Happy Birthday @Jerad_Anderson! @100MonkeysMusic

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY, JERAD!! 

Today on this most important of days, I wish for you a glass that is always full, a guitar always in hand, a constant buzz from your phone (how is that different from any other day?), and a perma-grin on your face.

Think of all the amazingness that you've accomplished in your thirty years on this planet. You've lived enough for three lifetimes, it would seem.

I am so fortunate to have you as a part of my life and so today I drink for you. (Just coffee now, but you know later I am shooting Jameson in your honor, dude.)

Have a fantastic birthday and make it one for the books, BFF!!!

Tons of love and high-fives today! EAT CAKE!!!

Happy birthday, rockstar! See you soonish.

Happy Birthday, Jerad! @100MonkeysMusic

Here on your very own day I have a few things that I would like for you to hear/see.

First of all...

Happy Birthday, Jerad!!!!

Ahh, j.radness… We have shared so many memories that I hold close to me over the last 6 months, specifically.  Hopefully upon reviewing some of these memories in your mind, you smile.

Your smile is one of my favorite things about you; When people comment on my photos of you and say “He has an amazing smile!” I always say, “It’s the reason the polar ice caps are melting.”

You know, mister… you make my “job” pretty freaking easy (and really freaking fun…) – you are exceptionally photogenic and in the photos that I take of you I see so much happy.

You know that I love your kick-ass guitar solos, you know that I love your jokes & your high fives – but it’s not the high fives or the kick-ass guitar solos that drew me to you and made me name you my BFF. Sure, you exude awesome & have been nice to me since day one – but nice can only get you so far. (And the same goes for your charm and good looks.)

Your heart.

Along with the happy I see in my photos – I see your heart. Your giant love for playing and performing. Your immense love for the men who share the stage with you – there are some times when I have taken photos of you looking at the other boys with such love that I had to keep that photo just for myself. It felt like I had taken a private conversation between you and them and that’s something I could never share with others.

So, speaking of photos – here are my 5 favorite photos of you – of course, taken by me.

Before I wrap this up there is one more thing that I wanted to say – it has bugged me immensely for the last 41 days that in Dallas I didn’t get to say goodbye to you. I’ve felt terrible about it and upon reflection I realized that I didn’t even get to speak with you the entire time I was in Texas!

(41. Now THIS is what we should call TOO LONG. 26 is looking like gold compared to 41.)

Happy birthday, Jerad… I’m sure most people are going to offer you birthday hugs today – you know what I’ll offer you: HIGH FIVE!

Jodie

PS – my dog misses you.

...




...




...you knew I couldn't make it through this post without saying it -- I miss you. 

:)

Ain't No Way I'll Be Lonely...

"keep you in the dark you know they all pretend..." 

I was going to pick some random icon about love or art... but then I decided since I'm bored, I'll make a few new icons... So... then I did, and then I finished writing this blog. XD

This has thus far been the longest week of my life.

Isn't that funny how when you want something to go by quickly it takes forever and when you want something to slow down (saaaay... a week with your favorite primates...) it goes by in the blink of an eye. Heh. One of life's little mysteries, I suppose.

I am trying to scoot the week along quickly so that Friday will get here... I cannot wait to hold my new camera. :)

[Watch. Something tells me I am not going to get it until Saturday... just a feeling. I guess we'll see.]

"Downfall" by Matchbox 20 just came on my iPod... Please go listen to that song right now. It's how I feel about so much.

Monday Jennifer and I are getting together with our friend Megan. We met Megan, oh... I guess about 2 years ago at an Ingram Hill concert in Lawrence, KS. There are so many things that we have in common and then so many things that we don't... (I suppose that's true with a lot of people...) But I guess I always figured that "girls like Megan" wouldn't be friends with a "girl like me"... then again... you get someone that IS Megan and they surprise you.

