2011 in Review

Pretty much the only regular thing on my blog anymore is my annual wrap-up.

Last year, I wrote this:

Overall, this year will go down as the year that the world screwed me. Life with Lauren was great, but almost every other aspect of my life seemed to fall apart. I’ve been left rethinking my career, rethinking friendships, and regretting way too much.

On the plus side, that means 2011 can ONLY get better, right? That’s how I’m viewing it.

It DID get better. It totally did. 2011 was everything 2010 wasn’t. I got a better job, I had some very rewarding theatrical experiences, I got a house, I perfected my pancake-making and pizza dough-making skills, the family members who cause the most drama in our lives decided to remove themselves…it was a near-perfect year. The only thing missing was a trip to Disneyland, and that will come soon.

Here are some of the things that made 2011 so great.

Favorite Personal Theatrical Experience: Seussical
I’ve wanted to play the role of Horton since I saw the touring production in 2003, and somebody finally gave me the opportunity to prove that I could. One review said I wasn’t a good singer (which I tend to agree with), but of the three reviews I got, they were all generally positive. One even said I was the best in the show. Hot diggity! Working with Dave Tinney was amazing, and it was an experience I’ll never forget. Little Women was nearly perfect, and was the best ever page-to-stage rendition of one of my concepts. And I cried every time I saw it, along with lots of other people in the audience, so that was rewarding. It was truly touching. Anthem would have been better (equity/SAG actors! talented people! no divas!) except I clashed with the composer.

Runners-Up: Little Women, Anthem

Least Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: NONE!
I only worked on three shows this year, and I regretted none.

Favorite Local Theatre Productions: The Drowsy Chaperone at HCTO
A) Dave Tinney is a genius
B) Brett Merritt is a genius
C) Marcie Jacobsen is fantastic
D) The rest of the cast was brilliant
E) I’ve never laughed so hard at a local theatre production

Runner-Up: Oklahoma at UVU

Favorite Movies: The Muppets, Winnie the Pooh
Two of my favorite things from childhood were resurrected and done well.

Runners-Up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Least Favorite Movie: Insidious, The Roommate, Super 8
All three started out interestingly, but the first became unbearably cheesy, the second became a less-fun Single White Female, and the latter became a less-fun E.T.

Runner-Up: None

Favorite Movie-Going Experience: None
We really didn’t see much in theaters this year.

Least Favorite Movie-Going Experience: Everything
We’ve become the crotchety old people who go to the movies and shush everyone around us and tell kids to put away their darn phones. It’s bad. Nobody has manners anymore.

Favorite New TV Addiction: Suburgatory, The New Girl
Both are just plain fun.

Runners-Up: Once Upon a Time

Least Favorite New TV Shows: Pretty much everything else we tried…
When did TV get so dumb?

Favorite SNL Sketch: Ranch Dressing, Captain Jack Sparrow
These are two of the ONLY things that really made me laugh on SNL this year. Remember how it used to be one of my favorite shows? I watch it mostly out of duty now. Although, every once in a while, there will be an episode like the one with Jimmy Fallon, that makes me grateful that I haven’t pulled the plug on it yet.

Favorite Album: Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger”
Not as good as her last, but definitely not as bad as her first. It’s probably the only album I’ve gotten this year that I’ve listened to more than once the first week I had it.

Least Favorite Album: Didn’t have one
I don’t recall severely disliking anything I got this year, but I really didn’t get much new music.

Favorite Trip: St. George w/ my family
It was a nice break. It was way too hot, but we spent most of our time indoors, shopping, eating, and enjoying each other’s company.

Runners-Up: Los Angeles for Anthem

Best Concert: OneRepublic at Rio Tinto
Granted, we only saw two concerts this year, and this was the lesser of two evils. The band was INCREDIBLE. We were really close. I was worried after seeing Ryan Tedder botch a couple of live performances on TV, but he rocked it. The only major issue was that they only played a few songs. The whole set was around a half hour. LAME. We were introduced to soccer beforehand, though, so that was fun.

Worst Concert: None.
Stadium of Fire with David Archuleta (who we don’t care for) and Brad Paisley (who we don’t like). The concert itself wasn’t great, but the fireworks were MUCH better this year. And we had great seats, thanks to my company’s owner, who is head of the Freedom Festival. I should start dropping hints of better (ie, not country or American Idol wannabes) artists to get this year…

Dear 2012, the bar has been set!

2010 in Review

Welcome to the third installment of my annual wrap up blog. Bet you thought I wasn’t going to do it since I SUCK at blogging lately! Well, surprise!

Overall, this year will go down as the year that the world screwed me. Life with Lauren was great, but almost every other aspect of my life seemed to fall apart. I’ve been left rethinking my career, rethinking friendships, and regretting way too much.

On the plus side, that means 2011 can ONLY get better, right? That’s how I’m viewing it.

Thank you for your friendship this year. It’s been a really hard one, and I really appreciate it. And if you were the source of any trouble, then when I have some free time in the near future, and I record a cover of a famous song by Cee-Lo Green, consider it dedicated to you!

