Delusions of... Everything

The PJ20 Celebration Continues

I've been trying to write this post all week and it just hasn't been what I wanted it to be.  Words kept failing me.  I'm definitely not a poet or a writer of profound words.  I'm just a person who feels strongly about things, event and experiences and tries to share the best I can.

Today I received a treasure in the mail.  It was this book.

(photo stolen from here)

While reading the back jacket cover I found the words I was searching for written by the lead singer of my favorite band.  And to think I was not going to buy this book, I was going to put it on my Christmas list.  What was I thinking?!  *shakes head*

"We set out to make music to satisfy ourselves.  Something we would have not imagined is that people have made friendships, shared ideas and shared their humanity with each other through the music.  They've become husbands and wives and best friends.  That's all outside of us.  All we did was play music.  The fact that it has all happened is semi-overwhelming and humbling." - Eddie Vedder

Amen brother!

I've talk many times about the great and lasting friendships I've made because of Pearl Jam.  Friends who live all over the world.  Friends who mean the world to me, even though I don't get to see them very often, some of whom I have never met in "real" life.  Chris and I got to meet, in real life, one of those friends we've known online for 9 years at the PJ 20 celebration in WI!

The guy between Chris and I is Luis, he's from Portugal!  It was so great to finally meet him after all these years of sharing the PJ love!  The guy on the end next to me is Matt from Germany, Chris and I met him in real life a few years ago in Boston.  We have met up with Matt at a few shows since and once he came to Seattle, after seeing PJ in California, and had dinner with me and Handy Man.

I'm grateful to Pearl Jam for 20 years of music and for the amazing friendships I've formed because of their music.

Here's to 20 more years!

F5 (The PJ20 Version)

Pearl Jam finally made the announcement about their 20th Anniversary weekend festival.  It's Labor Day weekend at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI... You know, where it all began (insert major sarcasm here).  It's a two day music festival with many bands, including Queens of the Stone Age and The Strokes.  There will special fan club only areas, a special poster and "some other goodies", again only for fan club members.

Tickets went on sale to fan club members on Monday.  Here is the short version of my ticket purchasing experience.

Took a couple hours off work on Monday to purchase tickets.

Problems with the 10 Club site from the very beginning.

Hit F5

Hit F5

Hit F5

Hit F5

Hit F5

Hit F5

Go back to work empty handed after giving my friend, Chris (who took the whole day off, smart woman!), all my log in and cc info, just in case.

Text from Chris, got tickets in both our carts, cannot make the purchase.

Text from Chris, the site has crashed.

Text from Chris, the site is working.  Still cannot make the purchase.

Get home from work and can see the tickets in my cart, but can't make the purchase.

Hit F5

Hit F5

Hit F5

Hit F5

Hit F5... for hours!

10 Club announced the site is down for the night.  "We are so sorry, blah, blah, blah.... Please be patient, blah, blah, blah... If you had tickets in your cart stick with us, blah, blah, blah..."

Tuesday I had a class and no access to the internet.

10 Club announced the major malfunction of the site has been fixed, tickets back on sale at 10:00 am. 

I snuck to the bathroom (how old am I again?!) to called my friend Nick (who somehow mangaged to get tickets the day before) to give him all my log in and cc info, since Chris was at work trying to purchase her tickets.

Text from Nick at 9:00, GOT THEM!!

Apparently if you had tickets in your cart the day before, they stayed there waiting for you to log in and purchase them before the "official" sale started.

*Side note:  By 10:20 the site had crashed again!

That was truly the most stressful ticket purchasing experience I've ever had.

I'm just so thankful to have some great friends who basically got tickets for me, even though I put in a lot of time pushing F5!!

 

Pearl Jam Sunday

This month at the Pearl Jam message board where I hang out we are celebrating the band's 7th studio album, Riot Act. 

This album will always have a special place in my heart. 

It was the first album I ever got before the release date.