Megan is the kind of girl who is cheerful, has gobs of faith in her religion, popular, beautiful and has amazing morals... you know... the opposite of me... but she clearly has a good heart and soul... she isn't an "ugly girl" that ignores the "girls like me" because I'm fat and... you know... gross... I am rarely cheerful (if you know the real me), have very little faith, but believe in so much, was never popular, only beautiful on occasion and who has very questionable morals.

I really admire Megan; she's such a good person to her core. I could really learn and earn so much for my life from her.

Anyhow... We're getting together Monday... I haven't seen her since before we went to Las Vegas for the boys in January!! (I saw her just a few days before we were leaving and I was supposed to come home and give her the details...) ...Megan is ultra supportive of me and so on Monday I am going to give her details of the past several months. :)

You know... insane fact... I see these boys and my "Monkey friends" more than I see my friends that live in Kansas City or my family for that matter. Crazy... but I love it. XD

I was thinking the other day... and I was trying to roll my mind around enough times so that I could word this without hurting anyone's feelings. Let's see if I can do that. Over the past few months I've acquired a bunch of new friends, many of whom have changed my life... some I have cut ties with once I found out their motives, some have a great facade and I haven't caught onto their intentions yet - they will hurt me and I will learn from it, and some are genuine good people who don't want to use me for where I walk or who I take photos of.

But...

There's just something to be said about the very small (when I say small - I mean SMALL...) group of friends I've had with me for the past few years. (Or ten... years, that is.)

Friends have come and gone quickly in my life over the last ten years -- I have been used and re-used, I was naive and gullible -- I was eager to be liked by all, so I let people walk on me and take advantage of me. I am not without guilt here, however. When I realized a few people using me, I used them back. I cannot say that I am proud of those things, or that I would do the same thing if given the chance to do over again. However, I am not going to lie and let you think I am pure, honest and good -- or that I have been my whole life -- I am trying much harder to be that person today. I think that's what counts. Everyone makes mistakes in their life. We are human.

Back on topic... There are a few friends... Jennifer, Kristi, Gemma, Rae, Megan & Willow (no specific order...) that have been there for me before I was "anyone"... who supported my multiple dreams... all of them wanting me to be genuinely happy -- all of them pushing me to succeed in whichever field would do that for me.

Now... although only 3 of them live in the KC area (one lives in Europe (!) and one of them lives with me...), the distance doesn't make us any lesser of friends. I see Willow more and talk to her more than any other person... (and I do believe that I even talk to her more than I do to the person I live with...)

I am not saying that any of my new friendships are less because they're new, but I am saying that I have a new found appreciation for these people that have been in my life, just waiting for my call... I guess I took them for granted and I regret that.

No one should be taken for granted; I often times feel like I am taken for granted and that I would not be missed if I were to disappear... that it wouldn't effect anyone on a deep level besides perhaps Jennifer and Willow -- the two people on this earth I talk to the most. So... to be taken for granted is a terrible thing and I feel badly that I have done that to anyone.

Now that that is over... did I hurt anyone's feelings? Did I manage to get through it smoothly? I do hope so. Please remember it was never my intention to hurt anyone in this post.

I think I'm done for today.

Picture of the day:

Jerad Anderson, 100 Monkeys, Birmingham.

Fucking love this photo... captures the hawk beautifully.

By the way, you got this photo before anyone else has even seen it. Go you!

Rock on,

Jodie

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

Gimme Stitches

"My faith ain't been no friend to me, 
And the way I've sinned, it hanging off of me, 
And I'm sorry, you can't take me anywhere,
Pretty soon we're almost there baby one more night,
It's been a long, long drive, 
And I'm way, way tired, 
I don't need no backup plan, 
I said I don't want nobody, 
Nobody don't want me, 
I'm so sad, so lonely, 
But I'm always landing on my feet..." 

I don't know what's wrong with me why I haven't updated my blog yet since I've been back from seeing the boys.