Favorite Personal Theatrical Experience: Snoopy! the Musical
I taught at Meridian for one year before it suddenly closed the Thursday before the new school year. Out of all the shows and events I worked on there, this one was my favorite. It was with a small class, consisting of ONLY upper school kids who wanted to be there and were willing to work. We threw the whole musical together in roughly 4 weeks, with about 2 hours of rehearsal per school day, and yet the kids really pulled it off. War of the Worlds would have been my favorite, but some fellow cast members who weren’t invested took it down a notch. Same story with Dirty. I loved working with Chris again, but some members of the cast were egotistical and downright rude.

Runners-Up: The War of the Worlds, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Least Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: Willy Wonka
I just simply didn’t love doing this show. And I only did it for the money, which makes me a whore. I hated aspects of Fantastic Mr. Fox because of some nasty kids from my middle school class, but in the end, it turned out decent, and there were enough hard-working kids to make me proud.

Runner-Up: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Favorite Local Theatre Productions: 110 in the Shade at Hale Orem
Audra McDonald 4 feet in front of me. Brilliant supporting cast. Enough said.

Runner-Up: I really didn’t see much theatre this year, and NOTHING compared.

Favorite Movies: Inception, Toy Story 3, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
No need to elaborate. I just loved them.

Runners-Up: Paranormal Activity 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Tron: Legacy

Least Favorite Movie: Skyline
I’ve never hated a movie this much. I still can’t believe it exists. And Alice was boring, poorly acted, and the 3D gave me the only 3D-induced headache I’ve ever had.

Runner-Up: Alice in Wonderland

Favorite Movie-Going Experience: None
Nothing really stood out this year. Although, when we went to see Tron: Legacy, Lauren and I were super impressed with the dad who politely shushed his child when he tried to talk. Good for you! Way to start teaching children to not be awful.

Least Favorite Movie-Going Experience: Skyline with Lauren and my sister’s family
The movie itself was bad, but the annoying people who never shut up made it even worse.

Favorite New TV Addiction: Modern Family
I can’t believe I didn’t get into this until after the first season was over. We watched the entire season in three afternoons before season 2 premiered, and the quality has stayed consistent.

Runners-Up: Raising Hope, Ma’s Roadhouse
Honorable Mention: LoneStar

Least Favorite New TV Shows: Hawaii Five-O, No Ordinary Family, Running Wilde, Undercovers
We’ve given up on almost every new show we’ve tried to watch this year. Some of them lasted a month, most lasted a couple episodes. They were just all so lame. Hawaii lasted the longest of these, Family the shortest.

Favorite SNL Sketch: 1920s Party
It was the most quotable, anyway. SNL has really gone downhill this year. I skip through more than I watch anymore.

Favorite Album: Bruno Mars’s “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”
This is the only new album I got this year that I’ve been able to listen to straight-through more than once. It’s not as offensive as a lot of music I’ve heard lately, and it’s just so darn infectious. I will never tire of hearing “Just the Way You Are.”

Least Favorite Album: Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas II You”
She’s ruined her voice. And now she’s ruined “Christmas Time Is Here,” which might be my favorite Christmas song. And she made a sex jam about the Baby Jesus. And her mother has AWFUL teeth.

Favorite Trip: Disneyland with Lauren
Good times. Not too busy. Did everything we wanted to do, including many firsts for me (Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The Blue Bayou, Innoventions, etc.).

Runners-Up: St. George for theatre teacher’s conference, Disneyland with Lauren’s family

Favorite Class: Upper School Drama
After a first trimester with too many kids who wanted easy A’s, I was able to weed it down to just kids that wanted to be there. And it was GREAT. So much fun to teach.

Least Favorite Class: Middle School Drama
Too many kids, and most of them had bad attitudes. I gave multiple F’s, and no kids or parents even tried to fix them when they knew that’s what was coming. That’s messed up.

Best Concert: Paul McCartney
Dream come true. A Beatle in person. And he performed for almost three hours straight. BRILLIANT. Loved every minute. And sharing it with Lauren, Teri & Bristol was great.

Worst Concert: Stadium of Fire with Carrie Underwood
Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike Carrie Underwood? Well, it’s a whole lot. And when the fireworks show afterward sucked, it made it so it was even less worth sitting through.

Here’s to an amazing 2011!

Random Photo Memories

Remember that one summer, when my hair was mysteriously turning blonde, and then I later found out that it was being bleached by a nasty face wash? And then remember how I got to meet Jim Brickman and hang out with him backstage because of the fact that we have a mutual good friend named Diane? And then remember how months later, I remembered to ask Diane for a copy of the pictures she took of me with him, and suddenly I remembered the awful blonde hair fiasco? UGH.

And then remember that one time how Stephanie took awesome engagement photos of Lauren and me, and Matt was our special guest for the shoot?

And then remember that one time that we took Nick to the Haunted Forest for his 16th birthday and I had glowing gum? And how Nick & Phil were a little scared?

How about the time that I took my awesome friend, Shane, to Little Shop of Horrors, and he loved it? And how he said he even loved it as much as High School Musical – which is a LOT for Shane.

Or when I FINALLY got to hold my new niece after a month of being busy/sick, and I naturally tried to see if I could eat her?

Or! Or! When David and I went spider-hunting and captured/killed one to protect our womenfolk?!