First album tour when I saw Pearl Jam perform multiple times (6) and traveled to see them perform in other states, Nevada and Massachusetts.  The picture below shows some of us at the Vegas meet up in June 2003... The two on the right are now married with a baby girl, the guy on the left we lost track of and the three of us in the middle, chrissy, buby and myself still talk regularly.

I spent my 40th birthday seeing them play in Key Arena in Seattle.

Most importantly it was the first time I anticipated an album release and tour with friends who "got it".  This was the point when I had newly made Pearl Jam friends through the internet and we chatted in excitement every day about rumors we heard. 

When I listen to this album all those great first time feelings come back to me and for that I am very grateful!

You Are

Pearl Jam

Thumbing My Way

Pearl Jam Sunday

Pearl Jam's 7th studio album, 2002's Riot Act, holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons.  It's the first album released while I was connected with PJ friends via the internet.  It was so fun to be a part of all the rumors and "fake" song titles and tracks.  There are some pretty clever people on the internet!  

This is the first album I ever got my hands on before the release!  One of my PJ friends sent it to me in the mail, even though I swore I wouldn't listen to the album before the release.  I looked at it for about 10 seconds then put it in the CD player and fell in love.  (A quick side note here... Even though I might possibly get "pre-released" Pearl Jam music, I always, always buy the CD when it comes out, usually in digital and hard copy.)

The rumors that they would play "warm up" shows in Seattle at the beginning of December 2002 before heading to Australia were flying.  I kept saying how cool it would be if they played on my 40th birthday.  Well they did!  It made my 40th birthday the most memorable one ever, not only did I see them once, but three times!  You can read about it here and here.

So yeah, Riot Act has a special place in my heart and I'm transformed back to those first times on the internet with people I'm still friends with today and that amazing birthday weekend.

This song is a different little song called Arc that layers Ed's voice over and over and over to come up with a very haunting and beautiful sound.  On the album it leads into All or None which I'm also including here.

Arc

All or None from Benaroya Hall October 22, 2003

aim conversation

Conversing via aim, with my friend Chris who lives in the Boston area, is an everyday thing.  We relieve each other from the stress of our day through laughter.  We both have a sick sense of humor and I love to hear all the gossip about people at her work, who I don't know.  We frequently talk about our families too.  The conversation I'm sharing today is about Dancing Daughter helping me workout.