I actually learned something new... that apparently I have a lot of readers on my blog. I refuse to put a hit counter on here though, or a tracker... because then I'll just become obsessed with the numbers. To all who read and never comment: thanks for reading -- I hope that I'm not too boring, I hope that I provide you some sort of entertainment. That's all I've been my whole life; an entertainer. ;)

Des Moines is a short drive from Kansas City. Three hours. The time passed by fairly quickly, however, in my last blog I explained that I wasn't feeling anything. Willow and I figured out why I wasn't -- that's not something I'm at liberty to discuss here on the public medium. Those close to me may ask me why.

We arrived in Des Moines and followed the directions that I got from Google Maps to the "venue"... except the venue wasn't there... Turns out the venue has the wrong zip code posted for their address on their website, and so consequentially, the Monkeys website.

After being lost for 2 hours we finally found the venue. Fuckers.

Talking to The Bens later (and bitching that there are about fifty 4th streets in Des Moines...) they said they got lost as well but it wasn't as bad as Minneapolis. Dude.

We weren't first in line... six people before us... but it was fine that we weren't first - the girls before us had never been to a show, so I kinda took a backseat, plus I got to talk to the boys before the show and I don't think I would have been able to do that if I was first in line. (Except Jerad... didn't get to see BFF before the show.)

When talking to The Bens, Jennifer asked Johnson if they would play "Twenty To One" since they didn't get to in Vegas. He said they were going to but you know, "Vegas was Vegas..." Later on we heard them soundchecking the song and got very excited.

Even though Jennifer and I were 7th & 8th in line we still got front row. (Which surprised me for what a small stage it was...) I was right in front of the keyboards and right by the speaker. (Never been in front of the keyboards before, always in front of the guitar... *shifty eyes* Can't tell you why...)

The opening band was good and eccentric. Everyone else just stood around with their phones in their hand or their arms folded. No smiles. Not enjoying the music or anything. Jennifer and I were at least grooving to the music...

The boys came on and I adored the look that Jerad gave me when he saw me. :) Like he was actually happy and surprised to see me there. He kept looking at me throughout the whole show... my guess is anticipating when I'd request my high five. XD He's such a good BFF.

Jennifer nudged me and said, "get your high five," and I told her it wasn't time yet. After that song I put my hand up and I said, "high five time!" And he smiled huge and smacked my hand the hardest he ever has... it was like he was saving up all that awesome to give to me. ;)

So... if you're a reader of my blog you may have read the post where I put up this photo of Jay:

In my post I said that I had titled the picture, "why do you never wear a tie when I see you" and I said that he should wear a tie in Des Moines because I think he looks so handsome in them...

Well...

Jackson wore a tie.

I really wish you all could have seen the look on my face. O_O I'm pretty sure he saw it and grinned. LOL

My next mission? I noticed that Jackson switched his Spencer bracelet over to his right wrist. Well, my friends and I think that the bracelet should be worn on the left wrist... so hey, Jay... move your bracelet back to your left wrist. ;)

My 10th show was definitely a success. The venue had a curfew so the boys had to cut their set short. Jackson broke his pick after rocking out too hard to "Reaper"... and then he gave it to me. :) I had to look for it though since he tossed it to me instead of putting it in my hand... and it didn't help that the pick was, you know... half the size of a regular pick... and CLEAR.

After the show the boys were so nice to stick around and do a few photos for us... Jennifer's photo is better than mine... I made the boys laugh. :) Meanwhile, she couldn't get my camera to work, so they all had to stand there smiling for a while in mine. :(

My photo with the boys:

Jenn's photo with the boys:

I am glad that I made them laugh... but I must say that I'm very jealous of her photo. She went to Johnson's side and then I couldn't get Jerad in the frame so I said to him, "Jerad. Scoot." And this was the end result. XD

As we were leaving I told the boys that I would see them in St. Louis... Jerad was the last one I told, I held up my hand for a high five and said, "One more for the road..." he smacked my hand and smiled. I said, "I'll see you in St. Louis," he said, "Perfect."

