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Well, here I am... another Monday back at work... with a hoarse voice and a smile :-)

First of all, I'd like to say that Chicago is such a BEAUTIFUL city! People weren't always nice, but I loved it and I will definitely go back with some more time to really enjoy the Chicago experience :-)

When I was able to get on an earlier flight out, I just knew it was the beginning of a great weekend! I arrived into Chicago at 2:30pm instead of 6:15pm (I know, what WAS I thinking with that original plan!?)... About an hour and a half later, my wonderful friend Sandra arrived from Germany. It was SO good to see her again!!! :-)

Shout out to the coolest dude!... GINO!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH for coming to the airport, waiting for Sandra with me, and giving us a ride back to the hotel! You are freakin' awesome!!!!!!!

21 July 2006

I thought our seats were going to be a bit sucky, 'cause they were 8th row all the way to the right. Well, they were actually pretty darn good seats! GREAT view of the stage from there! :-) My main concern is for my signs to be visible... :-) So I tested it with my first sign, which was a simple big "Hi!!! :-)" Smile from Melissa comes my way... Success! :-)

Not that it mattered much, 'cause there were 4 empty seats two rows ahead of us, so we promptly moved up and closer to the left aisle, and that's where we stayed through the concert :-)

My next sign was for my man Fritz... In Houston I'd asked him for a stick towards the beginning of the show (not with a sign, though)... and -I thought- he'd said yes. But then, when he gave out sticks at the end of the show, he forgot about me... boo hoo... So! This time, to make sure we were on the same sheet of music, I made a sign saying "You owe me a stick! :-)"... He totally said yes :-) I love Fritz! :-) 

Melissa sang "American Girl", so of course I had to make a sign to put over Sandra's head which said "German Girl"... Melissa went "Oh!" Cool! :-)

Some lady behind me wanted to ask for "Ruins", so I let her use the whiteboard, because personally, I'd LOVE to hear "Ruins" too! :-) Although I did warn her that if it wasn't already on the set list for that night, the chances that she'd do it were quite low...

Melissa was in this super fun mood! I mean, she always seems to be having fun, but she was really really funny!  Like, when she was talking about the gay games and said "I can tell you all about gay games... Twister, now THAT's a gay game!"... Tee hee... she then said that well, straights also enjoy Twister... :-) She asked about someone who'd been there the night before... wondering if she'd won that day on her competition... apparently she did, and Melissa said "That's my girl!" and made a funny face like "whatever...!" Cute :-)

I'd heard that she hadn't done the "feed the dog" story the night before... so I made a sign saying "Today you feed the dog, right? :-)"... Normally, I think I'm pretty good about my timing when I'm showing her my signs... but this time she was talking and then tried to read it... the lighting was not right,though... and she was like "I can't read and talk at the same time..." Big OOPS! Sorry Melissa! :-)

Eventually she did see my sign and smiled big... Later on she was saying something about telling stories or something... and I held up a sign saying "Talk please!"... I just really reeeaaallllly want her not to listen to those critics :-) We want our chatty Melissa, doggonit! :-) :-) :-)

I had wanted to ask for "How Would I Know", but I never did get to show my sign... which didn't even matter, 'cause it looked like Melissa already had a plan to play "Meet Me In The Dark"... which is always a beautiful choice (Shoot! All her piano songs are!)

I called Susan, Kel, and Lori throughout the concert (Ever since Rhondda called me from a concert, I've really gotten into Kel's "'Call Me From The Tour' Tour" :-) The BEST call I made was when Melissa was talking and I got Lori on the phone... It sounded to me as if Melissa was going to do "Must Be Crazy For Me"... so I was thinking... cool! Little did I know I was about to enjoy the coolest tour premiere! I'm glad Brad (Wisconsin!) was there, 'cause he'd asked for this song and she did it for him... It was "Good Girls and Boys"... OMG that soooooooooooo ROCKED!!!!! I was jumping up and down like a nut!  LOVED LOVED LOVED it!!! :-) :-) :-)