Remember how I used to make food all the time, and was really good at making sorbet? And how everyone who ever tried it loved it (except for when I tried making chocolate sorbet & lemon sorbet – stupid Martha Stewart)?

Do you remember how Amesily got married, and Julie, Heidi, Kyle, Chase, Janessa and I were the most fun people at the whole event?

Yep. I remember all those things, too.

The Year of Concerts Comes To an End

When you use the word “to” in a title, do you capitalize it? I’ve found info on the net saying yes AND no. Oh, well.

Last night, Lauren and I went to see Mat Kearney. If you recall, I like him a whole lot. I’ve liked him for years – before he was on Grey’s Anatomy or whatever made him popular.

I hadn’t planned on going, mainly because it was general admission in a club. But, my love of his music (the non-rapping songs, anyway) and the fact that tickets were only $15 convinced me to suck it up.

The show was supposed to start at 7:30, and we didn’t get there until just after that. I had heard that there would be an opening act, and I wasn’t too thrilled about rushing up there to suffer through yet one more awful opening band this year. We found our spots on the floor (not too bad, considering the show should have been starting right then) and waited.

The opening band, Vedera, didn’t take the stage until after 8. By that time, I was getting annoyed. My back does not like me to stand in one place too long, and my mild claustrophobia doesn’t like me to stand in crowded rooms for too long. Plus, this meant Mat Kearney wouldn’t take the stage until at least 9, and we were in for a late night.

As soon as Vedera started to play, my orneriness subsided. They were GREAT! I really liked their stuff. Lauren did, too. We decided that we were getting their album, which I did tonight. Love it.

Crazy dancing girl liked them, too.

We first were introduced to her during the pre-show music. She has got to be one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen. She was “dancing” to the music, but was TOTALLY offbeat. Probably the most rhythmically challenged movement of all time. Then, the most insane thing happened. She started clapping to the music, and her claps were right on the beat – WHILE her body was grooving to its own rhythm. CRAZY!!!! I asked Lauren to pose for a weirded-out picture so I could get a shot of Crazy without being obvious, but right as I snapped it, she jerked mostly out of the frame.

See her off to the right there? CRAZY.

Anyway, we both loved Vedera, and I was actually a little bummed when they ended their set. Lauren was a good sport, too, when the singer kept making eye contact with me, especially during the slow songs. It probably didn’t help that right before she started looking at me, I had commented on how cute and spunky she was. Oops. Lauren said she wasn’t jealous, though. Best fiancée ever.

During the break after Vedera, we were introduced to people such as Whiny-Nasally-Voiced-Too-Short-Abercrombie-Model-Wannabe, who almost knocked Lauren down by trying to shove his way closer to the stage, and his friends – including Crazy Dancer. We were also introduced to a weird middle-aged couple who kept plugging their ears during the loud concert music. Oh, and the husband took his shoes off and was standing around in his socks on the nasty club floor. I thought Lauren was going to puke.

After a break that was MUCH too long, Mat Kearney took the stage. He was amazing. I was having a hard time standing around. My back was KILLING me. But it was worth it. Although, Mat was probably one of the most irritating artists when it came to my pet peeve of mentioning the name of the city where you’re playing. He not only mentioned Salt Lake over and over, but inserted it into several songs, and even improvised a rap about Salt Lake. UGH. White rap + city name dropping = annoyed Jeremy.

The concert was still amazing, though. The encore ended with a cover of Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” for which Mat brought Vedera onstage again to perform with his band. It was a great ending to the show and a great finale to my year of amazing concerts. I doubt I’ll ever have another year where I see this many concerts again, and that’s okay. I’m getting too old for it, anyway. Too much standing makes me feel like an old grandpa. But at least I keep my shoes on.

I’m Human, She’s Dancer

Last week, Lauren and I went to the Killers concert at the E Center.

It was FANTASTIC. I tweeted several times throughout the night, so I’ll include my tweets in this blog, too.

Matt and David carpooled with us, but they braved general admission, so they didn’t sit with us at the concert.

The evening began with a lovely dinner at Carl’s Jr. I had a tasty burger, as did Lauren – because it looked “safe.” Matt ate a low-carb burger, which was a burger wrapped in lettuce. He was craving carbs afterward, though, and ALMOST ate half of a bun that we had found in the flowerbed outside. I don’t remember what David ate, but I don’t really care, because he brought up the subject of my dancing in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

We got to the E Center and parked the car. On our way in, we saw a car parked very crookedly, with a message on the back window.

We were dying, and Matt insisted I take a picture. (You’re welcome, Matt!)

We got inside with plenty of time for the subpar opening act. Matt and David were in the middle of the floor, and we were on the second row just to the left of the stage. Pretty decent seats.

(Tweet: There's a girl in the opening band for Killers that looks just like my third grade teacher, Mrs. Nielsen. 7:32 PM Sep 26th)

At this point, I noticed that the guy in front of us had an iPhone, and it looked like he was on Twitter. I’m not usually that nosy (lie) but I thought “Hey, that guy he’s looking at on Twitter and pointing out to the girl with him looks like me. WAIT A MINUTE! That IS me!” I leaned forward, and saw that he had done a search on Twitter for “Killers” and turned up my profile because of my previous tweet. It was freaky. The guy got really annoying, though. He tweeted even more than I did that night.