Adore it.

I didn't get to give him his special gift in Des Moines. (It wasn't the right time.) So I'm going to give it to him at the meet and greet on Sunday. (May have another something special for another certain boy...)

I set up my Facebook Photography page per request of Twitter followers. You can join that here.

2 days until the next Monkey show. :)

My desktop. :) I need to make a new wallpaper from the Des Moines show photos... but my little countdown in the right corner underneath the calender? Yep. Epic.

"Only two days until awesome high fives!"




I'm not even going to have time to change the calender again before going to Louisville Monday. So, so stoked for that show. And that's when I get my new phone too! YAY!

Here's a few favorites from the show in Des Moines. Enjoy, bbs.

I posted more than I had planned to... ;) Perhaps I'm feeling generous today. Am loading up photos to my photography site today as well. Don't forget to fan the Facebook page!

Rock on,

Jodie

10x10

"I am a little bit of loneliness, a little bit of disregard, 
Handful of complaints but I can't help the fact that everyone can see these scars..." 

Jennifer and I have been watching a lot of movies lately... first we watched The Stepfather, which had a slow start, was pretty good but had a fail ending. Next we watched Burn After Reading and on the way home after renting it I said to her, "Yay Coen Brothers!" She said, "what?" And I said, "they also directed Fargo..." (We had just watched Fargo the day before) She replied with the heaviest of sighs.

I loved Burn After Reading. I thought it was fucking hilarious. I dare say that I liked it almost more than Fargo... which is classic. My Mama and I can have an entire conversation in Minnesota speak and Fargo quotes. It's quite fantastic. :)

Then we went back and rented Labor Pains with Lindsay Lohan... It was something that sounded like it had a good plot and then the downfall was going to be Lindsay Lohan... well, turns out it's got quite a few "name" actors in it and it wasn't terrible! I definitely laughed, only rolled my eyes like once, which is more than I can say for like, Twilight. So yeah, not going to buy the DVD or anything, but it wasn't bad!

Last night we watched The Proposal... completely predictable, but still funny... errrm... mostly that would be Betty White and her badass self and Ryan Reynolds and his hot self. Sandra Bullock... I don't really know what to think of her. Still. After all these years. To me she kinda seems like one step above Jennifer Aniston - like she just plays the same rolls over and over and always plays each roll the same. She was better in this movie than in others, though. I'll give her that.

I said to Jennifer while we were watching The Proposal, "And the trend for tonight is 'lying to keep your job'." (Labor Pains) We always seem to watch movies in a row that have to do with the other somehow... themes like cheating, cheesy music, certain actors... etc...

Saw the new Timberlake and Timbaland video for "Carry Out" yesterday. I definitely expected something more amazing from them. I was highly disappointed. Justin looked like he stepped out of the Like I Love You era and his part of the video seemed to be straight out of his video for My Love. It was tired, played and unoriginal. Lame. Sick song, lame video... but then I guess who cares about music videos these days now that there's no "music television"...?

You're probably wondering what the title is about for todays post... or you've just accepted the fact that I'm completely random and you've gotten over it.

10 days until my 10th Monkey show! 10x10

I'm beyond stoked. I am addicted now for sure... I don't know how I went from August to November without seeing them... well, I have one idea. Not sure how I made it from November until January without seeing them -- that one for sure... Managed to survive this long between shows, I suppose. It's been 15 days since I've seen them -- going to be another ten... jeez, that's nearly a month. O_O

Ooh! I got Jerad his present! ...I have to make it... Nowhere had exactly what I was looking for so fuck that, I'm just going to make it. *nods once* ...I also may have gotten Jay a lil something... Still have to get a few other things for the other boys. :)

I'm going to my Mama's house today to help her build a website for her wife's practice... I'm also going to make her get a Twitter while I'm over there. Will be fun.

Picture of the Day:

Have I mentioned of late how much I love her? I don't think I have. I love her and her sloppy kisses.

Speaking In Tongues

"To the center of your heart, oh Cleopatra is the only one you love..." 

I have learned so much today. :) I learned that I am not only old, but I am also very young in comparison. Funny. Swiftly moving on...

17 days until I see Monkeys again... I was so spoiled in Vegas/LA... I had just seen them two weeks before in Tulsa and then I went to Vegas... few days later turned around and went to LA... now I am "forced" to wait it out 17 days until I can see them again. Then again... it could always be worse. They are fucking addictive. I should alert them of such.

I've been writing down my improv ideas so that I don't catch Jay too off guard again. ;) All of the ones I've written down thus far are G and PG... of course I just know that at the next show I'm at they'll ask for an improv and Jay will look at me and be like, "from anyone but you." XD

Oops...?

I'm pretty stoked for these 17 days to pass... I have a kick ass gift to give to my BFF.

I reckon I do have something pretty big to tell y'all... of course I've been cry, cry, crying for a new DSLR for the longest time... every time I almost buy a new one, something happens and I can no longer afford it... my Canon 780is point and shoot has been getting me by for a while now... and we all know when I went through my Nikon D60 phase... and then the downfall that was the discontinue of it... :(

So now I'll try to tell you something without telling you anything... I've been hired to do a big photography job, something that I *need* a DSLR for and I seriously cannot ask to borrow my Mama's again without her killing me... so I've been back to my DSLR research... and... well... I have decided.

I was going to get the Nikon D5000, but after I held others, shot with others, looked at features and specs... I have decided on the Canon XSi.

Yep. Canon. Here I was going "Oh how badly I want a Nikon... please, please, please!" And then I shot with both of them and easily was swayed back over to Canon... Heh. Funny. Hoping to get the new camera by the end of March... of course, those damn Monkeys... *shakes head, smiling* (You know I love my Mnkys.)

Do you ever write something knowing that someone will read it...? I mean, someone in particular...? I feel that way a lot lately.

I need a new computer. Hardcore.

Need, need, need... I'm almost sick of that word. Can't imagine how y'all feel hearing it from me.

I waaant a new tattoo... Hopefully in May... that's bad when there's so much going on that I have to plan out tattoos and extracurricular activities like that... May... so close, yet so fucking far.

The other day Jennifer and I were at the mall when she mentioned that I needed new jeans... yes. Yes, I do. I finally had to retire my poor pathetic skinny jeans (after wearing them about three times after they SHOULD have been retired...) after Nashville. So I've been stuck with icky boot leg jeans, which do not flatter me... I know that bigger girls should always be conscious of what they're wearing, and trust me when I say that no one is more conscious of that than I am -- but skinny jeans actually look better on me than anything else.

I hate when big girls wear clothes that they swim in -- listen, I get it; you're fat... that doesn't mean that you can't be attractive, sexy, desirable... with a figure and a shape! Trust!

So we go into this store and Jenn mentions that they have layaway... I say, "what? Nowhere has layaway anymore..." and so she goes up and asks the sales person and apparently they were having a special for layaway, too... I was like, "DUDE!" So I picked out four pairs of skinny jeans to try on... the first one was the size I usually get and they didn't fit. (Too small.) I was like, "Oh shit. No, no, no... please tell me I didn't get fatter..." #iwouldcry

Next I tried on this pair of really cute ones that were a size smaller than what I usually wear, but it was all they had - and they fit! Yay! #winatlife So I definitely had to get those... didn't like the third pair; too dark. And the fourth pair had like rips and tears in them... too cool for school... had to get those... both of the jeans were a size smaller than what I normally get! :) Don't know what was up with the first pair I tried on, but fuck em.

I haven't even been consciously trying to lose weight, but I reckon all the travel and the Mnkys has something to do with it... never have time to eat; always run, run, running. (Running to terminals, running to hug friends, running away from Twilight fans... etc...) Of course now I am consciously trying to lose weight... 17 days.

Pic of the Day: