A Story
[Notice: this is long with hardly any pictures. I wrote in chapters so you can leave and come back to it again later.]
Chapter One: A Surprise
One week ago today I was walking to meet a friend of mine for a sushi dinner. We met on 34th street, and coincidentally walked past Madison Square Garden on the way to dinner. He said, "hey, I heard Roger Waters is performing Dark Side of the Moon here tonight". I was thinking, ohhhhhhhh wow, wouldn't it be the very very best thing on Earth if we could actually see Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon LIVE at Madison Square Garden???? We decided to walk on that side of the street, just IN CASE anyone had some very cheap tickets they wanted to get rid of. HA! No. So we went to the box office to check on prices, both agreeing that we could push back sushi for Roger Waters if some kind of miracle were to happen. While he went up to the ticket window I waited by security, staring off into space, contemplating the greatness of what was about to happen inside this very building. Suddenly, as if in a dream, I looked up to see a man speaking to me. I snapped into consciousness and realized he was offering me a ticket. "Front Row" he said as he pulled out a blue ticket from a folded envelope. "How much?" I asked, and he said, "FREE! You just have to sit with us guys if that's not too bad for you. We hate to waste such a great ticket". They handed me the ticket and walked away yelling, "we'll see you inside!" WHAT? Stunned I held the ticket in my hand as my friend Randy (from the Moby tour) returned. After a short discussion (and testing it with the security guards to see if it was a genuine ticket) we decided to split the price of a general admission ticket $40 so we could both get in, and we planned to meet each other inside. YEAH!!
I ran in the building (show had just begun) and found my seats with my lovely ticket donors who I later learned ran a used car dealership in NJ (www.freedomautocenter.com). We were RIGHT beside the stage (just off stage right)!!! I may as well have been sitting behind the monitor desk! And WOW! What an amazing show. Roger Waters looked just like he did when I had dinner with him (last year Moby and I had the pleasure of dining with Roger Waters in his apartment that towered over midtown Manhattan, where he told us good stories about his early days playing music in the UK, jamming with Jimi Hendrix among others, and toured us through his music studio! Yes, it took me a few months to get over that one!). So there I was seeing Roger in performance mode, full band, 3 female back-up singers, two keyboard players, several guitars, WOW! They had a remote-controlled flying astronaut and a graffiti-ed pig that came out and flew around over the crowd during various numbers (I am always so impressed by cool technology - unfortunately because I had no idea I'd be at that show I didn't have my camera to take any pictures), and the band sounded absolutely fantastic! They played some of my very favorites in addition to the Dark Side of the Moon album, including Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Another Brick in the Wall, Comfortably Numb, and many many more. They brought out Nick Mason (original drummer) for the Dark Side of the Moon section. It was beautiful to watch him drum. So solid, so weathered. Loved it!!!
Chapter Two: The Moment We All Strive For
Ok, now let me describe a moment that I experienced in this concert. This is the single moment we all strive to experience in life. The moment of purest euphoria one can achieve, or is it ecstasy, or bliss, or heaven, nirvana, rapture, intoxication, enlightenment, paradise, enchantment, magic…? I will try to describe. The most beautiful section to me during Dark Side of the Moon, after you have gotten warmed up by the deliciousness and divine creativity that fuels the first 5 songs, is Us and Them. During this masterpiece the vocals combined with the guitars and the power of the organ and the whirling swirling sound of the intensity of the music and the emotion pouring from every performer on stage and every listener in the audience create an atmosphere of utter...nirvana. ? [Nirvana, according to dictionary.com is described as: a place or state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the external world. Hmm, that’s sort of close, but what I’m describing is stronger, more euphoric.] It is like you exist in a state of total perfection and the only function of every cell in your body is to absorb the pleasures of the sensory stimulation. Ohhhh, but tragedy! It is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to put the perfection of this kind of experience into words and it frustrates me that I can't accurately explain even a 100th of its magnificence. I am exhausted right now from trying to put that into words..,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,
Ok, I have just created a word to describe this type of purest peace, enlightenment, euphoria, fulfillment, perfection. Maybe if we all start using it it'll be put in the dictionary in a few years. The word is khilara. It means: An experience of purest clarity or insight; a radiance or a brilliance that is beyond the intensity of euphoria, bliss, or even perfection; a depth in understanding of highest truth through greatest ecstasy. Khilara is what many people experience during religious gatherings or great spiritual moments, through art, through meditation, through beautiful nature, through making or giving birth to a new child, and many other ways. Khilara is, even more simply put, the highest high you can achieve. And people achieve this often, but never often enough. I was fortunate to experience khilara during the Roger Waters concert. Thank you.
