Clumsy is the perfect word to describe my husband and my adventure out onto the ice today. (how’s that for a grammatically weird sentence?) Maybe it wasn’t that bad, but how would we know? We know nothing about walking on ice. We did it once 4 years ago, the last time the waters around Stockholm froze. It was snow covered and there were plenty of other people walking. Then we did it for a second time last week. Once again, it was snow covered and there were others on the ice. So we planned it again for this week. The plan was a long walk on the ice, as long as we could go, and come back.

Well…

Let me just preface this with a couple of thing: One, It has been below freezing here for more than a month. The ice is probably a couple of decimeters thick, which is more than recommended when you’re going to walk on it. Two, there were people on the ice already, but most were cross country skiers.

We were on the ice for a few minutes when we started to hear some light cracking. We paused and looked at each other. Daniel figured it was safe. I wasn’t so sure. I asked him if he was nervous, he said yes and we quickly made our way back to shore. We stood there, on the dock, for about 5 minutes while we watched a couple walk right past us and continue on. So we figured we were being silly. The ice is THICK and has been for a while. So back on the ice we went. We were calmer and walked for a a little while. We went about 10 minutes, taking pictures and filming along the way when we started hearing the cracking again. We paused and decided it was time to go back. So we walked back, slightly nervous but pretty confident anyway. To be safe, we didn’t walk right next to each other to avoid putting too much weight on any one spot.

About halfway back Daniel stopped for a second to turn around and say something to me, and right at that moment, right below out feet, we heard a big CRACK, and we both swear we felt the ice start to buckle below us. Maybe it didn’t move. Maybe it was our imagination. But it was loud enough to scare the bejeezus out of us. I ran off to the side, around where we were, and hurried on. The last few minutes of trying to get to the shore felt like hours. But we made it there safe & dry. I was shaking, so we decided to take a nice long walk along the walking paths there to calm ourselves.

Who knows, really? We don’t know anything about walking on ice, so maybe it was safer than we thought, and it’s supposed to make those noises. But we weren’t going to take any more chances than we did. Especially since we didn’t have those ice pick thingies you’re supposed to have to help drag you out of the water if you fall through.

Goodness, I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it!

But I can promise you that we won’t ever be that clumsy again!

I have a twitter account, which you can find right here, and just a few days ago one of the people I follow changed their avatar to a screaming bunny and posted about it with the trending topic #screamingrabbitavatar. I was instantly intrigued when I saw others were following suit. I wanted in. So I drew my own Screaming bunny and put it up.

When some friends saw it they started to suggest some other screaming animals for fun which started my obsession. I had to draw more and more screaming animals!

Why are they screaming? Why not? It’s just too much fun! And I can’t promise that I’ll stop here. I’m sure I’ll come up with more of them soon!

Right. Um. Hi! Yeah… You know I’m busy with my comic, so I shouldn’t have to write anything more about why my last post was in August.

But, gosh, 2009 was a crazy year. Most of it was pretty awesome. Went to fifteen concerts, got kissed by a rock star, went to and had my own table at my first comic-con, put out a bunch of merchandise, did a pretty damn good job with my comic all year long, met a comic idol of mine, met and shook hands with Jack White, finally got a telescope (!!!!), spent 3 weeks in the US where I saw my mom for the first time in 2 years, and did a road trip to the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame and Amish country (hey… it was pretty cool). I’m sure there’s more if I think about it, but I can’t right now. But reading all of that back to myself makes me realize how kickass 2009 really was.

So what’s in store for 2010? I guess we’ll see I don’t like to plan too much. I like to just see where things go. I have 4 concerts booked already for the year (plus a spoken word show with Henry Rollins! woo!). I have to see my mom again at some point. She’ll be 70 this year (even though she looks about 20 years younger and is as active as someone 30 years younger)! I do plan on doing the SPX (comic con) again at the end of April.

Oh yeah. And at some point this year I’m going to turn 30. But I’m trying not to think about that too much.

So, bring it on twenty-ten! (that’s fun to say!)

I’m not sure if any kisses from rock stars will be in the schedule for 2010, but who knows, right?