I'm pretty sure she'll do it in New York too... and since I'm not going to be there... I'm definitely going to ask for it in Lowell... y'all keep your fingers crossed... that was SO SO SO COOL!!! :-)

People had thrown roses on the stage for Melissa (it was pretty neat)... :-) I think it was during his solo that Philip got a rose and used it on his guitar... OMG, the poor thing! :-) So I made a sign saying "Poor Rose!", which Melissa saw first and went "Yeah! Poor rose!" :-) 

During "Bring Me Some Water" some people tried to do the card thing... but it didn't work out... Melissa mentioned how the dutchies are the ones who can do it right, etc... :-) A bit later, they threw confetti at her. THAT went much better! :-)

So, "Piece of My Heart" time came and... yes, she did! I think it was a shorter version, but! We got our "feed the dog" story! :-) Of course she probably already had planned on it, but I'll just say she did it 'cause I asked... LOL! :-) I wrote another sign saying "It is as it should be. Thank you!" (does that even make sense?)... :-)

The security was totally ridiculous... especially when it came to the pit... OMG, these people were something else! They would even bug people in the pit, asking to see their bracelets to ensure they belonged there... whew... crazy stuff! :-) There was one particular young dude who you could tell was SO thriving on all this power he had... he was 100% annoying, and 100% funny to watch at the same time! :-)

They seemed to be pretty strict about cameras, so I decided not to take mine out. Which was fine, because I do love it when I'm 100% into the concert without trying to get the right shot of Melissa's smile (yes, that's always my main mission with the camera :-)

We did get in the pit when rush time came. I spotted Janine up by the stage and there was space by her, so I got my bootie on up there :-)

I have to tell you, I'd heard about Chicago fans being a tad scary... I witnessed it when Melissa broke a string and gave it to somebody... from where I was standing, it looked like they were going to kill each other over the stupid string! What the freak? I also heard the same thing happened with the guitar pick... I personally had not seen anything like it. Normally, I see people respect others and let them have their memento peacefully and are just happy for them. Not in Chicago, dude! Lori can tell you all about it. She's the one who got BIT over Kenny's stick a while back! Whew!

When Melissa, Mark and Philip came to the right side to play, I held up my sign that said "Again: You ^ALL just get better and better! AND BETTER!!! :-)"... Melissa saw it and made a cute face and said "Really?"... Like she doesn't know... yeah right! :-) She's a cutie pie :-)

After Melissa shook hands with everybody and went out, I watched "my guys" finish it up... I wish I had more quality time with Mark, but it's hard to catch him with his eyes open... :-) But he's always so much fun to watch 'cause he's goofy and funny... :-)

So, the guys were done and Fritz came over to give me the stick... I'd already decided that if I saw a mouth come any close to me, I was just going to give it up before I got bit! LOL! :-) Well, no bites, but when I grabbed the stick... next thing I know, there are two women hanging from it... one was on the floor, like... seriously hanging from it! I was holding on to it, and thinking "wow, I'm so strong!"... 'cause these two women hanging from it and I still got a hold of it... when I heard Sandra tell me "I've got it too!"... tee hee... So, I'm not so strong :-) Finally they gave it up... without incident, thank goodness! :-)

I met some great people, mostly zonies that I've *known* for a while... Felty and Trixibelle from England are absolutely lovely! I wish I'd spent a little more time with them, but still... it was great to meet them!!! I normally don't hug stranger-friends right off the bat... But since I felt like I *knew* these folks for a while from interacting online with them, I did go for huggies with a lot of them as soon as I met them... I think some of them were taken aback, but hopefully they know it just means I really like them :-)

22 July 2006

See my video clips

My gf had flown in the night before while I was at the concert... In the morning we met up with Sandra and then Rock-n-Roll Knees Mare joined us. Frank and his friend Lisa were going to do so as well, but I messed up and left the messages on the wrong phone... SORRY AGAIN you two!!! Did the sight-seeing thing all day... Chicago is sooooo beautiful! There is no doubt I will be back!!! Loved it! 

