October 24, 2015- Chiller Theatre Show

Part of me wanted to stay home today but I am glad that I didn’t. I probably would have regretted not meeting Lee Majors.

   I was having the illogical thought of “Why should I even bother going when I botched up my encounter with Duran Duran who I like a lot more than him”

  I think that I did an okay job of interacting with him. I wasn’t as nervous as I was when meeting Duran Duran. He shook our hands. My brother and I picked out the same photo for him to sign. We got a “Big Valley” one; he put his character’s name, Heath, under his signature.

   I saw some nice “The Six Million Dollar Man” photos. I was too afraid to ask the other guy at the table if I could just buy one of those.

   We were talking to Mr. Major’s wife, Faith, for a little while. She was very nice.

   He was in an area that is known as the Living Room. Ralph Macchio and C. Thomas Howell, who I have seen at this event before, were too. Others here included Paul Sorvino, Richard Thomas, Robby Benson, and stars from “Hee Haw” (one was Barbie Benton) and “Petticoat Junction”.

   The two stars from Escape to Witch Mountain, a movie that I liked when I was a kid, were in another room. Mike went over to talk to the guy. I forget his name; hers is Kim Richards. I didn’t really feel like going near that table though.

   John James (“Dynasty”), John Amos (“Good Times”), and Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear- “Starsky and Hutch”) were in there too as well as Veronica Cartwright.

   Tony wanted to see her but she was on a break. We waited for at least 15 minutes but then gave up. Her sister Angela was in the “Lost in Space” room with 3 other of that show’s stars. You couldn’t see them unless you were getting an autograph.

   It was the same story for the “Batman” stars. Mike wanted Julie Newmar’s (Catwoman) so I waited on the line with him.

   We looked in the two vendor rooms. Mike and I got some 8X10s from one guy. We both got the same two shots of “The Big Valley”. He also bought some of 3 or 4 other shows, including “Perry Mason” and “Batman”.

   He got a boxed set of the Frankenstein movies too. Tony bought a Godzilla mask. He had been debating on whether to get it or not; I knew that he would.

  After this, we went to a Chinese Buffet for dinner. We stopped at Tony’s house to pick up his daughter, Debbie first. He had called her to find out if she was interested in coming with us.

   I feel anxious at buffet style eateries. I like having a menu in which I can usually find something that I know is healthy and also have a better idea of calorie contents. I am sure that my brother would accuse me of being anorexic again if he knew that I was thinking this.

   I was also experiencing social anxiety when talking to Debbie at first. Once we got onto the music topic, I wasn’t feeling as nervous. She loves talking about her Kpop (Korean pop) as I do about Duran Duran.

   I mentioned the autograph signing incident to her. She sympathized with me and mentioned that one of her friends froze when meeting her favorite Kpop star.

   I sort of wish that I had gone to more of these shows with him and my brother. I had been to one other with them, another with Dad and Mike (we met up with Tony there) and a couple with a former boyfriend. It is interesting observing the stars and also the fans at them.

    My socialization tank was on empty by the end of the day. It is pathetic that doing so zaps my mental energy and that it seems so difficult.

 

Note- bottom 2 photos are from the internet.

  

October 9, 2015- Duran Duran- Fall Fest- MSG

I hadn’t been at a concert in this venue since the Duran Duran one in 2011. They remodeled the lobby/ticketing area. I asked the employee how long ago they did so but I don’t remember what she told me.

   A Ricky Martin concert was going on in the regular Garden. Nicole told me that she was going to that but she would have gone to the DD one if it hadn’t been on the same night.

   I have never been to the Theater part of this venue before. I waited in an area where other DD fans had gathered. One girl was wearing a John Taylor t-shirt. I really didn’t feel like talking to anyone so I just listened to them.

   Originally, there had been only 2 other performers, Adam Lambert and Rachel Platten, listed for this event. They added 2 more- ones that I can’t recall the names of now. I was worrying that we wouldn’t get much DD that night but I was pleasantly surprised that they did 11 songs.

   They were on stage last, of course. During “Pressure Off” there was confetti which looked cool. I really enjoyed their performance.

   I was talking to the girl next to me, Allison. She was with her brother. I found out that they had also missed the encore at the Port Chester show. They were really upset about this. It was good having someone to share this extreme disappointment with.

   Amy and Sharon had empathized with me about it but only someone who went through the same experience could truly understand this.

    They said that many people in that balcony area that they were in left too. They noticed that most of the ones down below had stayed. Cute guy and I must have been two of just a handful of people who had given up on DD returning to the stage then.

