12:44 p.m. - July 4, 2001
MADONNA
Just back from seeing Madonna!!!! Flew up to NJ Thursday morning - but the flights to EWR were full, so we had to fly to LGA. We didn't feel confident enough to take two buses and transfer to the subway, so we passed up the opportunity to save a couple of bucks and waited for car service, instead. We had an hour to wait, so we went for dogs & fries (hey, we're in NJ!). With rush hour traffic nightmare, it took us over two hours to get from LGA to EWR. No biggy. It was hot so I slept until we got there. I have seen NYC before. Lots of times. This was Walter's first time to NYC. He stayed awake, and took in the sights.
We got into EWR airport and transferred to the Days Inn airport shuttle (only after finding that we had to take the monorail from terminal B to E).
Wow, it was a day full of lots of transportation. INDEED!
When we got to the hotel, our room was hot as hell. They had left the window unit AC off. YUCK! We cranked the AC and I bared down to my bra & panties. Walter grabbed the ice bucket and went for drinks. I had my very first soda in three months. It was very refreshing. I was on vacation. Enjoying the beginning of a four-day weekend.
And, seeing Madonna was a mere few hours away. My heart was racing. I had butterflies in my tummy. There would be no nap for me. Instead, I went directly to makeup. And glitter. Lots of glitter. I wore a pair of simple black (short) pants, and a little black tank top. The rest of my outfit was simple - glitter. I dressed up my fingernails the night before. A silver polish with sparkles. The top coat was "Summer Snow" which consists of tiny iridescent (sp?) flakes of...GLITTER. I gave myself BOLD eyes and sexy, red lips. I put my hair up and I slipped on my flats.
I felt a little strange, riding in the elevator. With all that glitter.
It cost us $35 to take a car from the hotel to the Arena, a mere 6+ miles away. Highway robbery. I told Walter (after-the-fact) that you always discuss price BEFORE accepting the ride (when taking a private car, not a NYC cab). Had he asked PRIOR, he probably would've been able to negotiate the driver down to $20.
He told me to step in and take over next time.
(I should've)
Anyhoo - we got to the Arena an hour early. I wanted to arrive early, so that I could get a t-shirt. But, the line was already outrageous...and I figured that I could probably get a shirt from the madonnafanclub.com site. (Later, I found out that the Madonna tank top costs $80). Seriously. That's ridiculous.
Our seats were GREAT!!!! We were stage left, 11th row, slightly "above" the stage, able to see everything (even a lot of the backstage stuff too). GREAT seats!
When I found out that Madonna was going on tour, it was because Rita told me. She's a huge fan also. We then found out that Madonna wasn't going to be playing in Houston. So, both being airline employees and able to fly for free, we decided to see her in NJ. Rita also went to Europe and Philadelphia to see Madonna. So, it wasn't a huge shock when she told me that she had sold her tickets to the NJ show. I was a little disappointed, because now I didn't know the people that were going to be sitting next to me. The day after she sold her tickets, I was walking to the parking garage after work. I bumped into a friend of mine and we talked about both going to see Madonna. We were both saying how great of seats were and how much we paid for them. I asked him where he was sitting, at the show. Section 110, row 11, seats 11 &12. No way. I was in seats 13 &14. He had bought Rita's tickets. Groovy. What a coincidence. Rita didn't even know him. She had just put the word out that she had tickets to sell and CVraig stepped up and bought them. Weird. Synchronicity.
Or, so I thought.
Craig had also been to a few Madonna shows (and Janet Jackson) and he was a little tapped on his resources. So. He decided to sell his tickets, as well. Holy crap. I hope I don't get stuck, sitting next to some freaky person. I was back to not knowing who I was going to be sitting next to. BECAUSE, Craig sold them on ebay.
Complete strangers.
Oh well. It wasn't my decision.
We got to the show an hour early. I decided I was already being BAD (having a soda...and smoking) so I decided to drink beer, too.
I don't drink beer. RARELY, I drink beer. It gives me a big ol gas belly and nasty breath, so I don't really get into it.
So, I had a beer. Actually, I had two. Or, was it three? I dunno. I was having a GOOD time!!!! The people next to us ended up being really cool. Walter called them "Long Island Lolitas" because of their thick NY accents. They were funny as hell. First of all, they were already a bit high. The girl direclty next to me told me so. And, she was also getting a bit drunk. They were people-watching and I could hear all the things they were saying about people. I heard them smelling each others beaths. Then spraying each other with Binaca. We danced and laughed and hollered. It was a great time.
No opening act. Not this show. This was more like a broadway production. Impressive. Well rehearsed. The show was fantastic, incredible. It was a cross between Andy Warhol, Japanese Erotica, and a modern version of Urban Cowboy (sexy style). A definite Tokyo Techno feel, but yet had a lot of Punk Rock (clothes / dance) style too. The dancers were great - I would expect nothing less. There was one girl, in particular, that really stood out. She had a shaved head and wore a short mohwak. She did this crazy body twisitng dance on the floor, jumping and writhing and pounding her body all over the stage. She was giving it her all. And, she did. She was a principal dancer in this show and kept this going all night long. What can I say!? It was amazing and creative...and I loved it. The show was great, but too short. I didn't get enough. I wanted more Madonna. She looked great. She is so little and soft and strong and sexy and incredible. When the show ended, we ventured up to the Suite. We said hello to Kim & her clients, and Sisco & his. Most of the guests / clients had left so it seemed okay for us to hang out. In fact, Jim pulled me through the window and offered me a drink. We stayed up in the Suite for about an hour, watching the Arena empty out. We discovered that Jim had a car and was staying at the Hyatt - right down the road from us! He gave us a lift back to our hotel, and saved us anoth $35. How wonderful! It was a magical night, but it went by too fast! We got up the next morning (yesterday) at our leisure. We ate breakfast, took showers, grabbed our stuff, and headed back to the airport. This time, we would be going back to EWR airport only, so it wasn't going to be a big deal. A mere 10 minute shuttle ride away. We were disappointed to find that our flight was now overbooked. They were asking for volunteers, to take the next flight. Which meant the next flight was about to be full, as well. Hence, being standby passengers, we needed to think of alternate plans. I went to the employee cener, got on the computer, and started checking alternatives. We could wait three hours and TRY to get on the next flight, but it didn't look good. Instead, I found a route that we could take which would get us home at the same time, but via Atlanta. The flights were open so it wouldn't be a problem getting on. The problem we now faced was that this flight was leaving in 30 mintues. And was leaving from terminal A. We had thirty minutes to call reservations to make the change, take the monorail from terminal C to A, get to the gate, and check in. I didn't think it wss possible, but I was willing to try. We ran. We were lucky that we didn't really have any luggage. I had a small backpack and Walt had a small duffle. I couldn't believe it - but, we made it! The flight was THAT empty, let me tell you. We were able to get seats together, but only in coach. No upgrade this time. We sat in the very back (second row from the last). We ate chicken salad sandwiches and napped. We had a little over one hour transfer in Atlanta and then got on the last of our flights today. Another FULL flight. We both got center seats. Yuck. I decided to make the most of it so I had a Gin & Tonic. We arrived IAH around 430PM. It was hot as hell. We were glad to be home. It was ALOT of traveling, transferring, and transportation crammed into two days. Wow. We hung low for the afternoon and went to see Planet of the Apes. Good movie.
