i will suck your blood

I’m not sure how far on the scale to “extraordinary” my life is, but it is certainly far from “ordinary”. I’ve got so many little stories, adventures, snippets, epiphanies, meetings with the right people at the right time and place… One could say that I’m lucky — and, really, I am — but as my mother always said, you need to be prepared for the day an opportunity comes, so that you have the means to seize it. I guess I grabbed this one with both hands and never let go.

As the boy correctly pointed out, over the past couple of months I’ve had a few “big dreams” come true. I finally went to New York, I finally saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in concert — and then I managed to photograph them too. It’s evidenced in my previous posts and lastfm page just how much I love the YYYs, so when I spotted Nick Zinner spinning tunes the night after their show in Sydney, it was a no-brainer that I had to speak to him.

At first he seemed caught off-guard. I doubt anyone else had actually spotted him, nor bothered to even care; the bar was buzzing with “where the fuck is Karen O” and I’d grown tired of hearing average bands which consisted largely of females oozing sex appeal rather than musical ability. So I wrote Nick a note. I even had to write it twice because I was afraid my illegible handwriting would never be understood. Then I snagged him as he was hurrying away from the sound desk, and I gushed and said all sorts of probably fan-girl-type things that I can’t remember, urged him to read my note later, and who knows how that conversation even ended — but it was over too quickly. The one thing I remember most clearly was how he smiled and seemed genuinely impressed and happy that I’d flown to Sydney just to see them. Although I felt like a fool immediately after for probably embarrassing myself and being too starstruck to even introduce myself, for the next 24 hours, that exchange appeased my sadness that their show at the Metro was over.

I’d never received any replies to the emails I’d sent to them months ago which were probably all filtered out by management, so I never expected what transpired next. The next evening, I received an email from the YYYs’ management, saying that Nick had told them to hook me up with a photo pass for their appearance at Big Day Out in Melbourne. Understandably, I freaked out, flipped out, went crazy, and the rest is history.

I still don’t know if any of it has sunken it at all, and maybe it never will. The boy stresses the fact that I met my childhood hero and he was actually amazing in real life, actually took the time to read my note, check out my website and decide that, hell yeah, I like her stuff, let’s give this girl a shot at something she always wanted to do: photograph her favourite band. It all seems too surreal and movie-like and I can’t really deal with how overwhelming that feels so for now I’ll put it in a box and keep it as a gift of happiness. One thing’s for sure though — I’m more motivated than ever to do all the things I want to do. I always feel like I don’t have enough lifetimes to do all the things I want to, or that I feel greedy for trying to do too much. But I’ve only got one lifetime so what the hell, I’ll do what I want… it seems to be working out so far. I’ll figure out this musician/photographer/law school thing somehow. I’m just really happy and thankful that this all happened.

We only got back to New Zealand yesterday at 5.25am so my body, mind and room are still all a wreck, but much more of this to come:

P.S. I stumbled across this quote last night and I found it too relevant not to share — I just can’t believe I’d never thought of things from this perspective before.

“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale.

6 Comments

  1. Amanda February 6, 2013

    I’m so glad you got that experience <3

    Reply
  2. Manda February 7, 2013

    That’s so awesome!! What an amazing experience. YAAAAAAAY :D

    Reply
  3. Krystal February 7, 2013

    Wow! You truly are lucky! It’s so cool whenever someone gets an opportunity of a lifetime. I haven’t reached that point in my life yet, but when I do, I hope I’m ready to seize the moment! ;)

    Reply
  4. Stephanie February 8, 2013

    My friend who once told me that the people who deserve opportunities the most are not necessarily the ones that have shown themselves able to succeed, but the ones who will work at it and make the most of it, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do!

    Reply
  5. Cindy February 8, 2013

    I AM SO JEALOUS OF YOUR LIFE.

    I feel like I say that a lot, but. You met the YYYs and got to photograph them and asjdlf, that’s amazing and the stuff good memories are made of. <3

    Reply
  6. Becca February 11, 2013

    That sounds amazing! We’re never really quite prepared for the big things in life, are we. When I read this I thought about a quote from the Alchemist but I’m shit at quoting things I read… But it was something about how, when you become open to change in your life that gives room for endless possibilities you could never ever ever ever imagine.

    Something more eloquent than that, but along those lines ;)

    glad things are picking up for you!!

    Reply

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