"A Concert Doesn't Just Last One Night"

Those that know me may have expected my "c" post would be concerts. Those who don't? Hi. My name is Megan. and I am a concert junkie. And, I've had some crazy things happen to me at concerts. I've made best friends, I've passed out, I've been sung to from the stage, Gotten shoutouts from the stage, I've met famous people, and more. I know people who don't get concerts. They don't understand spending money to hear songs you can listen to in your own home on itunes. LEt me try to explain it as best I can. I consider myself a musically emotional person. I tag a song to every event in my life, big or small. Songs make me cry, make me angry, giddy, etc. I don't just listen to songs, I feel them. Usually, if you hear me say "I hate this song", it's the frustrated part of me saying "there is no way for me to connect to this song". I'm obsessed with lyrics and analyzing them. So, hearing those same songs live, by the artist or band I respect so much, puts me in a whole different world. I go to concerts to escape. Belly up to the barricade, sreaming out the words to my favorite songs, tears rolling down my cheeks. THAT is my shining moment. That's my bliss. I leave everything else behind and completly emerge myself into the songs, the stories, the music. I remember every concert I have been too, because each had a different meaning. Not to mention, the passion that the artists have on stage runs through my veins and deep into my gut. I've been to several concerts in my life...and below you will find a short list of what I believe what makes the BEST. CONCERT. EVER. (By the way, I say that after every concert).

-My familiarity with the band/artist. I usually don't see people I don't know of, but once in a while I'll catch a live show for someone I've never heard before, or only heard a couple songs. Those typically don't do much for me. However, once in a great while, I have really connected with one of those bands, gone home and researched, knowing every lyric to every song in 24 hours. (I'm looking at you, The Spill Canvas). Also, opening acts are usually hard for me. Sometimes I'm amazed, but most of the time I'm tapping my foot anxiously waiting for "my guy" or "my boys" or "my girl" to come out and do their thing. They win me over if I can hear solid lyrics and passion. That's how I discovered Lady Antebellum. They were opening for Martina, and though I had never heard of them (to be fair, no one had at that point. They had ONE SONG on their Myspace page. Their first album had not even dropped yet, first SINGLE hadn't even dropped yet). I remember very clearly saying to my friend Jess "they will be famous". Their passion for music and energy for the crowd combined with incredible harmonies and lyrics made me an instant, die hard fan. But, they are an exception. Usually, my favorite favorite concerts are when I can sing along to every single song...know the band members by name, know why their story.

The People I'm With. Again, there are exceptions. I have been to concerts by myself, with a huge group of people all supporting one person, with a few friends, with one friend. My go to concert buddy is Sam...because she is just as passionate about live music as I am, and will be my partner in crime. We dance, throw our hands up in the air, bounce around. She gets me, I get her, we get the music. Anytime Sam is with me, no matter who else joins us, it's going to be a good time. I also once went to see Melinda with 15-20 other backups, and that was just incredible. Sitting on that little stoop with some of her biggest fans, who had then become a family, watching our girl shine, was amazing. I think my cheeks hurt for weeks from smiling so much from that one. I will really never forget that. I've also been to concerts alone. Mostly Spill Canvas shows, but some others as well. I've typically still had a good time, but it's harder to dance and make a fool of yourself when you're alone. I think the only time I ever completely let go when I went to a show solo was Kelly Clarkson in October 2010. It did not matter that I was by myself because I was surrounded by hundreds of my best Kelly fans. I screamed out every word, I cried, I laughed. I grabbed the hand of the girl next to me when Kelly was singing Breakaway to me. Oh, plus I had met her that night, so that helps too :)

The Venue. Small venues are my thing. We've been serious for a while now. For real, though, I love small venues. It can be overcrowded (Hanson), sweaty, etc, but that's part of the concert experience. I've passed out at concerts before (Linkin Park), but nothing will take my love away from a small venue, especially if I'm close to the stage. Small venues are just intimate. You get to know the people around you REAL well. The artist interacts with the crowd more. I just love it.

So, my friends, those are my thoughts on concerts. A huge thank you to all the artists who have let me act a fool when I have seen you live. Especially to...

-The Spill Canvas. I cannot name all the dates I have seen them, but it is several. Their lyrics get me like no one else does, passion just kills me. I wish they would stop this hiatus nonsense and get back to making me the happiest girl alive.

- Melinda Doolittle. Your incredible voice matched with art of storytelling through song is truly a masterpiece and I feel lucky that I have seen it live. I miss the death out of you, but I am so proud of you.

-Jordin Sparks. You have given me some of my favorite concert memories. I always have a good time at your shows. One of my favorites? Watching the entire crowd at Royal Oak Music Theater sing back the words to "One Step A Time", and seeing the smile on your face.

-Kelly Clarkson, for having the most energy of any artist I have ever seen. I don't know how you do it but you manage to put me through an emotional roller coaster every time I see you. I'd like to scream the words to Since U Been Gone with you sometime again soon.

-Hanson, for your overwhelming passion for music, your fans, and life in general. You have huge hearts to match your beautiful vocals and lyrics.

PS: Speaking of amazing people and music, Mandisa's new album comes out tomorrow. I've been hearing the songs on her website and let me just say I think this may actually be her best album yet- which seems unreal because on each of her previous albums, I love EVER SINGLE SONG. So you should get it!

B-B-B-Best Friends

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter B.

This one was a little harder for me. Books? Bruno Mars? Bono? book review? Backups,? bands? believe? blessed? bananas? beauty? beer? So many to choose from! I asked my mom, and her response was "best friends". Funny, since that was at the top of my list too. So, here you go.

Best Friends.

I'm blessed with some pretty badass best friends.They come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. I've known some of them most of my life, other just a few years. Each of them have been there for me in my celebrations and challenges, and have loved me and supported me no matter what. That's pretty amazing. My perspective of best friend has changed over the years. At a young age it was someone who I had the same interests with- boys, bands, etc. In hs it was a combination of that (theatre, campus ministry, sports), and the emotional connection. college? Well, my first few years of college I had a blinder of what a best friend was. The people I chose to be important in my life ended up doing more bad than good. But that turned around my junior year, when I met Sam. Now I'm a little more careful.

I've learned it's okay to be best friends with my family members. My siblings and siblings-in-law are some of my best friends. I enjoy them, get mad at them, they annoy me, I annoy them, but they still mean the world to me. My parents are my best friends (and roomates. Score).

I have a best friend named Christine who has known me since I was five. Our friendship has been easy. We are there for each other, we support each other, we hav a remarkable understanding for each other. I have a best friend named Dean who I have known for only a year and a 1/2, but, he knows more about me than a lot of other people in my life. Time doesn't matter.

I have a best friend who is younger than me (although I don't really think of it that way, because his maturity level is insane), and a best friend named Gem who is older than me. They both offer me advice, encourage me, motivate me, etc. Age doesn't matter.

I have several best friends who do not live nearby. It's sometimes hard to keep up with them, but it does not strain how I feel about them. The emotional connection is what matters. I pray for them, hope nothing but the best, and love hearing about their lives. Plus it makes it even more special when I do get to see them. Distance doesn't matter.

I guess what I'm saying is. Best friends should come naturally. The connection should be there, no matter what. Make up when you fight, don't leave it out there. Don't ever let things get so bad that you do not spak anymore. Friendships like that are too important to let go.

To every best friend I have had, if time/distance/age is our only excuse, forgive me. To the best friends I have right now, I love you, and thank you.

A to Z Challenge, Day 1.

I'm entering the A-Z Challenge (details here- http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-special-and-exciting-announcement.html?spref=bl). Basically, for each day in April, (with the exception of Sundays), you make a post about any topic of your choosing, in order of the alphabet. I'll probably throw in music and book reviews if they fit in appropriately.


Anchor. Most people think…

a heavy device dropped by a chain, cable, or rope to the bottom of a body of water for restraining the motion of avessel or other floating object.

Or, perhaps…
a person or thing that can be relied on for support, stability, or security; mainstay.

When I think Anchor, I think Delta Gamma, who adopted the anchor as the symbol for hope. I think pink and blue, bigs and littles, rush and frat parties, candles and initiation, I think “Anchored Always”.

To say being a member of DG Epsilon Rho was a rollercoaster is the understatement of the year. And you could say we were the opposite of an anchor, because we weren’t holding it together, but I would disagree. Yes, w had our faults. Yes, I’m still bitter and honestly, a little confused. But I’m also proud. Proud of the handful of us who fought with all of our might to keep us together. Those girls were my anchor, my hope. I love them, despite the fights and petty drama and heartbreak. I still doodle anchors on notebook and journals can spot them from miles away. By the time we closed, we were all so emotionally drained that none of us bothered to keep up an “alum chapter”. We felt defeated, there was no fight left. I knew I personally could not spend one more night crying about what could have been. It was time to put that in the past, for all of us. I wish we could have survived. I wish every member had been as enthusiastic about the chapter as some of us were. I wish people paid and showed up and got good grades. But they didn’t, and nothing could have changed that. People don’t understand that, but there was no way that we could have kept going. Call that pessimistic but until you have stepped foot in that house between 2005-2008, you have no idea. But it wasn't all hard times and drama. Some of my greatest college memories come from DG. Lik driving all night to Grand Rapids or getting stuck in Texas or, most importantly, finding my best friend Sam, and proudly declaring her as "my future bff" at a frat party. Turns out, I was right.

Unfortunately, most of us did not stay friends once we were closed. Everyone stuck to their cliques. I found my best friend in DG, which I will be forever grateful for.
I will always see an anchor and think Delta Gamma. I think hope, I’ll think fight (in more ways than one, ha). I’ll think of my big sister Megan and my little sister Lindsey. I’ll think of Greek Week, Recruitment, AnchorSplash, t-shirts in the basement, rec volleyball. I’ll think of Sam, Jess, Mary, Fitz, Lyndsey, Kerry, Afty (Who…I realized, as typing her name, I miss the #$%^ out of). Jordan, Rachel, Margo, All 20993 Ashley’s, Jen, Dana, Jeanette, Marisa, Betsy, Elise, LeDuc, Alyssa, Caitlin, Becky, Natasha, and everyone else. I hope they know…no matter what; I will always be here for them. We won’t ever be what we were before, but, in a way, that’s probably for the best. Cheesy? Yes. Truth? Absolutely. I have put the past behind me. Thanks, girls, for the laughs. Thank you for fighting.

Anchored Always.

my baby she wrote me a letter

Well, it's quite obvious that my blog views depend on my self-pimping on Facebook and Twitter. Yikes. Hopefully people will find this.

Shari asked me to write more about my Lenten Letter Project. Well. It all started my senior year of college. I was in class one day, thinking about graduation and "fear of the unknown", which led to me thinking about all the people who helped me get through my four years of college. Financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, physically...you get it. So, I started writing letters. Handwritten thank you letters to people who I felt made a significant impact on my life during college. I think I wrote about 80 letters total. I wrote from everyone to my freshmen orientation leader to Melinda. From the friends from high school who I stayed in touch with to my sorority sisters I had lost touch with in those final years of college. It was an incredibly refreshing and liberating experience. Those letters were some of the most heartfelt writing I had ever done in my life. No editing, just straight out telling people how I felt, and thanking them for their support. The response was over whelming. I got the sweetest reply letters, thank you cards, etc. From then on, I made it a point to write handwritten notes and cards to people. I tried to do it for Lent last year, but I didn't make it past much further than a few of my co-workers at Cristo Rey. No doubt, they deserved to hear how much I loved them, but so did everyone else in my life.

So, this year, I sat down and wrote out a list of names of all the people whom I wanted to write too. It's long. Much longer than 40 names. It's not nearly 80, but enough that I have to do two a day for the first week or so. (You can do the math). Some of those people I talk too daily, others I rarely speak with. I just want them to know I love them and care about them, and that I am praying for them. I started just assigning dates to names. Once I look at the name of the person, I take out my journal and make bullet points of everything I want to say. Then I write the letter, and, again, it is straight from the heart. I've gotten a little teary with some of them already, because sometimes it is so hard to express to someone what they mean to me. Anyways, the response so far has again been outstanding. I've gotten texts, e-mails, a crying mommy (sorry mom), etc from people, thanking me for the letter. It is just further proof to me that it so so essential for us to express to one another how much we care.

So, I'm going to challenge everyone who reads this to write one letter. You don't have to write forty, you don't even have to write two. Just one. Handwritten. Tell someone you love them, what your relationship with them means to you. I promise you will get as much joy in the experience as the person receiving the letter. You may even get addicted ;-)

Here are some other things I've written these past two weeks. Not exactly my best, but, oh well.

“Jasmine”
This will seem pretty obvious to some of you, but this was written about one of my favorite students. It's pretty simple, but I got my point across. I love you, Jazzy!.

All her life she’s been told
She won’t make it out of here
That she’ll end up just another statistic
They tell her no one likes a kid from Detroit
But they’re wrong, so wrong
She’ll make it, she’ll fly
She’s got dreams of going to the moon
First she’s got to discover
Just how much she’s worth
She believes in the power of music
And keeps a journal for her thoughts
She’s seen too much and grown up too fast
But she’s got more strength than you could believe
And I know she’ll make it, she’ll fly
She’s got dreams of going to the moon
First she’s got to discover
Just how much she’s worth
She deserves a day without tears
And to let go of all her fears
I can’t wait for her to prove them wrong
She won’t get lost in the shuffle
She just needs someone to believe in her
Girl, believe in this
You’ll make it, You’ll fly

“never coming back”
It was only just now that I realized how much this is similar to Taylor Swift's "Back to December". Oops. This isn't about anyone in particular, it's just a common theme in my life that people tend to leave.

Don’t care until it’s too late,
Don’t care until you’re gone
And now you’re never coming back
Never coming back to me
I take the blame, this one’s on me
I could’ve had you back then
But I watched you walk away
I should have chased you
Cuz I knew you were never coming back
Never coming back to me
It’s all hitting me now
I’ll never look into those emerald eyes again
Oh how I wish I’d realized what I had
You were my everything, now you’re gone
And you said you’re never coming back
You’re never coming back to me
Why do I always do this?
I don’t care until it’s too late,
I don’t care until you’re gone
And now you’re never coming back
Never coming back to me
If I had one more chance
Just one more try to get it right
I promise you’d never want to leave
Oh, please come back to me


“The Boy In The Striped Shirt”

This is my favorite because of the way I wrote it. I had a ton of different phrases written down in my journal that I wanted to use for song lyrics. Rather than trying to come up with 6 different songs, I just mushed them all together, and this is what I got. I bolded the phrases that I had written down.

We were comfortable
That’s what you said the day you left
I’ve never known that to be negative
But I guess I got too close
I’m a lost cause without you
Weeping with the rain outside my window
Memories are chasing me out of sleep
And I have a drawer of lost things
I’ll put your picture there tonight
You know they warned me about you
They said watch for that boy
That boy in the striped shirt
He’s just the type to pack up and go
And he leaves a trail of destruction
But avoiding you was not that easy
I’ve never seen myself this weak
I’m a lost cause without you
Weeping with the rain outside my window
Memories are chasing me out of sleep
And I have a drawer of lost things
I’ll put your picture there tonight
I should have listened when they said
That boy in the striped shirt
His smile is a thorn to the heart
He’ll be gone by September
He’s just the type to pack up and go
Did anyone warn you about me
The girl in the
She falls fast, you see
And she’s just the type to stick around
So don’t you try to pack up and go
She’ll be a lost cause without you