a big girl now and I demand big girl seats...unfortunately they come with a big girl price, but it is so worth it. I've waited 20 years for this and it is unlikely that it will happen again, so I'm going to treat myself and enjoy it at the fullest. God knows I can spend $200 bucks so easily (I did yesterday at Marshall's), what with my Starbucks and shoe and eBay addictions, why not put it towards something I'll truly enjoy?

Now, if only I could round up the original group of girls that went to the concert with me back in the day (1990?), so it could be a true flashback. I have to remember to go in my attic to look for my old Jonathan Knight (my favorite kid) shirt so I can wear it again (the sausage look is in this year right?).

Speaking of flashbacks...on Saturday, I went to the Freestyle Invasion concert with Amanda. After the concert we ran into a blast from the past at La Carreta. I'd write all about it, except that she's done a pretty good job of it already. Please head over there and check it out.

Mother Fucker! ***UPDATED***

I apologize for the blunt title, but that is exactly what came out of my mouth five minutes ago.

Take note of the following events that led up to it:

-I've been a member of the Pearl J@m (my most favorite band in the world) fan club for at least a decade.

-I was a member of said club because when they went on tour, I would supposedly get better seats (through presales etc).

- 2006-2007 Pearl J@m (my most favorite band in the world) went on a worldwide tour that apparently did not include Florida (we must be on another planet).

-Despite the fact that I was pissed at them for totally overlooking my lovely state. I still maintained my membership and kept renewing it in the hopes that they would tour again eventually.

-This year my membership expired in Feb. They sent me an email to let me know so I could renew it. They said you have 3 months to renew or else you lose your seniority or something to that effect. I was still kind of pissed about the lack of tour issue, so I let it go, I had three months to do it anyway...I figured it's not like they're going to announce a tour in the next month or anything.

-On March 3rd, I got another reminder email...I put it off...eh...I'll renew it later.

-Today, I just happened to check myspace and noticed a lovely little bulletin that said the following

3-20-08

Pearl J@m announced today a ten date East Coast tour, which begins June
11th in West Palm Beach, FL and wraps up June 30th in Mansfield, MA.

A ...[Fan] Club pre-sale for
eligible members will begin on Monday, March 24th at 9am PDT on
www.pearlj@m.com. You must be an active member of the [fan] Club by Wednesday
March 19, 2008 to qualify for the pre-sale ticket opportunity.

-Can we say major freakout?

-I instantly/immediately went online and renewed my membership and then I tried to get the tickets (cause the presale is today of all days) and I got this lovely message:

* Your cart was not updated because "WEST PALM BEACH, FL 6/11/08 TICKET PAIR" is
restricted
* You must have a membership that was active before 2008-03-21 to
purchase "WEST PALM BEACH, FL 6/11/08 TICKET PAIR"

- 3-21-2008?!!!!!! ; That was FRIDAYYYYYYYY!!!!!! You mean to tell me that if I had seen the stupid thing on Thursday (that's 4 days ago) I would have been able to get them????!!!!!!

-OK, scream it with me now...MOTHER FUCKER!!!

______________________________________________

Yes, I realize it's all my fault for being a procrastinator.

I'll be OK.

I'll be back with a cute bunny picture from yesterday to calm myself.

_______________________________________________

*UPDATE*

The folks at the fan club are such reasonable people. I wrote them a lovely email explaining my situation and I am now a happy camper. I will be as big as a house in June, but I will be at the concert. Woohoo!

Hot piece of prime rib man meat

Oh sorry, did I get a little carried away with the title there?

On Friday I went to the Chayanne concert at the AA (that's American Airlines, not Alcoholics Anonymous) Arena with my mom. I had a good ol' time dancing, screaming my head off, drooling and singing at the top of my lungs. What a hottie!

If you'll recall, he's one of the players (#14) on my Dream Team (hmm, that reminds me...I just thought of someone else that I forgot to add to my list...I'm hopeless I tell you), so there were many many many pictures taken. I had floor seats too, so you can actually see him in the pictures since he didn't come out the size of an ant. 'll try to put them up on Flickr tomorrow so that I don't overcrowd this post with them. Unfortunately they did come out a little blurry though because:

a) Mr. hot cheeks was dancing and moving around too much and

b) the "event staff" dude wouldn't let me go down the aisle to take pictures, so I had to do it quickly and incognito thus sacrificing picture quality

I had such a great time that I was considering going to see him again in June (at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel) that is until I saw how much the tickets were ($150 a pop). I'll pay that much to see Eddie Vedder (Dream Team player #15), but no one else is worth that much to me; especially not a repeat performance. $150 Dollars per ticket?? That is some really expensive man-meat. I'd expect a lap dance performance for that price.

Hey you over there, it's your turn to get a lap dance!