(Oh, and a tiny warning - this is going to be a novella, so go tinkle first and grab a snack if you don’t want to stop in the middle).
Yes, yesterday I was exhausted too - or I believe as I put it “exhausested.” But yesterday I was also ready to push through it and try to deny the sleepys and embrace the exhilarated part.
Today? Not so much.
This is not to say AT ALL that it wasn’t worth it. I’ve had some good times these past couple days…well with one significant (at least to me) bump in the road.
*Warning: Expletives Ahead*
I have a fucking stye growing in the corner of my eyeball and it hurts like a….whoo - breathe, don’t go there. But damn - blinking is a pain in the ass right now!!! The good news is that even though it decided to make it’s entrance into the world Wednesday at 1 pm, it did not erupt in time to ruin my night Wednesday.
The bad news? It didn’t morph into pink eye so I’m still at work.
*Back to No Less Expletives*
So Wednesday night is a night I have been looking forward to for a LONG time.
Reasons:
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I was going to be going with a boatload of friends…well more accurately a boatload of Benny’s friends - which means that yes, Benny would be there. I last saw him about two weeks ago and it was good times. I just haven’t talked about it too much, but I was pretty excited to see him.
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I took the day off work so that I could relax and focus on the evening’s festivities.
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I was seeing Cheap Trick, Heart, and JOURNEY.
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Uh, did you read #3? Even the part about JOURNEY???
So yeah, lots of good things to look forward to. And really, I wasn’t hugely let down, which is a shocker because that always seems to happen to me. The day off part wasn’t much special because it was basically just a day off lounging with roomie at the apartment - but I dig it because we don’t get to do that enough. Add a Project Runway marathon and we’re in heaven. Well, until unwelcome Fucker [aka the Stye] came onto the scene at 1, but before that it was pretty good.
Then showerd and got all prettied up for the concert. I drove down to our friends house where we were meeting and gave a little wave up to the balcony where Benny stood. “Aren’t you going to be more excited than that?” he asks. Well duh, but not in FRONT of you! (Yes, I’m 16). So I quicken my step a little and get my big hug I’ve been waiting for.
Fast-forward to tailgating. We’re hanging out before the show, taking pictures, and all that. Benny’s being super nice and coupley and awesome. A girl could get used to this. (But can’t because he lives 200 miles away. GRR!) But I let myself anyway because I’m not going to be bitter during the time we DO spend together by thinking about the time we don’t. It’s all good.
**Possible Expletives Ahead; Haven’t Quite Decided**
Now I’m going to jump to the end of the concert and then go back to the middle, because I really don’t want to end with my mini concert vent. So here goes:
Know what I HATE about concerts? Encores. Yep, I hate them. What is the fucking point??? Can’t we just have all the songs at once and do away with this fake leave the stage, make the audience chant your name, come out like its a dang surprise and then play three more songs??? I just don’t GET IT.
Now I don’t blame Journey - or Heart for that matter. But really, was anyone fooled into thinking Heart WASN’T going to come back to play Barracuda? I mean SERIOUSLY. How fucking dumb to people think that audiences are? I get that it’s all part of the ritual of the concert experience, but it just feels insulting and patronizing. Do bands really stand backstage and think, “Wow? I was going to be done, but listen to that! THEY LOVE US! Let’s do Highway Run now since we didn’t include it in the set list!” NO! They PLAN to do it that way. It’s no accident that bands leave very notable songs out of the set list and then just all of a sudden have an “A-ha!” Moment about when to play them.
One of my favorite bands was this local band that NEVER played encores. They played the same song as the last song at EVERY SINGLE SHOW. It’s how we knew they were done. For real. DONE. Not “done.” Then they got signed and people knew them and they became a bigger deal and I saw them in a HUGE venue (not the usual House of Blues, Viper Room, or other LA spot). Anyway, they played their finale song like 7th and I was like, “Whaaat??” They’re set can’t be that short! Nope. They sold out. With a whole fake encore and everything. THAT was a sad day.
Okay, tangent OVER!
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So we’re sitting at the concert and it is BEAUTIFUL. The moon is huge and it’s outdoors and the weather is perfect and everything is great. Open Arms is playing and we’re swaying and Don’t Stop Believin’ is going off and we’re pointing and punching in the air and “hitting the notes” and we’re screaming that “Any way you want it, that’s the way you need it!” ROCK ON.
