(no subject)
the past week has been the most update-worthy few days of my life, so i figure that now is as good a time as any to bore you all to tears.
the trip to chicago was such an odd, odd time. mother and i picked ellen up after she finished taking a test after school and we pretty much left right after that. it was a jolly good time until we went to mancino's pizza in mackinaw city and mother left her purse in their bathroom. she did not realize this until about half an hour down the road, at which point she started hyperventilating and freaking out to her maximum potential. she called mancino's and it was still in the bathroom, which is a good thing, but it meant that we had to turn back, drive an extra 30 minutes, and then drive another 30 minutes to get back to where we started.
then we discovered the wonder that is not mapquest. they sent us on this strange wild goose chase for a nonexistent highway and yes, we did get lost. that's pretty much a given if it's a trip consisting of soley schneebergers. we called my dad and he gave us this amazing alternate route and we finally made it to our hotel in kalamazoo at around 1:30 in the morning. my mom had a reading conference thing in the morning so she had to wake up at 8 and she kept me up until around 2:15 playing with the alarm clock. it didn't really bother me though, because i thought i was going to be able to sleep in for quite a while.
this was not the case, however, as i woke up when my mother did and then just as i was drifting back into the land of nod, the fire alarm went off. ellen didn't get up for a while because she thought it was my cell phone alarm, but when i finally informed her of the truth, we freaked out, grabbed our bags, and ran down the hall at speedy gonzales speed. we started running down the stairs, only to discover that there was some moronic problem and that there was no fire. so we went back to our room, except we had not brought the key, and had to ask the housekeeper to let us in. and then the fire alarm went off again. it was freakish.
my mom came back at like 11 and ellen and i were dropped off in a wasteland of industrialism and commercialism. we went to best buy, where i succeeded in blowing 115 dollars in about half an hour. then we just walked around and it was really boring. the only exciting things were the discovery of bilbo's pizza in a pan and the red phone booth like in the united kingdom that we found on the "nature path" that was actually a paved road right behind the mall with a parking lot on one side and a nasty marsh on the other.
the next day we drove to chicago and the traffic was worse than it's ever been and i was basically scared out of my mind for about two hours, but we finally reached our hotel and it was loveliness personified. we went to a cafe and got flaming cheese and our waiter was the nicest man ever. he didn't even care that we almost made him burn his eyebrows off. then one of the men that was bussing tables kept waving to us, and we kept having to walk by, so he just kept waving, and it made me laugh inside. oh the joy.
at like 5:00 we walked by the metro, the venue where we were going to see our lovely lads from sheffield. the line was already starting to form so i got in line and bonded with this man about the arctic monkeys and all this stuff. he was a strange man, but he told me about the most amazing website ever, so i shall be forever grateful.
they didn't let us take pictures in the concert, and they really groped us all going in while trying to find hidden ones, but ellen had hers in her underpants and was able to sneak it in, even though we didn't take pictures because the bouncers were really scary.
we stood around for a long time and were pretty much right in the front, except for this group of bitch-girls that had been there since 8:30. wow did i hate them. they were really snotty and you could just tell they thought they were the coolest people ever, something they most certainly weren't. they had these two friends who came way later than us and expected to be right in the front, but ellen and i were adamantly staying in our places. we had a bit of a pushing war with them, which we most definitely won. there was also this creepy old man right at the front and it seemed like the only reason he was there was to check out all the young girls. he really freaked me and ellen out.
the spinto band finally came on and they were pretty good, though they were all midgets except for the one singer/guitar player. the one man was the shortest man ever and he creeped me out to no end.
they didn't play very long, and then the arctic monkeys came out and it was the most amazing experience of my entire life. i was so mesmerized by these four young lads from sheffield that i could barely breath and was unable to take my eyes off of them. their wonder is simply something i cannot express in words. it is so impressive to me that a band of 19 and 20-year-olds who have only played their instruments for about 4 years are so talented and such good showmen. i have never been to a concert where i felt more involved, and i think that feeling extended to everyone, even the people in the balcony. alex turner is such an amazing frontman, making eye contact with everyone, throwing flowers and tambourines, and talking back and forth with people, in actual conversation. it was so clear as well that they are completely in love with music and playing together. the expressions on their faces were those of pure joy and they just kept looking at each other and smiling with such happiness. this feeling was infectious, and the audience was so receptive and wonderful. music is seriously the most amazing thing ever. for something that only lasts an hour to create such a feeling of unity among so many people is indeed a magical thing. i am enraptured, and as you can probably tell, quite in love.
i feel so sorry for my loves though. it is so obvious that they are incredibly uncomfortable with their fame. last year no one knew who they were, and now they are the "biggest band since the beatles." they no longer do interviews and it was clear that they were not comfortable with the normal requirements of fame: pictures, autographs, milling with the crowd, etc. ellen and i left them well alone, despite the fact that we are in love because we felt so sorry for them.
the rest of the trip was really uneventful, besides the fact that we saw a deer get hit by a car in our first five minutes back in michigan. ellen and i both started sobbing immediately and i felt very near vomiting. it was a very horrendous experience.
when i got home, however, the most amazing news ever was waiting for me. lollapalooza is the most fantastic music festival i have ever experienced. the lineup is so amazing, and ellen and i bought our tickets right away despite being poorer than church mice. i cannot believe that we are going to see so many of the bands that i have wanted to see for so long. my life is seriously a dream come true.
