:: before the show ::

Current mood: happy
Current music: If Only – Hanson
Subject: Holy fuck.

Well, that sucked.

*crickets chirp*

Oh, who the hell am I kidding? The concert last night was FUCKING AWESOME! Absolutely incredible. If I could go to another one tomorrow, I would without question. It was the best birthday present I could ever have asked for. Though while the concert was absolutely amazing, the trip up to Sydney wasn’t. My mother and I had to catch two trains and a bus because of a fucking ‘CBD shutdown’. Whatever that meant, I have no idea. And we weren’t even notified until the train was leaving Wollongong station.

Not only is Taylor quite cheeky (the short ‘interview’ he did on Friday afternoon for Power FM is proof of that), but a) he is a chatterbox, b) he is very tall (especially compared to me – I’m only just shy of 5 foot 5 myself, and I think Taylor is somewhere in the region of 6 foot 2, maybe 6 foot 3…I’m not sure exactly), c) his voice is slightly deeper than the last time I heard it (on Rove Live last November), and d) up close he is gorgeous. All the pictures I’ve saved of him over the years do not do justice to him in the slightest.

I did end up giving them my letter. I knew that if I tried to say what I wanted to say I’d fuck it up. I didn’t want that to happen, so I wrote it down instead. I spoke to Taylor first (naturally *chuckles*), and I handed it straight over after getting my CD autographed, saying it was for all three of them. He said “thank you” and stuck it straight in his pocket. Apparently I was very sly about it – Mum didn’t even see me handing it over. I added my postal and email addresses to it a bit before I went in for the meet & greet, so hopefully I may just get a little something in return. *crosses fingers* I also got a ‘happy birthday’ from both Taylor and Zac, so that was nice :D Zac also said that he hoped I enjoyed the show – which I did, of course :) I didn’t really talk to Isaac, though I would have liked to.

I still can’t believe I finally got to meet them. :D It was just amazing.

And in case anyone is curious, below is the letter I gave to Taylor. I handwrote one copy and typed another out for myself, the typed copy of which I’ll be printing out and sticking in the scrapbook I’m going to start putting together.

Hey guys,

I wanted to say this myself, instead of writing it down, but take it from me – when I talk, I’m not exactly eloquent. Most of the time, what I want to say gets lost on the journey from my brain to my mouth, which ends up in me saying something totally inane. Which in turn embarrasses the hell out of me. So most of the time, I just don’t open my mouth at all to save myself from going down in flames. I didn’t want that to happen tonight. So I’ve written this in the hope that a) I can get across precisely what I wanted to say to you, and b) I don’t sound like a complete idiot. Here goes nothing…

I’ve known since I was nine years old that I can write. However, it’s only since I was thirteen that I’ve taken any notice of it outside of schoolwork. And it’s only during the past three years that I’ve taken my gift seriously. I love to write, and anyone who knows me can attest to this. My dream career, outside of teaching, is to be a writer. But what many people don’t know is that it took becoming a Hanson fan for me to wake up to the fact.

I guess what I want to say, more than anything else, is thank you for inspiring me to chase a career as a writer. I have loved to write for the past eight years, ever since I became a Hanson fan, and it has been my passion for little more than three years now. I honestly don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t able to write. It keeps me completely sane, and nobody wants to see me lose my very tenuous hold on my sanity. It’s not a pretty sight. I’m already self-published, but someday I would love to walk into a bookstore and see one of my novels sitting there for the world to see. It wouldn’t even be for the money – it would be just for the complete and utter thrill of seeing my name in print. I’m still young yet – in fact I’m only 20, soon to be turning 21, so I figure I have plenty of time left. In short, thank you for being my inspiration, and for inspiring me to chase my dreams.

I really would not change the last eight years for anything, if you want the truth. I may cop a lot of teasing for it, but you know what? I’m proud to be what I am. I’m more than glad I’ve been along for the ride, and I’m not about to get off the rollercoaster anytime soon. I’ve made some wonderful friends from all over the world who are also Hanson fans, friendships that I hope will last a lifetime. I’m in this for the long haul.

I suppose I should probably leave this here – I can literally talk a blue streak once I get fired up, but I don’t think that would be such a good idea this time. I’ll save that for my novel.

Again, thank you.

Peace,

Aeryn Brown
Albion Park, New South Wales, Australia

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Me with the CD I had signed, and the tickets my mother had signed (the ones I won, being as I already had a ticket to the show) – I later had the tickets framed. Am also holding the letter I wrote to give to them at the M&G.

I stood next to Taylor *sing songs* He had his hand on my mum’s shoulder, and I had my hand on his back :D

My friend Janice and I

This poster was on the wall outside – it would have turned out nicely if that bloody street light hadn’t been in the way...

No explanation needed :D

Almost show time…