music note

(so i'm going to pretend that i haven't NOT blogged in over two months and just jump right into things...)

last weekend? i realized i was old.

it all started about a month and a half ago when my sister called to tell me that patty griffin was going to be playing in lawrence, kansas sometime in march. would i like to drive up with her and go? and when ica called with such an offer (i'll explain the awesomeness of it in a bit. trust.) i had yet to realize how old i was, so i quickly said yes and my inner hippie/folk music loving soul glowed for a while. because....i was going to see patty. live. in lawrence. my favorite singer in one of my favorite towns with (obviously) one of my favorite people....

but then? the oldness set in. i think it started to take place toward the end of spring break. a couple of "traumatic" things happened: it SNOWED! on SPRING BREAK! in OKC! my cowboys lost in the first round of the ncaa tourney. my jayhawks lost in the second round of the ncaa tourney. i had to go back to school knowing full well that summer is still 2 months away. all of these things combined to drag me down. not the best way to go back to work. and then work. yeah. kind of stressful right now. and that's all i'll say about that.

so these things together, plus my general laziness that seems to abound from december until, um, now?, just kind of made me dread getting in a car and driving 5 hours. for a concert. why did i agree to this?

but. screw being old.

because patty? well, she's enough to make you forget about the snow, sad basketball games, work stress, and everything else. for me, at least, she is. i discovered her music not long after i moved to texas after round one of college. i heard a song over the speakers in the music section of barnes and noble and went to ask the guy at the counter who he was playing. he launched into his adoration of patty and within 25 seconds of his superlatives i'd purchased her cd.

so for the past ten years, i've listened to patty. to be somewhat cliche, her music has been my soundtrack for the last decade of my life. she's helped me drive more miles along i-35 than i can even bare to add up. i lost my voice on a weekend road trip to houston because i sang along with her cd's the entire way there and the entire way back. i've discussed the philosophy in her lyrics with friends, listened to the raw emotion her voice is able to convey through a simple recording, and ignored my claustrophobia to sway in an audience at nyc's webster hall with my sister while we listened to her live.....

i could go on. i don't think i'm making much sense or am even explaining myself very well at all. i just know that, yes. i felt old last weekend.

it was rough.

it was worth it.

because when i listened to patty sing i heard her through my "old" ears.

and songs that have always been beautiful to me sounded......

......different.

to the old me i've become.

to the old me i'm starting to like.

so thanks for helping me grow up, patty.

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here are a couple of videos.....the first is my favorite favorite favorite song. and that's saying a lot because it's ridiculously hard for me to choose between so, so, so many.

the next video is from an audience member. it's another of my favorites and i cry every time i listen to it. last saturday when i got to hear her sing it live was probably one of my best musical moments. also. um. if you are a singer? you should be able to sing live. case in point:

so a lot of patty's songs get covered by other artists. the dixie chicks did "fly" and it is (in my opinion) one of their best songs. below two of my favorites sing "up to the mountain." just another version of such a GREAT song.

welcome back . . .

kelly clarkson!!!  

my car stereo has missed you.  but just one song?  really?   please finish the album so i can proceed to embarrass myself in traffic as i perform concerts for my fellow drivers.

also, can we be bff's? 'k? thanks.

nkotb (part 2) - by request. for my sister.

after reading my last post, good sister ica asked to see this video.  so here i am.  sharing it with yall.  forgive my quite obviously absent cinematography skills.

nkotb (finally) - because i am in need of some serious distraction

the chips and salsa aren't doing it. the shiner hefeweizen isn't doing it. and now i have just realized that i never really wrote about the Experience i had last weekend. maybe WRITING will do it. cuz holy shit (sorry non-swearers, but it's football - my censor button is off). this game (um, if you don't know, my beloved pokes are playing the hateful longhorns today.  we haven't beaten them in TEN years.) is only an hour gone and i am freaking out.

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top ten thoughts 

(well i guess, mainly questions, but oh well, you understand) 

i had while attending my first ever nkotb concert 

10.  why would the concert promoters think that the 99.7 % female audience attending would find the wanna be rihanna/jamaican stripper to be entertainment?

and apparently, jessica and kelly are as perplexed as i was at this decision.

