Normally, I love concerts - I really do. I tend to get pissed off because I'm generally surrounded by people who are much taller than me, and I can't see anything. Also, you're always guaranteed that there's at least 2 girls who are inappropriately dressed for any concert you go to, as if they actually think that the lead singer is going to see them and invite them backstage.
But when you're on the balcony? That's definitely not going to happen.
I will never understand people who get dressed up to go to concerts or games. That's one of my biggest pet peeves (right behind people who are at restaurants and say things like "Gimme a steak with a side of fries" instead of asking for it. But I digress). I mean, you're almost guaranteed that someone will spill a drink on you, and your stupid pointy spike-heeled shoes are going to really hurt your feet after about 10 minutes of standing.
Last night, these three princesses came and stood right in front of us. They were wearing matching halter-style tunics and jeans, in pink, red, and black. They all had identical purses and were all wearing the most impractical shoes I'd ever seen. First of all, they completely skipped the opening act (Who skips Gavin DeGraw???) and made everyone move so that they could get in. They literally pushed some poor guy who was there with his kids down to the end of the aisle. They had all flat-ironed their hair and kept flipping it right in my face. I so badly wanted to hold my coke right next to their hair and "accidentally" get some massive pieces in my drink. I was done with it by then anyway. So, they stood for about 10 minutes and then left before the show was even halfway over. And when they turned around, they weren't even that cute. One girl had a massive underbite (I always think people look like hairlipped puppies when that happens), and the bitch in front of me had the flattest face I'd ever seen. I didn't get to see the other girl.
Actually, most of the people we saw at Vanderbilt (the locale of the concert) were butt-ass ugly. I told Tiffany that I was pretty certain that my future husband does not reside in Tennessee.
There were some people a few rows in front of us that almost made me vomit. One girl had really long brown hair and the other had awful, shaggy black, Kelly Osbourne hair. They both looked like they hadn't washed themselves in about a week. The long-haired girl had a bottle of bubbles and kept blowing the bubbles everywhere. Then she and her scary friend started catching the bubbles in their mouths! Goo. Then shaggy, nasty girl grabbed the bottle and took a giant swig of the mixture.
I don't understand it. It was perfectly acceptable for her to be totally unwashed, but the inside of her mouth was clean? Whatever. I was seconds away from puking.
Gavin was excellent, as he was the last time I saw him. I really love people who interact with the audience and make it clear that they're having a great time and love what they do. Modest Mouse, on the other hand, didn't say much of anything to us, and when they did, it was this mumbled mess that no one could understand. They stopped after each song for several minutes while they tuned their instruments. They were so un-energetic. I mean, I'm sure that I'd like their music - some people are just not good performers. They also had a horrible problem with feedback. Every single song had a problem with it. I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not, especially because the lead singer kept fucking with the amps.
They also came back out for a 6 or 7 song encore. Seriously. If you go offstage, and come back and play that many songs? That's not an encore. We had intermission. That's it. I was ready for the concert to be over, in case I'm not being transparent enough.
It was really great to get to spend so much time with Tiffany. For those who aren't longtime readers, Tiff has been my best friend since I was 9 years old. We have one of those relationships that's really special...we can go for a long time without seeing each other, and pick up right where we left off whenever we do see or talk to each other, without any kind of awkwardness.
I've been feeling like the only cynic/safety-conscious person around lately, and it was great to have my feelings reiterated by her. We were talking about the fact that so many people operate under the same timeline when they meet and get married. You meet someone, you date for a year, you get engaged. You're engaged for about 8-12 months, and then you're married. So essentially, you MIGHT have 24 months to get to know the person you'll be with forever. And that's not including the people who jump into this kind of stuff. I mean, I have known people for years and years and still not know enough about them to think I could live with them forever, you know? Of course, neither she nor I have ever been so enamoured of someone that we felt like we HAD to be with them forever.
