Living in Dreams

On Saturday night, my sister and I attended one of the best concerts we will ever see.  Ed Sheeran came to Texas and we had floor tickets.  I’ve never had floor tickets before in my life, so I had no idea what to expect.

After spending more than seven hours on my feet in the stifling early September heat, I can tell you that I have mixed feelings on the whole floor crowd thing.

For one thing, like I said, it’s super hot.  Plus all the sweaty people literally surrounding you, running into you, and smelling like farm animals makes it like a million times worse.  I’m not sure if people in Texas smell like farm animals because… well… it’s TEXAS, but I swear, I smelled sheep and dogs and horses at that concert.  And pot.  There was definitely pot.

For another thing, people on the floor like to shove.  Everyone is vying for a better view.  I mean, I was too.  It’s very constrictive and if you have any sort of social anxiety or anxiety in general, I don’t recommend floor tickets.  There was also a lot of fainting due to heat and so many people.

Speaking from a perspective standpoint, however, floor tickets are AMAZING.  It was like being a part of the show itself.

For those of you who’ve been to concerts, you’ll know that headliners often have opening acts.  Ed’s opening acts were a British guy whose name I didn’t catch but was very talented and… Christina Perri!

Christina is a delight.  She is a great musical talent with a phenomenal voice and beautiful songs.  In between songs, she told us about her life spent singing songs and dreaming of performing and making music.  She spoke of the nay-sayers and the self-doubt and moments of feeling like she simply had nothing to write, nothing to sing about.  And yet, she fought through.

“You are living in my dream right now!” she exclaimed before diving into her hit song, Human.

Naturally, she ended her set with my absolute favorite of her songs: A Thousand Years.  And of course, as she sang and we all sang along, I couldn’t help but think of Twilight.  I know, I know, Twilight is lame, but hear me out.  When the books first came out, my sister and I read them all.  And I’ve got to be honest, I thought they were fun.  I thought they were kind of magical.  They were a great escape.

But you know, what I love about Twilight isn’t really the story or the characters.  It’s that it’s brought a lot of readers all over the world a lot of joy.  It isn’t a story that really makes you think or a great literary masterpiece by any means.  But it is a story that millions of readers all over the world love, and it inspired a beautiful, amazing, wonderful song.  I realized there, living inside Christina Perri’s dream, that that song inspired my dreams as well.  I would love to write the kind of stories that make readers happy, that connect and resonate with them.  I’ll never be a literary genius and my books are really just for fun.  They’re not very deep or profound.  They’re just fun.  I want my books to bring that same kind of joy.

Ed gave a similar performance of his song, I See Fire.  This is a song that has made me cry at least half a dozen times.  If Twilight is just a fun little escape, Middle Earth is a world that truly holds a special place in my heart.  It all began in middle school.  My friends and I were in love with the places and characters of Middle Earth.  Seeing it brought to life once again through The Hobbit movies was, in a way, like returning home.  Hearing Ed Sheeran sing his hit song live, however, with images of Smaug the Dragon flying and breathing fire in the background was nothing short of pure magic.  Music is powerful.  Books and stories are powerful.  They exist to transform and inspire.  They are proof that magic does exist.  That the human soul is something truly exquisite.  We are capable of creating these worlds and this music and… I just don’t even have words to describe how wonderful I think that is.

I love you all.  Thank you for books.  Thank you for music.  Thank you for reading.

What Happens in San Diego Part 2

Part 2 of our San Diego Adventures recap begins the morning of July 9, 2015.  By that point, my sister had mostly recovered from her bout with food poisoning and was anxious to get to Qualcomm Stadium for the reason we’d come to San Diego in the first place: seeing One Direction in concert.  The parking lot opened at noon and we decided to get there as soon as possible to get a good parking spot.  I’d never driven to a concert before.  In the past, friends and I had always taken public transportation or had a parent drop us off.  This was a whole new adventure for me.

Still, we were awake so early that we decided we had a bit of time to explore the area before our stake out in the Qualcomm parking lot.  We decided to head to La Jolla Beach.

It was AMAZING.  I got to hang out with wild sea lions in their natural habitat.  We also saw pelicans and baby seagulls.

Yes, I took a LOT of pictures.  And that’s not even all of them.  Although I do have to tell you, right before we left, I decided to take a few last pictures of this one particularly photogenic sea lion.  As I was shooting (with my telephoto lens), this beautiful sea lion throws up a whole fish.  Just projectile vomits all over the place.  The seagulls were very happy.  I was not.  There’d already been more than enough regurgitation for one trip.

Anyway, aside from puking sea lions, La Jolla Beach itself is just absolutely gorgeous.

We also met a local artist named Paul Strahm.  He was a delightful person, and very happy to meet two young people involved in the arts. I bought one of his paintings of La Jolla.  You can check out his website here: http://www.paulstrahmpaintings.com/Home.html

Finally – and I know this is what you’ve all been waiting for – THE ONE DIRECTION CONCERT!

My sister and I arrived at Qualcomm right at noon.  Good thing too, because there was already a line of cars waiting to get in and find a parking spot.  After parking and snacking on what may or may not actually pass for a lunch, we got out, walked around the stadium, and visited the merchandise table.

I guess could tell you about the seven hours spent loitering around the parking lot, but honestly, they’re weren’t that interesting.  I’ll just skip to the concert itself.