Chapter Three: Giving Helps the Giver
I couldn't believe the fortune of my evening. My friend was able to sneak into an empty seat in our section so he saw the same show. Absolutely life changing. I want to be a part of that. I want to create those kinds of experiences for other people - for everyone! - everyone who is willing to open, live, love, BE life. So, upon pondering my fortune I remembered what had happened to me just before the concert. I was in K-mart shopping for, get excited, a shower curtain. One of those very boring things that in the city of New York only K-Mart has reasonably priced. While standing in the aisle a woman walked up to me and was mumbling something. At first I didn't look, because living in NY I have learned to model the behavior of pretty much everyone – to act like you don't hear or see any other people walking around in the world with you; to pretend no one’s there, even though it’s NY and there are probably more people than you’ve ever had around you, ever. Anyway. I looked over and she was asking me if I had an extra dollar or two. She was carrying towels and a few other things in her arms and said the money she had wasn't enough to get these few items. I said I was very sorry, but all I had were large bills (to me large is a 20), but if she found someone with some change then I would give her some money to help out. She said she had $14. Well, I decided I could trade her my $20 for her $14. She said thank you thank you so much, god bless you, etc. and handed me her crumpled up money. I wished her well. I looked in my hand and she had only given me $11. And I had remembered during the money exchange seeing her hold back a few $1s in her hand. I thought for a second, and decided to ask her about it. I caught up with her, she wasn’t walking too quickly, and said, “excuse me.” She didn't seem to hear me so I walked closer, and then something hit me. I could definitely afford to let her have $9. Today I was the fortunate one to have that much money in my pocket. Lucky me. I had wanted to help her out and I could! Although I could've reached out and tapped her on the shoulder to politely inquire about her “mistake”, I decided to leave her, let her have it, and continue shopping. At first I pondered how I managed to get ripped off by a woman who initially only asked for a couple of dollars. But then I realized that reacting with these negative thoughts was a choice on my part. I could choose to feel like I was openly cheated, stolen from, jipped, OR I could choose to revel in my moment of giving! I was able to give a woman money and maybe, just maybe those few dollars could help change her life for the better. After a few minutes I decided to delight in my giving, and wish her well, sending her positive energy across the K-Mart aisles to get to a place where she didn't have to ask people for an extra dollar. It was beautiful for me to learn this. And to feel its delight. Not 15 minutes later I was given a free $199 concert ticket.
Chapter Four: How What WHO ?!
If this all sounds too incredible, let me now tell a story about last night. I had an exhausting audition (#4) for TSO (Trans-Siberian Orchestra). Oh I get so nervous for things like that! If I would get less nervous I would make things so much easier for myself, for the audition-ers, the music, ahhh! But that's aside from the story. So, I wandered away from the audition in a real dazed state. I don't know if you know the feeling of after-nervousness, when your body (and mind) finally let you relax? Well, it's difficult. Everything slows down except your thoughts which run a mile a minute; this lasts for a while – at least 20 or 30 minutes. And you sit still on the world's axis while everybody else whirls past. And in midtown at 5:30 PM it is really WHIRLING. Thousands and thousands of people. After a period of time, a hot tea, and a snack, I found myself thinking that hearing some awesome music would set me straight, help me snap back into normal mode. Meanwhile, my friend Randy was still in town and we had decided to get the sushi we missed last week (thanks to Roger). I told him we should try to find some good music to go listen to, and he said, "The Who is playing at Madison Square Garden." I figured he was joking, but we walked past Madison Square Garden on our way to eat and - THE WHO was on to play at 8PM. What time was it? 8PM! Well, we pulled our routine, saying to ourselves, “we may as well see if anything crazy might happen”, both holding on to the memory of the Roger Waters event not even a week ago. He went to check out prices of tickets, I stood by security and waited. A man came up to me and asked if I wanted a ticket. "Orchestra! You'd have to sit with Frank here" he said pointing to his friend. I smiled, asked how much he wanted for it, he said it was free! I couldn't believe my ears. Was it happening again or did I want to see the show so badly that I was just vividly imagining this. He gave me the ticket and went inside. AHHHH! Feeling the texture of the paper ticket in my hand, I accepted that this was in fact Real. So there I stood with one very good ticket. We tried hard to find another, and ran into several others who were doing the same. This show was VERY full, and the only ones left at the box office were $160. Randy, a man with the ultimate understanding of the importance of rock and roll, insisted that I see the show, promising me he had seen The Who perform at least 19 times in his life. WOW what a FRIEND!!!! After much debating I left him and made my way through the Garden.
