Hey, all! Got back from Atlanta on Sunday, but it's taken me a few days to recover. I'm back at work on my second MMA fighter book, plus a brand-new collaboration with LA Witt - ROCK STARS!
Speaking of... Lori and I spent a couple of AMAZING days being total
Thirty Seconds to Mars fangirls. Friday night we saw them in San Jose - my first time seeing them live, which was pretty fucking awesome. I don't go to a lot of concerts (geez, I think my last one was Tori Amos in '08 or '09), but Mars is something special. Jared was sick as a dog (in fact, he didn't speak at all during the meet and greet, so he could save his voice for the show) but he still got up there and gave it his all. We stood at the side of the stage, with a great view of the proceedings.
But that was just a taste of what awaited us at the Hollywood Bowl the next day. Total Mars immersion, and OMG, I'm still floating!
Tomo, stealing Jared's mic, right before he and Shannon started jamming on a couple of old-school tunes - "Battle of One" and "Buddha for Mary."
Shannon & Jared at the HB soundcheck. Yes, Shannon is wearing leather pants. 'Nuff said. :)
Jared, belting out "Amazing Grace" a capella. He still had a sore throat, but you couldn't tell. Everyone in the house burst into tears - no joke.
If you squint, you can see me and Lori in the background. (I'm the chunky blonde in the forest green hoodie.) Yes, we were really there! :)
And this was a mere preliminary to the actual performance, which kicked EPIC ass. If you ever get the chance to see Mars live, don't think about it - just GO. I've listened to their albums a gazillion times, watched interviews and live clips on YouTube, but none of that prepared me for experiencing them in the flesh. All that creative energy gave my sluggish writing brain a jump-start, and I've been happily buried in my two current WIPs ever since I got home from GRL, but that's a subject for another post.
PS - Looks like Lori picked up Jared's cold. I didn't get sick, but apparently I'm a carrier of the dreaded Mars virus - my poor GRL roommate's been sick in bed ever since she got home.
I REGRET NOTHING! :)
PPS - Sorry about the captions not lining up with the pics. *kicks Goodreads*