Long story short, the One Direction boys put on a quality show.  The crowd was electrifying and enthusiastic.  These fans go out of their way to show their love for their boys.  And I think those guys have earned it.  They work hard and their songs are great.  I’ll tell you this as well: Seeing 1D in concert provided a lot of inspiration for the next Boy Band novel!  I even know what the title will be now!

After the concert ended, my sister and I ended up sitting an additional hour and thirty minutes in that godforsaken parking lot while everyone tried to get out.  I really don’t want to talk about that.

Fast forward to Friday morning, our last day in San Diego.  This was a day of mixed blessings.  First, we headed back to Balboa Park to visit the San Diego Art Museum.  They had a Coney Island exhibit going on, which my sister and I both really wanted to see.

What’s really neat is that in Boy Band, the guys in the band shoot a music video at Coney Island.  Needless to say, I was incredibly eager to see the display.

As it turned out, however, the exhibit was only open to members of the museum.  It would be open to the public beginning the next day, but my sister and I were flying out in 8 short hours.  It just so happened that a very nice lady and her friend overheard our dilemma and let us into the exhibit as her guests.  I couldn’t believe it.  She was so incredibly sweet.  I know it made both KJ’s and my day.

After we visited the museum, we ate lunch and drove around a bit.  Unfortunately, I accidentally left my cherished camera at the cafe where we ate, so we had to drive twenty minutes back to University and Park to reclaim it.  There was no way I was leaving California without it!  I had pictures of blue whales on that camera! Not to mention, that camera has been everywhere with me.  It’s practically family.

After the camera debacle, my sister and I decided to head back to the airport, you know, quit while we were ahead.  That almost worked out.  We returned the car without a hitch and made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  Of course, while in line to check our bags, I discovered that my piddly little bank account had been hacked.  Someone got ahold of my card number and used it to buy $500 worth of movie tickets.  I’m sure I don’t need to explain this to y’all, but I’m an independent author.  I am poor.  As if the airport wasn’t stressful enough, I also had to deal with some loser hacking into my bank account.  I’m not going to lie to you. I cried a little.

Thankfully, everything is being taken care of.  I have a new card and the bank WILL reimburse me everything that I lost.

Our San Diego adventure finally ended with a delayed flight and a minor battle with air-travel panic.  I don’t like flying.  In fact, I kind of hate it.  I’d much rather be on the ground.  Or on a boat.  I really love boats.  But flying?  Nope.  Planes are too tiny and too crowded and turbulence?  No.  I don’t even want to talk about it.  My airplane anxiety is the one character trait that I passed on to both my female protagonists, Kate and Mel.  I didn’t mean to.  It was a total coincidence.  But it’s just my natural reaction to flying.  I get panicked, so my characters get panicked.  It’s the one thing all three of us have in common.

San Diego, it was (mostly) fun, but I’m happy to be home.  I’m a Texas girl at heart.  Give me open roads and open skies any time.  Though I do miss the ocean.  And that baby blue slug bug.

Oh, and one more thing…

The Kind of September also went to California!  They loved it.

Living Life Backwards

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”  ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Anyone who is on Pinterest or Tumblr or any form of social media has surely seen some sort of inspirational quote about living life like it’s your last day.

You get the picture.  Now, if you take that literally, life might get a little complicated… and really expensive.  Let me tell you, if I lived every day like it was my last, I would not have a real job.  I’d be out backpacking through Europe, road-tripping across America, going on whale watches, scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef, etc…  If I could afford it, I’d be out there doing all of that in a heartbeat.  Unfortunately, even I have to admit that money is necessary for all of that.  I hate the concept of money.  I think it corrupts everything good and pure about the world, but there comes a point when even the loftiest of dreamers have to accept that some realities exist.  I hate it, but I accept it.

Instead of griping about things I can’t change, however, I try to set goals so that even if I can’t change reality, I can at least influence it a little.  I can change my reality.  The quote about life being understood backwards, but being lived forwards really struck me as interesting.  It’s true, we have to move forward.  We have to learn.  We have to experience.  It’s impossible to fast forward and look back to know which choices are the ones we should and shouldn’t make.  That doesn’t mean, however, that we can’t try to figure it out.

I think one of the most amazing and beautiful things about being human is the capacity to look beyond ourselves.  Whether or not most people take advantage of this ability is another matter entirely.  The point is, we are aware of things and people and ideas and creatures other than our own beings.  We have the ability to imagine and to see life not only as it is, but how it could be.  Life has so much potential, but I don’t think a lot of people realize that.

Personally, I’ve always sort of “lived in the future.”  Perhaps that’s not a good thing, as none of us are guaranteed a future, but I usually try to think at least two steps ahead.  How are my decisions today going to affect the life I want to live down the line?  There are reasons I elect to live the way that I do, with very few strings attached, and that’s because I’m constantly thinking about the life I want to be living in five, ten, twenty years.  I’ve even gone so far as to imagine my death bed.  When I lie there, in my final moments reflecting on my life, what will I be thinking?  What are the things I will regret not doing?  This is how I am attempting to “live life backwards.”  I want to take all of those things that I will regret not doing and do them.  After all, at the end of the day, we’re all going to meet the same fate.  Nothing that I do in this life can prevent death, so I might as well take this one chance I get to live and live it the way I want.  Because really, what actually matters other than the people we love and trying to leave the world a better place than we found it?  Not a whole lot.