[Tue May 12 2009 10:16:47 AM] pjmom37: i recruited DD to help me stretch
[Tue May 12 2009 10:17:06 AM] pjmom37: I'm doing all the stretches she does for Jazz and ballet
[Tue May 12 2009 10:15:21 AM] ChrissyB189: OH GOOD!
[Tue May 12 2009 10:17:17 AM] pjmom37: then she made me do crunches
[Tue May 12 2009 10:15:31 AM] ChrissyB189: holy crap..hows that going
[Tue May 12 2009 10:17:22 AM] pjmom37: she a hard ass
[Tue May 12 2009 10:17:25 AM] pjmom37: hehe
[Tue May 12 2009 10:17:37 AM] pjmom37: well i'm sore today
[Tue May 12 2009 10:17:51 AM] pjmom37: but a good kind of sore
[Tue May 12 2009 10:18:04 AM] pjmom37: she's very encouraging though
[Tue May 12 2009 10:16:19 AM] ChrissyB189: thats a great start
[Tue May 12 2009 10:18:30 AM] pjmom37: she told me that she didn't know of many moms that could do those dance stretches as good as me
[Tue May 12 2009 10:18:41 AM] pjmom37: haha, i laughed at her.
[Tue May 12 2009 10:17:06 AM] ChrissyB189: she is so cute..you know she is full of it
[Tue May 12 2009 10:19:37 AM] pjmom37: she kept saying... great mom, you are doing so good... then she would just say... I love you mommy... i figured at those times I looked really funny and she didn't know what else to say
[Tue May 12 2009 10:18:04 AM] ChrissyB189: LOLOL
[Tue May 12 2009 10:19:56 AM] pjmom37: lol
[Tue May 12 2009 10:18:12 AM] ChrissyB189: omg..what a riot
[Tue May 12 2009 10:18:26 AM] ChrissyB189: have you done sit ups?
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:15 AM] pjmom37: it really was, I'm going to do it again today
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:24 AM] pjmom37: yes, she made me do crunches
[Tue May 12 2009 10:18:41 AM] ChrissyB189: horrible
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:43 AM] pjmom37: i did ten and said that was enough and you know what she said?
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:53 AM] pjmom37: you can rest for a bit and then do more
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:55 AM] pjmom37: !!!
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:57 AM] pjmom37: beeoch
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:58 AM] pjmom37: lol
[Tue May 12 2009 10:19:16 AM] ChrissyB189: omg..LOL
[Tue May 12 2009 10:19:35 AM] ChrissyB189: I do 10 sit ups with my stretching before my bike..but only 10
[Tue May 12 2009 10:21:28 AM] pjmom37: i think she really likes helping me
[Tue May 12 2009 10:21:30 AM] pjmom37: lol
[Tue May 12 2009 10:21:34 AM] pjmom37: i'm gonna tell her that
[Tue May 12 2009 10:21:53 AM] pjmom37: *turn on whiny voice* "But chrissy only does 10"
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:11 AM] ChrissyB189: LOLOL
[Tue May 12 2009 10:22:03 AM] pjmom37: lol
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:24 AM] ChrissyB189: she will be calling me..and then I will have to do more
[Tue May 12 2009 10:22:18 AM] pjmom37: LOL
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:32 AM] ChrissyB189: LOL
[Tue May 12 2009 10:22:26 AM] pjmom37: I'll have her text you!!!
[Tue May 12 2009 10:20:49 AM] ChrissyB189: omg..yes..thats fine

*Side Note - I just finished day two of the DD Workout.  She made me do 30 crunches! Grrrrrrr!

Google Vs. Reality

I've seen a few people doing this on their blogs and I thought it looked fun so I googled my name and the word needs and here's what I found out.  You should try it too!

imom needs your prayers and good wishes (who couldn't use that?!)

imom needs a baby (YIKES, NO JUST NO!)

imom needs constant care (I'll take a massage and a long hot bubble bath, thanks)

imom needs to know (I do ask a lot of questions)

imom needs clothes (this should say imom needs help with her wardrobe)

imom needs us (people, I need people....)

imom needs ALL information (I'm just a nosy nellie!)

imom needs to win (come on deuce, momma needs a new pair of shoes)

imom needs minimal correction when on a leash (uhhhhh....)

imom needs to know about getting old and having sex (enough said)

What I really needs is...

More time to read all of your blogs and to play on facebook.
Some drugs to help with my perimenopause.
New underwear.
Someone else to clean up after my kids Dancing Daughter after she cooks.
Motivation to exercise.
A personal chef to make me wheat and dairy free meals.
To remember to take my vitamins and herbal supplements.
Some time alone.

Pearl Jam in Ten - Track 3

Alive was how I felt when I discovered the world of internet message board and chat rooms!  After spending months and months surfing the internet for Pearl Jam news and information what I really wanted was someone to talk to.  Someone who felt like I did about Pearl Jam and their music.  It was 2002 dammit!  I was ready to put myself out there.  I was ready to meet those other Pearl Jam fans I knew existed somewhere.

I found a site called "The Sky I Scrape", which is a lyric from this Pearl Jam song.  It was an awesome site that had all kinds of information.  It also had a little link in the side bar called message board.  With much fear, anxiety and excitement I clicked on that link and a whole new world opened up to me.  First I had to make an account and that required a username and password.  What user name was going to fit me?  All I could think of was that I was a mom, in more ways than one since I had a home day care, and I loved Pearl Jam.  It made sense that I would be pjmom.  I made an account and had access to the message board.  This was the spring of 2002.

It didn't take me long to spar with the board asshole.  His nickname was peeps and he was the biggest, meanest ass I've ever met on the internet.  We got in a big debate over homeschooling.  What does this have to do with Pearl Jam you ask?  Absolutely nothing.  I was homeschooling my kids at the time and questions about homeschooling came up in the general discussion forum and since I had some experience with the topic I spoke up.  This guy peeps (who did NOT have kids) came after me.  I was really "green" when it came to message boards and took the guy too seriously.  I almost left the board and never came back.  But a really nice woman called crow sent me a private message as did the site owner, Scott.  They both told me to ignore peeps, he was an ass and was just trying to stir things up.  Crow invited me to a chat room.  I was really nervous and apprehensive.  I had heard stories about chat rooms and perverts, but I put aside my preconceived notions and logged on.  I can be completely honest when I say my humdrum life has never been the same since. 

I was doing home day care at the time and didn't have much contact with the outside world.  I was craving adult conversation.  The people I met in the chat room really saved my sanity at a time when it needed saving.  I formed friendships I still have today.   There were others I had short friendships with then they moved on and still others that moved on, but came back years later. This list isn't going to mean anything to you unless you were part of the chat, so please bear with me as I list the nicknames of people who were very important in my life.  Honestly they probably don't even know how important they were to me. One star means we've met in real life, two means I look forward to meeting them one day.

• crow- Pennsylvania
• chrissyb* - Massechusettes
• buby* - Mexico
• deanq4* - Oregon
• speculare** - Portugal
• zutmon* - Colorado
• cee** - Illinois
• bty1972** - Philipinnes
• stonecrest
• Ced Bateman**  - France
• hinny - Japan
• jerometurner* - Massechusettes
• jan* - Washington
• bettatest* - Germany
• 3 crooked hearts* - Florida
• yeildgirl* - Kentucky
• jeremy durbin
• blueroo* - Washington
• dirtbird* - Washington
• bigmama - England?
• nicole - England?
• peeps - Pennsylvania
• koppain** - Norway
• LostTraveler
• LycoDave - Pennsylvania?
• phil* - California
• ledbetter
• TSEd - Ireland

I know there are a ton of others I'm forgetting and I apologize.  If you are reading this and remember others I forgot, please put the names in the comments section!  This list reflects people who were there early on. People who chat come and go.  The ones I've listed were the ones I remember being around for a while.  I was fascinated with how relationships formed or didn't form.  It kind of reminded me of high school when you'd walk into the cafeteria and look around to see who was there.  Same thing in the chat, you'd log on and look around to see who was there.  Sometimes you'd be so excited to see your best friend, other times you'd groan "Oh no, not him/her."  It was a blast.  I laughed every single day.

The message board was fun too.  I posted every single day back then, like blogging only one sentence at a time multiple times a day.  The anticipation was thick.  Rumored song titles were being thrown around like baseballs during batting practice.  Then the questions came up...If the albums gets leaked will you download and listen to it?  There was very entertaining debate on this topic.  People who fancied themselves as "purist" said no way.  I had no plans to listen to a leaked album.  I didn't know how to download music and if I did I didn't know how to convert it to something I could listen too.  The album did end up leaking and one day a CD arrived in the mail from an anonymous sender.  I struggled for about 30 seconds over whether I should listen to it or not.  There is nothing like a new album from your favorite band.  Part of my music experience was opening the album, putting it on and looking at the booklet while listening.  Who wrote what song?  Who is the band thanking?  Were there any guest musicians?  What pictures and/or art did the band include?  Yes I listened to that leaked album,  I also bought the official one the day it was released in fact I went to the midnight sale at the local independent record store!

There were other rumors being thrown around too.  The album was due out in the fall then Pearl Jam was rumored to tour.  The rumor I kept hearing was they would be performing in Seattle on or around December 8.  Guess what?!  December 8, 2002 was my 40th birthday.  I couldn't hope for it.  I had to take it all in as rumor.  I couldn't even begin to think about spending my 40th birthday with Pearl Jam...