walkryfe

Re: But a Dream's Story!!! I love your story! Thank you so much for sharing it! *^_^*

Professional? :D No, but it's very, very kind of you to say! It was such a perfect day. :) I wish I could have gotten some better images of what it is to look back and see everyone. So many brilliant faces and smiles! Hands reaching for dancing balloons; two little girls carefully gathering paper butterflies one by one; a couple, just listening to the music, holding each other, smiling and swaying together; amazing things happening every moment. Thank you for the good words!

They Call It “Coldplay Karma”: I’m a Believer! I have to start writing this down before I forget; and these past few days, i want to remember. There is more to the story, but I’m going to go with June 9, 2009 as a starting point. The first thing that happened as i started on my journey, was that I ended up on this long, winding road behind a truck with the word “YELLOW” written across it! The journey continued, and through many a confusing exit and traffic jam, I eventually found my way to the motel I was going to stay in, in a town called “Battle Ground.” I checked in, then decided to drive to where the amphitheater was so I wouldn’t end up getting lost on my way to volunteer for Oxfam the next day. I was also very hungry! I noticed a mini-mall with a grocery and such, and decided to stop on the way back. I found my way to the amphitheater, figured out where the box office/Oxfam meeting point was, and headed back to find dinner. In the mini-mall, there was this Thai restaurant, called the Golden Tusk? While I like Thai food, I’d pretty much convinced myself that I should just go with the granola bar in my purse when this group walked past on their way into the restaurant saying, “Yeah, Guy says this place is ...” -um, lets just say that the rest of the sentence was a compliment! So as silly as it sounds, I took it as “a sign” (and anyone reading this now thinks me a lost cause and a complete nutter). Hey, I really did want that food, but was reasoning against the expense. As it was, it was good for me to get a warm meal into myself. I bought this wonderful tofu curry with rice! I did decide to do some grocery shopping, and bought some veggies and water/juices/etc. for later. Parked outside of the grocery store was this funky silver car with British flags on its doors! Back at the hotel, I started downloading my travel log “thus far” and to my anguish, though I thought everything was okay and saved, somehow the videos were never really downloaded! It would have been okay, except that I’d already deleted almost all of the videos I thought had transfered! Including this really cool side of a mountain that looked like a face --like Rock Biter from the Neverending Story! I was very sad and upset to have lost that image! Anyway. I was also disappointed to discover that the Internet from my room was dial-up and was not “secure” which meant there were certain things I wouldn’t get to do! Downstairs, I found that the “business office” computer was secure, but practically all my favorite haunts were blocked! Annoyance upon annoyance. I tried getting other work done, but couldn’t sleep for the longest time! I finally did. The next day, I discovered the Fred Meyer store. As I walked around, I saw groups of excited people buying flowers, food, etc. chatting... about Coldplay! I looked all around and realized... that all these people were headed toward the same experiential context... literally thousands of people! It was so strange, to feel that sense of unconscious unity, that unseen link. Now, as i found out later at Oxfam, just because Coldplay fans agree on Coldplay, doesn’t mean that they agree on everything else . . . or anything else! But I’m getting ahead of myself. Upon arrival at the Clark County Amphitheater, I was directed to the VIP parking zone. I explained several times that I wasn’t sure this was the right place, but everyone but me seemed certain; then the head security guy decided to agree with me! I think because hot on my heels were several other carloads of “Oxfamily” that were just as lost! We were redirected to parking lot B (I think, already forgetting details!), then finally told to go to parking lot K. (the “K. ‘Stena’ James” parking lot, obviously). I walked to the meeting point, no Soha yet, but volunteers started gravitating together; it was amazing! Canvassing is hard. You would think it easy, because of the goodness of our cause, but many people just “--don’t want to be bothered.” Some were receptive, not all. Others are more than receptive! Oxfam training tells you that most people won’t want to talk to you, but everybody seemed to have something to say to me! I nearly lost my voice with all the discussion! Soha is so great though. As was Alexis, our local coordinator! Amazingly calm, secure, kind, brilliant women! We volunteers all knew well in advance that we would be sitting space available on the lawn, so it was an incredibly strange, unreal, and fantastic happenstance to be given tickets for seating near front and center! Whooohooo!!! I remember just sort of standing there, in shock, wondering at it all. As challenging as it was, I’d do it all again. (Soha, you ever need some help and I can get there in time, you got my number!) The show was magnificent. Everything was perfect! Although i nearly killed myself falling off of a chair I was standing on during The Hardest Part. The reason I fell, was because my back was to the main stage, and I forgot that Will would be harmonizing from there! I heard his voice and I reeled around so fast that I lost my balance! I’m not sure, but I think he saw me and gave me a little smile. After my brush with “death by awkwardness,” I was gently asked to please stay off of my chair for the rest of the show. I think I was lucky not to get evicted altogether though! I’m certain my ecstatic dancing and screaming made me a total nuisance to everyone around me! I tried to capture some of the show on video and in pictures, but to be honest, I don’t know how anyone manages this! My head may tell me to keep still, get clear footage, and focus on one thing, but my feet wouldn’t listen! I was spinning around, looking at all the cool stuff there is to look at, video globes, projection screens, people, the band, floating yellow balloons, and rainbow butterflies! It was just impossible for me not to dance and sing and yell and spin about! Everything was so perfect, I never wanted it to be over; but half-way through “The Scientist” was the prearranged cue to go back to Oxfam tent. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go. It was so great to work with everyone on the Oxfam team! We gave each other hugs, and then for me it was back to the motel, to try to get a couple hours of sleep, before I had to be up and away again to get to the Gorge show. “What!” you say? “The Gorge show too?!” I had gotten a ticket to that show before I found out about the Oxfam/Coldplay alliance, and this particular volunteer opportunity. When i did find out about this, I signed up for the Portland show, not actually expecting to get to participate, but thinking that at the least Oxfam looked like a wonderful organization. When I got the mail asking if I still wanted to volunteer for Portland show I was on the moon! I immediately said YES. Then I realized the marathon I was in for. Let’s go back to the night after the Portland show, day before the Gorge. It took me until almost 1 a.m. to get through the traffic back to my hotel room. I lay down on the bed and wept strange, happy/sad tears; that’s really not like me. Part of it was being tired, but part of it was that it had been such a perfect experience. How many of those do you get in life? Where you really feel like “Hey! somebody up there likes me!” Yeah, i know. One should feel that way about every day, but. . . one doesn’t; or I don’t. I even thought, “Maybe I shouldn’t go to the Gorge, because, like, nothing could ever be better, right?” Then I further thought, “Nah! Coldplay will be awesome whatever!” As it was, my seat was “Section C, Row 42, Seat 3” which had made me laugh originally when it was my random selection from Ticketmaster! As i wrote in my journal: “Section C, Row 42, Seat 3 = Crazy Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything <3 (the number three with a less-than sign in front of it: a heart emoticon meaning love). Given the novelty, I was okay with whatever view “C 42 3” would happen to be. The morning of July 11, 2009, I wasn’t thinking very clearly. I got lost straight away for about half of an hour before finding a way to proper direction. I was running on 3-4 hours of sleep that had been had 34 hours previous. I nearly ran off the road or into road barriers three times, because I would fall asleep at the wheel with my eyes wide open. It wasn’t like nodding off, it was as if I suddenly wasn’t awake or seeing the road anymore, then I’d be “aware” again. One moment I’d be driving and keeping everything in line, the next i’d realize I was headed for a cement barrier! Very scary. I did make it back to my parents’ home though, for to rest a couple of hours; a short break before continuing on to the Gorge show. Recumbent at my folks’ home, I’ve rarely been so tired, yet so wired that still couldn’t sleep. I wrote a couple of blip and twitter updates, then lay down on the bed. The next thing I knew, I was awakened by my cell phone ringing! It was Soha? She had phoned me mistakenly! She was answering my message from yesterday. It was providential, though, because I would’ve probably overslept! As it was, I had just enough time to make it to the Gorge and see some of both of the guest artists’ shows! Sorry, getting ahead of myself again. It was easier traveling in general, but the line of traffic to the Gorge itself, which is a two lane road, is arduous. I arrived, and started toward the venue, eventually meandering through this entrance where all these limos were parked; “VIP” camping? I tried to visualize what that could mean: gold-plated tent stakes? Le Cordon Bleu chefs roast your marshmallows for you? I moved to exit to the venue entrance, and the lady usher standing at the “VIP Camping” exit gate, said that technically she should turn me away and I should have to walk all the way around this other direction, but she was very kind and just let me go through. Those that have been, will tell you “The Gorge is the most beautiful, breathtaking, amazing venue on the planet,” but until you go and see it, you are incredulous. Having been, I have to tell you: “The Gorge is the most beautiful, breathtaking, amazing venue on the planet!” As I meandered though the crowd sitting way up on the lawn ridge of the venue, I realized how lucky i’d been to get a ticket in the seated area at all! There were about 24000 people at the Gorge July, 11, 2009. It was a long journey from the ridge top to the seated area. When I got there, there was no seat where mine should be! I was worried, but then this man came, looked at my ticket, looked at me, said “You’re alone?” and yes, I was. Then with a little smile, he flipped through a stack of tickets and gave me a complimentary ticket, pointing silently to the section, row, and seat; it was for SEC C, ROW 6, SEAT 15! Brilliant! Even if I did get reprimanded for dancing in the aisle during the opening sets. Again, I proved a terrible nuisance to everyone around me! Hands in air, swinging my minicam around, yelling, singing. The show seemed more intense to me than it had the night before, for some reason; or perhaps many reasons. And I should say, that while I got some footage, I had a lot of technical difficulties --like dropping the camera when I nearly fainted at one point in the show (lack of sleep, slight dehydration, and “the nearness” are probably responsible). Also, I ran low on battery power, camera memory, and the minicam just didn’t seem to “feel like” functioning! I’d press the “rec” button, and nothing happened! Most of the time after that, I just surrendered to the experience and accepted I would not be able to capture every moment. I just felt badly, knowing that there are Coldplay fans out there that would love to have gotten that close, and might never ever have the opportunity! I would’ve liked to be in a better position to share that experience with them. Of course, out of 24,000 people in attendance I know I’m not the only one that was filming! Somebody out there is bound to have gotten excellent video! It was so much good all at once. I’m not used to that; feeling like there is someone or something on my side. I guess I don’t know where I am right now, heart wise. I think, that I’m a little depressed? Some sort of “Post-Concert-Traumatic-Stress-Syndrome,” maybe? I miss it all! “It” . . . that frantic getting between new places, feeling a part of something interesting and beautiful, even if it's only for a day! Don't let me give the impression that I'm not grateful for my “normal” life; for what I do have in life, because I am! Yet clearly, I want things to be different; less quiet, less routine, less in my head all the time, less on my own. Which occurs to me is one of the things an excellent concert can do for the heart and head; make them start listening to each other. Many thanks to any patient reader that has made their way through my story, and many thanks to Coldplay, for “such a perfect day,” times two! PS: I don't think we are supposed to do this for purposes of the contest, but I wanted to share the vlog I made. I think it expresses things better than I've just written: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKcdtG6dQoI]YouTube - Coldplay Odyssey: The Gorge[/ame]

