First Semester Over!

*sigh* Well, the first semester of my senior year in high school is now officially over. I just finished my semester exams (math and independent study personal fitness) and now it's time to focus on the really important stuff...WINTER BREAK!! I'm off to Florida 12/23 and will be there until either the 30th or 31st, then it's off to Nashville to ring in the New Year with a Country concert with Jason Aldeen, Trace Adkins and Brooks & Dunn. This holiday season is gonna be great, just like it always is, and the only white I plan on seein' this Christmas is the white sand beaches of Sanibel Island in Florida (off the coast near Ft. Meyers and Cape Coral)!

I can't believe I'm actually a second semester senior!! Scary thought right there. I'm looking forward to college, but at the same time, I don't want to leave my friends and family. It's a bitter-sweet feeling to say the least. My top choice for college is Berklee School of Music up in Boston, MA and my back-up school is Murray State Universtity in Murray, KY. Murray is only like 2 hours or so from Nashville, so I'd be close to the Country music scene that I love so much. I want to pursue a career as a singer, preferably Country or Rock, which is why I want to go to Berklee. The way I've come to see it, Berklee is basically the Juliard of contemporary music. It's a phenomenal school located in the heart of the Boston music scene and that could really help me in my pursuit of a music career (especially considering Joey Kramer of Aerosmith graduated from Berklee and Aerosmith is based in the Boston area!). Murray is a good school too, don't get me wrong. It's a small school (public ivy-league) with around 8,000 students and is located in a small town (Murray, KY) and the school has an equestrian team that would be fun to join. But they're music program is too classical for me. As a matter of fact, that's all it is, classical music. I have nothing against people who are classically trained and/or are classical performers. I just get rather bored with Schubert and Handel and Mozart and Beethoven and all of the rest of them. Give me Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue or Lynyrd Skynyrd and I'll be happy (not the extent of my favorite artists, but just a few of them).

Well, that's basically the update with what's new in my life. If anything else interesting should happen, I shall update here again. Otherwise, see you in the new year!

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...

Woohoo!! We have snow! And might I add, today is the first snow day that the Clayton School District has had in around 3 years! I swear, I dunno what I'm gonna do with myself today. But thank god the snow day is on a Friday so now I have a 3-day weekend! Yay! As I write this, I'm listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's CD Christmas Eve and Other Stories. Lemme go off-track a bit here and say that if you've never seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra live, you need to go fall in a well and die. These guys are incredible. They take traditional Christmas songs and play them on electric guitars, electric basses, 7-string electric violins (thank you to Mark Wood for inventing those and for playing with Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and drum sets. They are turly a rock band that bring traditional Christmas songs to the 21st century. So if you get the chance to see these guys in concert GO AND SEE THEM! YOU WON'T BE DISAPOINTED! But I digress.

Anyways. Here's how the crazy weather came to be: It started off yesterday with a ton of what the Weather Channel called a "frozen mix" but in reality, it was ice fallin' from the sky. It fell most of yesterday and finally turned to snow around 9-10:00 last night. I got the call from my high school at around 7:30pm sayin' that we were gonna have a snow day today and I was so happy, I was bouncing around the house for ages. I called my friends and we celebrated over the phone. I must say, yesterday's weather was worse than anything I experienced in the 5 years I lived in Minneapolis. Sure, we had winter storms, but we never had ice fall from the sky. It was either rain or snow, never ice. So for once, St. Louis beat Minneapolis in the bad winter weather department!

Now, I'm off to enjoy this wonderful snow day. Below you'll find pictures I took this morning of my snowy neighborhood and my house (all taken from inside my house). Enjoy!












