The Weird Al Experience, corrected

I try to word my entries carefully, but apparently I was not careful enough with my last entry. I did not realize that the term "groupie" carried such a negative connotation. I find myself embarrassed and humbled by my irresponsible mistake. Thank you OE for bringing it to my attention. Without realizing it I was insulting a group of people that I really meant to praise. So here is the reworded paragraph.

"I made two discoveries (and in retrospect I really shouldn't have been surprised, but it must have been the shock in discovering other avid Weird Al fans). One, Weird Al attracts tour chasers , and they hung out in the parking lot after the show listening to the song he closed the show with "Albuquerque." And second, there were a large number of second generation nerds - the Weird Al fans and their kids...and the kids knew all of the words to all of the songs. I felt like I wasn't nerdy enough to be at the concert!"

The Weird Al Experience

On July 6th, Scott and I went to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert at the amphitheatre at the Toledo Zoo. It was worth the heat and the wait. When I got the tickets, I immediately called Scott and informed him we were going. He called me a geek. I quickly informed him that I wasn't a geek, that I was a nerd, there's a difference.

The concert didn't start until 45 minutes after it was scheduled to, but that gave us plenty of time to people watch. Scott turns to me and says, "These people make you look normal." There was a wide variety of individuals present - I felt like I had stepped back into Hosey and Houts Hall from my freshmen year of college.

He played a wide variety of his songs, mostly from the current album, Straight Outta of Lynnwood. He did play his parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" (You're Pitiful), which isn't on any albums. It was a thing of beauty. The ending for it, he appeared in a Spongebob Squarepants t-shirt, polka dot shorts and a pink tutu. The best part was his salute to Star Wars complete with Darth Vader and Storm Troopers. The Emperor was on keyboard for "The Saga Begins" (American Pie).

Even if you don't like Weird Al, you have to admire his stage presence and his theatricality in performance. Costume changes for the band came at key points in the show, which was multi-media - while they changed, "Al TV" episodes played. You can tell that he and his band have worked together for years - when a technical glitch appeared - only the trained eye could tell they had to cover.

There were a number of surprising revelations - there are Weird Al groupies, and they hung out in the parking lot after the show listening to the song he closed the show with "Albuquerque." Also, there were a large number of second generation nerds - the Weird Al fans and their kids...and the kids knew all of the words to all of the songs. I felt like I wasn't nerdy enough to be at the concert!

"White and Nerdy" from the Lynnwood album still makes me think of people I went to college with and lived in the honors college dorms. I must classify myself among the nerds - especially since while I'm writing this I'm listening to my Weird Al play list on my IPod.

Weird Al and other topics

So, I've rediscovered Weird Al Yankovic's parodies. I now have them on my Ipod, so when I'm browsing, checking email, etc., I have a play list of his songs that is over five hours long. I haven't listened to it straight through. Even I couldn't stand it for that long.

Anyway, it has been quite an adjustment to civilian life. For the first time in 22 years I'm not going to school. I almost had school-supply-shopping-withdrawal, if that can even be such a withdrawal. Work has its ups and downs. Ups - I like my job most days, except when people aren't thinking and when my boss hasn't forgotten something that had to be done for the next hour. And my legs look great from rushing around the kitchen! Downs - I'm not paid nearly enough for the job I have to do. So, I'm torn...I want to continue working here, but I feel really guilty for not being able to contribute more to bills and such at home. But then I think of trying to look for another job and I want to throw-up. And if I do find another job, I'll still have to train someone to take my place, and yikes - I'd feel guilty for leaving a new person in such a crazy position.

And even if I find a decent paying job and it has health insurance (don't even get me started!) it won't start for at least three months.

But, despite those small things like money and health insurance...I'm a lot happier than I've been in years. Go figure.