What a "flaming" disappointment...

It is currently 4:23 and I cannot sleep. We went to the Flaming Lips concert tonight, and it was horrible. Probably one of the worst shows I've been to in a while. I need to write a bit about it, but I'm exhausted and can't concentrate (the litter boxes smell and it's distracting me....I am NOT cleaning litter boxes at 4AM, that's where I draw the line). More tomorrow.

Only 10 feet away....

So, tonight was my first Michael Franti concert.

Okay, let me back up. Michael Franti and Spearhead is honestly one of my favorite bands of all time. He not only has good music (a mixture of funk, reggae, rap and blues), but he has incredible lyrics. This is a major point for me when considering a band (of course it is, I write and am an English teacher). If an artist cannot write poignant, thought-provoking lyrics that discuss not simply their personal lives, but social and political issues as well, it is hard for me to fully support them. Franti does all of these things so amazingly well (up until the album "All Rebel Rockers", but I digress), and was one of the greatest concerts I have ever been to.

The festival was the McDowell Mountain Music Festival out in Scottsdale, and we arrived, not really knowing what to expect. Hot Tuna went on at 7:00, and we plodded in around 7:30. It was incredibly quiet for a festival (well, any festival we had been to), and seemed so very quaint. Hot Tuna finished about 20 minutes before Franti, so we headed up toward the front of the stage. Literatlly, there were probably about 500 people there, and only about 1/3 of them were in front by the stage! We were able to stand 10 feet from the front of the stage, and could have been closer, if it weren't for my strange neurosis about crowd's of people.

The show started and at first, everyone was cool and pretty chilled out. Franti's crowd is typically just a bunch of pot-smoking hippies, which are typically the most easy-going, chilled out people in the world! However, at the very beginning, there was a couple of rich kids from Scottsdale that were coked out or SOMETHING. They were completely out of control and ruining things for everyone. They were dancing and spinning and literally knocking people over as they were doing it! Everyone was frustrated, when the guy (probably about 23) knocked me over for the third or fourth time and I finally looked at him and said, "You guys need to chill out. You're ruining this for everyone!"

"You just need to cool down and have a litte fun, everyone else is having a good time. You're just too high strung," came his response. Oooooh..my blood began to boil.
"Seriously, someone is going to get hurt if you guys don't chill out." To which he started getting up in my face, and I switched right into full-on Forster teacher mode. It was actually frightening how quickly that happened. I squared up to him, and said "You need to back off."
"Oooh, I'm scared. What are you going to do to me?"
"You need to back off." Long pause. "Back off."

Amazingly enough, he did. He cooled off and didn't bother anyone the rest of the night. Eric told me after the show that people were actually really glad that I said something. I was a little nervous while I was doing it, but in all honesty, what is he going to do, hit me? There were at least 5 guys standing behind me that would have taken him out, he would have gotten kicked out of the show, and I would have pressed charges. I almost wish he would have hit me :-) It would have made for an even better show *chuckling*. Boy, I sure can attract em!

All in all, it was an absolutely incredible evening. I don't think I have ever been that close in a show before. No, I am wrong. We were that close at George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, sitting behind a gang in black leather with "Satan's Helpers" sewed on their black vests. No kidding. Surprisingly enough, they were the friendliest people at that show, and they definitely had our back if needed! I digress...again. Franti is an amazing performer, and his music is incredible. If you don't have his albums, I would highly suggest "Yell Fire," or "Everyone Deserves Music." I have listened to these two albums more than any other put together. The show definitely did not disappoint.

Feeling like a mother . . .

Every so often there comes a day when I feel like a motherless child. Kidding, when I feel like the mother of literally 85 children. One of those days when everyone is demanding my attention, when everyone can't live or function without me, where everyone is screaming at me at the same time! While this may seem like a wonderful ego boost, I would beg to differ. It is probably one of the most exhausting experiences I have as a teacher. This barrage of demands usually begins when the weather starts to warm up, when everyone is feeling like it's the end of school and when they simply cannot focus on one single thing for more than 20 seconds at a time. This also becomes the time of year when I feel like I spend more of my time in the hallway having "the talk" then I do actually teaching my class. I suppose it is simply par for the course when teaching 12 and 13 year olds, but it honestly just wears me out.

One is silver and the other is gold . . .

Do you remember that little song that you learned when you were five? "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold." That song keeps going over and over in my head tonight. I had a conversation with a very dear friend tonight, and it just reminded me of how very much I miss my friends. There is something to be said about those who know you the best. I love my new friends, but there is a sense of comfort to be found with those at home, which I have yet to reach in my new home.

I really dont' know what it was about today. Maybe the stress from school, maybe watching Sex and the City, maybe the stress at home . . . maybe just everything combined. I miss having conversations about things other than our kids, or the stupid people at work, or the crazy shit that happened that day. I want to have normal conversations about life, love, happiness, problems, frustrations, hopes and dreams, without having to explain myself because we just don't know each other well enough yet.

Long story short: I desperately miss my friends.