mother's day!!! :flutterby: happy mom's day everybody! :flutterby: :flutterby::nice: :kid: :baby: :gorgeous: :bow: :juggle: :flutterby: :sunny: :gossip: :hug: :flutterby: :baby: :charming: :cheesy: :hug: :daisy: :hug: :flutterby: :kid: :flutterby: :smiley: :clap: :blush: :flutterby: :flutterby: :gossip: :guitarist: :nice: :dance: :dance: :hug: :flutterby:

thank you! :flutterby: great! thanks for the connection! i'll go check on it. :flutterby:

packing my shoebox as i type this... so here is my own little lead balloon moment. i'd been put to the task of assembling flyers into envelopes with address labels and stamps. by the end, i needed three more stamps than i'd been given. :\ i went to the person the project was for, --person "a" and they were out of stamps and said to go get some from person "b" so i went to person "b" who said that person "a" would need to fill out a requester form for the three stamps... :confused: so i took the requester form back to person "a" and they said :shocked2: --well i'm not going to tell you what they said :censored: -- before storming :furious: over to the office of person "b" where they (persons "a" and "b") started arguing :argue: and it was just about then that PERSON "C" poked their head in saying :huh2: "um, we are trying to work in here -- what's all this?" :uneasy: after the situation was explained to them, PERSON "C" had a sort of unreadable expression on their face (couldn't tell if they were amused or really angry or mystified or all three). :blank: "C" reached into his pocket, pulled out a kind of wallet (more like a folded over bit of fabric?) and got some stamps from it an handed three stamps to me with a little smile. :nice: and left. :blush: i looked back at persons "a" and "b" to find them :snobby: glowering :mean: at me. :worried: i'm still not sure what i did wrong, exactly. :worried2:

zombies?!!! okay, so by the look of the sig pic, you are in the midst of a permanent lead balloon crisis! help is on the way... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbVE1pQY0C8]YouTube - Coldplay - Everything's Not Lost (Live Glastonbury 2005 HQ)[/ame]

stars in heaven align... :sunny: for today: postcards from far away [fading into] glass of water :sunny:

:( no shelter from the storm. hope things are better for you today! something i'm sad about today, is "the heat" or envy or greed or whatever it is... i like coldplay, and it seems like a number of artists that i grew up admiring aren't being very kind about them, or that there are misunderstandings, or even bouts of outright nastiness. u2 for example --i know everyone said it was a joke, but i can't help feeling confused now everytime i want to listen to their music. i mean, even if it was a joke, it wasn't very nice thing to say... i know, i'm being over sensitive. but i loved u2! and now i think i love them a little less; and i don't want it to be that way but it is (that way) and that makes me sad. similar story with cat stevens. i'm not sure i can listen to his music now, and not wonder whether or not he was ever really the pleasant person i thought him to be. i always try to separate the expression from the persona, but it ain't easy! so, yeah, too many words, but that's all something i'm sad about today --sad that because of all this greed/envy/weirdness that's happened (is happening), i can't take complete comfort in some of the music that has sheltered me in the past. :cry:

good question! you know i was wondering about that too --stevens said that he would wait and see how things worked out for joe. i guess this means that if joe wins, cat sues him, and coldplay? if joe loses, cat just sues coldplay? where do we go from there? surviving descendants of mozart suing on wolfie's behalf? perhaps i shouldn't give anyone ideas. . . . maybe this is a good thing; because if about 30-60 more musicians claim that coldplay plagiarized them for "viva la vida" -- and at the rate things are going, that won't be long from now -- coldplay's point will have been proven...? ;)

enjoyed reading this forum, and looking at the library page! question: is there a forum somewhere on the boards for sharing thoughts about what one is currently reading (coldplay-related and otherwise)? i just started "the bromeliad trilogy" --i love terry pratchett's books! thanks for your patience. :)

if there is another forum for food favorites and recipes around here, i will perfectly understand if this post is :borg:borgishly:borg: absorbed into that previous forum! else, then this forum is for "foodies" and at-the-moment cravings, and food-related topics. ...and right now, i'm really craving a toasty mess of chips with vinegar and salt wrapped up in a page of the times...

...when you do something and it is considered about as wonderful as a "lead balloon"...when you try so hard [to start a forum or group but it never takes off] and you don't succeed, when you [don't] get what you want [much less] what you need, when you feel so tired, but you can't stop perusing coldplaying.com! ...stuck in reverse... 1. learn to drive with the rearview mirror, maybe? 2. here is a place to vent -er, "share" about "stuff"

going to try to see it today! :)

*^_^* "blue skies, smilin' at me, nothin' but blue skies, do i see." *^_^*

then there were two, covering "four seasons in one day"!

:) some might think it too familiar, but i never seem to get tired of "in my place"! "i bloom blaum" is my fav selection for today, though! :sunny:

according to derrida, you are all right, and all wrong, all at once. it means what you think it means just as much as whatever it meant to coldplay (originally). i kind of agree with derrida, so i guess i will just speak for me. i think it's about really great sex with someone you love, on a really nice day, that you recall while you are lying left for dead in a the middle of a battlefield, and someone splashes water on your face and there you are, back in hell again to face the next attack, wondering if you will ever make it home... or something like that.

thank you! :)

:smiley: hi! feeling a little lost :huh: --is there a just for jonny appreciation page around here somewhere? thanks! :flutterby:

:flutterby:@ but a dream: yes! lovely chris/jonny photo!:flutterby:

a rush of blood to the head

:hug: hooray for will appreciation!!! thanks "breakfast_of_champion"! :hug:

:flutterby:\^_^/:flutterby:

the delgados - mr. blue sky (beatles cover)