9.  my sister is kind and loving.  she stood in the lines of mass hysteria to purchase the shirt below for a "friend."  she even excused this claustrophobic blogger from standing in the line.  a giver, my sister is, fo' sho'.

well.  she said it was for a "friend," and i hate to doubt her, but really.  look at that excitement.  it's got me wondering if this is stuffed into her closet.  behind the hanson shirt, circa jan.

8.  i would pay to see natasha bedingfield in a solo concert.  she was the second "opener" and really was a lot of fun.  the doubt i experienced with the selection of the jamaican stripper previously in the evening waned as i danced and sang to "unwritten" with all of the other 25+ year-old ladies in attendance.  sadly, i have nothing silly to say about this. i enjoyed it.

7.  why can't i dance like this?  and why can't i have silver shoes like joey?

6.  well, okay joey, since you asked so nicely and in such sweet falsetto, i won't go.

5.  do i know this person?

why yes, yes i do.  (i may or may not have been in her wedding.) and she appears to be quite excited about this concert.

4.  is donnie still hot?  yes.  dude the boston accent does something to the female species.  is he as hot as his brother.  um.  no.  c'mon.  could that even happen?  and also, do you think i should have asked donnie if i could borrow his outfits for "bling day" at school this week?  (none of my pictures accurately show just how sparkly his outfits were.  and they were.  very.)

3.  was danny there?  oooh.  and more importantly, can joey still fit into his smiley face jacket?

yes.  danny is the one in the white muscle shirt.  he break-danced for us.  i'm not gonna lie.  it was kind of sad.  but we appreciated the effort and screamed and cried with the 50,000 other chicas in attendance.  and joey and the jacket?  well.  kinda?

2.  just how many pregnant chicks were at the last nkotb concert in 1990?  just how many were at the concert last weekend?  (check out the girl just to the left of joey's head in this picture.)

i don't suppose we will ever know, but my novice statiscal knowledge says about 23% of the crowd was knocked up.  including one of my crew.  yay missy!!!  (see picture in #5.)

1.  was it worth it?  um.  yes.  it really was.  have i forgiven my mother for not letting me go when they played t-town when i was 12?  well.  i'm working on that.  if m.c. hammer and vanilla ice do a reunion tour and i have the chance to dance along to "you can't touch this" LIVE, then i think all will be forgiven.  but yeah.  back to the concert.  other than the last 15 minutes when my severe cold reared its ugly head and i couldn't breathe so i had to leave before they did "the right stuff" and "hangin' tough," i had a blast!  and i wasn't really sure going into the evening what to expect.  i was kind of a-feared that the nkotb would take themselves too seriously, but you know what?  they didn't.  which totally made the whole experience just, well, fun.

and worth waiting for, well, "forever."

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okay.  so.   it worked.  i was distracted enough for the second half that i didn't work myself into a tizzy.  we lost.  BUT.  we still played ut better than ou did.  and MUCH better than mizzou did.  so yeah.  domination?  didn't exist today, my dear longhorn friends.  and you know what?  i'm okay with that.  even though it would have been KILLER if that last pass had made it.  just sayin'.  oh well.  when we beat you next year - in stillwater - it will be even better, since, you know, i will be there with my SEASON TICKETS.  yeah.  just decided.  i'm getting me some next year.  t. boone, you worked your magic on me.

alrighty.  it's senoritas and margaritas night.  jealous much?

i-35 entertainment needed

i think that the reason a lot of people (me) became teachers is because they may be a little bit on the control freak side. so, when you are going to be gone for two days in a row and those two days happen to be a friday and monday one might say the control freak side of you might be getting a little stressed out.

so if you are one of those people (me) then perhaps you should do something to keep your neurosis at bay. lately my escapism has been making playlists for the trusty ol' iPod. this is not a fruitless task right now, either, since i will be spending a crazy amount of time in the car over the next four days. but this is where yall come in. i'm tapped out. i never thought i would say this, but i may be a little tired of singing rihanna songs at the top of my lungs while driving up i-35. it may be time to update the selections available itunes. YALL should help. give me some music suggestions. i feel like sending some more money steve jobs' way.