Vanessa (Part 2)

So, we go to the radio station. Running a BIT late, but nothing too bad. Not so bad that I'm worried we're going to miss something. Turns out that Vanessa Carlton is running late herself and we're waiting on her. No big deal. Mom & I head downstairs to go to the restroom and find a vending machine, so we hang out a bit downstairs and get ourselves something to drink. Well, it's almost time to head back upstairs. I'm a bit impatient. I don't want to miss out on something. I'm sure I won't, but I want to be sure I don't miss something.

We're waiting some more. We start chit chatting with the other people who are there for the show. There's a lady and her 11 year old son, a 9^th grader and her dad, my mom and myself. I think we're all excited about it but restraining our excitement. Well, with the exception of the 11 year old.

Then finally, after waiting about 45 minutes, she's there. She's tiny! Like, I knew she would be. All artists/actresses are always thinner than what you think they're going to be. But she really is tiny.

We go back to the freeeeezing studio room where they're going to have the show. It's really quite a small room. Smaller than I would have thought they'd use. But it isn't my show and it isn't my thing to run.

Vanessa is really nice. The DJs are asking her questions and she's answering them as best she can and in-between questions, she's singing songs. I can't quite remember what all she sang. I know she sang Heroes & Thieves, A Thousand Miles, and Home, but I can't remember what else. The show is a lot shorter than I thought it would be, but it was fun.

They're doing some other stuff. Stuff for the station and we're getting our autographs and pictures and stuff. There's something they're waiting on, so they do the drawing for the dinner with Vanessa, and I WON!!!! I can't believe I won. Yes, I have some absurd luck. I always seem to win stuff.

Mom decides that she wants to get a CD for Vanessa to sign for the guy she takes care of (?). Okay. Whatever. I don't care because I realize that I want to get one of her other CDs and have her sign it/them. So, we get our CDs and head to bricktown where we're meeting the radio station people and Ms. Carlton. At first, I can't find the table where we're supposed to be. I'm starting to feel embarrassed because I start thinking "What if I get there after her? What if they think I just left and didn't come back for dinner? Is she there already? Man I hate being late for stuff like this!"

Well, we get there and the only people there are the radio station people and their wives & children. Not so exciting, but whatever. We talk a bit. Nothing worth mentioning. They were nice enough.

Then there she is. The PR guy, Frank, goes to get her and comes back with Vanessa and her Tour manager, Ziggy. I'm wondering how this is going to go. And I'm kind of annoyed because Frank (the PR guy) and Cisco (the DJ from the radio station) are hogging the conversation and talking about stuff I have no idea about what they're talking about. I can't remember how the subject changed, but I think Vanessa changed the subject herself after seeing that I was feeling uncomfortable.

I can't remember what all we talked about. I know she asked me what I thought about the show. What my favorite part was and what I do for a living. Um… we talked a bit about me and what I do. I told her I really became a fan when I realized she played the guitar and piano both. I really do like artists who play their own instruments are TRUE musicians and not entertainers. I told her I liked that she was a singer/songwriter because I am a bit of a writer. I can't remember what all I got asked. I know somehow we got started talking about finishing college. She asked me what I was going to major in and I told her I wasn't sure (again) because I have a lot of interests.

We had a nice chat. I think we got to talk for about an hour or so. She's very sweet. Very intelligent and well spoken. She's exactly as I would have expected. Very cordial and respective. She's very down to earth and easy to talk to. I could have talked to her for hours. I don't know exactly how to describe the dinner. Actually, she didn't even eat. LOL And I just kind of picked at my food. Not only did the people from the station make me nervous, but as Ms. Carlton got there, I had just started really eating my food. I didn't want to be rude and eat in front of her when she wasn't eating.

In the end, it was a very nice experience. It was quite, quite, quite fun. I'd do it again all over again. It went much smoother than I thought that it would. I managed NOT to get food on the front of me. I didn't manage to put my foot in my mouth. At least not that I remember.

I got my nerdy fan things out of the way. I had a little stuffed buffalo that I got for her that had an Oklahoma bandana around his neck for her, got a few individual pictures with her and asked her to listen to the voicemail greeting for Jason's phone. It was the one thing that he asked me to do for him. It's so cheesy. I felt so… MTV doing that. It's the kind of thing you see kids on MTV asking artists to do. I told her that she didn't have to leave a message if she didn't want to, but apparently she did because I got a message from him a bit later that said "I owe you big!" Heh. I'll have to figure out what he means by that one. But I'm sure I can find some way for him to pay me back. *laughs maniacally*

Anyway, that was my recap of the Vanessa experience. I'm sure there's stuff I'm leaving out and there are details I'm missing because I'm sleepy and my adrenaline rush is gone now, but it was fun. A once in a lifetime experience. Vanessa is a lovely, lovely woman. The kind of person I'd want to be friends with and the kind of person I want to have in my corner. She's very kind and considerate.

There wasn't any bad part to the experience. Not that I can remember…. Well, except for the radio people's wives making me feel a bit uncomfortable. They were snobby and had that "I'm better than you" attitude. They were nice enough, but you could tell from the way that they talked to me & mom and the way they carried on that they thought they were better than other people. *shrug*

In the end, Mom and I were the ones that Vanessa and her manager talked to the most. I could care less about how much the radio personalities or their wives got to talk to her. It was supposed to be for me –the fan. Not for those with connections to the music industry. Once again, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It was a lot of fun and I hope that somehow, someway, I can meet and talk with Ms. Carlton once again.

Vanessa (Part 1)

Okay, so the long story.

Last Saturday, April 26, I was doing nothing on a Saturday morning. I was in my room reading, listening to the radio and generally being lazy. Not really doing anything. Enjoying my day off.

I hear a cue to call in. I have no idea what I'm winning. I heard something about a CD. Well, being the music nerd that I am, I call in. I can always use a new CD to add to my collection. I figured it was just a CD. No big deal.

It's from Vanessa Carlton. I like her. I'm not the biggest fan, but I am familiar with her music and I like it. I haven't really listened to it since her first CD, Be Not Nobody, but I remember liking that one. I had listened to her second CD too, but nothing from it really stuck out.

Well, I won what I thought was her newest CD, and it is. I didn't think it had been released yet, but apparently it's been out since November. Oh well. Still, it's a CD that I didn't have before.

When I called in, I hadn't paid attention to what exactly I was winning. Even as the DJ was explaining what I'd won, I hadn't paid much attention. Keep in mind; I had only been awake about 15-20 minutes, so I was still kind of asleep. I managed to tell him my information but almost gave him the wrong address. LOL So, I managed to write the address of the station down and I thought I heard him say that I could come up on Monday and pick up my CD.

So, I went up on Monday to pick it up thinking that all I had won was the CD. Well, there was some kind of mix up. I dunno what's taking so long, but it's taking forever and the DJ (whose name I find out later is Cisco) that is in charge of the contest is on the air, so I have to wait for him to go to commercial or whatever so he can come talk to me.

So, Cisco comes out and talks to me and apparently what I've won is not only the CD but tickets (or admission to) a private acoustic show with Ms. Carlton and of those that have won, one winner will get the chance to have dinner with her! THEN, I'm feeling like… WOW! No words. Just… WOW! I wasn't sure what to think. I'm still not sure how much I like Vanessa Carlton. I know that I like a lot of her songs, but I'm not a gigantic fan. I figured it'd be cool just to go. I've never been to a private acoustic show before – Well, other than one from Tonemah. And no offense to the lovely, wonderful, handsome guys in Tonemah, but they're not quite to the scale of Vanessa Carlton.

I figure it'll be cool to go to. I mean, to see the artist up close and personal in a private show. How AWESOME is that going to be, y'know? Like I said, I'm a music nerd. I love almost any and everything about the industry. I find it all interesting, so even though I'm not that familiar with her, I know I'll enjoy the show. Especially since I know I already like her first CD and of the stuff I've heard, I know that I'm probably going to like the other CDs/songs.

So, I call any and everyone who I know who might know who she is (it isn't like she's as big as say… U2 or The Police) and might want to go. Even fellow people who (like me) will go to almost any concert. I even asked a total and almost complete stranger from work. Well, he's not completely a stranger. I have talked to him a bit here and there. Just not a lot.

Anyway, I called a couple of people - five or six people to be exact. I figure of those people, one of them might be interested in going. JT said he'd get back to me and never did. Lana said she couldn't that night (I just found out she was supposed to have a 'date night' with her hubby). I invited Jennifer T. and Shera and neither one of them could go either. So, I figure I'll ask Angela if she wants to go. I asked her on Friday night at her birthday party and she said she might, but she'll call me to let me know for sure and never called. I thought about asking someone I've been seeing here and there, but I know he doesn't have much gas or gas money and I didn't want to completely put him in the poor house.

So, I asked mom if she wants to go. I know she's not CRAZY about going with me, but I know she'd probably enjoy it if she went. Since Vanessa Carlton is a singer/songwriter and is kind of like a modern Carole King and mom likes Carole King, I figure mom would like her. Mom agreed to go with me if Angela didn't go, and since Ang never called me back, I figure she's not going to go.

I talked to my friend Jason about it. He was like "Man! If I lived in Oklahoma," he lives near Baltimore, MD, "I'd go with you! BOOT LEG IT!!" So, I told him that I didn't have a way to bootleg it and wished I had his digital voice recorder. So somehow it comes about that he's going to loan me his recorder so that I can bootleg it. In return, he agrees to rip it for me and stuff so I can have it for my personal collection. Yay!~

He tells me he sent it and it should get here on Thursday or Friday. So, I religiously check the mail. I even borrowed a Nun's habits, rosary beads, etc.! (Okay, so that a was a horrible joke) So now it's Thursday. No recorder. I check on Friday when I get home from work. No recorder. Dad is usually the one to check the mail, so I asked him "Have I gotten any mail?" I know Jason said he would mail it, but I didn't know how he was sending. Whether it was going to be regular mail, priority mail, FedEx, etc. Still, Nothing. So, now I'm starting to panic a bit. I send Jason a message and ask him how he sent it because I still don't have it. And I can't get in touch with him because he has company from out of town and hasn't been around. Crap.

So now I'm a bit paranoid about the recorder. I'm wondering if it came and I didn't see it. Did it get lost in the mail? Is it going to get here in time?

AM I GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET MY BOOTLEG???? ARGH! IS THIS EVER GOING TO GO RIGHT?? @.@ I dunno. First, I couldn't find anyone to go with. Then I was missing a recorder to bootleg with. Both were very important aspects that I was missing!

I am ever so slightly annoyed. About as slightly annoyed as a sopping wet cat. I'm tring to look on the bright side. I'm still going to get to see the show. I'll still get to meet her and get her autograph and a picture with her. That's always good.

I stayed up too late the night before (Friday) due to my own anxiousness and adrenaline and excitement. But I get up and go to work on Saturday morning anyway. I'm WAY TIRED and they have me floorwalking (walking around answering people's questions). By noon, my feet hurt. I'm still a bit annoyed about the recorder and that I never did really find someone to go with me to the show. But I'm still trying to look on the bright side. It's a great honor and opportunity that I have here. Not very many fans would have this opportunity.

I finish my day at work. It ended up not being too terrible. I ended up staying longer than I was supposed to, but oh well. It wasn't too much later and I had to wait on mom to pick me up anyway and she didn't get off work until 1. Oh well. I was tired though and I could feel myself getting kind of grouchy. I was pretty much decided that I would just go to the show from work. But then we decided to come by the house and see if that recorder had come in today's mail.

We get home and the mailman is a block down the street. I'm not sure if he's going around the block and then down the street or what. And then I'm like "What the heck?? It's after 2pm! Why are you just now delivering the mail??" so I try to find something to do in the 15 minutes it takes for the mailman to get to our house. You can always hear the mailman put mail in our mailbox because of the way it's made and where it sits on the house. Well, I heard this THUNK! And I figured it HAS to be my recorder – or Jason's recorder that I'm borrowing. And "ZOMG-it's-finally-here!" the recorder finally arrives. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay~!!!!

I play with it a bit to figure out how to work it. Hoping I got it right, I put it in my purse so that I don't forget it in the craziness in my house trying to get ready. I'm trying to sync my mp3 player, upload pictures from the state capitol and get dressed. And at the same time I was trying to get in touch with Jason for something. I can't remember what… Anyway, I was trying to get in touch with him for something. It was a lot of stuff. He ended up calling me while I was getting dressed. That was an interesting conversation. One left to the imagination. Anyway…