My Most-Prized Possession

If my house were burning down, the first thing I would grab, without question, is my Set List Collection. (Don't worry, I'd grab my cat next...)

What's a set list? It's the list of songs a band plays at each show. Some bands use the same set list every night of a tour, some bands change it in every city. But every band has a set list and each individual band member has a copy of it, so that they know what song is coming up next, so there are usually several available at the end of the show depending on how many band members there are. If I'm in the front row at a small venue, I can often just reach up and grab it myself (though this once backfired at a Toad the Wet Sprocket show, when the roadie tracked me down in the lobby and took it back from me because I didn't ask for it). Most of the time, I head to the front after the show and ask a roadie politely, without acting like a crazed fangirl. Often I tell them that I collect them. Once, I cried (@ Paul McCartney. It worked.) Mostly, I think it's Law Of Attraction, because I spend the last hour of a show strategizing how the fuck I'm going to make it happen.

I've been collecting set lists since 1994, it's totally my "thing". Just ask anyone in my family. :) I save all my concert tickets too, and I keep all of these things (set lists and tickets) in a binder which is my pride and joy and most prized possession.

Tonight, after getting the Lady Gaga set list, I was browsing through my binder and thought I'd share the contents with anyone who's interested (which I would guess would mostly just be my mother and maybe a cousin or two...). Yeah, I've seen a bunch of bands a bunch of times. What can I say? Some bands put on a good enough show that I will pay to see them every god damned time they're in town...

My Concert Career (by year):

U2, 10/21/92

Paul McCartney, 5/26/93
Squeeze, 11/12/93 (autographs)
Shawn Colvin, 12/19/93

INXS, 4/16/94
Sheryl Crow, 6/22/94 (Set List)
Billy Joel, 10/11/94

Del Amitri, 5/6/95 (Set List, autographs, pics with band)
Live, 8/23/95
Sheryl Crow, 9/3/95
Del Amitri, 9/13/95 (Set List & autographs)

Gin Blossoms, 2/21/96 (Set List)
Del Amitri, 4/15/96 (Set List, autographs)
Del Amitri, 4/16/96 (Set List, autographs, bar fight)
Bush/Goo Goo Dolls/No Doubt, 5/4/96 (autographs)
Alanis Morissette, 6/5/96
Dada, 6/10/96 (Set List, pick)
The Refreshments, 6/12/96 (autographs)
The Cure, 7/27/96
Smashing Pumpkins, 8/30/96
The Refreshments/Semisonic, 9/19/96 (autographs)

Live, 3/5/97 (Set List)
Barenaked Ladies, 4/6/97
That Dog, 4/14/97 (Set List)
Counting Crows, 4/14/97 (Set List)
Live, 8/29/97 (Set List, drumstick)
Del Amitri, 8/30/97 (Set List, autographs, pick)
Tori Amos, 9/1/98
Counting Crows, 9/18/97 (Set List, autograph, backstage pass!)
Toad the Wet Sprocket, 10/22/97 (Set List)

Barenaked Ladies, 10/19/98

Barenaked Ladies, 8/25/99 (Set List)
Squeeze, 10/7/99 (Set List, pick, mom sang on-stage with them)
Tori Amos, 10/11/99
Live, 10/13/99
Barenaked Ladies, 12/30/99

Nine Inch Nails/A Perfect Circle, 6/18/00
Barenaked Ladies/Guster, 10/17/00
Stone Temple Pilots/Godsmack, 11/2/00

Guster, 4/6/01 (Set List, pick)
Billy Joel & Elton John, 4/9/01
Ringo Starr, 8/25/01
Britney Spears, 11/12/01

Glenn Tilbrook, 4/24/02
Paul McCartney, 5/7/02 (Set List)
Glen Phillips, 6/16/02 (autograph)
John Mayer/Guster, 8/6/02
No Doubt/Garbage, 11/6/02

Toad the Wet Sprocket, 2/11/03
Guster, 4/11/03
Guster, 11/21/03 (Set List)

Sarah McLachlan, 7/20/04

Maroon 5, 4/26/05 (Set List)
U2, 4/20/05
Jason Mraz, 10/24/05

Guster, 4/1/06 (Set List)
Guster, 4/2/06 (autographs, pictures with band)
Michael Shapiro, 5/19/06 (Set List, autographs)
Live, 5/19/06 (Set List, autographs, meet & greet, pictures)
Bleu, 8/14/06 (meet and greet, autographs, pictures)
Tool, 8/30/06
Guster, 9/23/06 (Set List)

Tool, 5/9/07
Crowded House/Fountains of Wayne, 8/22/07
Live/Collective Soul/Tonic, 10/7/07 (Set List, pictures, autographs)
Tool, 11/21/07
Fall Out Boy, 11/23/07