The opening band was really lame, and they kept trying to be preachy. One of their songs had a really lame title, which they sang repeatedly, so of course I had to tweet in reference to the song “Listen to the Beat Come Down Like a Stone, So You Better Run, Run for Cover.” (That may not be the EXACT title, but you’d be surprised at how close it really is.)

(Tweet: I'm listening to the beat come down like a stone. And I really want to run. Run for cover. 7:50 PM Sep 26th)

After the opening act, there was a long intermission before Mariachi el Bronx took the stage.

At first, I was intrigued. It was a mariachi band that kind of rocked. After a couple songs, I was losing interest.

(Tweet: Done with mariachi. Killers now, please. 8:37 PM Sep 26th)

Then, the lead singer started spouting choice four-letter words. At one point, he had said enough of them that I turned to Lauren and told her that the concert was officially R-rated by MPAA standards.

One interesting thing about the concert was the audience. There were a lot of families there. Originally, I thought it was weird. Then, when the guy was swearing so much, I was kind of bugged, and I told Lauren that we were never bringing our kids to concerts like that. There were also typical concert-goers, including the woman whose tank-top was BARELY staying on. Lauren and I voted that nobody should wear tops like that- especially if they’re that large. I took a picture of her with the intent of posting it on my blog, but I’m going to be nicer and not post it here. It’s on my phone if you want to see it, though. :)

(Tweet: Pretty sure Hell's soundtrack consists of mariachi artists who think they're bad a. 8:41 PM Sep 26th)

Then, the coolest thing happened. The guy was swearing and trying to get praise, and people booed him. The guy got TICKED and said “You got a problem with us? It takes a lot of guts to get up here and play mariachi for your asses, so respect it!!!”

I thought I was going to die. I was laughing HARD. I had to text myself the exact quote for blogging purposes.

When they were FINALLY done, we had another long wait before The Killers finally came out. They opened with a really strong song (it wasn’t one I know really well) and then started the first four notes of the guitar riff from “Human.” Suddenly, Brandon stopped the rest of the band and said they had to clear the stage. He told us they’d be back. Some guy came out and said they were experiencing technical difficulties, and they would start again in 5 minutes.

(Tweet: RT @MatthewGSmith: Technical difficulties. Brandon and co had to leave the stage. Something dangerous? 9:28 PM Sep 26th)

After much longer than 5 minutes, they came back out and started “Human” again. They were BRILLIANT. And they played a nice, lengthy set, which made up for the crap. In fact, I didn’t tweet again the rest of the night because I was so entertained.

Throughout the Killers, I was blown away by how many of the middle-aged dads AND their kids were rocking out. I was really touched that they were able to share such a fun experience. I told Lauren that our kids ARE going to come to shows like this after all, because I’m going to take them. However, I don’t rock out and mosh like some of the dads…

After the show, Matt tried to lead us to my car, and he led us astray. I think it was due to a lack of carbs in his diet. David and I won the prize for finding the car, which we all then sat in for at least a half hour trying to get out of the parking lot. People are stupid.

We finally got out of there and eventually made it home.

It was an amazing concert, and a nice end to (*drumroll*) THE YEAR OF CONCERTS. I started trying to work out a ranking in my head for all the concerts I’ve seen this year, and then I decided to buy tickets for Mat Kearney’s return to SLC later this month, so THAT will have to be the end of (*drumroll*) THE YEAR OF CONCERTS. However, as of right now:

#1) The Fray with Jack’s Mannequin
#2) The Killers
#3) Keane with Mat Kearney
#4) Kelly Clarkson
#5) Rascal Flatts
#6) Jim Brickman
#7) Lonestar

I’m ranking strictly by show alone, and NOT the company I was keeping or the crappy people surrounding us that almost ruined them. Otherwise, Jim Brickman would be #1 because that was mine and Lauren’s first official(ish) date…

I’m glad I’ve had such an amazing year for concerts, and probably doubt I ever will again. Usually shows keep me from attending this many. But I’ve had my fill for a while – or at least until I have pre-teens of my own to take and corrupt with foul-mouthed mariachi bands.

August 5, 2009

Dear Blogary,

I feel like we haven’t talked forever. And forever is WAY too long. I’ve had an amazing month, full of so much cool stuff!

First of all, there’s this super cute girl who I like a whole lot. Like a whole, whole, whole lot. Her name is Lauren. We’ve spent as much time as possible with each other the last month, and I hope we get to spend a lot of time together over the next month. And the next one. And the next one… I like her for lots of reasons. Here are a few:

• She’s hot. Even my 6 year old nephew agrees.
• She’s really smart, even though she says she’s not and pretends she’s not sometimes.
• She’s talented. She can dance real good, and she can sing real good, too.
• She brings me Dr. Pepper some mornings when I’m tired.
• She’s getting over her severe dislike of scary movies in order to watch them with me.
• She’s good at hugging and stuff…
• She’s into religion and stuff.
• She’s getting into Friends with me.
• She comes to church with me sometimes and then she wastes her Sunday afternoon/evening with me, when I’m sure she has better things to do.
• She’s never once tried to control my car stereo.