   I probably should have used the binoculars more. The too much or too little usage of them at concerts often seems to be an issue with me.

     I was too busy focusing my binoculars on Simon to even notice that John had gone over to the microphone to say something at the end of the show. I wish that I could remember what it was. I was beating myself up a little about this. I seem to not be able to get things right when it comes to John these days.

   I actually liked Adam Lambert’s performance. I didn’t think that I would get that into it. He did a version of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”. Rachel Platten’s was okay.

   I am so glad that I got a ticket for this concert. At first I didn’t think that my seat would be that great but it was better than I expected.

   I had passed on a seat in row M of the front, middle section which I was regretting. It is better that I did so for that ticket was nearly double the cost of mine. I was in the 5^th row of the second section. The venue isn’t that big which was nice.

   Allison wishes that they had performed “The Reflex” and “Planet Earth”. I would have loved to have seen John’s bass playing on the latter. I wish that there was a video clip of mostly just this.

   The concert didn’t end until midnight. I was running to catch the 12:08 train and luckily made it there in time.

   Did Simon say that their new album is top 10 on the Billboard charts? Or was is top 20? I will have to check this out. He did mention that this is the first time in 22 years since this has happened. That is so cool.

   I might just listen to it for only the 2^nd or 3^rd time ever this weekend. I was going to put this off until next week because I was trying to avoid DD after screwing up at the signing but after seeing this show I am back in the mood for their music.

 

Note- the concert photos are from the internet

 

 

September 6, 2015- US Open-Part 2

  

 I was only at a set and a half of a Tommy Haas match. He was playing against Verdasco who beat him in 5 sets. If I hadn’t watched a few games of Jelena Jankovic’s match, I would have seen some more of it. The court was so crowded that I had to stand.

   Mike came over to it after the Jankovic match which she lost. I didn’t see him until afterwards though. He got Verdasco’s autograph. I sort of wish that I had to but at the time I was mad that he beat my Haas.

   I had wanted to see Haas’ doubles match but I stayed with him for Errani. I wish that I had gone with the voice in my head that said to leave after the second set so I could at least see some of that. I ran over to that court afterwards but it was over.

   Luckily, they were still at the court signing autographs so at least I got to see him. Mike had already gotten that for me several years ago. I got a couple of nice photos of Haas.

    I wouldn’t even be into tennis if it wasn’t for Haas. I was depressed about Mom being in the hospital psych ward so I put the TV on to watch “The Price is Right” only it wasn’t on because the tennis coverage was.

    I saw 2 cute guys, Haas and Ginepri, which got me to keep this on. Then I was kind of getting interested in the actual sport that I used to think was boring. That was in 2006.

   Would I have watched it if they hadn’t been cute? Maybe not, which is so bad. Yikes, I am pretty embarrassed about this.

   I wish that I hadn’t been so afraid to go to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens for this event in 2007 and 2008. I would have gotten to see more of my favorite guys matches. I only got to see one Safin match which he lost against Melzer in 2009. He retired at the end of that year.

   I shouldn’t have been afraid to ask my brother to get his autograph for me after his practice session then. I was the same way about James Blake another year. Mike has gotten me at least 8 autographs of tennis stars.

   My brother has many more autographs of them than me. He even got Sania Mirza’s three times. And he calls me obsessive for getting John Taylor’s twice. He was at the Mirza/Hingis match then joined me for the Gasquet one.

   We saw Victoria Azarenka at an autograph signing booth. My brother sort of regrets not standing in line for this. We watched Djokovic on the practice court for a couple of minutes. As we were leaving the center on our 4^th and final night there, we saw Federer at the ESPN booth doing an interview.

   The long, tiring days were well worth it. One year we went the first 6 days of it; I think that was 2010. The 6^th day was a last minute decision. I really wanted to see Fish and Melzer in their 3^rd round matches. I didn’t get to see all of Melzer’s though because the Fish one was very long.

   I didn’t like Melzer when he beat my Safin but the following year when Haas was out with an injury I was rooting for him a lot. I went to 3 of his singles matches and 2 of his doubles (with Petzschner) then.

   This was our last time ever at that event. We had gone there for 7 straight years. It is no longer in our budget. Mike said that he might try to save up and go to it again in a couple of years but I won’t be able to do that.

Tommy Haas

Hewitt

Feliciano Lopez

Tommy Robredo

Fernando Verdasco

 

 

September 6, 2015- US Open - Part 1

I was watching Mardy Fish playing tennis on a court near a beach; he was part of a charity event. Lots of kids were at it. I hadn’t even known that he was going to be there. Mom, Mike, and I were on a vacation. Our motel was near this court. When I looked out the window, I could see him. I just had to get closer so I walked over to that area. I was so happy to see him.

