"Wed's Wonderings & Wanderings": Scoring Concert Tickets

There is such a thrill about nabbing those coveted concert tickets and the anticipation of waiting for the actual concert day is exciting, especially when you're going with your best friend, sibling, special someone or basically anyone who will appreciate the event as much as you. The only problem with today's way of obtaining tickets is the process seems to make it practically impossible for a normal person to get said tickets. Oh and if you do get a ticket it is super rare for them to be decent seats.

My mom and dad have regaled me with their tales of the "past" telling of how they would obtain their concert tickets. My rents and their friends would go in groups down to the concert venue's box office before sunrise and wait till sales time. So from before sunrise till the tickets were sold out they would sit together and apart in groups to be selected with wristbands. If they were given a wristband that would mean they were closer to getting a ticket. From there the grouped wristbands would be given numbers as to what order they would be in for ticket buying. Sooo if my mom got in Group C and my dad was in Group M, they'd ditch my dad's spot and hand my mom the money so she could nab the better tickets. This system was temperamental but a group effort, though my parents did occasionally get into the first groups and got really great seats for some great bands.

But alas, now a days to get great seats one must have really great internet connection, a really fast computer, be an extremely fast clicker, Aaaand have a whole lot of luck. I usually have to use side websites for purchasing tickets, because trying to buy the tickets straight from the source at the original price is practically impossible. Okay I will admit for certain musicians, and venues, tickets do seem easier to obtain than others. But for the big name headlining stars the tickets are super hard to get which makes the idea of concerts somewhat disheartening. 

Honestly, I'm still on a bit of a sadness trip from once again striking out on a chance to see Adele. It's my mission to see her live before I reach 25, kinda funny because she's on tour for her album 25. Anyways to say I'm a fan is a sad understatement, so the fact that I couldn't nab tickets after about 8 hours of wait time online still makes me pissy. The fact that I can go to side sites and get a single ticket at $500 for the nosebleed section which doesn't assuage my ire at the injustice of the current ticket system. Seriously people are jerks who resell their tickets at such outrageous prices.

Still with all that said, or ranted, I'll still be one of those people clicking away at my computer vying for tickets when my favorites are on tour. Concerts offer that chance to see your idols live, hearing them in person, maybe even meeting them. All of which is something simply stalking them on tv, radio, and all media sources won't enable you. Plus when you go to a concert with someone those memories become priceless. So really despite it all concerts will probably remain one of my white whales in life.

"Wed's Wonderings & Wanderings": Poker Games and Vegas Adventures

So as I keep mentioning my little brother turned 18 this past weekend. To celebrate this momentous occasion in our family, he's the baby and last one to become an adult, we decided to throw him a party Vegas style. He and his friends love to hangout and play poker, so we decided why not have the party theme be poker night? The guests had to dress to the nines and be ready to play some card games that ranged from straight poker to 21, aka, blackjack which I didn't realize until my brother told me. We even offered UNO for those not into gambling games like myself, throwing money away is just not exciting for me, even in a fake situation.

Lucky for me I was on Picture taking duty and DJ status for the second half of the night. We had kept that half of the night a secret from my brother. You see after the clock hit 10:00 we hit the lights off, then we light up the balloons with glowing lights inside, passed out glow sticks and extra lights, and had other flashing lights going on to turn the rest of the party into a dancing rave. I pumped that place with beats starting with Lady Gaga's Poker Face (couldn't resist) to keep the guest going into the night at least till we had to shut it down like Cinderella at midnight.

 Personally I like our version of Vegas tables better than my attempt into Vegas gambling. It was an EPIC fail, one which almost got us (as in my brother and I) kicked off the casino floor in Caesar's Palace. My brother has always claimed he could pass for 25, and me looking younger than may age usually gets me asked if I'm his girlfriend, just gross. Anyways, so when we were waiting to get into the most exquisite but freaking expensive buffet in Vegas, my brother got me to finally try to "gamble." Basically I agreed to do a slot machine because it reminded me of Chuck 'E' Cheese. Well the machine had no instructions and I stupidly just shoved a quarter in a slot trying to make it go in. After we realized we probably broke it we got up and ran to another machine where I put in a dollar and tried again. This time as I was pressing the button and I think loosing, again no instructions, we were approached by a floor attendant. The guy asked my brother how old he was and asked for his ID, not asking for mine at all, kinda mean, then my dad came and basically my brother had to scurry to my mom because he couldn't pass for over 18 like he thought he could. Meanwhile I'm losing my dollar because I had no freaking clue what I was doing except pressing the big red button.

 Las Vegas is just shall I say an interesting place. I have been there 13 times and each time I seem to walk away with a new story and a different perspective on the city. My first time I ever went to Vegas was when I was 4 years old, my family drove there for my grandma's wedding. Her and my step-grandpa got hitched in this small chapel off the strip among friends and family. I remember the wonders of all the lights and sounds of the city and the fact I got to go swimming at night because it was so hot. This last time through Vegas was especially fun because my whole family was together, me and my sibs are at this age were we are just old enough to be total goofs together. Hence the pic above, my brother decided to pose like the huge statues in Caesars Palace and we got quite a few stares despite it being Vegas. Personally, we never stay on the strip but love staying a bit off in Henderson and driving in so we can walk about and venture into whatever Hotels on the strip we want to explore. Las Vegas can be hot and then cool at nights, but it will always prove to be an adventure just ask anyone who's been they say Las Vegas is Vegas. 