That’s enough for now. I don’t want to make you jealous, Blogary.

I also have a show running right now. It’s called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and it’s playing at the SCERA Shell. Here are some reviews/write-ups:

http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/article_93ec55c7-7c60-5d51-b792-39bf91ea8f95.html

http://universe.byu.edu/node/1211

http://media.www.uvureview.com/media/storage/paper982/news/2009/08/03/Culture/Welcome.To.Fabulous.Egypt-3753762.shtml

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705320918/Joseph-good-but-he-needs-a-better-technicolor-coat.html

I’m getting ready to start another show called Little Shop of Horrors at the Hale Theater in Orem. Auditions are next week. I’m excited!

I’ve been teaching youth theatre workshops to kids and teenagers this summer, and it’s fun. When else can I find excuses to have kids perform scenes from Night of the Living Dead and Cash on Delivery, and songs from The Happiest Millionaire and Der Glockner von Notre Dame?

My favorite part of summer workshops so far was taking the acting class on a field trip to Macey’s. They had to spend 15-20 minutes shopping in character. It was really fun to see kids trying to stay in character in a public setting. The best part was the girl who was playing a shy character. She looked like she was going to die every time somebody tried to talk to her. When she was making a purchase at the end, the checker looked horrified as Lauren and I were giggling at “Annelle.” She made a valiant effort to pull “Annelle” out of her shell, but it didn’t work. The class did an awesome job!

I’m not really having any luck finding a job, but I’m not too upset. If I have a year off of teaching, I’ll live. I’ll just have to fill it with tons and tons of recording and show work.

I’ve been teaching Gospel Doctrine in Church, and it’s kind of fun. I try to do something different every time I teach, and so far, it seems to be keeping people on their toes and focused. It’s kinda fun.

My friend, Amber, took new headshots of me, and I like some of them a great deal.

Right now, this very second, there is the most insane thunder outside the window! I’m going to go see if it’s raining…

I can’t tell if it’s raining or not. I’ll check again when I’m done talking to you, Blogary.

I went to an AMAZING concert a few weeks ago. It was the Fray, with Meese and Jack’s Mannequin opening.

Holy crap! Lightning just struck RIGHT BY MY HOUSE!!! Also, it’s definitely raining now. I can hear it.

Back to the concert. I still am not a fan of Meese. I hope the Fray can find a new opening act the next time they come. Jack’s Mannequin was pretty good, and of course, the Fray was AMAZING. It was general admission, and we had really good spots. We didn’t really fight with anyone, but a family near us did. Teri and I took their side, and I kind of laid smackdown when a bratty teenage girl almost trampled a poor tween.

I went to the new Harry Potter at midnight with Teri, etc. We wore matching shirts that said “Show me your patronus.” They were AWESOME. We got lots of compliments. The next day, I wanted to die. I didn’t get to bed until almost 5, and then I had to be up by 8. I decided I’m too old for midnight movies. And yet, I’m taking Lauren’s brothers to G.I. Joe this week. Ugh. At least I can sleep in Friday.

I think that’s about it for now, Blogary. Now you’re caught up. I’m going to let you get on with your life now, and I’ll get on with me. We’ll talk again soon, hopefully.

Love,
Jeremy

Somewhere Only We Know

Tuesday night, I got to go see Mat Kearney and Keane at Kingsbury Hall. It was a night full of adventure with trains, gypsies, and Hanson!

We started the evening late. It was Matt’s fault, and I made sure to remind him every chance I got. He met me 15 minutes later than he was supposed to, meaning we were 15 minutes late picking up Kevin & Mindi, 15 minutes late to dinner, and 15 minutes late to the actual concert. Darn Matt. Darn him to Heck.

Kevin (I believe) came up with the idea to go eat at the Gateway and then take Trax to campus for the show. We went to dinner at Z’Tejas, and it was MUCH better than I remembered it. With our bloated stomachs, we hobbled our way to the Trax station. I played “that creepy guy on Trax” during the ride. We learned in the middle of our trip that once you head up to campus, you leave the free ride zone. Oops!

When we got to Kingsbury, the show had already started. Luckily, it was some boring opening act. After them, there was a brief break, and then Mat came out. Holy crud, I love that guy’s music. He played a nice, lengthy set with most of my favorite songs from his first album and a handful of stuff from the new one, out next week.

Our seats weren’t the best, but we could hear everything pretty well, and I wasn’t deaf the next day like I was after Rascal Flatts.

During Mat’s set, a couple came in and sat in front of Matt and me. The girl had shoulder-length blonde hair, and the guy had spiky hair, and when they bobbed their heads, he looked eerily like a bobble head. When the lights came up after Mat, SURPRISE! Blondie was a guy! From the back, he looked just like a woman in the dark, and JUST like a Hanson brother in the light.

We were laughing our heads off, so of course we had to share with Mindi and Kevin. When Mindi got a text telling her to turn around (she was about 5 rows directly in front of us), the sweet, British, middle-aged couple next to Matt and me saw her, and they started laughing, too. They laughed when they saw Matt taking a picture of them, too.