My next-door neighbor cleaning off her car













Part of my front yard

My other next-door neighbor's front yard

Part of my back yard

A glimpse at my neighborhood under cover of snow
The bench in the flower bed in the corner of my back yard
The bench in the flower bed in the corner of my back yard
My deck

The tree in my front yard

Sweet Emotion

Sweet lord, last night was the Aerosmith/Mötley Crüe concert out at UMB Bank Pavillion. And it kicked so much ass!!! There's so much to say, so I'll just start at the top! So I got to UMB at 3:30pm for the VIP pre-show party hosted by AeroForceOne.com (official Aerosmith fan club) and I waited for about twenty minutes with everyone else for the AF1 reps to show. They finally did and took all of the Ultra-Sweet Spot members (that would be me) into UMB for a behind-the-scenes tour. We got to the stage and walked on to the end of the 70-foot catwalk one by one to have our picture taken with Steven Tyler's mic stand and one of Joe Perry's giutars. Below is me with Steven's mic stand:

After I had this picture taken, I was walking off stage when someone asked "Is that Brad Whitford?" I turned to look at the stage and was about to say "No, that's a roadie. Aerosmith doesn't do their own soundcheck" when the guy on stage turned around and we all saw that it was indeed Brad Whitford. We all cheered and waved and he waved back. Once all of the fans had their pictures taken, I looked at the above pic and realized Brad is in the picture! (He's the guy in the blue jeans, black shirt and blonde hair). So we all moved along and went to the backstage area. We were all just about to walk into the building that housed the dressing rooms, when the door opened and out walked Russ Irwin, Aerosmith's keyboards player! I exclaimed "Oh my God! It's Russ Irwin!" and he turned and exclaimed "Oh my God! A bunch of Aerosmith fans!" He came over and gave everyone a high five, and my high five turned into a hug. Hehe.

After our little backstage tour, we all met up with the other AF1 fans and partied in this little (and I mean little) tent until 7:00pm. Then we all went out and found our seats. I sat in the third row from the stage, but the first 2 rows were more like half rows, and my seat was right on the aisle, so all I had to do was take like three steps and I was against the stage. Finally, at around 7:40, the house lights went out and Mötley Crüe hit the stage. The crowd screamed and jumped to its feet as Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee hit the stage. The Crüe did an insanely cool show and in the midst of it, Nikki Sixx (bass player) splashed water all over me and handed me his empty waterbottle (which I still have). During "Looks That Kill", Vince Neil (lead singer) came over, took my hand and said into his mic "You've got the looks that kill" right to me! It was awesome. Tommy Lee was crazy as always, wearing nothing but a pair of black capris and a pair of black Converse shoes, and going nuts on the drums. Below are some pics of the Mötley Crüe boys:
Mick Mars (guitarist)
Nikki Sixx (bass player)
Tommy Lee (drummer)
Vince Neil (lead singer)

After Mötley Crüe did their set, the roadies set up Aerosmith's stuff in about 30 minutes or so. The lights went out again and the crowd screamed louder than it had for Mötley Crüe. The music started, the curtain dropped, and there stood Aerosmith. I took three steps and was at the stage, snapping pictures like crazy. The Bad Boys from Boston electrified the stage, performing such hits as "Toys in the Attic", "Dream On", "Devil's Got a New Disguise", "Last Child", "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way" just to name a few. Steven Tyler couldn't have sounded better if he had tried and Joe Perry absolutely tore it up on guitar. During "Cryin'", he came over to my side of the stage and all of the fans and myself reached out to Steven. Out of everyone, he grabbed my hand, kept hold of it, and sang the chorus of "Cryin'" right to me!! I about died.

About four songs into Aerosmith's set, I looked off-stage and saw none other than Tommy Lee partying with a small group of people. I waved to him and he walked out from behind the group he was with and came all the way to the edge of the backstage area he was in and we actually talked/flirted for I'd say a good 10-20 minutes!! Here's basically what our conversation/shouting match was:
Me: Hey Tommy!
Tommy: Hey!
Me: The Mötley Crüe set kicked serious ass!! You guys are awesome!
Tommy: Thanks! I love your jeans by the way! Very sexy! (I was wearing a pair of jeans slit all the way up the sides and covered in rhinestones)
Me: You're very sexy!
Tommy: So are you!
Me: *laughs* Awww...thanks Tommy! I love you!
Tommy: I love you too, baby. Hey, d'you know what the Cards/Mets score is?
Me: *smiles* Yeah. 12 to 5. Cards lost.
Tommy: Ooh, shit! Sorry to hear it!
Me: No biggie. We play again tomorrow!
Tommy: Nice! Well, I need to go, security is having a fit!
Me: *laughs* Alright. It was awesome meeting you Tommy!
Tommy: You'll see me again. Don't worry!
And with that, he was gone, back to his group to party. All of the girls around me had been trying to get Tommy's attention the whole time we talked, but he ignored them all. He only had eyes for me. I turned my attention back to Aerosmith and danced and sang to every song, but as the show went on, I looked over to see what Tommy was doing and every time I did, I'd lock eyes with him! It was so sweet.

Aerosmith finally ended, and at the end of the encore song "Walk This Way", true to his word, Tommy Lee raced out to the edge of the stage where I was. Everyone reached up to him, myself included, and Tommy took my hand, kissed it, turned and started heading off-stage with Aerosmith. I shouted "I love you Tommy Lee!" as he left and Tommy shouted "I love you too!" over his shoulder, then he gave me a smile that can make anyone weak in the knees, and was gone. All of the women around me were so jealous that I had captured Tommy Lee's attention and that he had ignored all of them for me. I couldn't help doing anything but smile.

So there you have it. The greatest night of my life. Below are a few pictures of my beloved Aerosmith (Tom Hamilton sadly wasn't there...still recovering from throat cancer). We all missed you Tom! Get well soon! It's just not the same without you!!!

~Gem

Brad Whitford
Joe Perry
Joey KramerSteven Tyler

In Loving Memory...

It's always hard to say good-bye to someone that you love. A family pet may be one of the hardest to lose.

It just came to my attention this afternoon that my beloved cat Magic had cancer. We had taken him into the hospital yesterday since he hadn't been eating for about a week and left him overnight. While I was at school, the vet called my mom and told her how bad it was and that he couldn't be saved. I came home and my mom told me how sick he was and that we needed to put him down. I screamed and collapsed onto the couch in tears. Magic, my best friend for 9 years was dying. I don't remember not having him. I didn't want to believe my mom, didn't want it to be true. No, there has to be a mistake, I thought, she can't possibly be talking about my cat. Even at this moment, I don't want to believe it.

It all happened so fast, we never saw it coming. My family and I have been in and out of town a lot lately and whenever we went out of town in the past, Magic would always act different for my mom's friend who pet-sits for us, but would get back to normal once we were home. We thought this was the same. We thought he was just getting bored with the same old food, so we changed it up, but nothing worked. We took him yesterday for x-rays and left him overnight. If I had known riding to the vet that I would never see my cat again, I wouldn't have even gone.

I don't know when, but sometime tonight, Magic will leave this world forever. My eyes are spilling over with tears as I write this, knowing that my best friend is leaving me. My love for Magic will never end. He has been with me for 9 years and has helped me through tough times in ways only a cat can. I won't be at his side when the vet puts him down. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

My vision is greatly blurred right now with tears, my face is streaked with fresh tears, and my heart is broken into billions of pieces, so I shall now close. Rest In Peace my friend and know that I always love you and will never forget you.
----<---<@
In Loving Memory:
Magic Haller
3/17/1997 - 8/23/2006
You Will Never Be Forgotten
----<---<@

Third Time's The Charm

I guess the third time really is the charm. On Aug. 19, I saw Big & Rich in concert for the third time. The first two times I saw them, my seats were awful. But the third time's the charm. This time, I was in the 6th row. The first two times I saw them, I envied everyone who got to go backstage. But the third time's the charm. This time, I went backstage with my best friend and met "Big" Kenny, John Rich, Cowboy Troy and Two-Foot Fred. And the funny thing is, we didn't even know we were goin' backstage until about two hours before the concert. See, the guy that scored us the awesome seats is the son of the chairman of the board for the state fair, thus allowing us to get backstage.

It seems every time I meet someone famous, I start shakin' like a leaf in a hurricane. Back in 2004, I went backstage and met Toby Keith. I was trembling so bad, that he noticed and asked if I was okay. June 2006, I met Shooter Jennings and I was shakin' so bad, when I stuck out my hand to shake his, it looked like I was in an earthquake. This Big & Rich concert was no exception. And I managed to make a complete idiot out of myself. Now, for those of you who've been living under a rock lately, I am a HUGE Big & Rich fan. Not only do I think both "Big" Kenny and John Rich are very good-looking, but I also think they are incredible artists and I look up to them as a young singer myself. But here's how I managed to embarass myself in front of Big & Rich:

My friend and I got backstage with the other 30 or so lucky folks who went back and we all were herded into this room where we would wait for the band. My friend suggested we start singin' Big & Rich tunes to pass the time while we waited to meet the boys, so we sang "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)", "Holy Water", and got halfway through "Comin' To Your City", before "Big" Kenny himself strolled into the room. I was the first person to notice, and I screamed. Kenny started lookin' around, tryin' to find the fan who screamed, and I was halfway to wavin' my hand so that he would know it was me, when John, Troy and Fred walked in, so everyone started cheerin'. So I blew that one. Everyone lined up and started filing over to Kenny, John Rich, Cowboy Troy and Two-Foot Fred for their picture. When it was almost our turn, I turned to my friend and quietly said jokingly: "I really hope I don't pass out." Unfortunately, Kenny heard me! 'Cause when I walked over to stand next to him (I was shakin' like crazy) he looked me in the eyes and asked, "You alright? I don't want you hittin' the floor on me." I barely managed to find my voice and replied, "I'm alright." Kenny smiled and put his arm around me and I put my arm around his waist. I was shaking so bad, there's no way he couldn't have felt it. No sooner was my arm around him, my legs started giving out underneath me. I did everything I could to act like nothing was happening, but I was still trembling and my arm was sliding down Kenny's back. Kenny noticed and tightened his grip on me, preventing me from hitting the floor. I didn't want to seem desperate, but I was really about to hit the ground, so I moved my hand from Kenny's waist and managed to find his left arm, which I used to pull me up a bit. Luckily, Kenny didn't seem to mind. After the picture was taken, my friend (who had been standing between John and Troy) came over and saw me sliding, so she grabbed my free right arm and started tryin' to haul me off, but Kenny still had a good grip on me. My friend threw my arm over her shoulders and I slid my arm from Kenny's waist. As I stumbled away, Kenny's hand and mine met for an instant and I turned for one last look into his gorgeous blue eyes and was met with the most genuine smile imaginable. He winked as my friend managed to drag me out the door and out to our seats. Since we were 6 rows from the stage, I figured that there was no way Kenny or John would be able to notice me in the crowd. I was wrong. They came out on stage and started into "Comin' To Your City" and halfway through, Kenny and I locked eyes and he waved at me!! I waved back and managed to get a quick picture of him waving to me before he turned and headed for the other side of the stage. The show went from 7:30-9:30pm and the boys sang a whole bunch of songs including: "Love Train", "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)", "Wild West Show", "Jalapeno", "Blow My Mind", "Kick My Ass", and "Big Time".

All in all, it was a kick-ass show. I got to hug one of my celebrity crushes/music idols and he ended up saving me from unimaginable humiliation (not that I wasn't already humiliated). I guess when you look at it, the third truly is the charm.

All pictures from the concert are on my facebook account.

Cat Scratch Fever!!

I went to the Ted Nugent concert last night and it kicked so much ass!! I always knew that Ted was a crazy mother f-cker, but last night really showed it. But be warned: if you aren't a gun-toting, all-American, gung-ho, balls-to-the-walls person, read no further (and stay the hell away from Ted Nugent). Because The Nuge might be a bit much for some of you out there.

So, the opening band played and I must admit, they were pretty good (the singer's name was Huck Johns, and was rather cute I must say...). Once they wrapped up, the stage crew set to work pulling their instruments off the stage and setting up Ted's. Like most other performers, Ted's set was hidden from view until the stage crew pulled off some tarps to reveal it. And what a site it was: A blue drum set with "Ted" on one bass drum and "Nugent" on the other raised at least ten feet, maybe more, off the ground on a platform. Amps the size of my car (I drive a Volkswagen Beetle). Real skulls of buffalo (at least I think they were buffalo...) that had red lights in their eyes which lit up. A compound bow with two arrows. An American flag (Ted is extremely patriotic). The Missouri state flag. And guns. Real guns. And not just one or two. Try around ten to fifteen. One of them was this enormous machine gun that was used in WWII on the B-17s that I swear was almost as tall as me (and I'm 5'6.5"). You could name any gun in the world and he had it on stage, except for an AK-47 (everyone who knows guns will understand what I'm talkin' about). It was nuts. Fifteen minutes or so after Huck Johns and his band had finished, the lights blacked out and the loudest chord ever played on an electric guitar rang out. The crowd (myself included) leapt to its feet, screaming. The lights on the stage come up. The drummer is sittin' behind his drums, the bass player walks out on stage, and then...WHAM! Another chord rings out and from the left side of the stage comes a man larger than life. The Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent. He's dressed in a camouflage cowboy hat, camouflage t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. He stands at least 6'6" and even though I was up in the balcony (front row), he looked like the giant he truly is. The crowd screams even louder (if that's possible) and Ted snapped off a salute that could impress any military person. In his hand, an electric guitar painted as an American flag. And the first song he launches into...a rock version of The National Anthem. His electric guitar screamed out the notes and the crowd just loved it. At the end of the song, he snapped off another salute and slid into the show. Now, I haven't been a fan of Ted's for that long, so I didn't know very many of his songs, but like that mattered. He was phenominal and the crowd adored him. About four or five songs in, he actually stopped the show and said "let's give a big round of applause for my machine guns!" And the place went haywire. Then he added: "and did I mention that all children under the age of 21 get to leave tonight with a free machine gun?" Everyone cheered and laughed. He continued: "But don't worry, none of these guns are loaded...*crazy laugh from Ted*...Yeah right! And I'm gay!" The crowd burst into hysterical laughter. Close to the end of the show, he did a song called "Kiss My Ass" in which he rattles off the names of all the people and countries that should kiss his ass (it's a long list, trust me) and one of the names he lists was Osama Bin Laden. As soon as he mentions that SOB (if you don't know what that stands for, you need to get some help) a huge cardboard cut-out appears of Bin Laden on the stage. Ted finishes the song and as the crowd is screamin', he picks up his bow (which is painted like an American flag), puts an arrow on the string, takes aim, and then turns to the crowd for approval. He gets it and, from a distance of at least 25 feet, he shoots off the arrow and it lands square in the heart of the cardboard cut-out. The place goes absolutely bonkers. The concert ends at around 11:30 (after playing his most famous hit "Cat Scratch Fever") and Ted snaps off a final salute, then leaves the stage. The lights came up and we all headed out. I snagged a t-shirt on the way out, and my dad and I head back to the hotel. It was definitely a concert I will never forget.

"You can't do this in France!" ~Ted during the concert

Skynyrd Concert

Saw Lynyrd Skynyrd/3 Doors Down in concert on the 27th and it kicked so much ass!! Shooter Jennings (son of the late Waylon Jennings) opened and after his performance, he and his band met fans and signed autographs! I got them all to sign my t-shirt and my mom got a pic of me with Shooter behind me. Then 3 Doors Down performed. I only knew one song, "Kryptonite" and they were okay, but I wasn't crazy about their performance. Finally, Skynyrd hit the stage and the place went totally nuclear. I took tons of pictures (all of which are on my facebook account) and loved the whole show, even though I only knew about 4 songs, those being "Sweet Home Alabama", "Red, White and Blue", "What's Your Name", and "Free Bird". All in all, kick ass show and now I have to wait until August 2nd for my next concert (Ted Nugent). Till next time!!

"The South will rise again!" ~Johnny Van Zandt (Skynyrd front man) during the concert