Ok… so…
So this is BY FAR the craziest thing I’ve done in my life. I ruled out this gig as an absolute impossibility. I did not even consider. I have spent silly amounts of money to do Mexico and Prague – but this was something I procrastinated over and planned for months… it’s not just about $$; the amount of air-travel is obscene – even though I did offset my CO2 footprint for ALL MY FLIGHTS for 2009 – but that’s still a lame excuse. Astronomical amount of time wasted traveling – and by virtue of my job… it is costing me dearly… so I said – OK, this ticket will cost 4 figures, and the only way I can EVEN CONSIDER bidding – because it IS a one of a kind thing, and because the cash is going to a NOBLE CAUSE – IS if it were here, in New York, on the ‘correct’ coast. And I already donated A LOT to Haiti. And I participated in Formengr’ fundraiser to get the taper into the venue AT A SIGNIFICANT level :-))) In fact, I sweated thru this auction as if I was a part of it and was wiped out at the end. When … minutes after it ended at 2PM EST, my friend in LA told me that her bottom level (450?) bid got in (!!) And that she is uncertain what to do with her 2nd ticket. AAHH!! Ok, let’s just say: $450 is something that fucking scalpers charge for ANY Radiohead gig. Every time. If this is what an event LIKE THIS cost me back home – I’d consider it FREE. But – this was in LA. Tomorrow. I seriously considered turning off the internet. Except instead, I asked Formengr if he’d buy the ticket, god knows I REALLY wanted him to get in. And he said he couldn’t make it. So repeating to myself “inez, what the fuck are you even thinking?” sitting in New York at 3PM in my PJs in front of the computer in cold sweat and shaking. I clicked on Travelocity and saw a …….$186 roundtrip NY-LA leaving at 7:10PM. I thought I put in wrong date or wrong location ------ SO ----- ..the rest is more or less a blur. I called my LA friend, told her I have no fucking idea what my dirty mind is thinking, or where I am staying and what my name is, but I AM doing it. And booked the flight. I emailed a dear friend in Europe because I felt like a fucking criminal and that she was supposed to be there. I remember looking for a bag, and the camera charger, and contact lenses and dropping things on the floor a lot (I have no clue what clothes are in my bag in the overhead compartment now). I jammed my printer. I had 1 hr to get my ass out of the house. I realized that I had a total of $4 in cash and had to leave even earlier to get to the cash machine. I called my ‘other’ and asked if he considers me clinically insane. He… he found me a hotel in the next 5 min – 3 blocks from the venue (he may still consider me insane…). And then I was in a cab, close to passing out, so that the cabby asked me if someone’s cat has died :-) and I told him THE WHOLE STORY (you see, I was really out of it by then) - and he said I was doing the right thing! It was gloriously clear outside, and almost no traffic. JFK was the mellowest I’ve seen it in years and I ended up arriving so early that I actually managed to have breakfast-lunch-dinner or whatever the first meal of the day would have been in any random time zone. Even though I wasn’t hungry at all – to avoid headaches… Can’t remember what I ate. I spoke with my LA friend again and she said that she would actually pick me up (!!!!!!) at LAX (Thank you dear!). This was like a movie … A dream of some sort. They boarded the plane early - it was barely 1/3 full. They let me get on and off the plane and back on to re-check to a better seat and gave me a full row, ‘cause it was so empty. We pulled away from the gate early. I realized that my arrival’s late enough in the PM and my hotel may cancel my reservation, so I punched on my stupid barely-txt-compatible phone ‘pls tell hotel im lat’ (there was no time for an ‘e’) as we were accelerating on the runway and hit SEND when we were about 10ft above the ground. And did not get arrested. IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?
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