Ben Kweller, 9/30/08

Ed Kowalczyk/Matt Nathanson/Collective Soul/Carolina Liar, 4/9/09 (autographs, pictures, meet & greet)
Flight of the Conchords, 5/16/09
Jason Mraz, 9/19/09

Shinedown/Sick Puppies, 5/13/10
Justin Currie, 6/12/10 (Set List, pics, meet & greet)
Tool, 6/29/10 (Set List)
Squeeze, 7/25/10 (Set List)
Lady Gaga, 7/28/10 (Set List)
Stone Temple Pilots, 8/10/10 (TBD)
Toad the Wet Sprocket, 8/21/10 (TBD)
Green Day, 8/28/10 (TBD)

Sacred Union of the Divine

This is an old post from Jun 2006, from my old MySpace blog, that I came across just now. Thought I'd repost cause I liked it...



Deep carnal hunger, like a Fire rising from within.
A light caress. An eager squeeze. A longing touch. A passionate kiss.
The eventual melding of two into one.

She wants him
needs him
must have him
Circling the God, as if stalking her prey
or perhaps just showing her wares
the Goddess makes her intent known
I will have you. You will have me.
The Yin and the Yang will be as one this night, a union
unending, unbreakable, essential.

He is consumed by her, his desire no longer controlled.
Taste
must taste all that is the Goddess.
Neck, breast, belly, all leading to the sacred chalice.
Waves upon waves
she feels her passion like Water until the dam breaks
Jubilation, ecstasy, euphoria, joy.
Yet the union is still to come...

Urgency in his touch. Soon. Very soon.
And then
Yin and Yang are reunited as the Goddess opens the door for him.
Fusion of masculine and feminine in a frenzy of craving
until, at long last, their respective thirsts have been quenched by the other.

They part but do not truly separate.
Forever are they bound to each other as night is bound to day.
Exhausted and satisfied, drifting off
together alone
into the world between wake and sleep...

Hold It In, Let It Out

I simultaneously love and hate
The Beginning.

I get swept up and I know my tendencies
I am a true Pisces, to a tee, whether or not
you believe in that sort of thing,
and the raging river of my emotions
pulls me in, sucks me under, and takes me on
the ride of my life.

Every time.
Seriously.

Being who I am
Knowing how I am
Yet knowing how others are
I find myself constantly having to hold it in
when I want nothing more than to
Let
It
All
Out.
Balls to the wall
Full steam ahead
Caution to the wind
Ready to be blind-sided at any minute but consciously deciding
not to give a damn until it happens.

Not to toot my own horn
but I have such a big heart
and so much love to give
that it spooks people when first confronted
with ME.
The Real Me.
The Me Me.
It can come off as needy.
But it's not needy. It's givey. There's a difference.

The dichotomy of walking this fine line
between holding some Me back,
letting it out a little at a time rather than unleashing a
tidal wave of Amber,
and knowing the true Me in my mind
can get oh so confusing
And I often find that I can't remember
what cards I've laid out and which ones are still hidden.

I know
I KNOW.

JUST BE YOURSELF.

IF THEY DON'T LIKE IT, SCREW 'EM.

Easier said than done.
And you know it.

It's okay, though.
One of these days, I'll figure it out.
The perfect balance of Me and Me.
Or Me and Them.
Or Us, united, as one?

I suppose that's the whole point, isn't it?

Much-Deserved Vaycay

So much to do tomorrow but I'm too excited to sleep.

I'm heading out for a big camping trip on Wednesday, going to a festival with a bunch of friends. It's a Pagan festival, run by friends of mine, and it is held in honor of Dionysius, God of Wine and Revelry. I am STOKED. There will be wine and merrymaking. There will be games of skill. There will be rituals and workshops. There will be improv and small stage shows. There will be good friends and good food and quality time spent with our Blessed Mother, this gorgeous planet of ours.

Seeing as how I spent all of my vacation time last year recovering from a bilateral mastectomy, I am superty duperty excited to get away from work and day-to-day life for 5 days and to get out into the mountains to unwind.

I have lots of running around to do on Tuesday to get everything ready. I can't sleep because I'm busy making to-do lists in my head. And even when I stop planning for 2 seconds, my mind switches over to thinking about the deliciously sexy, wicked smart, crazy hot Irish guy I recently started dating. So really, I might as well not even try to sleep cause it just ain't happening. My brain is far too busy to be concerned with silly things like "rest" at the moment. My body will just have to wait until I've got my tent pitched and my camp set up before I can collapse into my camp hammock for a much-needed snoooooooze.

Goddess bless summer vacation; please let the weather be beautiful. Lookin' for fluffy white clouds and sunshine. KThxBai.