   I wish that I could remember more details about this dream. There might have been more tennis stars at this event. I think that we were in Florida. Or it could have just been the Jersey shore. Fish has only been in one other dream of mine and that was a long time ago. He was playing doubles at a tournament in a park.

   I actually got up enough nerve to get Mardy’s autograph at the US Open last week. At first, I asked Mike to do so for me as he has with other tennis stars in the past. Well, now we both have it. Mike seemed a little surprised that I had done this.

   I had tried getting his autograph in 2010 (or was it 2011?) but was unsuccessful. I am so embarrassed that I was yelling out “Mardy, please” at one moment during this attempt. He retired this year. I will miss seeing him play.

   My brother and I pretty much stuck together this year as we did last year. Other years we would go our separate ways and only get together for some matches.

   We were in Louis Armstrong Stadium for all of Wednesday. Fish vs. Lopez was first. I like them both but wanted Fish to win which he didn’t. The woman’s match, Mattek-Sands vs. Vanderweghe was next; the former won that.

   Nadal was on last. I can’t even remember his opponent whom he defeated. He is usually on Ash which isn’t included in the grounds pass so we have never seen him before. My brother said that he would have left if it went on any longer. I would have stayed by myself if he had; no way was I going to miss out on any of this.

   We saw two French guys, Simon and Gasquet. Simon lost to the American, Donald Young. We both got Young’s autograph, as well as that of Gasquet, who won his match. I like Gasquet’s style; he is fun to watch.

   I was upset when I saw a couple tiny water spots on the daily schedule magazine that he signed afterwards. Did I get something on it? Maybe it was Gasquet sweat. Did I make it worse when trying to dab it dry with a napkin?

   I didn’t get to see my Italian guys, Seppi and Fognini. We saw his two Italian girls, Vinci and Errani. They used to play doubles together; we saw them in a match once.

 

Mardy Fish

Fish- autograph

Richard Gasquet

 

 

Nadal

Ostapenko and Errani (right)

Donald Young

 

Simon

 

August 9- Duran Duran Concerts- Additional Details

August 3, 2015- Port Chester, NY

I was very happy when they did “Rio”. It had been nearly 4 years since I last have seen them perform this. They had left it off of the set list at the Foxwoods show in 2012. They probably would have done it at the AC one the following night.

   I am pretty sure that the girl behind me also had a ticket to that cancelled show. I mentioned that when I was at the Foxwoods show the night before, Nick was looking sick. She said that someone else had told her this too.

   That girl looked familiar. I probably have seen her at another concert and/or at John Taylor’s book signing in Ridgewood.

   I was able to get through my anxiety of going to this show and also communicating with people there. I can give myself credit for this. But that and the other positives don’t cancel out not being able to enjoy the full concert experience.

   I was actually in Port Chester by 2:35 p.m. I had decided to take an earlier train there. I did well with the transportation aspect of this event too, something that I had also been worrying about. I didn’t think that this town would be so crowded and trafficky. I had pictured it being more quaint and tranquil.

   Fans had actually been booing when DD weren’t coming back out for their encore. Cute guy had looked at the set list on his phone and saw that they had done encores at their last 3 concerts. After hearing that, I definitely should have been smart enough to say that we should stick around for a little longer then we wouldn’t have missed out on anything.

   I am almost certain that cute guy said that he is a teacher at West Point. He was annoyed that the girl in front of us leaned over to get stuff out of her backpack numerous times during the show. A couple of other people were too, as was I.

 

August 7, 2015- Bethlehem, PA- Musikfest

When I told Mike that they performed his two favorite songs, he said “The Reflex” and “Wild Boys” right away. The set list was basically the same as the Port Chester Saturday concert, except a little different order. “Election Day” was not on it. They did 15 songs, 2 less than at that one. Stop!-don’t even rehash the missed encore incident again.

  The girl next to me had been at the Sunday concert at that venue. She was lucky enough to be in the front row, her first time ever in such a spot. She said that they performed “Is There Something I Should Know?”

   I mentioned the cancelled Atlantic City show. Her friend also had a ticket to it. She seemed upset about this so I didn’t tell her that I had been at the Foxwoods one the night before that. I was afraid that she might be jealous.

    I was screwing up a lot when typing my email address in the notebook section of Lori’s smartphone. I had never typed on one of these before. I felt kind of embarrassed. I am really looking forward to receiving her photos of this concert.

