I ♥ Blockheads

Times are hard right now. I can barely afford my rent due to my over-the-top spending on my NKOTB obsession last year. I've depleted my savings, my bonus check is gone, my federal tax refund, my state refund, and my economic stimulus of 2008 has all gone to the New Kids on the Block. It was my choice and I don't regret most of it. So when the spring tour was announced, naturally, I wanted to go. However, due to my relentless spending, I now have to miss out on the spring tour in exchange for living vicariously through the stories, experiences, photos & videos of my newly found Blockhead friends. It breaks my heart to think about not being able to see them. I know, I know, why am I complaining?

I'm not complaining. I'm just realizing how precious this time is. I've always wondered what it was like to travel back in time and somehow, the New Kids have figured out a way to make that possible. Last year, I was suspended in a time warp to a period when life was carefree, fun & enjoyable. I didn't care about bills. I didn't care about responsibilities. I didn't care about anything but hangin' out with my friends, laughing, & having a good time.

As reality began to sink in this year, I had to return to my real world of unpaid debts, revitalizing neglected friendships, and stepping out of my fantasy realm and into reality, slapping me in the face. The announcement of the NKOTB spring 2009 tour came at an unexpected time and sadly, I have to bow out. I can barely afford to keep up with life since my funds are now depleted and I'm living life on a solo credit card that has no mercy when it comes to interest rates. A regular person outside of being a New Kids fan could never understand why the obsession is so strong, like a drug addiction. Who would understand other than my Blockhead friends? They know. They understand. They get this. They GET this!! =)

They are the reason I was sitting at work yesterday, crying my eyes out because they all chipped in and bought me and our other friend, Ana, 4* NKOTB concert tickets, a value of $350 for the Fresno Show. I couldn't believe the existential generosity & love between us. Their efforts to enable me to get to this one show is overwhelming and I am touched, blessed & speechless. In addition to this, they also faded in on getting me a NorCal sweater for the Kimmel Show a couple weekends ago which I also couldn't afford!! Because of them, Donnie's first words to me at the Kimmel Show were, "What up NorCal?!" and all I thought about was not Donnie Wahlberg, but them. My Blockhead sisters are feeding me a love & kindness that surpasses what a phenomenal love this truly is. My regular friends are always yelling at me & putting down my obsession as a crazy phase but it's useless. I could explain it, but they could never know. I am forever grateful for this love, friendship, & affection and just wanted to say thank you & I love you to my NorCal NKOTB sisters, you know who you are. ;) Through this reunion, I've found a love that has no boundaries. You have no idea how much your love has affected me. THANK YOU!! I LOVE YOU! MUAH!!

C.R.E.A.M.

I'm finally out of my old place and into my new. Don't have much time to unpack, although, my kitchen seems to be getting along well. I just love kitchens. I don't know where to put my stuff! I've never had a place of my own before so everything is just everywhere right now. Next "need" item is a TV and cable. I've just GOTTA catch NKOTB on Regis & Kelly! So I guess I have about a week to get this all squared away.

The guys should be back in the US by now. I've missed them dearly. I want to go to another concert but I doubt my funds will allow me to do anything right now. Wish I got my tax refund already. Damn state IOUs!! I need my money! I think I'm going to claim 1 now. I can't believe how much debt our state is in, and our country!!! Thanks a lot, Bush. I'm blaming you for everything btw. :) Maybe I'll sell my precious NKOTB car. Don't know if I could bear to part with it though. Regardless, the plate is staying with me.

Geezus, it's been a minute

Oh my goodness, I haven't been blogging here. Sorry, I have 6 blogs. But anyway, what's happened since? Well, nothing much. For New Year's Eve, I celebrated Joe McIntyre's 36th birthday & New Year's Eve with some NKOTB friends. We had a cake with his picture on it. Here it is:
It was fun. We listened to his solo CDs and watched a couple of his movies til the wee hours of the night. I know I should be out partying but really, to me, New Year's Eve is just another day. I'm not a big party girl unless I'm the one hosting it. :)

I've been noticing something different about myself lately. Some more of the spring tour dates were released today and the thing is, I wasn't even excited. A year ago, I would've screamed at the top of my lungs. Actually, a year ago was when I found out about this reunion. I remember it clearly; the wave of disbelief settling into my stomach, the rise of excitement shooting through my body, giving me chills down my arms, my face, my spine, my throat. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a joke, surreal, impossible, a dream come true. I think about my life before the reunion and it amazes me how much has changed.

