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Bonnaroo in Pictures

July 15, 2012 by Jessica 7 Comments

WordPress isn’t the best interface when trying to share photos. I guess I’d be better served by Tumblr with this post but I’ll try anyway.

I hate that I’ve taken so long to write about Bonnaroo because the biggest advantage of having a blog and writing about my experiences is to record those details I’ll eventually forget. Now, even after only a month, I’m sure there are things I’ve already forgotten. But here are a few moments I remember because they were captured in photos.

There are a LOT of people at Bonnaroo and not a lot of space.

How excited was I to see this!?

You know I had to add my own thing to do before I die (“See the Northern Lights”)

Bigger than life size Mail Box (the building behind me is the Post Office they have open just to support the mini city that is Bonnaroo!)

40 ft tall inflatable big ass water slide! It wasn’t free but so worth it, especially to go head first!

Me in the famous Mushroom Water Fountain (look for the red arrow)

Comedy Tent with Brian Posehn (besides music, there’s comedy, film, art and lots of other things going on 24 hours a day)

Night time in Centeroo. The bell tower would start a music and light show at the top of each hour, accompanied by a crazy cuckoo bird that emerged from the top. The Ferris Wheel provided a great aerial view of the whole farm.

I had a good time at Bonnaroo because we did a lot of research and prepared ourselves for the experience. Even so, there were things that, once we were there, we wished we had known. So in the next post, I’ll share all that we learned from our Bonnaroo experience.

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101 Things before you die, 40 Before I'm 40, bucket list, Entertainment, Excitement, Nature, Recklessness, Sport and Activity, things before you die, Travel
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My Craziest Adventure Yet!

June 7, 2012 by Jessica 8 Comments

As you are reading this I’m (hopefully) arriving in Manchester, TN to spend four days with 80,000 of my closest hippie friends for this little music festival called Bonnaroo. Why is this crazy, you ask?

  • I just went camping the first time a couple of weeks ago. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to “go pro” and set down tent stakes with 80,000 other people packed onto a 700 acre farm.
  • Showers are available. For $7. Did I mention they are cold showers? Most people aren’t going to pay $7 for a shower when they can wash up in the water troughs that are placed around the farm. And I expect to be around people who can’t be bothered to even do that.
  • What happens if it rains? That’s right. Big mud pit time.
  • What happens with 80,000 people use port-o-johns? I’ll let you answer that.
  • The best part? I’m not even really that into music!

BUT…..

  • You gotta admit, this is pretty crazy. And if the purpose of the list is to force me out of my comfort zone, I can’t think of anything better to achieve that. If I survive this, I can survive anything.
  • Thanks to modern science, I can stave off most bacteria I’m sure to get from the “facilities” with copious amounts of wet wipes, Clorox wipes, and antibacterial liquid.
  • I have rain boots and knee-high socks to keep the mud to a minimum.
  • For a non-music lover like myself, there are a few bands/musicians I wouldn’t mind seeing (Radiohead, The Beach Boys, Phish, Foster the People, The Avett Brothers, Alice Cooper, etc)
  • There’s a big Ferris Wheel, and a huge inflatable water slide, and a beer festival, and belly dancing classes, and arts events, and they have their own Post Office just for the festival…

So maybe it’s not all bad.

I’ll let you know.

101 Things before you die, bucket list, Entertainment, Excitement, Life Management, Nature, Recklessness, things before you die, Travel
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Update to THE List

September 24, 2009 by Jessica 1 Comment

Since I first bought the 101 Things to Do Before You Die, I knew there were items on the list that I would never want to do.  Instead, I have other items that I would like substitute for these.  Thus far, I have completed 28 and have partially completed 10. 

So (drum roll please) I unveil…THE updated List:

1     Write a Best-Seller                                                            

2     Swim With… (Dolphins, Whales, Sharks) - COMPLETED                                                                      

3     Win an Award, Trophy, or Prize - COMPLETED                                                        

4     Catch A Fish With Your Bare Hands                                 

5     Make a Discovery                                                             

6     Throw A House Party When Your Parents Are Out - COMPLETED    

7     Eat Chocolate Covered Ants                                                  

8     Realize Your Childhood Dream                                

9     Learn that instrument - COMPLETED

10   Leave your mark in graffiti - COMPLETED

11   Storm Chase A Tornado Visit Every State - PARTIALLY                   

12   Get A Piece of Art into a Exhibition – COMPLETED                                  

13   Meet someone with your own name - COMPLETED

14   Ride the World’s Biggest Rollercoasters - PARTIALLY

15   Stage Dive or Crowd Surf                                                 

16   Get into the Guinness Book of World Records                 

17   Own a Pointless Collection - COMPLETED

18   Study the Kama Sutra and Put Theory Into Practice  - PARTIALLY

19   Master Poker and Win Big in a Casino                              

20   Get backstage and hang out with a Rock God - COMPLETED

21   Be a Human Guinea Pig  - COMPLETED     

22   Go Up in a Hot Air Balloon                                               

23   Get Arrested Ride in a Sleeper Car on a Train                  

24   See a Space Shuttle Launch                                              

25   Capture the Moment in an Award-winning Photograph      

26   Bungee Jump                                                                    

27   See an Erupting Volcano                                                   

28   Sky Dive                                                                           

29   Meet Your Idol                                                                 

30   Stay in the Best Suite in a Five Star Hotel                          

31   Experience Weightlessness                                                

32   See the Aurora Borealis                                                    

33   Get to Score a Hole in One                                               

34   Design your own cocktail - COMPLETED                                                              

35   Play a Part in Your Favorite TV Show                             

36   Visit Every Country - PARTIALLY                           

37   Make Fire Without Matches     

38   See These Animals in the Wild - PARTIALLY

39   Bet on a horse/dog/etc race - COMPLETED

40   Get a Free Upgrade on a Plane                                         

41   Be Friends with your ex - COMPLETED                                                  

42   Go Target Shooting - COMPLETED                                    

43   Throw a Dart into a Map and Travel to Where it Lands     

44   Attend a Film Premiere - COMPLETED

45   Do a Runner From a Fancy Restaurant                              

46   Scuba Dive           

47   Milk a Cow                                                                      

48   Be Present When Your Country Wins the World Cup  Be Present When UNC Wins the National Championship, Redskins Win the Super Bowl, or Hurricanes Win the Stanley Cup                                              

49   See Both Solar and Lunar Eclipses - PARTIALLY                                   

50   Write Your Name Over a Star on the Walk of Fame         

51   Learn Another Language                                                   

52   Read the Greatest Books Ever Written - PARTIALLY                             

53   Complete a Coast to Coast Road Trip Across America     

54   Make at least one huge purchase you can’t afford - COMPLETED

55   Score the Winning Try/Goal/Basket - COMPLETED                                   

56   Gatecrash A Fancy Party                                                  

57   See the All-Time Greatest Films - COMPLETED

58   Live in the Place You Love                                                

59   Leave a Job You Hate - COMPLETED                                                

60   Take Part in a Police Line-up                                            

61   Get Away with the Perfect Practical Joke or Hoax             

62   Join the Mile High Club                                                     

63   Make the Front Page of a National Newspaper                 

64   Drive a Car at Top Speed                                                 

65   Shout ‘Drinks Are on Me!’ in a Pub or Bar                        

66   Be Part of a Flash Mob - COMPLETED                                                     

67   Visit (This is a list of iconic places around the world, so far I’ve only visited the Roman Coliseum). – PARTIALLY         

68   Save Someones Life                                                          

69   In Various Languages, Learn to say…(please, thank you, your welcome, I’d like a beer, swear, etc) - COMPLETED

70   Invent a Word That Makes it into the Dictionary

71   Have Adventurous Sex (in different places) – PARTIALLY

72   Have Enough Money to Do All the Things on This List

73   Stand on the International Date Line

74   Learn to Fly a Plane

75   Get a tattoo and/or piercing - COMPLETED

76   Invent Something

77   Learn Astronomy and Read the Night Sky

78   Drink a Vintage Wine

79   Answer a Personal Ad - COMPLETED

80   Spend Christmas on the Beach

81   Get Barred From a Pub or Bar

82   Build Your Own House

83   Skinny Dip a Midnight – COMPLETED

84   Sell all Your Junk on eBay and Make a Profit Learn How to Ski

85   Visit the World’s Tallest Buildings - PARTIALLY

86   Run a Marathon

87   Conquer Your Fear

88   Get Married Unusually - COMPLETED

89   Learn to Cook

90   Join the 16-Mile High Club  Go White Water Rafting - COMPLETED

91   Publish a Cult Website
92   Own an Original Work of Art - COMPLETED

93   Complete the Monopoly Board Pub Crawl

93.5  Get Your Name in the Ring of Honor at Flying Saucer - PARTIALLY

94   Get Something Named After You

95   Get Revenge

96   Be an Extra in a Film

97   Live Out of a Van Attend Mardi Gras - COMPLETED

98   Go On a Demonstration

99   Confess

100 Reach 100 Years of Age

101 Continue Your Gene Pool

Achievement, Entertainment, Excitement, Life Management, Miscellaneous, Nature, Recklessness, Relationships, Sport and Activity, Travel
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Thing to Do #20: Get Backstage and Hang Out with a Rock God

September 24, 2009 by Jessica 0 Comments

We’re getting ready to head to the mountains of North Carolina for six days.  I’m VERY excited about escaping the heat and doing absolutely nothing…because there is nothing to do…including no internet access or cell phone service.  We’ll see if I survive…

about_jim_photoI’ve counted this one as completed because I’m friends with and have hung out with Jim Quick of the Coastline Band.  Haven’t heard of him?  Well, in this neck of the woods, he’s kinda a big deal. 