We finally make it back to the apartment (not mine, the one where my car is) at like 12:30. I’m already tired - too tired to get in my car and focus enough to drive home. So I wait. And hang out with a ZILLION other people until 3:45 IN THE MORNING. I get home at 4:30 IN THE MORNING - that’s known as 7:30 am to all you East Coasters - and groan cause I KNOW I’m up in two hours.
And I am. And I’m sleepy. And my fucking (sorry, forgot to warn you about that one) stye has made the corner of my eye miserable and pink. But not pink enough for me to claim “Pink Eye!” and stay home.
So THAT’S why I was tired yesterday.
(Seriously, I told you this was long - you may take a break if you want - this would probably be the most logical place to do that).
Are we back? Rested? Refreshed? Good. I’ll continue.
Glutton for punishment that I am I agreed to do the STUPIDEST thing I could think of last night. Now what I did isn’t stupid in any legal or moral way, just in that I’m already running on two hours sleep. It’s actually something I do quite often, just not under these circumstances.
What did I do that was so reckless and ridiculous?
I went to a 12:01 showing of Batman: The Dark Knight.
Yep. I’m a moron.
But midnight shows are so completely awesome. I mean there were people in Batman capes, a dude in one of the big grey and black children’s halloween costumes, a few guys with full Joker makeup (that looked FREAKY by the way), and my favorite: the guy wearing a pear of children’s Batman undies OVER his jeans. You just won’t see that at the 3:15 matinee on Sunday.
Plus, the caliber of nerd in the theater is SO up my alley. I LOVE it. People clap and cheer and that’s just during the previews for other movies. Once Batman starts? Forget about it - the crowd goes wild. Eruptions of applause when it’s over. It’s way better energy than at any other movie, despite the fact that it’s the middle of the night.
And now, here for your reading pleasure, likely the first review from someone you “know” that saw the movie.
It was A-MAZ-ING. Here’s how I know. My sister - who has NEVER made it through a midnight movie without falling asleep AND who doesn’t particularly dig action movies OR comic book movies - stayed awake and totally dug it.
I won’t go into plot and spoilers or any of that….but seriously, I don’t think I could say enough how awesome it was. My ONE complaint? I think it probably should have been rated R. I got in a huge debate with my friend about this after the movie was over - he was right in saying that there was no gore violence to speak of and little to no cursing. True. BUT it was DISTURBING. There was the threat of gore violence and moments where you were afraid to look at the screen. I can’t get into this too much without divulging plot or details of the film, but I just thought it was too scary to be PG-13. My friend still thought I was nuts. I told him to be responsible for a 13 year old kid and tell me that 13 year old should be able to decide to see that movie on their own. I don’t. So if you have a 13 year old that wants to see it I would consider if they’re the nightmare type. Seriously. I know that all of a sudden I sound like a total prude, but I realized that 13 is not that old - and blood and the F-bomb are not the only two things that we should protect kids from. (In all honesty, I would send my 13 year old to a movie with tons of horrible language before I sent them to a more psychological suspense thriller action movie. Language you can teach isn’t acceptable - and once you hear it once, you’ve heard it. You know it exists, it’s not a surprise. But that’s just me (and another tangent…sorry!)
Going into the movie of course I had heard how great Heath Ledger was going to be. So I was afraid to set myself up for something that wouldn’t deliver. Instead - I was blown away. People aren’t talking about how good he is ENOUGH. Absolutely an amazing performance, and of course one that’s so tragic to watch with the perspective that we have now. But just stunning.
I hate the “Batman” voice. It was in the last one too so no surprise, I just always think it’s hokey. But everything else was so great you started to forget about it. Plus I guess it’s better than every Superman ever where the guy just takes off his glasses and everyone’s duped. It’s actually believable that people don’t know Bruce Wayne is Batman, so that part’s good. And Christian Bale was good. And easy on the eyes. Actually, I think everyone in it does a stand up job, they’re just so overshadowed by Joker….although Aaron Eckhart was really good too….especially during the whole end of the movie. Just see it, trust me.
So while this is probably the worst movie review ever, since I didn’t really talk about the movie, that’s what I got. Go see it. Profound, no?
Oh, and if you think I’m crazy for seeing it at midnight, you should have seen the people lined up to see the 3:15 showing. Now THEY’RE freakin’ nuts.
PS I really like infusing some color into the ol’ blog-ola. Might become a trend…
PPS I may or may not have gotten a response to my email - and by “may or may not” I totally mean that I did
I just don’t think I can make this any longer, plus it’s Adoption Free Friday - so come by for Update Saturday okay??