"And every once in a while, I wanna sit back and enjoy the view"

Well boys and girls, it's been a while. Blame it on grad school, as usual. I'm currently reeling from a Gavin DeGraw concert I attended tonight (2nd row!). That man has some serious swagger. And his band was fantastic. The focus on and passion for the music was evident, which is so uncommon nowadays. Two twitterpated thumbs up, for sure.

I know I already technically completed Task #6 (Meet a celebrity) about a month ago while I was in the musical, BUT
a) the goal of this list is for me to force myself to get out of my proverbial box and live and
b) making myself walk across the front lawn of my grad school to meet Gavin DeGraw seemed worth it. (It was.)

After work today, I saw that the band was doing a soundcheck, so I grabbed some books and nestled down for some good music/reading/Vitamin D time. I didn't time it right weather-wise, because I was brilliantly dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt and jeans, with no way to put my massive hair up, so I fried. But an opportunity like that, so laid back and just plain cool, was too amazing to pass up. After a while, I heard, "Hey! I'm Gavin!" and there he was, for his soundcheck. After he about beat up the poor piano (he can PLAY) and the band played a reggae version of "I'm in Love with a Girl," he came offstage to meet the handful of people out there. I decided at the last minute to go meet him. He was really cool and laid back. He asked me my name and asked if I'd like a picture. My brilliant reply? "No thanks." Really?? Hi, my name is Jessica and I'm an idiot. However I did mention this list and that I had now completed a task. I think he thought I was odd.

Fast forward about 4 hours later...
Went to the concert, stood in the 2nd row, loved it. The atmosphere was INSANE, with a bazillion screaming girls, the loudest of whom seemed to work their ways up to stand directly to my left. Afterward, my friend S. and I decided to wait it out in the line for autographs. I'm not into autographs, but I decided to beg for a picture, since I was too shy the first time I met him.
Y'all, he remembered me. It must've been the big hair. But that was cool. And he let me take a picture with him (if you count leaning over the signing table as a picture WITH him, but I'll take what I can get). The policewoman working crowd control was yelling at me, but Gavin (Mr. DeGraw?) was so nice about it. So, once S. posts the pic, I will post it on here as proof that I met him. But for now, this picture will have to suffice.




In other news, I also completed Task 40 (Go somewhere secluded and yell at the top of my lungs) a few weeks ago. The day after I turned 24, actually. I decided the beginning of a new year would be the perfect time for a cathartic experience. But I'll write more about it later. It's late. This entry is getting waay out of hand. And frankly, I'm too old for this.
So, goodnight. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite.

(Title lyrics by Gavin DeGraw, "Free")