Last week started off badly.
I noticed that I could feel a thumping behind my gas pedal when I was in second gear, so I asked D-Dad to check it out since I was driving seven hours to Austin on Friday. When he drove it, the thumping turned into shaking, so we took it to the shop. The first place we went to couldn't diagnosis it without taking the axle off or something like that, so D-Dad took it to another shop the next day. The second shop was able to figure out the problem and went to work on fixing it.
I asked my mom what I would do if my car didn't get fixed and she said that I probably wouldn't get to go because plane tickets were far too expensive now. Cue my breakdown.
The shop called Wednesday afternoon and said they had fixed the first problem, but found something else. At this point, I was searching for buses and figuring how long it would take to walk there. I was desperately searching for some means of transport while simultaneously trying to prepare myself what seemed to be an imminent defeat.
But there was no need. My car was fixed and running smoothly by the time my school day ended on Thursday. I am very thankful that I have grandparents and parents that realize when something is important to me even if they don't understand why. My grandfather worked very hard to make sure that they fixed my car before Friday while my mom and dad were trying to come up with alternative ways I could get to Austin just in case. They're the very best.
So on Friday, November 11th I packed, stopped to make an epic wish at 11:11am, and then drove the seven hours to Austin–saved once again by an audiobook lent by Andrew (this time it was
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). I was driving into Austin by the time the sun had set, and met Britny and Melany at Chuy's.
After we ate, we went to this toy store called Toy Joy, which was magical and had Spock and Kirk nutcrackers. Then we went to play putt-putt and walked around downtown, and had no ulterior motives for doing so.
The next day we got in line for the S.P.A.C.E. Tour at about twelve-thirty, which was later than we'd intended, but we always get places later than we intend. We had picked up McDonald's, but I was too anxious to eat my Big Mac, so I made Melany put it in her purse. Then we had to deal with Grumpy Line Melany, which is my least favorite Melany.
Julia Albain walked by at one point and I was all weird and loud when I said hi. Nobody else really noticed her, and I was all SHE IS THE DIRECTOR OF THIS TOUR. SHOW SOME RESPECT. Then I saw Liam White of
Liam's Got A Phone Call fame, but I wasn't sure if it was him when I first saw him, so I didn't say anything.
When we finally got inside, we got in the merch line where I spent all of my money and saw Corey Lubowich. I bought the S.P.A.C.E. Tour shirt, Jim and the Povolos shirt, their EP, and two StarKid buttons. Money well spent.
While in the merch line, we could see Team StarKid walking around upstairs, and I nearly died the first time I saw Joey (and every subsequent time). We got a spot in the back on the left side of the stage as per Natalie's suggestion for maximum Joey viewing, and stared up at the StarKids chatting amongst themselves while we waited for the concert to start.
Charlene Kaye was
fabulous, and I am looking forward to buying her new CD. Dylan Saunders came out to sing "Dress & Tie" with her, and we all swooned because he has the voice of an angel. Later on, he came back out with Jaime Lyn Beatty to sing "Animal Love," and it was FANTASTIC. They pulled a girl up on stage who Charlene recognized from covers the girl had sent her and she got into it. It was the best part of Charlene's set.
Then we waited and stared some more, until Brian Holden's voice came out of the speakers requesting no flash photography or video and then they went into this bit that was just
so something Team StarKid would do. I cannot convey to you how wonderful the show was. There are not enough positive adjectives in the world to properly describe it. I officially declared it as the best day of my life before the show was even halfway over, and after the show Melany said, "I could walk into traffic and get hit by four cars and have no regrets now."
LITTLE DID WE KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT.
So I found my friend Alissa (who I met at Darren Criss's San Antonio concert) outside after the show. We waited outside the doors with about ten other people and discussed the possibilities of polypolygamy. There was about thirty more people waiting across the street where the StarKids' trailer was, and we all stood there for the next hour watching them walk back and forth loading all their equipment. I was trying to gather the courage to ask Joey for a picture as he walked by, but couldn't do it.
Then all of them were standing by their trailer and some sort of signal was given that meant we could ask for pictures, so we ran across the street and I went straight for Joey. I kind of wedged my way to the right side of the crowd surrounding him, and then he turned to me and I don't know how I didn't throw up or faint, but I'm glad I didn't because then I introduced myself and got a picture with him.
No, I don't think you understand. I GOT A PICTURE WITH JOEY RICHTER. LIKE, I MET HIM AND HE SAID MY NAME. AND I LOVE HIM.
Anyway, I called Amy and fought my way back through the crowd to Joey. I told her to hold on just one second, called out to Joey, and heard her say, "JOEY RICHTER?" even though I was holding the phone away from me, which was really funny to me. After that, we made our way over to Joe who was trapped between a wall of a parking garage and a wall of fangirls, and then to Brian who is really tiny. Dylan and I bonded over the San Francisco Giants and he said his mom's name is Maggie, which I am taking as a sign that we'll be married soon, and Jaime said she liked my earrings.
I called Keren and she did not answer, so I called her twice more and she sounded flustered when she answered. She asked me if she could call me back in ten minutes and I told her to hurry as fast as she could and she said, "Okay, just two minutes. Let me get out of work." So she called me back and I said, "Sorry if I freaked you out, but I have someone here who needs to talk to you," and I handed the phone to Joe. I cannot remember exactly what Joe said, but this is the gist of it.
Joe: Hi, this is Joe.
Keren: . . .
Joe: This is Joseph Walker, and I'm here to tell you some bad news. We're all gonna die someday.
Keren: . . .
Joe: Well, you're taking it a lot better than I did when I found out.
Keren: . . .
Joe: If it makes you feel any better, you probably won't die for a long time. Don't die now or I'm going to feel really bad.
Keren: . . .
Joe: Okay, well, your friend just wanted me to say hi and please don't die. Here's your friend, okay, bye!
Then he handed the phone back to me and said he was so embarrassed and it was just really adorable. Also, we took two pictures with him because he made a weird face in the first one and said, "I don't think I look very–yeah, let's take that again." It was just funny.
In short, I am madly in love with every member of Team StarKid.
After they all boarded the bus, we walked down the street towards Melany's car, but ended up sitting on a bench across the street from it for a good fifteen minutes trying to take in what had just happened to us. Eventually, we got up to put our stuff in Melany's car and walked back down to Austin Java. I ordered a chicken sandwich, but couldn't eat because I was still reeling from everything that had happened and Britny said that I had "involuntary anorexia," which I think should actually be a thing if it isn't already.
So that's the story of how I died, and if any of you who are not in the blogging family caught that Doctor Who reference, then I love you.
Oh, and the wish I made on November 11, 2011 at 11:11am?
"I wish I could meet Joey Richter this weekend."
WISHES DO COME TRUE, KIDS.
-Maggie