She was talking about one of her roommates who met her husband on an online Christian dating service. They got married after knowing each other for only a few months, and they actually live in different states. Tiffany hypothesizes that they got married so that they could have sex. I'd be inclined to agree. I think that's a big reason why so many people at Asbury got married at such a young age. Plus, there's just this whole belief that just because someone is "christian," theyr're safe, or a good match. But look at Asbury's divorce rate. It's higher than that of the country, actually. Those marriages don't last at all.
See? Complete cynic.
Not to mention the fact that it's no secret that I have strong opinions about internet dating. I always have said that there has to be a reason why you have to go online to meet people. See? It sounds really judgemental, but I think it's related to my personal safety. Someone can pretend to be something they're not for a long time, you know? And after the incident of date rape that I had, when I thought I had met someone whom I could trust, because he went to church all the time and he seemed like a nice guy...you just never know. So, there has to be a reason why you start actively looking for dates online, and eventually that reason will rear its ugly little head.
Tiffany's roommate has learned that her husband isn't all he said he was. When they met, he told her that he went to church all the time and was really religious. As it turns out, he never goes to church where he lives (which is in a different state, for some reason - I still don't understand that one), when he comes to visit her, he doesn't want to go, and in fact, he's completely into partying and getting drunk, which is a big no-no for this girl. So, she essentially married her idea of who this guy was, instead of who he actually was. Does that make sense?
So after the concert, we stayed with Tiffany's college roommate, who goes to law school at Vanderbilt. It was really nice of her to let us stay with her, but I got almost no sleep because she snored all night and Tiff kept getting up to go to the bathroom. I'm a really light sleeper, so the slightest thing can wake me up. I finally fell asleep after the sun had come up.
Oh, this is hilarious. Tiffany and I were hauling ass to get to Nashville in time for the concert, because she got a bit of a late start. The concert was set to start at 8. We got there right at 8 p.m., and lo and behold, there is a massive line to get in. I heard something going on inside, and made a fuss to the security guard that if I missed the opening act, I would be livid. We got inside finally, and got up to our seats. We're still waiting around at 8:30, and I'm thinking, "My GOD, these people are running late tonight." Tiff pulled out her cell phone to show me some pictures she had taken while on vacation in Florida, and that's when we realized...Central time zone. It was 7:30. No wonder the security guy thought I was insane.
Tiff takes more vacations than anyone I've ever met. I asked how she could afford it, and she said that she gets a lot in Student Loan residuals. I never get more than $5,000 and that money always has to go to my rent and such. But since she's been in med school, she's been to Europe, London, Amsterdam (seperate trip, I think), California twice, Key West, and she's going to Greece in a couple of months.
Casey and I are saving up to go to Mammoth Cave. Something doesn't feel quite fair about this.
One of my students from last year somehow managed to get my cell phone number and is calling me all the time. He was two points away from a C, and is basically trying every single last-ditch effort he can come up with to get those points. There's no way I'm changing his grade, especially now. In fact, if it keeps up, I'm going to remind him that it's against the law to harass someone.
Tomorrow, Casey and I are going to smoke pot. I'm very, very excited about this. I haven't done that since the time I smoked up with Matt's neighbor sometime a couple of years ago.
Tiff says that my face lights up when I talk about Casey. That's so goofy.
I think I'm finally out of things to talk about. This was my weekend, in a nutshell, and it was fantastic. It was really wonderful to spend so much time talking with Tiff and getting caught up, and having someone around who not only doesn't mind my rants, but tends to agree with what I'm saying as well.
Now, I'm super-tired, and I'm not quite sure what time it is. All I know is that the Proud Family is on Disney, and that's what I'll be watching for the next half hour.
Fin
My apologies and a farewell??? - 2005-10-20
It should be Friday somewhere. - 2005-10-03
It's Friday again! - 2005-10-01
Amendment to previous entry... - 2005-09-26
Longer than I intended. It's to tide you over for another week. - 2005-09-23