Lucky

So it’s been a long running joke in my family that I’m blessed with amazingly good fortune (I don’t necessarily think this is true…). Funnily enough, many of the people I know happen to be amazingly unfortunate (like when SLJ won a ticket for the front row of Rent, but had to trade it in and buy a much more expensive ticket because she was the last name drawn and while everyone else got a pair of tickets, she got a single… or KT, who twisted her ankle on a tour of Europe and had to hike around a camp all summer on the twist when she got back home… Or AP, whose amazing misfortune involves so much of her life that she actually lost her wallet twice in one week, after having her ID and debit card replaced, and it still wasn’t such a bad week for her).

In my life, I got my first car for free from a family friend who I hadn’t seen since elementary school, found $30 bucks while looking for a place to grab lunch in Boston, landed a work-study job my freshman year of college even though I didn’t qualify for it (thank you poor oversight at the financial aid department), passed high school physics with a B- in spite of the fact my test average was in the 40s (although the class average was probably not much better), convinced my landlord to drop my rent by $400 a month, and hold two jobs in the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country. Lucky.

And the other day, I may have managed the pinnacle of my luckiness. I found a penny heads up; three days later I won tickets to the Warped Tour (yes, I am too old to be going to Warped. But I’m told I look 16 still, so I think it’ll be okay). But that’s really not the part that matters; the part that matters is that I won a jump the line pass for The Rocket Summer. Remember back to the post “The Teeny Bopper Inside” where I admitted that I continue to have a middle-school crush on Bryce Avary so pathetic that my heart actually skips a beat when I see him (it’s actually quite physically painful). Now I get dibs on meeting him first after he plays his set. Lucky.

The unlucky part? Ever since I found out I won, I’ve had “Lucky” by Britney Spears stuck in my head. But I actually really like that song… Lucky?

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A More than Mediocre Life

Taking-a-picture-in-the-bathroom-mirror-so-that-everyone-can-be-in-it awesomeness

 

I apparently describe things as “alright” and “okay”  too much. And apparently these are not appropriate adjectives to describe how something is if I enjoy it (i.e. I saw the Blue Man Group with SLJ, she asked me if I like it, I did and I said it was alright, and she got annoyed). She told me that I “live a life of mediocrity.” So I thought about it and have come up with a list of things that are so amazingly, outstandingly, spectacularly, magnificently, mind-blowingly, wonderfully, unbelievably, overwhelmingly,  marvelously, wondrously awesome that I cannot even use enough adverbs to describe how chock full of awesomeness these things are.  

20. Nana’s house– childhood memories awesomeness
19. Milk chocolate– melt-in-your-mouth awesomeness
18. Unicorns– Pets-you-wish-you-had-when-you-were-a-five-year-old-girl awesomeness
17. Tie-dye– multi-colored, psychedelic awesomeness
16. Green Mountain Coffee– fair-trade awesomeness
15. David Sedaris’s “The Santa Land Diaries”- best-Christmas-story-ever-told-since-the-first-Christmas  awesomeness
14. Panera’s Broccoli Cheddar Soup– OMG-that-might-be-the-greatest-thing-ever-to-be-poured-from-a-ladle awesomeness
13. Laundry right out of the dryer– warm-and-cuddly awesomeness
12. Wrinkle-free shirts– never-have-to-burn-yourself-on-a-hot-iron-again awesomeness
11. Ben & Jerry’s– delicious, high-fat, environmentally-friendly awesomeness
10. Stephen Colbert– Nerdy wit awesomeness
9. Bubbles– popable awesome
8. Daffodils– first-sign-of-spring awesomeness
7. Sundresses– comfy-yet-dressy awesomeness
6. Oatmeal– good-for-you-breakfast awesomeness
5. Sales– Can’t-believe-this-is-85%-off-and-in-my-size awesomness
4. The Rocket Summer– happiness-through-the-headphones awesomeness
3. Shooting stars– Close-your-eyes-and-make-a-wish awesomeness
2.  UNICEF– saving-the-children-of-the-world awesomeness
1. My friends– delightfully awkward, ridiculously dependable awesomeness  

So there you go, things that make my life more than mediocre.

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The Teenybopper Inside

Set My Heart Aflutter: Bryce and Me After the Show... Confetti Hearts and Speech Bubbles from Splashup Light

I used to be a teenybopper, with my subscription to J-14 and posters of Blink-182 and Good Charlotte plastering my bedroom walls.  I remember meeting Pierre from Simple Plan and getting a little starstruck; and standing two feet from Mike Dirnt of Green Day, getting so flustered I couldn’t speak, so I just stared at him like a rabid squirrel eyeing  an acorn. Yes, I was that kid at the show- sitting with my parents, rocking my $20 concert t-shirt, screaming my eternal love for Benji Madden. But I am happy to say that I’ve outgrown it. I am almost a college graduate, I’m taking courses toward my MBA; I am a mature adult.  

Or so I thought. But then there is always something to remind me of the fanatic teenager I once was. And his name is Bryce Avary. The sole artist behind The Rocket Summer, there is something about him that makes me revert into a mild version of my teenybopper-self.  

I went to one of his shows last week with my roommate Angelina (see: 2007) . We got there early and decided to walk around rather than wait in line outside the venue. And that’s when I looked up and there he was. I kid you not, my heart stopped mid-beat (which, I’ll let you know, is actually quite painful). He smiled, I tried to be cool with a head nod (yes, I know, I’m lame), and we walked on in opposite directions.  

It was an amazing show, but I won’t get into too many details about how Ang and I were two of maybe a half-dozen people over the age of 21 (judging from the lack of wristbands in the audience) or how I still dance like a fifteen year old boy… Yes, no, we don’t need to get into that.  

Waiting outside after the show, I looked around and knew that I was significantly older than at least a few of the other kids waiting. I know this mostly because of the fact that there was a handful of parents waiting with them.   

He came out the front doors of the venue and made his rounds, taking pictures, and signing autographs. Angelina and I let the high school girls go ahead of us, figuring on the one hand that they’re parents were waiting to take them on and on the other that they might explode if they waited any longer. He got to us and we talked about the show, about his cover of The Beatles’ song Blackbird, about how he should play metal fest after covering Pantera during the show. We snapped a photo, and went on our way. And as we walked away, I looked back and he looked up, I smiled and told Ang we had to walk faster. She looked at me funny, and as we rounded the corner I let out a minor laugh of hysteria.  

We got to the car and my eyes started to well up. Angelina looked at me and started to cry. Yes, that’s right. Crying. Over meeting an artist I’ve already met a handful of times. But the teenybopper inside me couldn’t hold it in any longer.  

And as I Splashup my own fan photo with Bryce, I know I am equivocal to those 14-year-old girls screaming girls. And I think I’m okay with it.  

I can’t feel too bad about my little outburst. After hearing about how much older women (and occasionally men) react to Adam Lambert  or Taylor Lautner , I don’t think I’m that bad afterall.

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