Fast forward to show time. Since Sandra and I had bought tickets after they'd sold out at MEIN, we knew where we were sitting... Right Orchestra, 5th row (right behind the pit), left aisle... As perfect as it can get :-) Very nice! My gf coming was a last minute change, so we had to find her a fan club ticket, which ended up being 11th row center. I didn't quite like that we were separated, but I also knew she'd enjoy the concert very much from that seat... so it was all good.

Show time! "Secret Agent" was the first song... I guess she did "Come On Out Tonight" on Thursday night... so I missed out! :-) Melissa starts talking and is telling us she has a lot to say, so I show her my sign "Yes! You talk, woman!"... I think the point has been made, and therefore that particular sign is going the way of the "Angels Would Fall" signs... right into retirement :-)

I showed her another sign later on saying "'How Would I Know' today?"... She was like... "hmmmm... maybe.... mmmmm... yes" :-) Cool! I was 99.5% sure that was a yes, but there was the maybe factor... :-) Still I *knew* I'd get to hear my song :-)

She did "This Moment", which is the best song on the Lucky CD if you ask me... I LOVE that song! I kept looking back for my babe, but I guess she was sitting down (yes, she sits down for the slow songs... :-) so I didn't see her. 

Sometime before the piano song, Gino asked for How Would I Know... Melissa told him "Yeah, how would you know?" :-)... I told Gino I'd asked for it and it looked good for us :-) He crossed his fingers :-)

Caren stood by me all night... nobody bothered her... that worked out quite well for her! Even Mr. Power Trip left her alone (and he actually saw her sitting on my lap during the piano song and didn't say anything!)... which was very surprising! Security seemed to have totally relaxed the camera restrictions, 'cause I saw a lot of cameras out! Still, I didn't feel like bothering with mine... 

Piano time came... Yes! "How Would I Know" - AIN'T THAT MELISSA JUST THE BESTEST EVER???!!! :-) :-) :-) Of course I called Lori, 'cause that's her favorite song too... cool! :-) I'm so glad I have Sprint, 'cause the reception was great! :-) So... I don't know if she's done this before, but Melissa actually talked in the middle of the piano song! LOL! I'm still trying to determine how I feel about that. After all, I'm the one who kept saying "talk, woman... talk!" :-) :-) :-) Actually, I just decided that I did like it. It was different, but in a refreshing kind of way :-) She spoke about the importance of communication in a relationship... A lot of times you're expecting the other person to read your mind, or you think you can read theirs... so true!!!

I saw Frank looking to the right a couple of times and then holding up a sign for Tammy (that would be the beautiful pregnant lady who's following Melissa and who I'm still hoping I get to hug one day... :o) Cool! 

Oh, Melissa sang "Late September Dogs" for Tammy... :-) I'd say the "I'm carrying your twins" guilt trip might actually be working! LOL! :-)

Funny thing: Someone gave Melissa the Chicago Park West bootleg. She got a kick out of it because it had an old picture of her and Fritz, so she went to show him... then asked if she could keep it (I dunno, but I'm thinking the fact that there was a letter in the bag with the CD might mean it was supposed to be for her to keep... I'm smart that way)... :-) I think she also showed it to Tammy and said "We'll definitely be listening to this one"... It was cute :-)

I made a sign telling the band how much I love them :-) Because I LOVE THEM!!! :-)

During "I Need To Wake Up" Rhondda and I did our singing to each other thing... I like it. A lot. :-) 

I was trying to get my gf's attention during "If You Want To" to get her to come down so we could rush the pit together... But she was all into the concert :-) So eventually I walked up there and got her down to where I was... well, Mr. Power Trip was right there a second later telling her to get back to her seat! I was like "Whatttt??? It's about time to rush!"... He's like "there will be no rush"... I'm like... "whatevah, dude!"... I hugged my babe and reluctantly let her go, while Mr. Power Trip stood there waiting for her to leave... Dude was something else! LOL!!!