I walked down very long hallways for a while and when I emerged into the arena I realized I was rather close. When the usher walked me to my seat I couldn't believe it, I was three rows from the center of the STAGE! Yes, only three rows of people and security guards were in between me and the monitors!!! I thanked my ticket donors profusely and sat in my chair. As soon as I touched the cushion, boom! The lights went down.
Ohhhh what a show! So much energy! And these guys aren't youths! I've seen so many pictures of Roger and Pete, and I was so up close, it felt like I was at a family reunion and they were my relatives performing (with a very high quality and very loud sound system) in my den! Ahhhhhh! What a show! I could see everyone on stage, I could see every detail of the instruments, their wrinkles (surprisingly they didn't have all that many - looked pretty good!), their sweat beads, etc. I fell in love with the drummer (Zak Starkey), his perfect touch! WOW. And the music. Well, all it took was the song Who Are You to zap away any lingering zaniness I might have been feeling. Then Baba O'Riley sent me into another state of khilara – the brilliance coming from the drum kit, the guitars, the vocals, and the synths, OHHH! (I won’t try to describe the feeling in words this time, now you know what khilara is!) And Behind Blue Eyes took me away. They played lots of incredible new songs. Wow. What an experience. They literally beat my soul with beautiful pounding music and cured me of any and all ailments! EXACTLY the thing I had wished for...and been granted! !!!!!!!!
Chapter Five: Struggles for Luci
Now Erin and I are beginning our search for the members of our band. Thankfully I have been properly inspired for this task after my fortune of seeing such great shows this week. Erin and I have enough songs to start with and are ready to play some little secret shows. This is not an easy task, and we are realizing that it could take a very long time to find the perfect mixture. But we don’t lose faith. WE KNOW YOU’RE OUT THERE, brilliant guitarist. WE KNOW YOU’LL FIND US, brilliant drummer! We can’t wait until you do. But so far it is going slowly. Nothing short of exciting at least! That’s all on the home front! Had to share these exciting little moments with you! Can’t wait to see what’s next! Or WHO’S NEXT (HEE HEE HEE HEE -- That’s the name of a Who Album, in case you didn’t know!)
Love!!!
And wishing moments of khilara to everyone,
Luci
The End
Chapter One: A Surprise
One week ago today I was walking to meet a friend of mine for a sushi dinner. We met on 34th street, and coincidentally walked past Madison Square Garden on the way to dinner. He said, "hey, I heard Roger Waters is performing Dark Side of the Moon here tonight". I was thinking, ohhhhhhhh wow, wouldn't it be the very very best thing on Earth if we could actually see Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon LIVE at Madison Square Garden???? We decided to walk on that side of the street, just IN CASE anyone had some very cheap tickets they wanted to get rid of. HA! No. So we went to the box office to check on prices, both agreeing that we could push back sushi for Roger Waters if some kind of miracle were to happen. While he went up to the ticket window I waited by security, staring off into space, contemplating the greatness of what was about to happen inside this very building. Suddenly, as if in a dream, I looked up to see a man speaking to me. I snapped into consciousness and realized he was offering me a ticket. "Front Row" he said as he pulled out a blue ticket from a folded envelope. "How much?" I asked, and he said, "FREE! You just have to sit with us guys if that's not too bad for you. We hate to waste such a great ticket". They handed me the ticket and walked away yelling, "we'll see you inside!" WHAT? Stunned I held the ticket in my hand as my friend Randy (from the Moby tour) returned. After a short discussion (and testing it with the security guards to see if it was a genuine ticket) we decided to split the price of a general admission ticket $40 so we could both get in, and we planned to meet each other inside. YEAH!!
I ran in the building (show had just begun) and found my seats with my lovely ticket donors who I later learned ran a used car dealership in NJ (www.freedomautocenter.com). We were RIGHT beside the stage (just off stage right)!!! I may as well have been sitting behind the monitor desk! And WOW! What an amazing show. Roger Waters looked just like he did when I had dinner with him (last year Moby and I had the pleasure of dining with Roger Waters in his apartment that towered over midtown Manhattan, where he told us good stories about his early days playing music in the UK, jamming with Jimi Hendrix among others, and toured us through his music studio! Yes, it took me a few months to get over that one!). So there I was seeing Roger in performance mode, full band, 3 female back-up singers, two keyboard players, several guitars, WOW! They had a remote-controlled flying astronaut and a graffiti-ed pig that came out and flew around over the crowd during various numbers (I am always so impressed by cool technology - unfortunately because I had no idea I'd be at that show I didn't have my camera to take any pictures), and the band sounded absolutely fantastic! They played some of my very favorites in addition to the Dark Side of the Moon album, including Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Another Brick in the Wall, Comfortably Numb, and many many more. They brought out Nick Mason (original drummer) for the Dark Side of the Moon section. It was beautiful to watch him drum. So solid, so weathered. Loved it!!!