Hey, NEW BOOK OUT!!- Everything (Songbird Novel Book #3) by Melissa Pearl

!! NEW RELEASE !!

Everything (A Songbird novel, Book 3) by Melissa Pearl

Release Day Blitz

April 23, 2015

Synopsis:

Jody Pritchett had a dream...but life had other plans. Instead of singing and dancing on Broadway, Jody's a twenty-year-old single mom, living at home with her disapproving father and overbearing sister. The choice to keep her little Angelia came with a high price and although she adores her baby girl, it doesn't take away the sting of kissing goodbye her chance at a career on the stage. 

 Leo Sinclair had his own dream...but got lost along the way. After a failed marriage that left him hollow and downtrodden, the Australian songwriter wonders what joy his future could possibly hold. Encouraged by the one family member who doesn't think he's a failure, Leo decides to stop living the life everyone expects him to and start chasing his dreams again. When the perfect opportunity comes knocking, Leo leaves Australia behind and hops a flight to LA. With his sights set on selling a musical to a Broadway producer, Leo is determined to finally realize his life-long dream. 

But life gets in the way again, when he spots a young mother outside his apartment in tears. He never realized how one person, one voice, and one Angel could have him contemplating abandoning his dreams once again. As these two burned hearts wrestle to overcome their past struggles, Leo and Jody must decide what dreams are worth clinging to...because, sometimes, everything you want is not everything you need.

Book Links:
Amazon: Click Here
iTunes: Click Here 
Kobo: Click Here
Smashwords: Click Here 
BN: Click Here 

AND, 
***Limited Time Offer*** 
"Fever" (Book 1) in the Songbird series, 
is on sale for ONLY $0.99!
Book Link: Click Here
Listed Rating:  

"Bulletproof" (Book #2) 

Price: $2.99 (at time of post)

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating:  . 7

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About the Author:

Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan... not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. "Best. Year. Ever!!" 
She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November 2011. Since then she has continued to produce a steady stream of books. 
Recently she signed with Evatopia Press and her first Evatopia book is coming out in February 2014 - True Colors, The Masks Series #1. She is very excited to be trying out new things this year while continuing to publish under her own name as well. She has six books planned for 2014 and is excited about writing each and every one of them.

"Wednesday's, Wonderings & Wanderings": So Many eBooks, So Little Time

         I ask this question a lot because, I literally have like a million ebooks in my library. That said I probably will never read all of them, which rather makes me sad. I love reading and whether the books are awful, or not, getting lost in a book is an activity I find relaxing. I can also multi-task, so reading while watching TV or listening to music isn't an issue. 

         In fact there are a couple books that I read when listening to a new album and when I re-read said books or listen to the album again, I swear I can remember that part in the book or hear the song playing in my head when reading that chapter again. Strange right? 

         Well I think that's how a lot of memories work by association with things. Generally I have a CD for every trip I've taken, don't know why it is but it just happens, but I don't usually have a specific book for my trips. I read books too fast so it's great I have my eReader now, or else I'd have to do the old school thing and lug around a bag of books.

"Wednesday's, Wonderings & Wanderings": L.A. Traffic

My Ode to L.A. Traffic:

Oh the places one can go, 

Oh the places one can see, 

But wait! There's traffic . . .

So it's bumper to bumper I'll be.

         Seriously if you have ever been in Los Angeles for more than a few hours, or even just outside of LAX, I'm sure you can agree locals live in nothing but traffic. Getting to places we know that when we say, "Oh, it's like 20-25 mins away." What we really mean is "It's like 20 mins plus an extra 20 mins of traffic, unless the freeways are miraculously all clear, then maybe the place really will be only 25-30 mins away." Remember still got to add a few mins to account for the billion cars on the road.
         Despite all the traffic I still love driving and heading out with my friends and family to our favorite places and especially discovering new places. One of my new places to drive out too, despite the 2 hours there and back, is the 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica. I hadn't been back there in a while, but I've gone quite a bit these past months. There are a ton of stores along the promenade to just meander through and food places to enjoy too. So when the day is shinning and my schedule is clear, I'll usually get an itching to go somewhere a bit out of my area. That's when I grab my sister, hit play on my iPod to begin our playlist and hit the freeways passing Downtown, L.A.X and whole mess of cities on our way to towards the upper beachtown area.
        I guess no matter how much I might grip about traffic, I will always be happy for the fact I live where I live and all the places this city gives me access to. So while L.A. may be seriously over crowed with cars and traffic every day, I can with every other local at least take some pride in the fact we know how to drive in that mess we call roads. Plus any long drive can be turned into a party when you have tunes, so always make sure you have your iPod fully charged or if not make sure you know you have a radio, because its a tried a true fact by yours truly that music makes the commuting a whole lot easier, trust me.