I was having lunch with a couple of friends the other day. We are all artists and we were talking about projects. All I remember saying is how my life is completely suspended right now. I am unable to move forward with the projects I want to do because I am so highly enveloped in the NKOTB reunion that my previous ongoing life has ceased to continue for the time being. I don't know what to do. Believe me, I know this is stupid and I know there is life outside of this reunion but it seems to be the only thing I want to be updated about, the only thing I want to concentrate on, the only thing that gets me excited right now. Lame, right? Actually, not quite.

If it weren't for the reunion, I would never have known that you can save youtube videos. I would never have known about online storage sites. I would never have known about RSS feeds. I would never have found out about mp4s, mpgs, wmvs, or movs. I would never have met the wonderful people I have met throughout my trek across the United States. I would never have realized exactly where the source of my upbringing actually came from, why I am the way I am, and how much I missed my childhood. So no, the New Kids are not stupid, the New Kids are not immature, and the New Kids are NOT PLAYIN'.

Curiosity Got the Best of Me

I was bored the other day, hangin' out at my friend's house. I was surfing the internet and decided to try something new. Now that I don't have any tour dates to look forward to, I'm having a little trouble adjusting to life as it was. I tell ya, when Thanksgiving was coming up, I remembered like it was yesterday the desserts I made for Thanksgiving last year. I thought, "It's been a YEAR??!" I never noticed how fast time was whizzing by with the buzz created by the NKOTB Reunion.

Back to the other day, I decided to try something new so I created a profile on an internet dating site! Haha! I've never answered so many questions about myself before and it was fun writing about myself. I learned that my interests span far & wide and I actually am quite interested in the underground music scene.

Have you seen Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist? I saw that in the movie theatre, twice. The "Where's Fuffy?" element of the film was brilliant. I wonder if that was based on something real. Actually, if that were New Kids on the Block, I would definitely play that Hide N Seek Game. It would be so cool if they played a gig under an alias and there were only about 30 - 50 people at the show in a cozy intimate nightclub like The Rockit Room or the Beale Street Bar. To find clues, maybe there would be Smiley Faces with sequins in the eyes to signal us where to go, or maybe there would be flyers in places like Amoeba Records with fake band names and strategically placed "misspellings" of some sort. Then, if the gig had some sort of connection to a true fan, like a nostalgia factor or something, then we would check out the show just for kicks. And when we arrive, what a nice surprise it would be if it wasn't a misspelling and the alias was a little secret between the New Kids and their old skool fans. Ahh, what a great nite that would make. :D

Anyway, so yah, we'll see how this internet dating thing goes. I don't expect anything from it, just curious. It's so hard to make yourself sound interesting when you're not. What's the best way to break it to strangers that you're a hardcore New Kids fan and that they may never top that? Haha!!

Back to Life...

Back to reality, back to the...I dunno the words. :) Now that my own little personal NKOTB tour is over, I have been spit back out only to return to the life I had less than one year ago. What that consists of, I no longer recall. I initially started this blog as a place for me to ramble but it has become a place for me to escape. I have had some great NKOTB experiences, more than I ever thought possible 20 years ago and I have to say...the haters have NO IDEA how much fun they are missing out on. The down side though? Haha, that'd be the BILL!! My $5000 credit card is laughing at me because it knows it needs to be paid. No worries, I'll pay it. But in the meantime, I still have to pay for my student loan, my rent, my cell phone bill, cable bill, internet bill, water bill, garbage bill, car loan bill, car insurance bill, and oh yah, most importantly, food. Yah, who needs food when you've got NKOTB anxiety to fill you up? I know I certainly couldn't eat right before meeting them. They've really started a wave of weight loss succeeders, haven't they? Why doesn't someone write any article about those "losers?" I'd LOVE to join in but sadly, I'm a gainer. :( It's allright, I will make it my goal to become a loser eventually. I refuse to miss out on the fun to say, "Donnie, here I come!!"

In the meantime, enjoy this musical...

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Los Angeles NKOTB Concert 11/26/08

What an incredible night. Tuesday night, after work, I start my drive out to LA for my last NKOTB concert...of 2008. ;) So many plans. Some Bay Area girls and I had made gift baskets for the New Kids and there were TONS of things in each basket-5 baskets in all. On the side, I had also made a scrapbook with tons of things in there that was personal and time-consuming. I arrived in LA at 3 AM and found a hotel room to stay at. In the morning, I met up with some friends to finish up the baskets. Some people had given us letters, notes and cards to put in the baskets as well so there was a lot of love inside these baskets.

When I arrived at the theater, the area where the 5* was supposed to meet was in the same place as where the guys would pull up when they came. So, a lot of people were there and it was very disorganized. I had my scrapbook along with my autographed "I♥NKOTB" license plate slipped inside because I wanted to be holding it in the 5* picture. When we get there, we were told that we couldn't bring gifts inside the building and I was devastated. We had to leave the baskets behind in the car. My friend brought a big bag with her and was able to fit the scrapbook in there so we took our chances to see if they would confiscate it. I've never had to walk through a metal detector at a New Kids concert before but whatever.

Once we got into the 5* pre party, I started to feel like jello because I was getting nervous. When the guys arrived, we screamed and yelled as usual. I knew this was going to be my last chance at trying to get a Donnie autograph on my arm for my long-awaited tattoo. I decided I was going to take my chances because Robo wasn't there and I felt like taking risks. I also told my friend to leave her bag on the table by the picture taking area so that I can grab it if I get the ok from a New Kid. We had planned on doing a little singing but once I got in there, I lost my shit. I saw Jon and knew that he was the one I wanted to talk to about the scrapbook because it was very important that I get it to them. I explained what it was and asked if I could give it to them and he said yes.

Then I went to Donnie and told him that I HAVE to get his autograph on my arm so I can get a tattoo and that I have been trying since the last LA concert. I told him I had a sharpie with me and if he'll just sign it, I'll be happy. He took the sharpie and signed my arm and I was ecstatic!!! Someone gave him a hat and he took off his hat and put it on my head. I didn't know it was his and I asked if it was his or if a fan gave it to him. He said it was his. Then he attempted to sign my arm at that moment but we had to take pictures. I turned around and let my friend stand in front of me because she wanted to be by him for the pic. I wanted to stand by Jon but by then, it was too late because Donnie wasn't letting me go because he kept trying to read my shirt. Then, he said it was the "best shirt in the world." Haha! Right. We snapped the first picture and for the 2nd one, I'm not sure but I think Donnie put his hat on my head but I dunno. If it's red, then it was his hat. I guess we'll see as soon as the ILAA pics come out.

After the pictures, I turned and he grabbed my sharpie and that's when he signed my arm. I couldn't believe it was happening!!!! Then, we went to get our tickets because they had to renumber the seats because they added some rows, they said. I got my tickets and it was in the pit, 2nd row, seat 318 - 319. I wasn't really sure where that was but whatever. They did the raffle and I didn't win anything. Then Donnie came out again and he started signing autographs. I had him sign my laminate on the front and the back.

Then, it was time to go to the concert. I went inside and they showed me my seat. It was the second row from the left side of the stage in the center section so it was cool. During the concert, Donnie winked and blew kisses at me which was nice. Reminded me of Sacramento's concert. He tried to look in my camera a few times but whenever it didn't come out, I'd let him know and he would look again. When I gave him a thumbs up, he winked. This was during DIBYM. He's such a sweetheart to make his fans feel so special. The concert was spectacular. The highlights: Donnie kissed Jon, we sang Happy Birthday to Jon at Cara's request, the B stage performance was held on the main stage and the guys ran through the audience and right by me, and Joe showed some body on the pose off so clearly he won.

After the concert, I went back to where we were before. There were tons of girls there. Jordan & Jon left first. Jordan hopped into a white van and Jon went into the van as well. When they came out, the girls bumrushed the security and they got overwhelmed. We grabbed the gift baskets with us and went with everyone too. After they left, security told us to get back. I didn't want to carry the baskets anymore so I put them on the floor and waited to see if the security would pick them up. They didn't and then a bunch of girls rushed to the baskets and took them. My friends and I had to grab them back from the people who took them. I didn't know where the other one went. I saw someone had one going down the stairs in the garage and when I got down there, my other friend had already approached her for the basket. We were devastated. My friend had already begun to cry because we had put so much work into the baskets and now, they weren't even going to get them.

Then, the most amazing thing happened. A woman who works for the New Kids had offered to help us get the baskets to them. What a nice lady. I wish we had gotten her name. She went in with them and eventually came back out and told us that she gave them to Donnie & Danny. Since the others had left, she didn't know what was going to happen to them. Then she took our picture and we wanted to take a pic with her too. It was all very nice. I couldn't believe there was actually someone nice on their team that would do that for us. I am very grateful to her. Everyone cheered when they found out they had gotten the baskets. I was relieved.

Afterwards, we decided to go eat. We saw a Denny's and parked. That's when I realized, "OH SNAP!!! My license plate was in the scrapbook!!!!"

Death Is No Laughing Matter

Did anyone happen to catch Jon's blog today? This is what he said:

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008Jon’s near-death experience!

THIS ISN’T FOR EVERYONE JUST A SMALL FEW!!!!!!!!!!

I saw a post about my bus driving down the wrong side of the
expressway. Yes, this did happen, and I am not happy about it. I was in
the front seat sh***ng my pants. Every night leaving our shows people
like you who posted are going to kill us or yourselves!!!!! You need to
stop driving up on our buses like you do. You are dealing with 22 tons
of steel that cannot stop or change lanes on a dime. Half the time you
are hanging out your windows and flashing your camera flashes into our
drivers eyes, paying no attention to what you are doing! You caused my
driver to become so disorientated that night. A certain few of you need
to chill out and be more responsible adults! What are you trying to
gain by doing this. Do you think we are going to pull over and say hi?
Do you think you are going to follow us to our hotel? 99% of the time
we are heading on to the next city several hours away! Please pull it
together. I don’t want to die in some stupid accident. I appreciate you
coming to the shows, don’t get me wrong. I just had to address this
post because it is real and not some cute fantasy! Please spread the
word to everyone. This is a serious matter. As an adult I am going to
keep it real with you. If you’re acting stupid I will flat out tell you
to your face, “you’re being stupid”. So, in this instance, A VERY SMALL
FEW OF YOU ARE BEING STUPID!!!!!!!!!

Much respect and appreciation!

now that that is off my chest………….happy blogs coming soon!

Jon

UN-EFFIN-Believable. These past few months, I have felt like I've been floating in a cloud, wandering around my childhood dreams and ignoring reality. However, the conscious side of me is always there to keep my mind in check. I don't understand the ridiculous behavior of some of these so-called "fans." If you're really a fan, you do things the proper way. Just because you FEEL like your a teenager again doesn't mean you actually do everything you did as a teenager. Let's face it, many of us who were teenagers must have thought at one point in time that we were invincible, that our skin would never wrinkle, that nothing could hurt us, and we would stay the same forever. Pretty dumb mentality, I know. With this reunion, although we are transported back in time to a place when life seemed so much more simpler and fun, we still have to take responsibility for our own actions.

I hope whomever was chasing Jon's bus realized the extent of the damage they have caused. This really put a damper in my day. I am so annoyed at people who act stupid. If you know me and you know what I do, then you prolly expect I know what I'm talkin' about. It's nice to know someone with some leverage agrees with me on it.