While "If You Want To" was still going on, I figured we could try to get in the pit... so I went in with Caren (and maybe Sandra?) following me... goodness gracious, did I make someone unhappy! I wanted to try to get to the stage from the right side, where I wouldn't block anyone's view... but when I went in, I experienced my first "concert rage" moment :-) This woman was yelling at me like there was no tomorrow... LOL! She was telling me I didn't belong in there... I was explaining I wouldn't block her view, but she was yelling even louder and looked ready to hit me at any moment... Yikes! Some Chicago peeps are just downright scary... that's all I can say! I'm all about peace and non-confrontation, so this was new to me... and since I didn't want a black eye, I retreated :-)

When "Bring Me Some Water" started, then I went in the pit and around from the right side. The security man was standing there in the corner and I asked if I could stand there in the corner by him. He said it was cool. Great! :-) A second later, here comes Mr. Power Trip tapping me on the shoulder... I see him ask the nice security man about where I'm standing, and he told him that he'd let me stand there... buh bye Mr. Power Trip! :o)

I saw Ms. Concert Rage standing there... she had a tattoo of something Melissa had written with her signature right under it. I thought... "that would be a neat tattoo to add to my website" but she was such a meanie, that I wasn't about to ask her if I could take a picture of it! :-)

A little later I spotted my babe in the pit, she was standing in the center... I'm like "Get over here, woman!"... :-) She's like... "I like this spot... you get over here"... and I'm like "I like THIS spot... come here!" :-) I won. She came over, and FINALLY we got to enjoy some of the concert together! Whew! :-)

Since I was on the right side, I got to sing back and forth with Fritz, which I (we?) love to do :-) He asked me if I'd gotten my stick the night before... I made a sign that said "Yes, I survived. And got the stick!" :-) He was like "Oh good!" :-) 

MAN, I SURE DO LOVE ME SOME FRITZ!!!!!! :-) Not sure I'd mentioned that... :-)

Frank, whose seat was second row center, saw me on the right and we were singing to each other for a moment too... neat! :-)

The card trick was tried again during "Bring Me Some Water"... This time it was more successful than the night before.  Melissa made a "much better!" face :-)

I think they saved the confetti for "Like The Way I Do" this time.  I want to say the night before it had been during "Bring Me Some Water".

I saw Philip laughing at something over there on the left. A little later I saw what he was laughing at. Someone had a sign that said "Philip, get off the toilet and blog!"... tee hee... So true! He does need to start blogging :-)

At some point, I also saw a bra hanging on Philip's microphone.  Not sure how it got there, but I have a feeling Philip wasn't appreciative of it.  If Melissa saw it, you just know she was NOT happy.  I totally don't understand the appeal of throwing undergarments on stage.  I mean, how freakin' tacky can you get???  GRRRRRRR!!!

Anyway!!! :-)

I made a sign that said "Fritz, you are da man!"... Cutie pie Fritz blew me a kiss... awwwwwwwwwwwwwww... :-) :-) :-)

When I was at the stage, I did get a couple of video clips -but I was standing right by the speaker again, so the sound is yucky... I also snapped very few photos, NONE of which turned out OK... Sorry! Hopefully we'll find some neat stuff anyway :-)

Caren was standing beside me at the stage and she said she wished she could get a stick (a hint, maybe?) :-) ... I made a sign to Fritz saying "A stick for the little one?" with an arrow pointing at tiny little Caren :-) Fritz said "sure..." When he was done he came and gave her the stick... what a sweetie he is! I absolutely need to give him a huggie before the tour is over! :-)

Ahhh... can't wait to see Melissa and the best band in the whole wide world again!  Lowell, here I come! :-)