Keane finally came out, and they were INCREDIBLE. Even better than the last time they were here. They played a great mix of songs from their three albums. I was a little bitter that they didn’t play my favorite song, “Snowed Under,” but I’ll live. The Hanson couple LOVED Keane. They knew every word and sang along (so did the British guy). The spiky-haired one would get so excited that he would randomly grab the other, like a little kid on Christmas. They also had some “moves” that they did in sync (it was reminiscent of Ross & Monica Gellar’s “routine”). You know those couples that are so cute, it’s sickening? That was them. I was video-taping some of the songs on my phone, and I couldn’t see the stage very well, so instead, I got them rocking out. Funny stuff.

Back to Keane. The lead singer, Tom Chaplin, was a ball of energy. He was bouncing all over the place. Is it any wonder (ha!) that he’s lost so much weight? They ended up playing for almost two hours. AMAZING. Between them and Mat Kearney, we more than got our money’s worth.

After the show, we headed to the Trax station at the stadium, which was deserted. I checked the schedule, and oops! Whaddya know. We missed the last train by almost a half hour. We all harassed Kevin for having the idea for Trax, when my original suggestion was to park at the stadium.

Kevin called two cabs, and finally, one of them got there. It was driven by a gypsy woman, who I officially named “Rosetta.”

We eventually made it to the Gateway, bid Rosetta farewell, retrieved my car, and went home.

It was a better show than Rascal Flatts, so that gives me hope that each concert I go to this year will be progressively better. Up next, Kelly. Then Jim Brickman, The Fray, and The Killers. I love this year for music.

Rosetta, if you’re out there, thanks for rescuing us! Hanson & friend, you guys were hysterical – thanks for the laughs. And since I’m pretty sure Mat Kearney and Keane read my blog, you guys were GREAT. Come back to Utah soon, please.

Life Is a Highway

Teri and I had a lot of fun at the Rascal Flatts concert on Thursday night. It was the perfect first Rascal Flatts concert for me, because it was a “greatest hits” tour.

The night started with dinner from mine and Teri’s favorite fast food place, Carl’s Jr. We went to one in Murray, which had the slowest drive-up line of all time. I got my $6 burger eventually, though, so it was all good. (Sidenote: remember when the point of the $6 burger was that it was the quality of a restaurant burger without the actual $6 price tag? Now that they cost that much, shouldn’t they change the name?)

We proceeded to the Energy Solutions Arena, and we found a GREAT parking lot less than a block away that only cost $5. Since it was passed the Arena, I think most people didn’t know about it.

We walked across the street to the Arena, and there were TONS of people gathered outside. Two country radio stations were blasting out crappy music (Rascal and Lonestar are about the only country I like) and having contests. I dared Teri to walk up to them and say “This is Larry H. Miller’s viewing, right?” but she wouldn’t. CHICKEN!

We made our way inside and found our seats, which were pretty decent, and they were on an aisle, which is great for leg room, and for making sure you don’t have anyone weird next to you. Unless you’re not the person right on the aisle. Hehe. Poor Teri was stuck next to some girl and her boyfriend, and neither one of them had any concept of personal space or how to behave in public. The girl kept crowding Teri, and she would take her jacket on and off and lean on Teri every time she did. They walked over us probably 10 times over the night, and every time, the guy (who was little and scrawny, and DWARFED by his girlfriend) would say “Sorry, bro. Last time, I swear.” They REEKED of cigarette smoke, and every time they walked by, I longed for a can of Febreeze (vanilla scent, maybe). The girl’s hair looked like some kind of abstract painting that is best viewed while on drugs. During the concert, they actually started making out. I almost got a picture of it, but decided that was almost as rude as they were, so I refrained. I DID get this picture of her butt, though, just for blog’s sake. You can kind of see the guy behind her, wearing his Michael Vick jersey. KLASSY!

Don’t give all of your sympathy to Teri, though. There were two HUGE women in front of me. You know that smell when morbidly obese people get bacteria between their rolls, and they don’t clean it out very well? Imagine two people who smell like that, crammed into small seats at the hot Arena, sitting right in front of you. Now imagine that every time they shift in their seats, the smell gets kicked up (this also includes when they start waving their fists in the air and yelling “Rascal Flatts”). Also, imagine that when one gets up to go somewhere, she leans over you as she tries to steady herself going up the steps, and you get her armpit right in your face. Teri had Smokey the Bear, but I had his cousins Stinky and Stanky.

Before the concert, they had some company that was sponsoring a contest to get backstage passes to meet the band. All you had to do was text a message to a certain number, and then it would be displayed on huge screens at the arena. I sent 4 messages over and over, and 3 made it up to the screen multiple times. The first message didn’t get up there once. I thought it was the funniest one. The one that made it up the most was “I totally kick booty on Me and My Gang on Guitar Hero!” (which got several chuckles when it went up the first time) followed by “I taught my little youth theatre kids Life Is a Highway and they LOVED singing and dancing to it. Such a blast!” The other one that made it up was stupid, and the original message was about how I’d stolen my date from a guy named Jared. (Teri’s coworkers were teasing her about her “date” with me that night, and her boss referred to me as “Jared.”)