the trip to chicago was such an odd, odd time. mother and i picked ellen up after she finished taking a test after school and we pretty much left right after that. it was a jolly good time until we went to mancino's pizza in mackinaw city and mother left her purse in their bathroom. she did not realize this until about half an hour down the road, at which point she started hyperventilating and freaking out to her maximum potential. she called mancino's and it was still in the bathroom, which is a good thing, but it meant that we had to turn back, drive an extra 30 minutes, and then drive another 30 minutes to get back to where we started.
then we discovered the wonder that is not mapquest. they sent us on this strange wild goose chase for a nonexistent highway and yes, we did get lost. that's pretty much a given if it's a trip consisting of soley schneebergers. we called my dad and he gave us this amazing alternate route and we finally made it to our hotel in kalamazoo at around 1:30 in the morning. my mom had a reading conference thing in the morning so she had to wake up at 8 and she kept me up until around 2:15 playing with the alarm clock. it didn't really bother me though, because i thought i was going to be able to sleep in for quite a while.
this was not the case, however, as i woke up when my mother did and then just as i was drifting back into the land of nod, the fire alarm went off. ellen didn't get up for a while because she thought it was my cell phone alarm, but when i finally informed her of the truth, we freaked out, grabbed our bags, and ran down the hall at speedy gonzales speed. we started running down the stairs, only to discover that there was some moronic problem and that there was no fire. so we went back to our room, except we had not brought the key, and had to ask the housekeeper to let us in. and then the fire alarm went off again. it was freakish.
my mom came back at like 11 and ellen and i were dropped off in a wasteland of industrialism and commercialism. we went to best buy, where i succeeded in blowing 115 dollars in about half an hour. then we just walked around and it was really boring. the only exciting things were the discovery of bilbo's pizza in a pan and the red phone booth like in the united kingdom that we found on the "nature path" that was actually a paved road right behind the mall with a parking lot on one side and a nasty marsh on the other.
the next day we drove to chicago and the traffic was worse than it's ever been and i was basically scared out of my mind for about two hours, but we finally reached our hotel and it was loveliness personified. we went to a cafe and got flaming cheese and our waiter was the nicest man ever. he didn't even care that we almost made him burn his eyebrows off. then one of the men that was bussing tables kept waving to us, and we kept having to walk by, so he just kept waving, and it made me laugh inside. oh the joy.
at like 5:00 we walked by the metro, the venue where we were going to see our lovely lads from sheffield. the line was already starting to form so i got in line and bonded with this man about the arctic monkeys and all this stuff. he was a strange man, but he told me about the most amazing website ever, so i shall be forever grateful.
they didn't let us take pictures in the concert, and they really groped us all going in while trying to find hidden ones, but ellen had hers in her underpants and was able to sneak it in, even though we didn't take pictures because the bouncers were really scary.
we stood around for a long time and were pretty much right in the front, except for this group of bitch-girls that had been there since 8:30. wow did i hate them. they were really snotty and you could just tell they thought they were the coolest people ever, something they most certainly weren't. they had these two friends who came way later than us and expected to be right in the front, but ellen and i were adamantly staying in our places. we had a bit of a pushing war with them, which we most definitely won. there was also this creepy old man right at the front and it seemed like the only reason he was there was to check out all the young girls. he really freaked me and ellen out.
the spinto band finally came on and they were pretty good, though they were all midgets except for the one singer/guitar player. the one man was the shortest man ever and he creeped me out to no end.
they didn't play very long, and then the arctic monkeys came out and it was the most amazing experience of my entire life. i was so mesmerized by these four young lads from sheffield that i could barely breath and was unable to take my eyes off of them. their wonder is simply something i cannot express in words. it is so impressive to me that a band of 19 and 20-year-olds who have only played their instruments for about 4 years are so talented and such good showmen. i have never been to a concert where i felt more involved, and i think that feeling extended to everyone, even the people in the balcony. alex turner is such an amazing frontman, making eye contact with everyone, throwing flowers and tambourines, and talking back and forth with people, in actual conversation. it was so clear as well that they are completely in love with music and playing together. the expressions on their faces were those of pure joy and they just kept looking at each other and smiling with such happiness. this feeling was infectious, and the audience was so receptive and wonderful. music is seriously the most amazing thing ever. for something that only lasts an hour to create such a feeling of unity among so many people is indeed a magical thing. i am enraptured, and as you can probably tell, quite in love.
i feel so sorry for my loves though. it is so obvious that they are incredibly uncomfortable with their fame. last year no one knew who they were, and now they are the "biggest band since the beatles." they no longer do interviews and it was clear that they were not comfortable with the normal requirements of fame: pictures, autographs, milling with the crowd, etc. ellen and i left them well alone, despite the fact that we are in love because we felt so sorry for them.
the rest of the trip was really uneventful, besides the fact that we saw a deer get hit by a car in our first five minutes back in michigan. ellen and i both started sobbing immediately and i felt very near vomiting. it was a very horrendous experience.
when i got home, however, the most amazing news ever was waiting for me. lollapalooza is the most fantastic music festival i have ever experienced. the lineup is so amazing, and ellen and i bought our tickets right away despite being poorer than church mice. i cannot believe that we are going to see so many of the bands that i have wanted to see for so long. my life is seriously a dream come true.