I had the best weekend in the whole world. Okay, maybe not, but it probably came close!
I had the wonderful opportunity to see Josh Groban in a sorta-kinda concert event. I was part of the audience for his PBS special (coming in November) which was being taped in Pasadena, California. Well, being a huge fan of his, I decided to take Thursday and Friday off and head down to Pasadena to see him.
Last night I stayed at school until 8:00 P.M., which was the third time that I had stayed that late in the last week and a half. I go in early and I stay so late. If I didn’t have a dog at home to let out and take care of I might have stayed even longer! Some nights I could just stay there and work. I get into a working mode, and I don’t want to stop. Anyway . . .
I stayed last night because I had two days worth of lessons to write up for my substitute. I can’t believe how much more work it is to provide lessons and organization for two days as opposed to one! Hah! So, I stayed late last night and went in early this morning to make sure all books and papers were organized. Then I was on my way out when I passed one of my students coming in. She has severe anxiety (every morning) regarding her homework and whatnot. So, I stayed and checked her homework, told her how beautiful it was, all of it was there, and that she had done so well. I then asked her to do me a favor—tell the substitute teacher where I kept the dry erase markers. She said she would. I was hoping the fact that she was helping me out would help her out. I think it did. Poor thing.
I spent the rest of the morning making sure that my house was cleaned. I didn’t want to leave it messed up because I didn’t want to return to a mess. Heh. Lucky was also going to be getting a visitor a couple times a day when a neighbor/colleague came to let him outside and make sure he eats. There’s no way that I would allow her to see my house less than clean! Nope, n’way!
I finally got out of the house around 1:30 P.M. Yikes! I had to be at my hotel before I went to the taping because I had to get ready. Unfortunately, the traffic was horrendous (on the way toward L.A. . . .go figure!) and I ran late. I wasn’t able to do my hair or anything. Oh well. It was still somewhat curled from the morning, so it was what it was.
I ran out of the hotel (late) only to be delayed again in traffic. The confirmation letter for the taping said to be there at 5:00 sharp! Yikes. I was going to be late. However, it wasn’t a problem. When I got there, there was a huge line that I had to get into. No worries.
Josh Groban was well worth the wait in line. What I kind of forgot about was that since it was a taping for a television special, there would potentially be a couple of takes for each of his songs. Oh darn! A favorite performer singing your favorite songs more than once is not a hard thing to handle, is it? He is just as good in person as he is on CD. Amazing, in fact!
His producer, David Foster, kept us entertained during the songs most often. Josh would be taken off stage while they worked out the staging and the musicians and costume changes. He was pretty funny. He got involved with the audience, which was apparently filled with what are considered Grobanites--Josh Groban online fans. He called some of Josh’s fans up and talked to them and also went down into the audience to chat. He even allowed one of them to sing for him. That was nice of him.
Some of Josh’s guests that night were Angie Stone, Lily Hayden, and my personal favorite, Andrea Corr of The Corrs. I was so excited! He had another taping the next night, but I only went the first night. I think that was good enough. He sang my favorite songs from his CD while I was there (the one with The Corrs being my favorite), and I felt truly blessed to be part of it.
The only thing that kept me from enjoying the night fully was someone that I was sitting near (one person away). Every time the audience cheered and clapped, this guy mooed. Truly. He cheered loudly but in a monotone and very loud “woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”. It was awful. Two-thirds of the way through the night I leaned over and very politely asked him to not do that anymore, that it was hurting my ears. It was. It was just at the decibel level that was really offensive. His girlfriend didn’t like that, and I heard her saying that she was going to make a lot of noise then. No one can do that to her boyfriend! That’s fine. She made a fool out of herself, and her decibel level wasn’t nearly as offensive. Heh.
The PBS special will be aired on Saturday, November 23rd. I was in the camera section, which meant that the camera was on us. Look for me. I’ll be the one next to the guy who cheers like a cow.
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