Chapter Two: The Moment We All Strive For
Ok, now let me describe a moment that I experienced in this concert. This is the single moment we all strive to experience in life. The moment of purest euphoria one can achieve, or is it ecstasy, or bliss, or heaven, nirvana, rapture, intoxication, enlightenment, paradise, enchantment, magic…? I will try to describe. The most beautiful section to me during Dark Side of the Moon, after you have gotten warmed up by the deliciousness and divine creativity that fuels the first 5 songs, is Us and Them. During this masterpiece the vocals combined with the guitars and the power of the organ and the whirling swirling sound of the intensity of the music and the emotion pouring from every performer on stage and every listener in the audience create an atmosphere of utter...nirvana. ? [Nirvana, according to dictionary.com is described as: a place or state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the external world. Hmm, that’s sort of close, but what I’m describing is stronger, more euphoric.] It is like you exist in a state of total perfection and the only function of every cell in your body is to absorb the pleasures of the sensory stimulation. Ohhhh, but tragedy! It is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to put the perfection of this kind of experience into words and it frustrates me that I can't accurately explain even a 100th of its magnificence. I am exhausted right now from trying to put that into words..,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,
Ok, I have just created a word to describe this type of purest peace, enlightenment, euphoria, fulfillment, perfection. Maybe if we all start using it it'll be put in the dictionary in a few years. The word is khilara. It means: An experience of purest clarity or insight; a radiance or a brilliance that is beyond the intensity of euphoria, bliss, or even perfection; a depth in understanding of highest truth through greatest ecstasy. Khilara is what many people experience during religious gatherings or great spiritual moments, through art, through meditation, through beautiful nature, through making or giving birth to a new child, and many other ways. Khilara is, even more simply put, the highest high you can achieve. And people achieve this often, but never often enough. I was fortunate to experience khilara during the Roger Waters concert. Thank you.
Chapter Three: Giving Helps the Giver
I couldn't believe the fortune of my evening. My friend was able to sneak into an empty seat in our section so he saw the same show. Absolutely life changing. I want to be a part of that. I want to create those kinds of experiences for other people - for everyone! - everyone who is willing to open, live, love, BE life. So, upon pondering my fortune I remembered what had happened to me just before the concert. I was in K-mart shopping for, get excited, a shower curtain. One of those very boring things that in the city of New York only K-Mart has reasonably priced. While standing in the aisle a woman walked up to me and was mumbling something. At first I didn't look, because living in NY I have learned to model the behavior of pretty much everyone – to act like you don't hear or see any other people walking around in the world with you; to pretend no one’s there, even though it’s NY and there are probably more people than you’ve ever had around you, ever. Anyway. I looked over and she was asking me if I had an extra dollar or two. She was carrying towels and a few other things in her arms and said the money she had wasn't enough to get these few items. I said I was very sorry, but all I had were large bills (to me large is a 20), but if she found someone with some change then I would give her some money to help out. She said she had $14. Well, I decided I could trade her my $20 for her $14. She said thank you thank you so much, god bless you, etc. and handed me her crumpled up money. I wished her well. I looked in my hand and she had only given me $11. And I had remembered during the money exchange seeing her hold back a few $1s in her hand. I thought for a second, and decided to ask her about it. I caught up with her, she wasn’t walking too quickly, and said, “excuse me.” She didn't seem to hear me so I walked closer, and then something hit me. I could definitely afford to let her have $9. Today I was the fortunate one to have that much money in my pocket. Lucky me. I had wanted to help her out and I could! Although I could've reached out and tapped her on the shoulder to politely inquire about her “mistake”, I decided to leave her, let her have it, and continue shopping. At first I pondered how I managed to get ripped off by a woman who initially only asked for a couple of dollars. But then I realized that reacting with these negative thoughts was a choice on my part. I could choose to feel like I was openly cheated, stolen from, jipped, OR I could choose to revel in my moment of giving! I was able to give a woman money and maybe, just maybe those few dollars could help change her life for the better. After a few minutes I decided to delight in my giving, and wish her well, sending her positive energy across the K-Mart aisles to get to a place where she didn't have to ask people for an extra dollar. It was beautiful for me to learn this. And to feel its delight. Not 15 minutes later I was given a free $199 concert ticket.
Chapter Four: How What WHO ?!
If this all sounds too incredible, let me now tell a story about last night. I had an exhausting audition (#4) for TSO (Trans-Siberian Orchestra). Oh I get so nervous for things like that! If I would get less nervous I would make things so much easier for myself, for the audition-ers, the music, ahhh! But that's aside from the story. So, I wandered away from the audition in a real dazed state. I don't know if you know the feeling of after-nervousness, when your body (and mind) finally let you relax? Well, it's difficult. Everything slows down except your thoughts which run a mile a minute; this lasts for a while – at least 20 or 30 minutes. And you sit still on the world's axis while everybody else whirls past. And in midtown at 5:30 PM it is really WHIRLING. Thousands and thousands of people. After a period of time, a hot tea, and a snack, I found myself thinking that hearing some awesome music would set me straight, help me snap back into normal mode. Meanwhile, my friend Randy was still in town and we had decided to get the sushi we missed last week (thanks to Roger). I told him we should try to find some good music to go listen to, and he said, "The Who is playing at Madison Square Garden." I figured he was joking, but we walked past Madison Square Garden on our way to eat and - THE WHO was on to play at 8PM. What time was it? 8PM! Well, we pulled our routine, saying to ourselves, “we may as well see if anything crazy might happen”, both holding on to the memory of the Roger Waters event not even a week ago. He went to check out prices of tickets, I stood by security and waited. A man came up to me and asked if I wanted a ticket. "Orchestra! You'd have to sit with Frank here" he said pointing to his friend. I smiled, asked how much he wanted for it, he said it was free! I couldn't believe my ears. Was it happening again or did I want to see the show so badly that I was just vividly imagining this. He gave me the ticket and went inside. AHHHH! Feeling the texture of the paper ticket in my hand, I accepted that this was in fact Real. So there I stood with one very good ticket. We tried hard to find another, and ran into several others who were doing the same. This show was VERY full, and the only ones left at the box office were $160. Randy, a man with the ultimate understanding of the importance of rock and roll, insisted that I see the show, promising me he had seen The Who perform at least 19 times in his life. WOW what a FRIEND!!!! After much debating I left him and made my way through the Garden.
I walked down very long hallways for a while and when I emerged into the arena I realized I was rather close. When the usher walked me to my seat I couldn't believe it, I was three rows from the center of the STAGE! Yes, only three rows of people and security guards were in between me and the monitors!!! I thanked my ticket donors profusely and sat in my chair. As soon as I touched the cushion, boom! The lights went down.
Ohhhh what a show! So much energy! And these guys aren't youths! I've seen so many pictures of Roger and Pete, and I was so up close, it felt like I was at a family reunion and they were my relatives performing (with a very high quality and very loud sound system) in my den! Ahhhhhh! What a show! I could see everyone on stage, I could see every detail of the instruments, their wrinkles (surprisingly they didn't have all that many - looked pretty good!), their sweat beads, etc. I fell in love with the drummer (Zak Starkey), his perfect touch! WOW. And the music. Well, all it took was the song Who Are You to zap away any lingering zaniness I might have been feeling. Then Baba O'Riley sent me into another state of khilara – the brilliance coming from the drum kit, the guitars, the vocals, and the synths, OHHH! (I won’t try to describe the feeling in words this time, now you know what khilara is!) And Behind Blue Eyes took me away. They played lots of incredible new songs. Wow. What an experience. They literally beat my soul with beautiful pounding music and cured me of any and all ailments! EXACTLY the thing I had wished for...and been granted! !!!!!!!!
Chapter Five: Struggles for Luci
Now Erin and I are beginning our search for the members of our band. Thankfully I have been properly inspired for this task after my fortune of seeing such great shows this week. Erin and I have enough songs to start with and are ready to play some little secret shows. This is not an easy task, and we are realizing that it could take a very long time to find the perfect mixture. But we don’t lose faith. WE KNOW YOU’RE OUT THERE, brilliant guitarist. WE KNOW YOU’LL FIND US, brilliant drummer! We can’t wait until you do. But so far it is going slowly. Nothing short of exciting at least! That’s all on the home front! Had to share these exciting little moments with you! Can’t wait to see what’s next! Or WHO’S NEXT (HEE HEE HEE HEE -- That’s the name of a Who Album, in case you didn’t know!)
Love!!!
And wishing moments of khilara to everyone,
Luci
The End
posted at
11:52 PM
