The Rules Of Life According To Jodie Platz

1. Never be ashamed of your music collection or what you like to listen to.

2. Buy the pants that fit you TODAY. Not the ones that will or won't fit you in ten days.

3. Travel now because you can... don't make excuses.

4. Have the career you want - not the job that you need.

5. Never stop dreaming, wishing or hoping for your life to be better than it is now. Never give up on yourself that YOU can be better than you are right now.

6. Never stop learning. You're never finished and even though you're the best at what you do today, someone will be better than you tomorrow. (This applies to EVERYTHING.)

7. Open doors for strangers. Also, smile at strangers. Once in a while, pay a toll or a coffee for a stranger. It's amazing feeling to give and also to get.

8. Give your heart away. You don't need it... someday someone will give you theirs.

9. Do what makes you happy today... it could all disappear tomorrow.

10. Tell the people that you love that you love them today... they could disappear tomorrow, too.

11. Don't use people, but also, don't be afraid to ask for someone's help if they have something special to offer.

12. Listen to your music loudly. Yes, you may eventually lose your hearing, but do you want to die deaf or do you want to die wishing you listened to "Sabotage" by Beastie Boys as loud as it would go...? Exactly.

13. Never stop thinking; question everything. Learn from those around you. Let others learn from you. Speak up.

14. Be original. There's a reason people say "dare to be different"... because everyone is afraid of doing something out of line from the "normal". Go against the grain.

15. No one is normal; only the crazies will survive. The people who think "weird" are the ones who create art, run this country and make a dent in the universe. Be known.

16. Everyone must constantly prove themselves to the world. Unfortunately. Yes, this includes you.

17. Make art. You don't have to be an artist to express yourself on a canvas, through a lens or on a guitar.

18. Jealousy will not get you anywhere. We are all jealous of someone or something for some reason... but you need to learn to get past the act and be happy for people for what it is that they have that you want. Chances are they worked really hard to obtain it. Show them you are a bigger person and can applaud them for their successes and not that you're bitter.

19. You get what you give. The world works in a karma system for the majority of life and all of it's lessons... if you're bad - bad things will happen... if you're good - good things will happen. Be good to people. It's much better than the alternative.

20. Every day changes your life. What may be today will not be tomorrow. If you don't like the path that you're heading down - CHANGE it.

21. Don't eat cheap BBQ, drink cheap whiskey, wear cheap mascara or buy cheap memory cards.

22. Never let anyone tell you that you don't have the right to use the bathroom.

23. Never have a breakdown in public. Excuse yourself... people will think higher of you and less of you if you don't.

24. Be honest, but not to a fault. Sometimes people's feelings should be spared, otherwise you're just being cruel.

25. Don't force your religious views on others. Your religion should be private and something just for yourself.

26. Treat people as you would like to be treated. Also, remember that we all were born the same, we all have the same obstacles in life to overcome, we all bleed when stabbed, we all cry when we have a broken heart and we will all face death one day. No one is above any of that - so treat everyone as they are: HUMAN.

27. Never apologize for your accomplishments.

28. If your friends can't be proud of you and supportive of your life, accomplishments, goals, etc: then they are not your friends.

29. Be kind to animals... they have thoughts, feelings and souls.

30. Build walls. This will not only help you keep people out, but it can help you keep people in. Those who will scale the walls to be near you are extraordinary people. Those who constantly leap out of the walls are doing so for a reason...

31. If someone picks apart your life - there is something seriously lacking or wrong with theirs. Don't let it bother you and say a quite thought for them that you hope they find what they're searching for to make them happy.

32. Don't pick apart others lives. *See above.

33. Don't lie or exaggerate to children; they believe everything.

34. Never give away all of your secrets.

35. Take more photos. Let the world see what you see.

36. Scream and sing loudly. Also, dance how you feel without care.

37. If you ever find yourself saying "that's something I would never do", then you know the perfect reason why you should do it.

38. Believe in love and happiness, but don't believe everything that everyone says. I'm a unicorn. Did you believe it? No. Remember that... It's easy for people to tell lies. On the other hand, sometimes you just have to BELIEVE... and those things that you believe in may never make sense. I'm a unicorn.

39. Live life with no regrets. (See all above.)

40. Don't listen to anyone else's rules except your own. (See all above.)

Here's some pretty for you to look at.

I'm Trying To Build A Wall

"My faith ain't been no friend to me, 
And the way I've sinned is hanging off of me..."

I wonder just how "emo" I could get before people either deleted me, stopped talking to me or told me to grow the fuck up... It would be interesting to see.

My heart doesn't matter. It is irrelevant in the game of life.

I do not understand people... humans... others. How are we supposed to do this? There are only a few... very small handful of people on this earth that I truly care about and I believe there are less than that who actually care for me.

You know what humans care about? THEMSELVES.

Listen, let me tell you something -- the sooner you figure this shit out, the better -- NO ONE CARES ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. They only listen so they can wait for their turn to talk. You may *THINK* they care about you - you may *THINK* that they listen to you, but you're naive. Even in their response, they will say something back to YOU about THEMSELVES.

I actually listen to what [some] people say and give my honest response back that has nothing to do with me... Perhaps some people think it's about relation... they feel like if you know that they can relate that that will make you feel better. But you know what, that doesn't make me feel better -- that makes me feel like you're just talking about yourself... and if we're talking about you? That's fine... let's talk about you... but don't ask me how I am and have me tell you just so you can barely respond or go back to talking about you.

If you wanna talk about you, then at least fucking own up to it.

That's not even really what this is about... you know... that's not how this blog got started.

This blog is about so, so much... and yet... by the time that you're done reading it all - you will not know what it's really about. That sucks, doesn't it?

Do you cringe at memories? How about memories that you've just made up in your mind? About people that you've never met? Places that you've never been?

I think there's something wrong with me... and with that... who wants someone so fucked up? You know, I tend to like the "weird" and "strange" ones... my step mom said once that anyone can find someone "normal", but it takes talent to get a weird one... I agree with that... but, does anyone else want a weird one? And how about someone weird like me?

I really don't know anything right now.

Forgive how scattered this is. I know it must not make sense whatsoever, but I have no one else to talk to, so if you're reading this - then I'm talking to you. Thanks for listening.

I left my phone at home today. Intentionally.

I've felt like I am on the brink of tears all day long.

Pictures? Photos always make me feel better... well, depending on the subject. Sometimes the subject makes me even more sad.

Subject? Lens flares. Lens flares make me happy.

Back To Where We Started - Nashville

"What are you gonna do with all your Southern style..."

I was looking forward to leaving for this weeklong trip to see 100 Monkeys & Co. for so long I can't even tell you. This was the culmination of... well... of everything.

I left the boys last in Tulsa... each goodbye getting harder and harder... the time between seeing them this time was the longest it's ever been -- 26 days, to which Jerad replied that was far "too long".

I concur.

Jennifer and I (plus our road dog, Isabella) drove from Kansas City down to Nashville where we met up with Willow, Jessie and Kasey. (Willow & Jessie hopped aboard the Rock Van with us to make the trip through Legacy...)

I instantly loved the venue when we arrived... it had a badass wall of artists... not sure if they were just random artists or artists who had played there. (I like to believe it was the latter.)

We got there fuckearly and walked around a little bit... finding a great parking space behind the venue. (The boys ended up parking right by us so after the show there were hordes of *clears throat* ...people... surrounding our van and theirs. Scary shit.)

As you may (or may not) know by now, I have a pretty extreme sleeping disorder... I rarely sleep, sometimes by choice, most times it's just because my mind will not shut down... I used to be able to fall asleep with Benadryl but now even prescription sleeping pills don't really do it for me...

I digress... *Willow*

Blah, blah, I fell asleep in the van... I was like a "school sleep", where you're not really sleeping and you're not really awake... but it was the first sleep I had gotten in two or three days, so I was happy to have anything.

I awoke to the boys Twittering... quite a bit that day, actually... which made me anticipate their arrival even more... I colored photos and sent them back via Twitter to them. (@hello_jodie) ...and then, all the sudden when I wasn't looking I saw the Monkey van in the rear view mirror, quickly followed by the Scion.

*insert beaming face of joy here*

I said hellos and I missed you's, did the hug thing & gave them a present... I didn't really get to say anything to Jerad and he always peaces out so quickly after load in (damn you, best friend) ...so I asked Jake if he would go get him since I had a special gift to give him...

Several minutes later Jerad came out and gave me a hug and my high five. (Which I missed sooo hard in those 26 days!) ...My dog was barking at the window (she hates strangers... and men. LOL) and he goes, "who is that?" I said that it was my dog and he asked if he could pet her.

...Now, what I should have said was, "do you not see this vicious dog attacking the window...?" But instead I said, "she's not nice; she'll bite you."

His response verbatim?

"YES."

So... Jerad willingly got mauled by my dog.

It was awesome.

I don't normally share stories, but that one was just too awesome and I knew that it would make y'all laugh. I want you all to picture Jerad getting attacked by a 3lb teacup Chihuahua.

This Chihuahua:

Epic.

Some photos from the show:

After the show I got to say to them what I had been waiting so long to say, "I'll see you tomorrow..." such a simple sentence, yet it meant so much to me... and thus our week began.

Next stop? Birmingham, Alabama.

Preview?

Fuckawesome, Jerad. (Check out the blur from his hands? Too much rock, my friend.)

Rock on. Please take the time to comment. :)

Jodie

And So It Continues...

"Born to multiply, born to gaze into night skies, 
All you want's one more Saturday, 
Well look here until then, 
They're gonna buy your life's time, 
So keep your wick in the air and your feet in the fetters, to the day,
We come in doing cartwheels, 
We all crawl out by ourselves, 
And your shape on the dance floor, 
Will have me thinking such filth and gauge my eyes..."

Australia by the Shins, literally my favorite song on the planet.

To pick up where we left off yesterday... grab your cup of coffee and your comfy seat... I hope you've made your bathroom break recently.

The boys arrived at the venue in St. Louis and as they drove around the corner (twice, cuz it was so nice) Jerad gave me a thumbs up. Loves it. :)

[Forgive me as I write this I am doing it without the help of Jennifer... she's working, so I'm just yanking this shit randomly out of my head and it's hard.]

Tin Tin Can opened for 100 Monkeys that night. They are one of my favorite bands on the planet... I do believe by now they are aware of that fact. I gush to them every time that I see them and I was in the front row wearing my TTC shirt, singing every word. :D *happy dance*

They did a fucking outstanding rendition of "Animal Bones" that made me ache. It was awesome.

After the set was over Dustin bent down to give me a hug. Rockface.

Marty and Jackson came on stage to take a photo with the audience for the disposable camera auction and I didn't bid on or win the camera, but whomever did was so kind enough to post the photos online and so tah-dah! I have my 4th photo with Jackson. :)

I edited it, of course... because it was just a crappy disposable camera photo. I am sure this photo will turn out really small on the blog, but on his left wrist you can see the bracelet that I made him. I didn't notice this until last night, actually. The photo was taken before I knew that he was wearing my bracelet that night. :)

The show was beyond incredible. Out of all the 100 Monkeys shows that I have seen to date, this show was the best. (Tulsa the 2nd time around was my 15th show.)

There are many reasons why this show was incredible. For one, it was in Missouri. (Yes, I am just that biased.) Nextly, the boys rocked harder than I have seen them rock in a long time. The audience was great and receptive (in my opinion).

They did my improv suggestion, (Best Friend... for Jerad of course because he is my best friend and we did the bracelet thing earlier that day...) Jackson rocked so hard during Orson Brawl that he busted a guitar string and didn't even miss a beat as he snapped it off. At the end of the song he coiled it around his hand and ripped it off the Gibson and offered it to me, "You want it?" He asked before I even had time to reach out my hand and ask for it. (He knows me so well by now that he knows that I was going to ask for it... he just cut out the middle man. LOL)

That guitar string is now around the rear view mirror of our van to try and make it more rock and roll.

Some of my favorite photos from St. Louis:

My broken guitar string. When we went to the bathroom at the end of the night I cut my finger on it... Strange.

Love this photo too fucking hard.

Check out the rest of the photos on my official site.

At the end of the show, for their encore, the boys came back out and basically had a long ass jam session with Tin Tin Can. (*wet dream*) I taped about 12 minutes of it, but it was fucking long. I went through three batteries that night. (Uh... I only have three batteries for my Canon.)

They jammed, they all changed instruments mid-song, Ben did Champagne & Reefer... it was amazing.

This is my favorite shot from the night.

Jerad and Dustin from Tin Tin Can.

(As Tin Tin Can comes on my iPod. *LOVES*)

The next day was Louisville, however Jennifer couldn't go and so Willow was taking me. After the show Jennifer drove me to the airport in St. Louis. We sat in the car and talked over the whole show, "oh my god" this and "did you see" that. It was amazing.

At that moment I had been up for almost 30 hours and hadn't had anything to eat, now only a Venti Iced coffee and then an iced tea after the show. Oh yeah, and before the concert when we were sitting in line I had a few bites of Lisa's ice cream and like four really shitty crackers plus a bottle of water.

I went into the airport and called Willow, talking to her some while I tried to get my St. Louis photos edited. The plan was to give the boys a DVD of the photos the next day in Louisville, but I was highly overzealous to think I could get ALL those edited in less than 24 hours.

It didn't happen. Actually, I can't remember if I ever gave the boys a DVD of St. Louis now come to think of it. Lord. Nope. I now owe them photos of FOUR shows. *Overwhelmed*

I will pretend that the majority of the next day was a joke about a rope and we'll just skip it. (Heh. Heh. Heh. Thanks Jay.)

I finally got to the concert and got to see Willow and Kasey... by the time the boys went on stage we were in about 2/3rd row-ish. I really didn't think I was going to get that great of photos since I wasn't in the front row. (It was so freaking weird to not be in the first row... Very strange. I didn't like it... but the boys still knew I was there and they could still see me, so it's all gravy.)

During the opening acts I nearly passed out. Exhaustion. Dehydration. Malnourishment... Frustration. If it's possible to pass out from frustration, I would have. There was probably only about 10 Monkeys fans total in the whole place... everyone else was a Twi-tard and there to see "Jasper".

The boys took the stage and I was outraged with the crowds reaction. They were screaming, "Jasper!! Jackson!! Oh my god, oh my god!! Look at me! Jackson! JASPER!!!" I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I gave Jay an apologetic smile... sending him good thoughts as if to say, "I am so sorry." Jackson was gracious and smiled for the crowd. They went insane...

And then just when I thought that someone screaming "JASPER! JASPER!" was the worst thing that could happen... someone leaned over and asked Willow, "which one Jasper" was.

O_O

I'm sorry, uh... are you having trouble picking out the Twilight "star" in the band because he's not a blonde vampire in real life...?!

If you don't even know what he looks like then I am going to go ahead and say that you SHOULD NOT BE AT A 100 MONKEYS SHOW.

I was livid.

Yeah, yeah... it's great that you liking Twilight made you want to buy a ticket and come out to support the band (not that they give two shits about the band...) but don't you think you should look them up first before you show up...? Just an idea.

I am all for the Twilight fans that admit when they get there that they are there because of Twilight, or flat out tell me that they have never heard the music before; I tell them, "that's awesome that you found the band through Twilight, but by the end of this show you will be a 100 Monkeys fan,"

I digress... (*Willow*)

Like I said earlier, I didn't think I was going to get any good photos that night. Shitty lighting. Shitty placement. Shitty fan attitudes. (Don't even get me started on the asshole with the grubby hands and Jameson...)

However... I did get some good photos. Here's some of my favorites from Louisville:

Don't even begin to pretend like you don't know why I love that one. ;)

We will end the Louisville show with this photo and a story.

When I was in Tulsa for the first time back in January (my first concert of the 100 city tour...) and they played Wings On Fire, I held up my lighter. The boys' faces lit up and they all pointed, sang at me, etc... So then for every show after that for Wings On Fire I hold up my lighter during the chorus.

They never fail to smile when I do it.

(In my mind, if I was in their shoes, I would be thinking something like, "holy shit, someone is holding up their lighter for MY song! WIN!")

So... for Louisville during that photo I was singing, holding up my lighter and I also managed to take that photo. I adore it. It's one of my favorites. :)

I spent two weeks in Kentucky with Willow and Kasey after the Monkeys show... it was fucking amazing. It was so great to get to know Kasey more and to spend so much time with Willow. We went to see Alice In Wonderland together. (Ahmayzingggg...) We talked incessantly, planned things, watched an insane amount of Spongebob, gushed over The Hangover... it was awesome. So relaxing, so incredible... I loved it hardcore.

I finally made it back to Kansas City just a few days before the show here at the Beaumont. This was THE show I had been looking forward to...

KANSAS CITY! 


There was no way that we couldn't be in the first row for Kansas City... I had mentioned to the boys a few times that it was my hometown, how much I loved the venue and how fucking stoked I was for the show there... so we got there fuckearly.

I was getting impatient for the boys to arrive, so I tweeted at them and told them that I missed their faces. Not 30 seconds later the van pulls around the corner, followed quickly by the Scion and Jake's van... Jerad gave me a thumbs up as we waved and they attempted to park. ;)

We gave hellos and hugs and the boys loaded in... afterwards Larry came back out and I gave him my present for the band. (Random fun things... usually I am practical with the boys but I thought they might need a little spring fun care package.) He gave me a huge hug and a kiss, which made my day.

We got our spots and the opening bands seemed to take forever. Probably because I was so anxious to see The Kissing Club and the Monkeys that night. The first band was good... didn't much care for the second band or their tone-deaf lead singer.

Jake came out and I was a happy camper! He. Was. Fuckmayzing. :D He played Spencer's "Nerve Damage" and Lisa and I cried like little babies... the boys came out to help him with it and it was just so overwhelming and amazing...

...When the boys did their tuning and I handed Jay a yellow lighter. He smiled and thanked me, flicking the lighter twice before sticking it into his jacket pocket. One girl turned to Lisa and told her she was jealous that he smiled at me. (*Stifles a giggle... thinking about things...*) Another girl tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Can I ask why you gave Jackson a lighter?" I replied, "Because I give Jay a lighter every time I see him..." Hah.

In perfect amazingness, they opened with Sleeping Giants and he used my yellow lighter as a slide. :) The girls that had inquired about the Bic finally *GOT* it.

Some of my favorite photos from KC:

The KC crowd was very respectful, no pushing... no obscene things yelled... no "JASPER!" mentions... I was really, very proud of my city...

Oh yeah... and hey boys... don't think I didn't notice that you talked about Kansas City more than you've ever talked about ANY of the other cities/shows that I have been to. ;) It was amazing to hear my city come outta your mouths. Now, please come back.

At the end of the night Jennifer asked Jerad for his 100 Monkeys glasses. He said he would give them to her, however, they were his last pair and he needed shades in order to drive... I took off my sunglasses and offered to trade him. He looked at my glasses, smiled and put them on, giving his Monkey glasses to Jennifer...

We said our goodbyes at the van and stuff... had some good moments with the boys and told them we would see them the next day in Tulsa... when they stepped out of the van/Scion/other van in Tulsa they were all smiley and happy as we got hugs/hellos/high-fives. :D It was such a great, simple moment.

Blah, blah, blah...

Uh...

Tulsa was great. I loved it... it was very epic... I don't, however, much care for the crowd in Tulsa. They're always very rude to other fans and super pushy. (In the literal sense.) The boys played a good set, but it was all the small moments that made the show/trip so much more amazing, in my eyes.

I got some great photos... I think some of my best ever, if you ask my very biased opinion.

Here's some shots from Tulsa:

Using the lighter I gave him in KC... which he continued to use through NOLA... or so I hear.

Jake... he reminds me of Johnny Cash.

I am so sick of uploading photos now that you can just check out the rest of them either on my Facebook fan page or my official site. I am so sorry, but it's just been nothing but 100 Monkeys photos for about two weeks straight.

The BFF in the shades I traded. :) At the end of the Tulsa show they somehow spontaneously busted and I felt so bad that he didn't have a pair to drive in that I gave him my white ones. (Favorite pair.) When I talked to him the next day he said they got swiped. :( Mayjah bummer... but I told him I would bring him new shades in Nashville. 

Tulsa was amazing, as I mentioned.

I thank you so much for reading this if you took the time to. I hope it wasn't terribly disappointing. I tried to give more than I usually do. Comments = kisses... passing my blog along to a friend = hugs...  Now get outside and enjoy the weather or a 100 Monkeys show! 

My next show... 19 days away... Nashville. From there I'll follow the boys on through until Legacy. :) 

Which reminds me... 

www.SpencerBellMemorial.com

Rock on, 

Jodie