Beach music is the music of Eastern North Carolina.  It has nothing to do with surf music or the Beach Boys or California.  It is mainly R&B music with a beat that is good for doing a dance called “The Shag.”  Very simply stated, the Shag is a slowed down jitterbug with a few fancy steps.  The biggest band in Beach Music is probably General Johnson and the Chairman of the Board.  After them, there are several others that are staples of the Beach Music scene, but no one has won more Cammy’s (the Carolina Music Awards) than Jim Quick.  A couple years ago, the band was even nominated for an Grammy.  So I count hanging out with Jim in between sets and after shows as completing this one.

However, if I ever wanted to go for another Rock God, I’ve already mentioned how much I’d like to meet Dave Matthews.  Also, Alex and I took advantage of Live Nation’s $10 days to purchase tickets to four concerts this summer at Walnut Creek, so that will give us several chances to hang out with Rock Gods.

On July 7th, we’re going to see Aerosmith and ZZ Top-I’ve never seen ZZ Top in concert but I have seen Aerosmith several times before and they do know how to put on a show!  We’re seeing Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd on July 24th-I’ve seen Kid Rock (he opened for Aerosmith a few years ago) but I wasn’t too impressed and Lynyrd Skynyrdis one of those old bands that still tours but with barely any original members. 

On August 7th we’re seeing Def Leppard with Poison and Cheap Trick-I’m actually most excited about this concert.  I must admit that I watched Rock of Love religiously; all three seasons, as well as Charm School-I know, I should be ashamed.  I have developed a bit of a crush (albeit late in his career) on Bret Michaels.  The other two will be great too. 

And rounding out our summer of music is August 23rd’s CrueFest.  This will be interesting as it will be my first all day event, with music starting at 10am and featuring Godsmack, Drowning Pool, Theory of a Dead Man, and finishing up with Motley Crue.  I saw Motley Crue a couple of years ago (when they opened for Aerosmith…I’m seeing a pattern) and LOVE “Kickstart My Heart.”  That’s one of my go-to rock out songs; you know, driving fast with the windows down singing at the top of your lungs kinda type song.  The only issue with this is that we’ll be going to a local second-chance prom the night before and I can only imagine what staying out all night, only to wake up early and start all over again with the partying is going to feel like.  I may be way out of my league that weekend…

So what Rock Stars do you want to get backstage with?  Or even better, which have you ALREADY met?

Entertainment
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Thing to Do #9: Learn that Instrument

September 24, 2009 by Jessica 4 Comments

clarinetWhen I was growing up, the summer between fifth and sixth grade was when you got to choose what instrument you wanted to play in the band.  My parents didn’t have money for piano lessons or any thing like that, so choosing to be in the band was a foregone conclusion for me.  I remember distinctly that I wanted to play saxophone, but my mother was running late from work to get me to the band meeting, and by the time I got there, all I could choose was clarinet or flute.  (So that the band wouldn’t be too brass or percussion heavy, there were limits on all the instruments except clarinets and flutes-you can never have too many clarinets or flutes).

So that is how I came to play the clarinet for the next seven years of my life.  I acutally saw band all the way through to being a senior in High School, although I discovered I enjoyed Marching Band more than Orchestral.  During my junior and senior year, I was the Drum Major, so now I wasn’t only a band geek, I was the Leader of the Band Geeks!  I was good though, winning several 1st Place Drum Major Awards at Band Competitions.

I didn’t practice as much as I should have, so I was never 1st chair, but I always made All-County Band, although in the entire county, I was usually like 15th.  I recently brought my clarinet home from my parents’ house and attempted to play a little.  I don’t remember it taking some much wind power!-I was out of breath in less than a minute.

Got any other band geeks out there?  I especially want to know about more unique instrumentalists, like accordian or pan flute players.

For your enjoyment, here are some clarinet jokes (if you didn’t play clarinet, you won’t get it

Q:  How many clarinetists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A:  Only one, but he’ll go through a whole box of bulbs before he finds just the right one.
 
Q:  What’s the definition of “nerd?”
A:  Someone who owns his own alto clarinet.
(This one is HILARIOUS!)
Achievement, Entertainment
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Thing to Do #29: Meet Your Idol

September 24, 2009 by Jessica 3 Comments

dmbIn Thing to Do #17, I mentioned that while meeting Kyle Petty was exciting, to accomplish Thing to Do #29, I had to meet Dave Matthews.

My love affair with Dave Matthews began when I was 15.  Under the Table and Dreaming had probably been out for about a year and I got the album for my 15th birthday.  I still have it, although its scratched and skips on Satellite and Dancing Nancies.  I grew increasingly fanatic about DMB, purchasing each CD as they came out (even all the live ones) and always going to the concert when they were in town (of course, buying the tour shirt too).  I didn’t follow him around the country like some my age did, although I did go as far as Cinncinnati, OH to watch him once.  I had the fire dancer sticker on my car, posters on the wall, and wore those t-shirts till they literally fell apart.

The closest I ever got to him was at a very intimate concert I lucked into getting tickets for at Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University.  I was only about 10 rows back, so maybe only 50 yards away.  It was just him and Tim Reynolds and the audience sat the entire time, rather entranced by the music going on before them.  Its the only time I’ve heard Satellite (my favorite song) played live and to this day, Live at Luther College (that tour’s live CD) is the Dave Matthews album I still play the most.

A few years out of college and I guess the fanaticism had died down.  I haven’t even purchased their last two studio albums, not to mention their plethora of live CDs (if you didn’t know DMB is rather notorious for putting out live albums, usually at least one a year).  Last June, Leroi Moore, the band’s saxophonist, died from complications from an ATV accident.  I feel like I’m drifting away from them.

(The following is going to seem like a rant, but its relevant, I promise)

I would say that I’m odd, only because people have always told me that I am.  I’m not sure if people say this because I actually am, or if everyone thinks everyone else is odd for not thinking like them.  I kinda hope its the latter, but rather suspect its the former.  I know I really don’t like doing things that seem others seem to enjoy (although I’ve always believed that somewhere along the way, certain ways were somehow approved for the masses and no one actually likes doing these things, they just fake that they are enjoying themselves just to fit in).  I’m terribly introverted and have almost crippling social anxiety, so the prospect of just going out for an evening can make me nauseous if I don’t know exactly who will be there, what we will be doing for the evening, how long we plan to be there, etc.  When meeting people for the first time, I never know what to say, I feel flustered and am mostly trying to find a way to get out of the conversation as quickly and politely as possible.  I don’t drink very often, which actually gets me peculiar looks when I’m the only one at the table that’s drinking a Coke (peer pressure still exists as an adult).  Eventually, one day, when someone asks why I’m not drinking, I swear I’m going to tell them I’m an recovering alcoholic just to make them feel bad. 

And I actually don’t really like music, not the way most people seem to obsess about it.  I mean, I usually have music playing when I’m at work or in my car, but its the background of my life.  I often don’t know who’s singing the song or what the name of it is.  I don’t listen to the words and don’t know what the song is about (imagine my surprise when I really listened to “Lola” for the first time).

I say all of that to say this:  if I don’t like crowds of people, drinking, or music, what business do I have in going to concerts?  I’ve tried and I really just don’t have a good time and I make everyone else have a miserable time because I’m there being Debbie Downer.  BUT I will still go to Dave Matthews concerts.  Yeah, I don’t really want him to play new stuff; I don’t know the words and I can’t sing along.  But when he plays the “old” stuff (anything from Before These Crowded Streets or before), tears flood to my eyes and I’m transported back to that simpler time, before bad economies and lay offs, before mortgages and bill collectors, before marriages and divorces and marriages, when I was just a college student with big hopes and her whole life laid out on a silver platter before her.  I cling to that feeling as long as I can because it only comes for 3 hours a year in the form of songs that jam on for 13 minutes and a light show.  I need to have that release, if only for a little while, to remember that life was once perfect and uncomplicated (although at the time I’m sure I thought it was drama-filled and difficult).  It’s probably not the “right” way to enjoy music, to be a fan of a musician.  But the Dave Matthews Band is that symbol for me and it would be heaven on Earth to one day meet him and tell him what he has meant to me over the years (although I know me and if I actually ever got to meet him, I’d be so tongue tied, I’d probably just stammer something stupid and smile like an idiot.)

So I guess I was in the mood to pour a little heart out today.  Anyone who’s touched you, that you’d love to meet?

Entertainment
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