The opening act was Jessica Simpson. Remember almost 10 years ago when I had a major crush on her? And then she married Nick Lachey, and we all found out how dumb she was? I wish I had seen her 10 years ago, but not this week. Her country music sucks. And it’s mostly a bastardized hybrid of country and Christian. She was wearing ridiculously short Daisy Dukes (ha!), probably in an effort to prove she’s not fat after the “mom jeans” scandal. However, if you’re trying to prove that you’re not fat, you should probably not wear a top that is so big it could have fit one of the ladies in front of me. She looked like she was trying to hide a pregnancy or something. Tent on top, miniscule cutoffs on bottom. Weird.

Rascal Flatts was awesome. They talked a little too much for my taste, and a lot of their jokes were stupid (ie, Jay’s rant about rednecks in Utah), but I loved their performance. My biggest pet peeve about their set was that they found a way to work either “Utah” or “Salt Lake” into almost every single one of their songs. I hate it when artists do that. Do I really need a reminder of where I am? It does not give me a thrill to hear you say my home state or capital when you’re singing for me. Just sing the original lyrics – unless you’re Jessica Simpson, and you forget the original lyrics….that you wrote…

Overall, the concert was not the best one I’ve ever attended, but it was definitely not the worst, either. One of the funniest things was how Teri and I are so NOT part of the core audience of Rascal Flatts. I described us to Stephanie as “A teacher and his off-duty lunchlady sidekick in a sea of white trash.”

This year may even top 2007 as my best year for concerts, and Rascal Flatts started it out well. Up next, Mat Kearney & Keane, followed by…KELLY CLARKSON!!!

These Days

I was thinking the other day about how all I ever blog about anymore is student teaching. This could lead one to get the impression that I don't have a life outside of student teaching. That impression would be correct.

I have done a LITTLE bit outside of student teaching in the last month and a half. Let's see how much I can remember:

I went on a trip to St. George and Las Vegas with my family in January. My brother-in-law, Mike, and my nephew, Braden, were running in the St. George half-marathon, so we went to support them. Then we went down to Sin City for a couple days. Everybody seemed to get along pretty well, and I bought some cool new hats (my family seems to think that the best part of vacation is shopping), and lots of new "teacher" clothes. I'm getting a sweater vest collection that would cause Chandler Bing to be jealous.

I had a birthday (in St. George, actually). I feel really old. I got some great presents, though. And my sister's family broke into our hotel room (okay, so maybe they got a key from the front desk, no questions asked - CREEPY) and decorated it all out in birthday balloons and streamers.

Chess came and went, and it was incredible. We got a LOT of positive feedback, and some nasty feedback as well. I can't remember being more proud of a show, and I went as much as I could. I'm having major withdrawals now. Dave Tinney told me to call my sponsor and get them to help me through it, and recommended repeating "Chess is not stronger than I am." It's hard, though! I loved that show.

I've been playing the acting role of a lifetime. Not really, but it's kind of fun. In December, part of my stake presidency approached me and asked me to help with ward conferences this year. They're going around to each ward and giving a presentation on Alma 30 to each group of young men/women. They wanted someone to act as Korihor and someone to act as Alma to reenact the classic battle of words. It's kind of creepy when a member of your stake presidency tells you that you'd "make a good Korihor." Being the slave of duty that I am, I agreed to do it. I helped them with the concept (they originally wanted period costumes, among other weird ideas) and I helped pick the Alma. I've been going to the different wards, and it goes something like this:

• Member of stake presidency starts talking about Church-related things
• I start laughing in the back of the room
• People start getting uncomfortable, unsure of who I am
• SP member asks if I have a problem
• I say I do, stand up, and take the floor from him
• I totally attack the Church and many beliefs of the Church, comparing Korihor's arguments to modern-day issues
  
• Kids are caught off-guard, but gradually catch on
• Some of the adults FLIP and are about ready to leap out of their chairs and give me a piece of their collective mind
• Alma argues with me
• I demand a sign that God exists
• SP member steps up and saves me before it gets TOO heated

Fun, eh? Apparently, I'm not doing to bad. Some of the people have really freaked out. One girl said that I "scared the crap out of" her. One lady had to hold down her friend, because the friend freaked out and was ready to claw my eyes out. Playing an anti-Christ is fun! (Mostly.)

I've also been doing a lot of relaxing lately. By the time I've taught school 5 days in a row, with piano lessons or youth theatre afterward every day, I'm spent. My Saturdays are full of working and teaching piano, too. Fridays and Saturdays I've been too exhausted to even leave the house very much. This is good, though. I'm getting to bed earlier than usual some nights, and I'm catching up on my Blu-Ray collection.

Another "relaxing" thing I've started doing is watching Lost from the beginning. It's been 3 years since I've seen the first 2 seasons, and now that it's giving out answers and recalling previous information all the time, I thought it was a good idea. So, I introduced my sister, Emily, my niece, Kaylee, and my nephews Braden and Jason to the show. They're hooked already. We're going a weekly Lost night, and if people don't keep up due to silly things like Academy Awards, they have to catch up on their own time with the Internet. I forgot how amazing Lost was right from the get-go. However, it's a little frustrating to patiently wait for certain storylines and characters to come into the picture. Not gonna lie- I miss my Juliet.