I love Facebook. I really do. It’s helped me get back in touch with people in a way I never would have been able to before - especially considering I live thousands of miles away from most of them. I’m so thankful I’m able to have the contact through facebook that I do with my sisters and my niece. It allows me to keep track of their lives, filling that hole in my heart that comes with living so far from those you love.

But it’s also gotten me back in touch with some old high school friends who are so worth keeping in touch with. One being my friend, Diba. We’ve been friends since middle school. I think, however, that we got closer AFTER high school ended. And then, of course, I had to pick up and move to Sweden. Bah! Shame, because she’s the type of person you want to have as a friend forever. But, anyway, I’m back in touch with her on FB, which is so great! She’ll be visiting me though (as soon as I give her the go ahead), and that’s going to be AWESOME. I can’t wait to see her! And she just recently asked me to draw a cartoon version of her. So I used my time this evening to do just that, which you can see above.

Fortunately, she loves it! Which is a huge relief. I always get nervous when I’m going to draw likenesses of people. Usually, though, it tends to work out.

Ever since my friend, MissE, posted about all the concerts she’s been to in her life so far, I’ve wanted to do the same thing. Of course, I was far too lazy to count them all up, and instead let my husband do it when he wrote them up for his site. Since we got together when I was 17, I’ve been to the majority of the concerts with him. Before him I only had a few in the bag. Well, I was a just a high school student spending all my babysitting money on CDs. I didn’t have much left for concerts.

Anyway, he got his list together, so from that I was able to get mine. I was very surprised to find out that my grand total comes to ONLY 64. That’s it? I’ve been going to concerts since I was 14, which is one of my favorite things to do, and I only have 64 under my belt? I feel shamed. Well, I have plenty of time for make up for that

So here’s the list. In as chronological an order as possible. The only concert I’m skipping over is Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton which my parents went to (and took me along - I was 7) in 1988. I’m going to put a link to this list in my sidebar menu and update it with more concerts as time goes on. And I’ll even put a concert count that I’ll update as well.

Oh, and also, this does NOT include opening acts. Maybe I’ll add those in another time!

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Current concert count: 73

1994:
Aerosmith - Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ, USA
(I also met the whole band that night by sneaking in backstage.)

1996:
Rod Stewart - Madinson Square Garden, NYC, NY
(My cousin who played in Aerosmith was playing for Rod Stewart at this time so he got my family in and backstage here)
Alanis Morisette - Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

1997:
Aerosmith - Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
(Got backstage again. Joe came up and said hello to me but I was too much in shock to open my mouth. Afterward I had a someone extensive conversation with Steven Tyler which I don’t remember at all)
Metallica - Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

1999:
The Black Crowes - Beacon Theater, NYC, NY, USA
Robbie Williams - Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, NY, USA
Marc Anthony - Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC, NY, USA *
Aerosmith - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
Jewel - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, USA
Alanis Morissette & Tori Amos - PNC Bank, Holmdel, NJ, USA
Ricky Martin - Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ *
Meat Loaf - Prudential Hall, Newark, NJ, USA

* As a Puerto Rican, with a big & proud Puerto Rican family, it is necessary that we support our fellow ‘Ricans. It’s a Boriqua thing.

2000:
Bon Jovi - The Today Show, Rockerfeller Center, NYC, NY
Bon Jovi - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden

2001:
Aerosmith - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, USA
Bon Jovi - Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ, USA
Aerosmith - Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ, USA
Aerosmith - Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY, USA
Aerosmith - Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ, USA

2002:
Def Leppard - Irving Plaza, NYC, NY, USA
Aerosmith & Kid Rock - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, USA
Sammy Hagar - Irving Plaza, NYC, NY, USA
Aerosmith & Kid Rock - Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ, USA
Guns n’ Roses - Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY, USA
Aerosmith - First Union Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

2003:
Bon Jovi - Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ, USA
The White Stripes - Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden
(I was on crutches after having sprained my ankle. Go me!)
Robbie Williams - Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden

2004:
The Darkness - Arenan, Stockholm, Sweden
Velvet Revolver - Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden
Gyllene Tider - Jogersö, Oxelösund, Sweden
Europe, Hovet - Stockholm, Sweden

2005:
Christian Walz - Mondo, Stockholm, Sweden
3 Doors Down - Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden
Audioslave - Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
Lenny Kravitz - Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden

2006:
Foo Fighters - Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
The Darkness - Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden
Live - Arenan, Stockholm, Sweden
Guns n’ Roses - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
Europe - Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
Keane - Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden

2007:
Live - Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ, USA
Aerosmith - Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland
Chris Cornell - Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden

2008:
Henry Rollins (spoken word show), Rival, Stockholm, Sweden
Veronica Maggio - Debaser Medis, Stockholm, Sweden
Kiss - Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden
Lenny Kravitz - Sofiero Slott, Helsingborg, Sweden
Kylie Minogue - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
Bruce Springsteen - Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
Coldplay - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
Keane - Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden
Kid Rock - Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK

2009:
The Script - Nalen, Stockholm, Sweden
Franz Ferdinand - Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden
Kings of Leon - TWC Amphitheater, Cleveland, OH, USA
Bruce Springsteen - Stockholm Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden
Bruce Springsteen - Stockholm Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden
Bruce Springsteen - Stockholm Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden
Chickenfoot - Rockweekend, Kilafors, Sweden
(The infamous concert where I was KISSED by Chad Smith!!)
U2 - Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
U2 - Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
Madonna - Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
Coldplay - Stockholm Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden
MGMT - Popaganda, Stockholm, Sweden
Mr. Big - Berns, Stockholm
Mika - Berns, Stockholm, Sweden
Muse - Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
The Dead Weather - Kägelbanan, Stockholm, Sweden

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The red concerts are in my TOP 10 favorite!

After going through this I’ve noticed a few things:

1) A LOT of Aerosmith concerts. Not surprising of course, considering they are what started me out with everything, and have been a huge influence in my life.

2) I’ve seen Europe twice, apparently. One of those shows I have absolutely no recollection of. The other - just barely. I don’t really care for them

3) Van Halen is not on this list. I had a chance to see them while in high school and I BLEW IT. And it was Van Hagar. And I am a huge Hagar fan (and I was back then too), so this makes me sad to think about.

I still have 5 concerts left to go to this year! U2 (twice), Madonna, Coldplay and Muse. Not sure if anything else will pop up. But you never know!

While we were at Rockweekend we found a little island of hay, away from all the mud, to stand on while we watched a few bands play from afar. Sharing that little island was a father and daughter. The little girl must have been around 6 years old, and she was just the cutest thing ever. Completely decked out in metal gear, dancing around in the mud to the music, and throwing devil horns at people and photographers. She was just too adorable to NOT draw. So there she is… the little Rockweekend Girl.

Start them young, I say!!

*sigh*

One week ago RIGHT NOW I was sloshing around through the mud at Rockweekend waiting for Chickenfoot to come on. Little did I know that in just a few short hours I would have been kissed by Chad Smith!

My head is nearly completely healed now. Tonight seems extremely anti-climactic compared to last Friday. I think it’s time to break out the Cabo Wabo tequila and make it a BIT more interesting.

*sigh*

I’m sure most all of you have heard SOMETHING about the fact that today is 40 years since the Apollo 11 mission took off. The mission that took us to the moon for the very first time. And if you’re as nutty about the skies as me then this sparks interest in you. Plenty of sites are doing something special for the event. If you are on twitter you can choose to follow someone like @reliveapollo11, which posts updates as if it were 40 years ago. Or you can really feel like you’re right in the control room by logging into the very cool site WeChooseTheMoon.org, where you can hear the conversations between Houston and Apollo 11 in “real time,” and follow the mission all the way until the landing on July 20th. Basically, you can party like it’s 1969.

I would have loved to have witness that. My dad used to talk about it. And when he did, he would talk about it with such feeling. His eyes would focus on something far in the distance and he would talk about how fantastic it was, and how amazing it was to watch. My high school English teacher (one of my favorite teachers) told me the story of how she was able to watch it. She was a teenager, and she had run away from home. On the night of the moon landing she was walking through a neighborhood of houses, and she saw a family watching it on their tv. So she stood outside and watched it through the window.

As far as I can remember, there hasn’t been anything big of this nature to happen in my lifetime. I wish there could be. I wish we could land on Mars. I want to witness that - some great accomplishment like that. Something that has the whole world glued to their TV in amazement and wonder watching as we take the next Giant Leap. I remember when I was little my dad used to tell me about the “great things” that I would “probably” see in my lifetime. Like people traveling to moon and living there. He believed even I would be able to travel to space as a tourist. Of course he used to talk about those things 20 years ago, when it was 20 years since the moon landing. Now it’s another 20 years, and things are moving quite slowly. I know that they are now talking about going back to the moon to build. But it seems like those “great things” are still so far off. But matter what, he knew it was just a matter of time before it definitely WOULD happen.

I know there are many people who don’t believe in the space program, and like to spout out about how the money should be used on Earth instead. But so many of the things we have to today that we take for granted come from the space programs. So many things that are a part of our daily lives. It’s part of who we are as humans - to explore and learn and discover. And what would we do without Hubble? Hubble - what I believe to be one of the most FANTASTIC things to come out of the space program. Hubble - our eye to the universe. Showing us wonders we could have never imagined on our own. Wonders that are there to be SEEN. Otherwise their beauty would be for nothing. I mean, how can images like thesee not blow your mind?

I guess I’m most sentimental about space and it’s exploration because of my dad. The way he used to talk about it always captivated me, and is most definitely why it’s always been one of my great interests. I want the stuff that he dreamed about to happen. I want it to happen for him. I want those dreams to come true for him. Even though he can’t witness it himself, I want to see it and say “you were right dad!”

And I believe it will happen. In my lifetime or not, it’ll happen. And he WILL be right.

Of all the concerts I’ve been to in my life, this one comes out at NUMBER ONE. The music was, of course, so FREKKIN’ awesome, but this one gets pushed to the top for “the incident” and what was to follow.

sidenote: Make sure to read Daniel’s post too! He talks more about the music and has all the pictures we took PLUS the vids!

Let me first say lay down a little background. I loved Chickenfoot before I even heard their music! I heard that Sammy Hagar had put together a new band and was going to release an album, which was enough to get me excited, but when I heard who his band members were, my excitement soared to new heights. Michael Anthony of Van Halen on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar and Chad Smith of RHCP on drums! I don’t think I’d been this excited about an album for a very long time. I got it a few weeks ago and have been listening to it non-stop. Sammy NEVER disappoints, and the band-member combination is AMAZING. (check out the first single, “Oh Yeah” if you haven’t heard it yet!)

Anyway, onto the good part…

Last night was the Chickenfoot concert in Kilafors, Sweden. It was actually a part of the 3-day long rock festival called Rockweekend. But we went up only for Chickenfoot. It was a muddy mess, but it worked out well. They had two stages and they alternated stages for each band. We figured out which stage Chickenfoot would play on, and we were able to secure spots FRONT and CENTER against the fence. I was so excited I could barely contain myself as we watched them set up the stage. And once they came on stage and started playing I knew already that this was going to top anything else I’d seen this year so far (7 concerts, I think).

Of course they were AMAZING. I knew they’d be good. I’ve seen Sammy before (Michael Anthony joined him on stage the time I saw him too), and it was by far one of the BEST shows I ever went to. I’ve seen RHCP live twice. Those were two INCREDIBLE shows. I never saw Joe Satriani before, but my GOD can that man play. And I saw him play close up too!

Anyway, about halfway through the show is where it gets GOOD. Chad is very generous with his drumsticks. He tosses them out to the crowd often, grabbing new ones to play all the time and then chuck them out at his leisure. Every time one came out into the crowd it became a frenzy to try to grab it. A few fell onto the ground in front of the fence where I stood, but when security guards would pick them up to hand them into the crowd, I never got a chance.

One of those that landed on the ground landed about 2 feet from me. I watched as the security guard picked it up to hand it to someone. I reached for it but he handed it off somewhere else. At that very moment something whacked me HARD in the head. It HURT! I thought it was a beer bottle (which wouldn’t make sense since they weren’t selling beer in glass bottles there). But I couldn’t see what it was that hit me. I could feel the welt immediately, and I asked Daniel if it was bleeding. It wasn’t. That’s when I looked up at the stage and looked at Chad Smith. He was pointing at me and then at his head and mouthed “Are You OK?” I smiled and nodded and then he mouthed “I’m so sorry!” and then gestured about how he just threw it and it hit me. That’s when I realized it was a drumstick that hit me! I was so thrilled that Chad Smith was actually speaking right to me that I forgot about the pain on my forehead and got right back into the show. Little did I know that it was about to get about a THOUSAND times COOLER!

Chad continued to toss a couple of sticks in my direction which never made it to me. At the end of the song he got up and walked to Sammy’s mic. He told the crowd that he had thrown a drumstick that hit me in the head. Then he asked me if I was OK. I nodded. He asked if I was bleeding. I shook my head. He asked if I had a bump, I nodded and said “a little!” And then he said “Do you want me to some down and kiss it?” And I said YES!

Of course, I did!!!

So he jumped down off stage (with help from security since it was about 6 feet high), walked over to me, handed me a drumstick, kissed my forehead and asked if I was OK. OF COURSE I was OK, Chad! You just kissed me! Then I asked him how his arm was (because Chickenfoot had been canceling a bunch of shows before this one due to an arm injury of his). He said it was fine and explained how he just threw that drumstick and saw it hit me. I can’t quite remember everything that was said. It’s a bit of a blur! I was flying at that moment, and he was holding onto me and grabbing my hand for the whole short convo. When he left to go back to the stage I could barely keep myself standing from the shock of it all. People around me were asking if he really did hit me and all I had to do to answer them was show them the welt on my head. After that many people expressed to me that they wished it was THEM who had been hit (all guys though, since I was the only girl is a sea of guys in the front. Somehow I don’t think the same thing would have happened for them LOL). For the rest of the show Chad would point at me and acknowledge me, which was very cool.

But wait! There’s more!

At the end, right before the encore song, they all came to the front of the stage to bow and wave to everyone. I was screaming and hopping up and down. Then Sammy pointed to me and made a gesture with his hands symbolizing bouncing boobs. HA! I got embarrassed and started laughing, but then he did “thumbs up” and a “naughty” sign. You can see it in this video here, if you scroll forward to 5:45 you’ll see Sammy do it, then point to me, bow, and to the “naughty” gesture! Hysterical!!! A shame you can’t see me though!

Acknowledged by two members of the band! And possible even three! I noticed Michael Anthony grinning at me a few times when I SCREAMED at the top of my lungs. And near the end he screamed back at me! Possible. I could have just been imagining that one. But the other two were for real! Made my day! My weekend… MY YEAR!

Besides all of that, the concert was just KICKASS. My 2nd fav concert of all time was when I saw Sammy and the Waboritas at the Irving Plaza in NYC 7 years ago. Sammy makes his shows into parties, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that him and the band interact SO MUCH with the crowd. They always tear down that wall between us and really pull you in as part of the show. That, if you ask me, is what really separates a good concert from a GREAT one. When you feel like they are there for the fans, because they appreciate you.

I’m not going to write anymore about the music because I’m going to leave that to Daniel. He’s posted all about it RIGHT HERE! He has the rock blog and he can really express the music better than I can. He also has the pictures. Oh! Except for these… There was a professional photographer there taking pictures for a local paper. She took the ones with Chad coming down to give me the drum stick and kiss me!

EDITED to add: I found a COOL video! At 2:50 in the following video the guy zooms into Chad where he is apologizing to me while still playing the drums. SO COOL! Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtlTMyiRlfg

Chad climbing down to me (© Anna Alverhag)

Right before (or after) he kissed me. He’s holding my head LOL (© Anna Alverhag)

Afterwards! The welt on my forehead (left side of my head…right side in pic) somewhat visible (© Anna Alverhag)

Chad Smith’s Funk Blaster!

Jag vill att den här sidan dyker upp när folk söker på svenska. Då skriver jag den här delen på svenska, och ni får läsa resten av inlägget på engleska I fredags var jag på Rockweeeknd i Kilafors. Jag åkte ditt bara för att se Chickenfoot. Jag stod precis framför scenen, och under uppspelningen av “Give it Up” kastade Chad Smith en trumpinne som slog mig i huvudet! Efter låten hoppade han ner av scenen, gav mig en trumpinne och kysste mig på huvudet där trumpinnen slog mig. Det var SKITHÄFTIGT!