   Jenny’s parents were nice. I talked to her Dad about tennis and the US Open. I think that he said that he has been to that event but a while back. When I told her mother that Mom likes Sinatra, she said that she can’t stand his music. It is cool that she likes DD and other music that Jenny is into.

  It was kind of ironic that I was wearing the pair of 1928 brand earrings that Cindy gave to me as a Christmas gift in the mid-1980s when she just happened to be at this concert too. I would have been feeling very nervous if I had actually encountered here there though.

 

December 12, 2015- Our NYC Adventure-Christmas

Mike and I were so exhausted when we got home from our day trip into the city yesterday at around 2:55 p.m. He took a nap after dinner. I was on the computer then telling Sharon all about our adventure.

   We should have taken an earlier train there then we would have gotten a better spot in the Plaza for the “Today” show. It was really crowded there. Mike had gotten up about an hour earlier than he had intended on. I wanted to suggest that we leave at around 6:00 but was afraid that he would be annoyed about this.

   Maybe he wouldn’t have been. I can’t help still feeling fear that he will criticize me. He had done so about me wanting to get up and go to the “Today” show last month on Wrangler’s birthday. I wound up not going but it wasn’t because of him, or maybe it partially was.

   We didn’t see Wrangler today which was disappointing. I think that he will only be there for another 7 or 8 weeks. I wish that I had gone to the Plaza during the summer for the chance of possibly seeing him. Mike always says “He’s just a dog” as he did today when I got excited about the chance of possibly seeing him.

   We saw Willie, Tamron, and Al through the window. I don’t even know who the guests were going to be for the 9:00 hour; I should have paid attention to the screen for if it had been someone that I really wanted to see I probably would have stayed there for this.

    Michael Flatley and the guy dancers were outside sometime after 8:30. We had arrived there at about 8:15. We couldn’t see them and Al that well though. At least we got a bit of a view. I would have been more upset if it were a star that I really, really like.

   I had checked the guide on my TV before we left but didn’t see any guests listed, just a few segments like how to tie a tie. 

   We took photos of the tree there then went to the other one in Bryant Park. We looked in Forever 21 and the Disney store first. In the park, we were looking in the little temporary shops. They had so many jewelry ones. I saw nice stuff in some of these.

   We couldn’t find that diner that we saw last year and wished that we had eaten at then. I couldn’t remember if it was on 7^th or 5^th Ave. We came across it by accident. It turned out to be on 6^th. I saw a burger place when looking over on 6^th from 5^th. When we walked over to that I noticed the diner on the other block.

   We both ordered the Greek grilled chicken wrap. I had selected this and Mike seemed to think that it sounded good too. He liked it a lot. He even said that he is going to recommend this place to Tony. Tony and Debbie are going to the city to see the tree and Peanuts display on Sunday.

   I don’t know if Bryant Park will be a part of their plans but I will tell Mike to recommend this to them as well. I am pretty sure that Debbie would like some of those shops there.

   After that we went to Macy’s. We took photos of the Peanuts displays in the windows and of some of the decorations inside- an owl and a squirrel included. I wish that I had taken another zoomed in one of the big inflatable Snoopy. I was sort of afraid that my brother would criticize me for taking too many photos.

   I know that Sharon, Mom, and Amy would just tell me to ignore him if he did put me down about this but I guess that my brain is so tired of his put downs that it wouldn’t be able to handle hearing any more. I hate that I am not strong enough to not let him get to me.

   I was trying to find the nice cross necklaces that I had seen there a couple of months ago but they no longer even carry that brand of jewelry. I think that I did a thorough enough search of this but perhaps I did not. I might have been seriously tempted to buy one of them this time.

   The weather was so nice yesterday- high of 61 degrees, I think. It was a bit cool earlier in the day; I was wishing that I had my gloves then.

 

Rockefeller Center

 

Bryant Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 6, 2015- Lady Antebellum Concert

I was close to deciding not to go to this concert like the day before but I changed my mind. I was thinking that I could pretend that this would be like one of the holodeck adventures of my dreams. I am braver in the fantasy world than I am in the real one.

   I was semi-freaking out at the very start of the journey. The bus was making a turn towards Cranford. I thought that maybe I was on the wrong one. The passenger who had been waiting at my stop told me that at certain times of the day that the bus goes down that road before heading towards Linden. I felt so foolish for thinking that this, the only bus that comes into our town, wasn’t the right one.

   I got to the train station just in time for the 3:55 train. If I had tried getting the ticket out of the machine, I probably would have missed it. Luckily, they don’t charge extra for your ticket if you have a disability card like I do. I had to ask the conductor about the transfer from one train to another in Woodbridge. I was nervous but did okay, I suppose.

   Once I got to the Aberdeen station, I sat on a bench and ate my cheese sandwich and apple. I saw the building that the shuttle bus is supposed to be in front of but it wasn’t there yet. I saw a few other people waiting there and asked the one girl if she was going to PNC. She said yes.

   A cab driver told us that the shuttle bus wouldn’t be there for another 45 minutes. I decided to take that taxi with 5 other people; the driver charged us $5.00 a piece which was good. I was already worrying about the trip back to the train station after the concert.

   I hung out with 2 guys and a girl before the show. The one guy offered to drive me home. He had to pass my exit on the way to his town. He seemed trustworthy so I accepted. I think that he might have been interested in me because he mentioned that he is looking for the right woman. I told him that I am not interested in finding a boyfriend.

    Even if he had been younger- he looked about 60- and I was physically attracted to him, I still would have said that. He did seem like a nice guy. He has a huge and varied music collection. His car is a Camaro; I always liked that kind when I was a kid.

   I didn’t tell Mom, Mike, or even my own therapist about this. I did confide in Sharon because I feel as if I can tell her anything. During the show, I did have a little worry that perhaps I had made a bad decision in accepting his offer and I was also thinking of things that I might say to him during the ride.

    These and other thoughts were a bit distracting. I was picturing that I was sitting in row N of 101 section instead of 303. I also imagined being that close at this venue for the Duran Duran 2005 concert. Chris Young was on my mind too.

   The girl had encouraged me to go over to a cop in an unmarked car to ask about the cab and shuttle bus situation. The info on the site was wrong- the last shuttle leaves at 10:45 not at 11:30; that does not seem right because you definitely would have to leave a show early to catch it.

     I am not really sure when this one ended; it might have been 10:40. By the time we walked to the guy’s car in the boondocks area, it was 11:10, I think. They were making people go back there just like at the Brad Paisley show even though there were spots in the regular area.

    The music seemed very loud and something seemed off about the microphones and sound system. The best part was the 3 acoustic songs because the sound quality was good plus they were performing them on a platform that was near me, about 10 seats to the right. It was like a side angle but still great.

   I didn’t use the binoculars at all throughout the show. I was just too tired and didn’t want to be bothered doing so. It was overwhelming enough without them. I did look at the screen occasionally during each song.

    Sam Hunt and Hunter Hayes were the opening acts. I knew 2 songs by the former and a few by the latter. The girls in front of and around me were standing the entire time then but I didn’t feel like it. I only did so for the songs that I knew.

    My view was blocked when I was sitting so I had to look in between a couple of people and at the screen. Sometimes I had to do just the latter because there was no space in between the people. At times, even the screen was blocked by them. Occasionally, Smartphones did block my view during the entire concert.

   Those two guys came back on stage for a few Lady A songs, Hunter for two and Sam for one- both were doing the cover version of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way”. It seemed sort of odd that they had picked this song to perform.

   They had played songs over the stereo system before the concert. Why did they only do a very little bit of Chris Young’s “Aw Naw”? I would have loved to hear the whole thing. I hope that nothing bad happens to prevent me from seeing him next month. I definitely will be using the binoculars during that show.

   Right after that was Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night”. Nearly all of it got played, I think. The girls around me were really getting into it and also “Uptown Funk”. I used to like the latter but it’s been overplayed so now I am kind of sick of it.

   I went to the set list site but there were a couple of errors on it. They only did 3 songs on that B stage and a cover version of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” was not one of them. Hillary did sing a cover version of a female country artist but I don’t think it was a Shania Twain song and if it was, it wasn’t the one that was on this.

   I already put this, the Lady A photo, and the ticket into my concerts and events scrapbook. It is filled up now so if I do go to the Chris and LB concerts this year, I will have to use the smaller scrapbook that has my Mets tickets, Turtleback Zoo postcards, and other stuff in it for those tickets and hopefully photos too.

     I only got about 4 hours sleep last night. I needed to be up at 5:30 a.m. to drive my brother to the carnival grounds at around 7:00. He was working at the flea market there. I was home by 12:10. I was too tired to even brush my teeth.

    Mom was still awake then so it was hard getting to sleep. I heard her opening her snack drawer and placing her mug on the nightstand like at 12:45. She shouldn’t be snacking then. I was too afraid that she would be mad at me if I asked her to please settle down. But don’t I have the right to a good night’s sleep?