I'm now harboring not one, but TWO internet crushes. Ugh. It's a disgusting double-standard. I'm totally opposed to meeting people over the Internet and hooking up with them in reality, but if you've met a girl in person, it's TOTALLY okay to secretly pine after her by reading her blog and/or Facebook page. It's also okay to have conversations with her online on a regular basis. Just not if you don't know her in person. Judge me all you want, but at least I know these two girls aren't really hairy, middle-aged men who have a thing for artsy, nerdy guys in their 20s. Now if I could just find time (without cutting into my relaxing or Lost time) to actually ask them out in person... *sigh* It will happen, though. The next time I see one, I'm totally going for it.

That's about it. I guess I really haven't been doing THAT much other than student teaching. At least teaching hasn't TOTALLY consumed my life yet, though.

Oh, one more thing - this blog post's namesake. This Thursday, Teri and I are going to Rascal Flatts. Some people have questioned if Teri is dragging me there. However, it's time for me to come clean. I freaking love Rascal Flatts. In fact, I'M dragging Teri there. Our seats aren't the best, but I don't care. I haven't been to a good concert in a while (Hello, Fray! Time to stop touring Australasia and get your butts back here), and concerts are always best when you're surrounded by drunk cowboys.

Where Has the Summer Gone?

At the beginning of the summer, I had a huge list of projects I wanted to get done before school started again. Out of at least 10 massive projects, I only ended up getting a couple of them done. Oh, well. At least I got to go on a real vacation. And I earned enough money to buy a Playstation 3, a new phone, and some other fun stuff.

High School Musical is turning into one of the most frustrating shows I've ever worked on. The kids cannot shut up. Granted, there are some good ones, but some among 80 is not that many. I haven't raised my voice at a cast since I was an immature teenager music directing way before I was ready to. With this show, it seems like every rehearsal I have to yell at least a few times. And some of the kids are so irresponsible it makes me furious. Out of a group of 15 or so, only a few brought their music to rehearsal yesterday. And the ones that didn't bring any music didn't know the song we were working on. Luckily, we're halfway there, time-wise. The music is all taught, so assuming they can remember it from here on out, I just have to do polishing at this point.

Our youth theatre musical workshop this month was fun. We had two groups. The oldest was ages 12-18, and the youngest was 7-11 (and completely made up of girls). With the oldest group, we did "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray and "Can't Help Falling in Love" from All Shook Up. With the youngest, we did "I Will Follow Him" from Sister Act and "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" from Hairspray. It was a blast.

Speaking of youth theatre, this fall, we're starting a new group. We're so popular this year that we're completely full- AFTER adding space in each group. We had a big enough waiting list that we decided to add a second day of classes each week, where we'll be working with 6-9 year-olds (again, mostly girls). I'm stoked.

The Fray concert was incredible. They were much more fun and joked around with the audience more than the last time I saw them. They did several new songs, too, instead of just playing everything from their album.

The Oregon trip was nice. It really did feel like a vacation. Complete with my dad pissing off everybody and arguing with everyone. It was JUST like old times. :)

School starts in 3 days. Guh. I'm not excited at all. Oh, well. In a year and a half, I should have a degree. However, the director I clashed with during O, Pioneers! is going to be one of my professors again this semester AND next. I'm not looking forward to that. And the department is only doing one musical this year, and based on what I've read of it and heard of the music, I don't like it. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get stuck working on it when there are so many other plays I could do this year to earn my scholarship.

I've been trying to keep up with my goal of watching movies this summer. I saw The Invasion last night. MUCH better than I expected. I also saw The Bourne Ultimatum this week- which was INCREDIBLE. And on the DVD/Blu-Ray front, I saw Night at the Museum, Fracture and Bridge to Terabithia this week. I enjoyed them all immensely.

On Thursday, I saw Anastasia and Brady for the first time in a couple years. Stasia and I had been planning it for a couple months. I was the only one who knew when they got back to the states. Teri, Bristol, Kimber, and I went to Stephanie's house and left to go to PF Chang's. On the way, I asked if we could stop at Best Buy- where Stasia and Brady were waiting. We went back into the CDs to look around and Stasia was browsing through CDs. Teri and I saw her right away, but Stephanie and Kimber were totally oblivious. When Stephanie finally realized that it was Stasia she yelled "HOLY S***!!!" right in the middle of Best Buy. It was great.

One of the hardest things about school for me last year was the limited amount of time I had to see friends. Luckily, I've been able to spend time with a lot of my good friends the last little while before the summer officially ends. In addition to seeing everyone on Thursday, last night I got to spend time with Matt, Mindi, and Kevin. Tonight, I spent time with Lindsay. Adam came over and recorded with me for a while the other day. Robbie and Sarah came and played with me and EmDab last weekend. Heather, Wendy, and their husbands came over last weekend as well. I'm lucky to have so many good friends.

I'm getting tired and I'm starting to ramble, so I'm going to end the blog now. Thanks for reading.

If you haven't already seen this, you must watch it. Robbie & Sarah introduced me and EmDab to it last weekend: