Andy Skib is a genius.

Now before anyone scoffs and accuses me of bias, I want you to hear (or in this case, read) me out. By the time you get to the end of this recap, I think you'll agree with my assessment -- if you don't already. :) On June 4, 2011, I was on my way to take a test for my teaching certification when I realized I had forgotten to take my cell phone off "silent" that morning. I dug my phone out of my purse to change the setting, and saw I had eight new text messages. One of them was Andy with a big announcement -- an acoustic To Have Heroes show at the Key Club in Los Angeles on June 23rd! Needless to say, I had a very difficult time staying focused on my test. All I wanted to do was get home so I could book a flight to Los Angeles. I ended up booking a flight that left at a reasonable hour on Thursday (10:45 AM) but a rather late hour on Friday night (8:30 PM). I chose the latter flight simply because it was the cheapest available. I figured that if I couldn't find anything to do that day (or anyone to hang with), I would just head to the airport super early and sit there bored. LOL. I booked a hotel that was close to the airport, because the very wonderful Jeannine (zoo), who lives close to the airport, had offered to pick me up AND take me to the show later. So a hotel next to the airport was the most convenient place to stay. I ended up spending a ton of time with Jeannine during this trip, so you'll be hearing a lot about her during the course of this recap. haha As most of you probably know, I've spent the last six months on a pretty strict diet. When Andy announced the show, I realized that if I wanted to look even half-way decent, I needed to buy some new clothes. Since I've lost so much weight (30 pounds total), none of my pants or shorts fit me anymore. So a few days prior to the show, I went to the mall and bought some jeans and dresses -- stuff that *never* would have fit me before I lost weight. After 48 hours of agonizing over what to wear to the show (Nicole can tell you, it was crazy! lol), I finally settled on a purple tie-dye dress. I then engaged in a brutal war with some purple fingernail polish. But that's a whole other story. So anyway, show day finally arrived. I woke up with a stomach ache, which didn't surprise me in the least. I always get nervous before an Andy show, and for me, nerves equal stomach aches. I've gotten used to them by now, though, and I know that if I just fight through them, they'll eventually go away. I did take a couple of pills, though, just in case it was more than just nerves. Got on the scale just for kicks, and was pleasantly surprised to see I had reached my goal weight! It couldn't have happened on a better day. Put on one of my new pairs of jeans and a halter top, and had my sister braid my just-washed hair so that it would be wavy when I went to the show. Headed to the airport with my mom, and got the bejeezus scared out of me by a military plane. The darned thing flew *right* over our car, and it was louder than all get out! I'm surprised my mom was able to keep her hands on the wheel. We both leapt about three feet in the air. lol

Got to the airport, and literally whizzed through security. The lady who checked my ID watched me almost *run* up to her, looked at my boarding pass, then said "It's Ok...you still have plenty of time." I thought it was funny she assumed I was moving so fast because I was running late. I *always* move that fast! And I was excited, too...so that probably played a factor. :) The plane was one of those small commuter planes that only hold about 70 people. I don't really mind how big my plane is, though, as long as I get a window seat. Got stuck next to a dude who enjoyed picking his nose while reading the newspaper. Slightly gross. He also took out a HUGE subway sandwich once the fasten seatbelt sign went off...and it had an extremely strong smell. I spent the whole flight thanking God I was just flying to L.A. Got to the airport about 15 minutes earlier than expected. Jeannine had asked me to go to the ticketing area instead of the baggage area, because it would be easier for her to pick me up there. I had always just gone to the baggage area, so I wasn't quite sure what direction to go. I started following the signs, then got on the phone with my mom to let her know I had arrived OK. At some point, I managed to misinterpret the signs, and ended up on my way to another concourse. I told my mom that I felt like I was headed the wrong way, so I turned around and started going back the way I came. Finally, I saw a sign for ticketing that pointed left. I'm not sure how I managed to miss this sign the first time. I ended up in a stairwell, thinking to myself: Am I *still* going the wrong way? But when I exited the stairwell, I found myself at the ticketing area. Went outside, and immediately found Jeannine's car -- with Jeannine inside, of course. LOL. By this time, it was about 12:15 PM, and I was hungry. I had spoken to Kathy (LooavullLady) the day before about possibly meeting up with her for lunch, so I figured we should contact her before finding a place to eat. I tried calling her, but she didn't answer. Sent her a text message telling her to call me, and still nothing. So Jeannine and I decided to just go to Jeannine's house and hang out while we waited for her to contact us. Got to Jeannine's house, where I met her very loud bird. I like birds, though, so I didn't mind his squawking. :) After a few minutes of chatting, Jeannine tried calling Kathy again. This time she answered. Yay! We made plans to pick her up at her hotel, find a place to eat, and then go to Wal-Mart so she could shop for an outfit for the show. After we picked up Kathy, she pointed us in the direction of the Wal-Mart, and mentioned that there was a Denny's nearby. So we decided on Denny's for lunch. I had a "Build Your Own" Grand Slam with eggs, bacon, and hash browns. It was very weird (but nice) not having to count calories anymore. As we were eating, we jabbered about all sorts of things -- including Andy, who is my favorite topic of discussion. Of course. As we were standing in line to pay for our food, I heard a voice from behind me say "Excuse me!" I turned around, and two women were standing there. One of them said "Who is that on your back?" I told her it was an indie artist named Andy Skib, then asked her if she knew who David Cook was. She gave a very enthusiastic nod and "Yes!" So I told her that he was also David's best friend, and

played guitar and keyboard in David's band. She told me it was a really nice tattoo, I thanked her, and she left. It's not often I get complete strangers asking about my tattoo, so it was a cool moment. :D After we left Denny's, we headed off in search of the Wal-Mart. But somehow, it managed to elude us. We passed a lot of stores, but none of them were a Wal-Mart. Kathy hadn't had any way to print out the directions, and none of us had a smart phone, so we were just relying on her memory to get us there. Finally, we found a Target, and she said that would suffice. lol. Kathy was a pretty quick clothes shopper, so it didn't take long for her to find a good dress for the occasion. Then it was off to the shoe section, where she found a pair of flip flops. After leaving Target, we decided to head back to the hotels, where we'd each have a chance to change before heading out for dinner before the show. We settled on 5 PM as our departure time, with a goal of getting to the venue by 8:30 PM. By the time Jeannine dropped me off at my hotel, it was almost 4 PM. So I only had about an hour to kill before heading back out. Got checked in to my hotel, only to find out that my room was actually across the street from the main office, in a second section of the hotel. It was a very strange set up. Half the hotel was on one side of the street, and half the hotel was on the other. Luckily, though, the street was just a side street, so I didn't have to deal with a lot of traffic in order to get over to my room. I was on the bottom floor, and the doors opened to the outside. I was a bit freaked-out by this set-up, especially since I wasn't even near the main part of the hotel. Jeannine had assured me, though, that this area of town was pretty safe, so that calmed me down a bit. Called my mom to let her know I had made it to my hotel. Then I used my phone to tweet back and forth with a few folks. I really wanted to know how the new DCO looked, and a few people were kind enough to give me some details. Thanks to those folks! After tweeting for awhile, I realized I needed to hurry and get changed before dinner. Took my braid out, and had lovely wavy hair. Yay. Started changing my clothes, and discovered I had a bit of a problem that I probably shouldn't relate here in my recap. LOL. That's what happens when you're dealing with clothing items you haven't worn yet. Called my mom in a panic, and she advised me to ask Jeannine if she could help me out. So I called Jeannine, and she came to my rescue. Yay Jeannine! After Jeannine rescued me (with her hubby in tow), we picked up Kathy and headed toward West Hollywood, where the venue was located. On the way, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant called "Genghis Cohen." They also have a small music venue, and apparently Phil Marshall has played there before. We ordered three dishes plus an appetizer, and it was really good! I probably could have eaten twice as much as I did, but just because I'm off of my diet doesn't mean I should go right back to how I was eating before. In fact, if I did that, I'd just gain all the weight right back. So I limited myself to only two small-ish helpings of two of the dishes. The other one was all vegetables, so this carnivore wasn't interested. Ha!

Dinner didn't take us quite as long as we thought it would, so we found ourselves at the venue around 8 PM instead of 8:30. Found a (somewhat) cheap place to park across the street, then made our way to the door, where we told them we were there for a show in the plush lounge (the lower area of the venue). The guy outside (bouncer, I suppose?) asked me if I was 21. I said that I was 28, and he asked me for ID. At what point are folks going to stop thinking I'm under 21? I mean do I *really* look that young? I don't think I do. *shrug* After proving my age, I received a pink wristband, which I think was to inform the folks inside that I was only there for the downstairs area and not the upstairs area. They told us to go down the stairs and to our left, which we did. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a young man at a computer, who asked us who we were there to see. I told them I was there for "To Have Heroes," and he started looking at his list of band names. I told him it was at 10:30, and he said "Oh... have Bravo Delta for 10:30, and To Have Heroes for 11 PM." It was going to be a long night. I contemplated tweeting to let folks know that Andy was actually going on a half-hour later than we originally thought, but Jeannine advised that I not do so, because Andy probably wanted everyone there early. So I refrained. Jeannine told the guy at the computer that we were there for *both* Bravo Delta and To Have Heroes, but unfortunately, we were only "allowed" one band. So Jeannine and her husband took Bravo Delta, and Kathy and I took To Have Heroes. Upon entering the plush lounge, I encountered an open area flanked by a bar on one side and a long, sectional-type sofa (with tables) on the other. Only a few people were there already, so I pretty much had my pick of where to sit/stand. I was looking around trying to figure out where to go, when Jeannine noticed that the sofa extended all the way to the stage. So we walked to the front of the stage, sat down on the sofa, stared up at the center microphone, and realized we had the best seats in the house. No way in HELL was I going to get up for the rest of the night. It pays to be early, folks. Seriously. A few minutes after we arrived, the first act of the night took the stage. It was a two-man acoustic group called "Alius." They each played the guitar, and one sang lead while the other sang backup. They were actually really good. I liked their songs, and the lead singer's voice wasn't half bad. The second group was "just" a solo act with a backing band. We all know about *that* kind of set-up, right? LOL. His name was Kyle Castellani, and he was also pretty good. Later in the evening, he actually found me and gave me a piece of paper with all his social networking information on it. He said he gave it to me because he saw me up front during his set. I may check out his recorded music at some point, if I have extra money to spend. As Kyle's set was in progress, the next band started setting their gear by the side of the stage. Jeannine noted that it looked like the next band was going to be very loud. That was an understatement. But more on that later.

By the time Kyle's set was done, the place was PACKED with people. Luckily, our little area was a bit isolated from the crowd due to its close proximity to the stage. So I didn't feel quite as trapped in a sea of people as I otherwise might have. Saw and said hi to a few folks I knew, such as Scott (wehoscott), Bonnie (literategal), and Nancy (WoodyJo). I'm not sure I said hi to everyone at this exact point in the evening, but it was around this time that all the other fans started trickling in. Since I was fiercely protective of my spot on the sofa, everyone had to come to me instead of me going to them. Guess that's the one bad thing about the whole "I've got a great seat" situation. I wasn't really able to mingle much and talk to the SoCal peeps. They were wandering around talking while I sat in my seat. haha Jeannine got up to get a drink or something, and when she returned, she told me that her husband had been chatting with folks, and apparently everyone was there to see the third band. As much as I would have *loved* for all those folks to be there for Andy's set, it was starting to get a bit claustrophobic in there. And I was also concerned that if *that* many people were there, it would be almost impossible for us for any of us to carry on a conversation with him after the show, because it would be way too loud. I began to think that I'd be lucky if I managed to get my THH CD signed. The third band was named "Sad Robot." And they were sad indeed. Sad as in lame. They were a five-piece hard rock (or maybe metal?) band with a female lead singer. No offense to females, but I've always preferred a male singing voice over a female singing voice. So I figured I wouldn't be all that enthralled with their set. The music was so loud, it was deafening. I honestly thought I was going to lose my hearing. Jeannine said later that perhaps this venue was a bit too small for a band like them. I have to agree with her assessment. Not only were they too loud, but the instruments *completely* drowned out the singer's voice. I couldn't make out a single word she said. Quite frankly, I don't even get why she was singing at all. Why sing if no one can understand the words? After 30 agonizing minutes, Sad Robot was done. Their fans stuck around for awhile, though, talking and having drinks. This created a very unfortunate situation for the next act, which happened to be solo acoustic. I don't remember what her name was (Kaitlyn, maybe), but the place was pretty darned loud during her set. She said that it was her first time playing The Key Club, and that everyone was pretty chatty. To be honest, I think she was better suited for something like a coffee house, where you don't get wild crowds. It was also a really bad idea, in my opinion, to schedule a solo acoustic act right after a popular hard rock act. The venue should have known that there would be a lot of talking and carrying on after Sad Robot was done. It should have been a plugged-in group scheduled next. Anyway, the poor girl managed to get through her set, but it had to have been a struggle for her. She had some family members there to see her (including her mom), and we Andy fans in front listened to her set as well. But everyone else was basically ignoring her, which was sad. She performed one song which was very quiet, and she was hesitant to do it because she didn't think anyone would be able to hear it over the crowd noise. The sound guy, who was running a tight ship at this point due to being behind schedule, let her go beyond 30 minutes and do an extra song. I think he felt bad for her.

After the solo act was done, I looked at my watch and realized they seemed to be a half hour behind schedule. It was almost 10:30 PM, so it *should* have been time for Bravo Delta to go on stage. But instead, another group started setting up. So that meant no Andy until at least 11:30. I wasn't sure how much more I could take, especially after going deaf from listening to Sad Robot. The next band was a three-piece band, with one member who played nothing but a drum and a cowbell. I'll admit that the cowbell was entertaining, but that was about all I liked about them. I don't even know what their name was. The lead singer/keyboard player announced it, but he mumbled so I didn't hear it. Their music was made up mostly of long, repetitive instrumentals, which made it very boring. To me, at least. At this point I was getting tired and impatient, and just wanted them off the stage so I could see Andy. Speaking of Andy, I did manage to catch a glimpse of him in the crowd, which was thinning considerably by this point. I also saw Jennie, Neal, Monty, Kira, and Andrew. They were staying mostly in the back, standing around chatting with people. I thought to myself: "Man...I hope I don't blow my chance to talk to Andy because I wouldn't get up out of my awesome seat." But I decided to take my chances, and hope he stuck around after his set ended. Anyway, the sound guy was not very kind to the fifth band, and cut them off right at the 30 minute mark, after they finished a song. They didn't even get the chance to say goodnight or anything. The song ended, and in came the house music. It was pretty darned funny, especially since I thought they sucked. LOL Bravo Delta was next. I was so, so tired by the time they took the stage, but I knew that seeing Andy would wake me up. I figured if I could just get through their set without falling asleep or blowing a gasket due to impatience, I'd be home free. I couldn't tell you anything about their set, but it certainly didn't suck. As they were playing, Andy and Jennie came toward the front to watch them. I'll admit that it was hard for me to not turn around and look at Andy. haha. FINALLY, it was Andy's turn. He came on stage to get set up, and I was able to see his setlist when he put it on the stage. There was one song listed as "Special." I didn't know if it was the name of the song, or if he just used it as a place holder so none of us would be able to see the song title before he played it. Turns out it was the name of the song. The setlist had eight songs, but there was no way in heck he was going to get all of them done in 30 minutes. He ended up only having time for six of them. First he did "A Dream of My Own," which he seems to enjoy using as an opening song. It's also his favorite THH song, so I expect to hear it during every set. haha. Next was "Don't Give Up On Us." After that, I think he started worrying about time restraints, skipping over "Reasons" and "Lost in America" and going straight to the cover song. Can't say I blame him for that, because he had prepared the new cover just for this show. It would have been a shame if he hadn't been able to get to it. The cover was by a band named "Mona" which I had never heard of before. I'm not sure anyone there had heard of them, actually. The song was an as-yet-unreleased song, so even if anyone

*had* heard of them, they may not have heard the song. It was a nice song that suited Andy's voice well. He's good at picking out good cover songs for his voice. After "Special," Andy skipped "Forever" and went to "I Bet You're Beautiful." I love that song, so I'm glad he chose not to skip it. The next (and final) song on the setlist was "The Beggar." Andy asked the sound guy how many more songs he could play, and the sound guy said two. So Andy decided to save "The Beggar" for last, and went back to "Lost in America." After "Lost in America," (and during the whole set, actually) fans, including Jennie, started yelling for "The Beggar." I had seen it on the setlist, so I knew he was going to play it. I saw him give Jennie a smirk when she yelled for it. I thought that was cute. "The Beggar" sounded great live, in my opinion. I'm glad he played it, because it's one of the only To Have Heroes songs I've never heard live. The only one left is "Fairweather Friend," which he never seems to perform live anymore. Not sure why that is, but I do believe it's on my list of questions! :) After the set ended, I contemplated asking Andy for the set list. But the house music (is that even the right name for it) was loud, and I would have had to yell for him to hear me. Also, I had the setlist from his *last* acoustic show, so I wanted to give someone else a chance to ask for it and get it. No one did, though, and he ended up packing it away in his guitar case. Oh well. Listening to Andy had brought me up out of my tired state. Now, my focus shifted from the show itself to the aftermath. It was time to try to talk to him. There weren't nearly as many people in the venue as had been there when Sad Robot was playing, so I wasn't really worried about crowd issues. However, I saw Andy pick up his guitar case and head toward one of the exits. I panicked slightly, thinking he was actually leaving right after the show. But then, he stopped right by the door and started selling THH CDs. I remembered that he had announced from the stage that he had CDs for sale -- and that they worked well as coasters, too. LOL. So obviously, he couldn't leave until after he sold CDs to everyone that wanted one. I breathed a sigh of relief, took out my "Lost in America" EP and a silver sharpie, and decided I would focus on getting the CD signed rather than actually talking to him. It was still pretty loud in there, AND another plugged-in band was getting ready to take the stage. Not the ideal situation for carrying on a conversation. As Andy was selling CDs, someone who worked at the venue told him (and us) that we needed to move back away from the stage, because we were interfering with the next band's ability to set up their gear. Andy left the area and moved to the sofa. So I turned around and followed him over there. I ended up standing right behind him and to his right. As a result, a lot of other folks kind of snuck in before me. He would sign and/or sell a CD, then look up and start talking to another person. Since I was behind him, he never really saw me. lol As I was waiting, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and it was Andrew Cook. He said "Hey, can I take a picture of your tattoo with a thumbs-up in front of it?"

Oh Andrew. *sigh* Being a somewhat nice person (lol), I said yes. I pushed my hair out of the way, and someone else standing next to me moved my purse strap out of the way as well. Andrew took the picture, then said "I think I'm going to get one just like it right here," and motioned to his right side. He said "We can be twins!" I was like: "And then I'll sue you." "You don't want to be twins??" "No. Get your own tattoo!" I was joking, of course, and he knew it. He kind of did a fake scoff, which was amusing. Andrew is quite the character indeed. After the encounter with Andrew, I managed to inch my way a bit more to the right so I would be in Andy's line of sight. After signing someone's CD, he turned and looked at me. I was pretty much shoulder-to-shoulder with him. He said "Hi! How's it goin'?" and gave me a hug. Of course. He always greets me with a hug. And I love it. I handed him my CD to sign, but didn't give him the sharpie, because he already had a black one he was using. As he was signing it, I decided that I would go ahead and attempt to get *one* question answered over the crowd noise. That would be better than no questions at all. So I pulled out the list of questions, and said "Can we try to do *one* question?" He said sure, and I said "Pick a number between one and 83." I purposely left off number 84, because it wasn't really *that* important, and I didn't want him to pick it over something else. lol. He picked number 82, which was "How did you come up with the name for your music publishing company?" For those who don't know, the name of the company is "ThatswhatIsaythatswhatIsaidandIjustsaidit" music. It's such a bizarre name, so I was curious as to where it came from. I held up the paper as I was reading it, so he could see it and read it himself if he couldn't hear what I said. After I finished the question, he laughed and said that it's a "Turbo Negro" song. The name was familiar to me, so one of them must have mentioned them before on twitter or something. He then clarified and said that it was from a *line* in a "Turbo Negro" song. I wrote down the answer next to the question and said thank you. He then started talking to Kathy, who was standing nearby. As he was doing so, I reached in and grabbed my CD, which he still had in his hand. I was like: "I think this one is mine," and he said that yeah it was. LOL. After he was done talking to Kathy, we both had to pass between him and the other fans in order to head toward the exit. As I passed by him, I reached out for another hug. I've learned that it's OK to initiate the hugs, because Andy doesn't mind. I hugged him, said goodbye, and headed toward the exit. I figured that was it, and I wouldn't be talking to him anymore that night. But I was wrong.

Jeannine was standing at the back of the venue, so I stopped to chat with her. I suddenly had a flashback to my very first Andy show, when I was talking with Jeannine after speaking to Andy for the first time. She told me that she was waiting to talk to Andy again after the crowd died down. I said "Do you really think we'd be able to talk to him again?" and she said "Oh yeah, sure." And after that, I did get to talk to him again. So I thought to myself: Hmmmm....maybe that could happen again. I asked Jeannine if she thought that there was any way we could get Andy to go someplace quieter so that we could actually have a good conversation with him. She motioned to the lobby area, and said that even though you could still hear the noise/music there, you could also carry on a conversation. So we moved into the lobby area, and stood around talking. Being a worry wart, I thought maybe he'd go out the other exit, and we'd miss him. So I wandered back into the lounge to see if he was still there. The crowd around him was pretty much gone, save for Nancy and Kathy. Nancy was talking to Jennie, and Kathy was just sitting there. So I walked up to her and asked why she was sitting there. She said that she was just waiting for Nancy, because she was riding back with her. At that point, Nancy finished talking to Jennie, and we all walked into the lobby. In the meantime, Andy and Jennie began counting up money and CDs. When we got back to the lobby, I told Jeannine that Andy was done talking to fans, and they were just counting money. Jeannine said "Well go grab him and tell him to come out here!" I was like: I'm not going to do that! She said "Do you want me to? I'll go get him." And back into the lounge she went. Go Jeannine! lol For some reason, I decided to follow her into the lounge, worried that maybe Andy had already "escaped," and we were too late. I didn't see Andy in the same spot he was before, and I momentarily freaked out. But then I saw Jennie was still there. I have no idea where Andy had gone off to. I watched Jeannine walk toward Jennie, then went back into the lobby. A minute or so later, here came Jeannine with Jennie in tow. She ran into Andy by the entrance (no clue how he got there, because I didn't see him there), and said something in his ear. That's the only way you could hear anything in there, so she had no choice. haha. I assume she asked him if he would talk to us for a bit, and he said yes. YAY! So next thing I know, me, Kathy, Nancy, and Andy, and Jeannine's husband are standing in a circle in the lobby. I think this was when he hugged me the third time. I know I got four hugs, and two were in the lobby. So the third one was some time around the start of this conversation. LOL. There was some sort of blacklight on in the loby, and Andy's entire shirt was glowing. He was highly amused by this. As he was commenting on the glow-in-the-dark shirt, I sat there thinking to myself: Crap. What are we going to talk about? What should I say? Do I pull out the questions again? ACK! Someone else (maybe Jeannine's husband) got the conversation going, asking Andy about Six Flags on Saturday. He said that he was going to have just enough time to sleep for a bit that night, then

get up a half-hour before he had to leave so he could pack. I asked him what time they were leaving. He said he wasn't sure, but that he thought it was about 10 AM. Next, something happened that I don't think had ever happened before. Andy asked *me* a question. He said "Did you drive here?" Ohhhhh dear. Should I confess my idiocy? Sure, why not... "No, I flew. I don't know how to drive." And the Skibeyes got huge. "You don't know how to drive?? Why not??" I told him that I was wheel-challenged, had taken 24 clock hours of driving lessons, but all I could do at the end was parallel park. He said "That's all I COULDN'T do!" I said that yeah, it was weird. haha. Then Jeannine's husband jumped in, and told him about how Jeannine picked me up from the airport, and basically told him my entire schedule, how I was going to manage without having a car. Andy got a kick out of it, and said it was awesome. I then said that I wasn't leaving until 8 PM the next day, so Jeannine and her husband were stuck with me all day. LOL. I also told him that the only way I get anywhere at home is by having my parents take me. He said that was awesome, too. I was like: "Not for them!" haha. At this point, I figured I had the perfect opportunity to take out the questions and get some more answered. I said something to the effect of "Since I have you here, and we can actually have a conversation, can we do a few more questions?" Once again, he said yes. He's so awesome. I then mentioned that if we didn't get moving, we'd be finishing the questions in a nursing home. LOL I asked him again to pick a number between one and 83. Either Nancy or Kathy was like: "83??" I laughed and said (I think) that it was getting out of control and that maybe I should stop at 100. She laughed...and I think Andy did too. So here's how the conversation went after that. Andy picked the number 11. "You already picked that number!" "I did?" "Yep. It's your lucky number, so you picked it first." "Oh ok. Twenty three." "You've already picked that number , too" "DAMMIT!"

It was pretty doggone funny. Kathy and Nancy were laughing. Andy said "Well 11 is my lucky number, and 23 is *Jordan's* number, and he was like the only athlete..." then he trailed off. He then commented on how cool it was that "Goodbye to the Girl" was the 11th track on "This Loud Morning." He said he had nothing to do with that. lol So finally, he picked number 47. Success! For some reason, I always get laughs as I'm turning the pages to find the correct number. I don't know if it's because I do it with such excitement, or because I have so many questions that I have to have multiple pages. LOL. Question 47 was about David's cover of "(I Just) Died in Your Arms." For those who night not know, MWK actually covered that song back in the day, at least as early as 2004. First, I asked Andy who came up with MWK's arrangement. He said it was Neal. Next, I asked him if David's arrangement during the Declaration Tour was the same arrangement, or if David had made some changes to it. He thought for awhile, and got a "deep in thought" look on his face, which I loved. He then said that it was a good question, and he didn't really know whether it could be considered a different arrangement. After a bit more thought, he finally decided that, for the most part, it was the same arrangement. They may have changed the key to suit David's voice, but that would have been it. Since I was on a roll here, I figured we'd keep on going. So I asked him to pick another one. He picked number 22. That question was: "Who came up with the idea to do a snippet of Hotel California during Kiss on the Neck?" I didn't ask it that way, though. Instead, I said "Who was the genius who came up with the idea to do Hotel California during Kiss on the Neck?" Either Nancy or Kathy went "Oooooh," indicating that she thought it was a good question. LOL. He thought for a moment, then said "Ok...this question is a bit of a problem...." I *think* it was at this point that someone else joked that all my questions were difficult to answer. LOL! Andy continued by saying "I'm not *quite* 100% sure about this. So I don't want to hint that it was me, when maybe it wasn't." "Ok, so it was you. You're a genius." He got a sheepish grin on his face, turned to one of the other gals, and said "See, now she's gonna say that..." and we all had a good laugh. He then mentioned again that he didn't want to "toot his own horn." Looking back...how did he know I was going to tell other people about our conversation? Does he know about my recaps? Or does he just assume I'm going to report his answers to all of my questions? I'm going with the latter....because the former is a somewhat freaky thought. haha He then went on to describe in a bit more detail where the idea came from. He said that the band was rehearsing, and he heard "Hotel California" over "Kiss on the Neck." It must have been playing

on the radio or something. Afterwards, he suggested that the two songs could work together. I don't think "work" is the exact word he used, there...but that was the gist of it. So yeah...it was Andy's idea. Like I said, he's a genius. I then told him that I was going to have him pick one more question, and then *I* would pick one. He picked #75, which was an MWK question. Basically, I wanted to know if he would ever perform with MWK again *without* playing guitar. For those who don't know, back in the day, Andy used to go guitarless for almost every song. But during the two shows in 2010, he played guitar on every song. So that's what inspired this question. Andy said that the band kind of "experimented" with him only singing and not playing guitar. He also noted that he *never* played guitar when they performed "Splinter." He started thinking again for a bit, and one of the gals commented (jokingly) that he never knew the answers to the questions. He was like: "This stuff was such a long time ago!" I then said that what I *really* wanted to know was why he didn't go guitarless in 2010, when he used to do it all the time. He told me that all the musicians he looks up to can play guitar and sing at the same time. I interjected with "And play bass!" (That was a Sting reference. He loves Sting. lol) He smiled and said "yes, and bass." He said that he admires the fact that they can both play and sing, and he wants to be able to do that, too. He also mentioned the tweet he made awhile back about Brad Paisley, saying the reason he liked him was because he could play guitar and sing well at the same time. Now it was time for me to pick the question. One of the questions on the list (number seven), was one I had been wondering about for a loooong time. So that's the one I picked. I said: "This is something I've wanted to know for as long as I've been your fan. And you have to answer it in detail!" He grinned and sort of half-laughed, and said Ok. And the question was.... "How did you meet Neal, and how did you meet Jennie?" He laughed, and said he could go into detail about Neal, but wasn't sure about going into detail for how he met Jennie. I said that was fine, and it didn't have to be too detailed. He said that he and Neal went to high school together, which I knew. But that was about all I knew. haha. I said "But wasn't he a senior when you were a freshman?" He said yes. Then I *think* someone else interjected and asked how they would have met each other then. He said they were in the school's jazz band together. Now, I knew about this jazz band, but wasn't *entirely * sure if it was the school's band, or one they put together separately. So now I knew it was the former. He said that Neal played guitar and trombone, and he played guitar. It wasn't a very large band, but they didn't all play together all the time. At least that's what I gathered from what he said. He said that even though they didn't always play together, they still became a pretty close-knit group. At this point, either Nancy or Kathy (think it was Kathy) asked him how Neal learned that Andy could sing, if all they did was play guitar together. Andy said that he mentioned to Neal that he had a band (I assume he was referencing his eighth-grade band, here, but maybe not), and also that he had

recording equipment at his house. I guess that's when MWK was born. :D Someone mentioned that it was kind of crazy how they were able to meet in high school, when seniors and freshmen don't usually interact much. And it really *is* nutty. What would have happened if they hadn't taken that jazz band class together? I don't even want to think about it. :/ I *think* it was during this part of the conversation that one of the gals commented on the fact that Andy had a dimple on the right side of his face. He said that he had two dimples when he was a baby. Awwww baby Andy! The gal then joked about the second one having disappeared or something. After we were done with the Neal convo, I said "OK, now the second half of the question." He made a half-smile and said something to the effect of "I think I'm gonna hold off on how I met Jennie." I said that was TOTALLY fine, which it was. Heck, he doesn't have to answer *any* of these questions if he doesn't want to. lol I put away the questions, and thanked him for answering them. One of the gals commented on how funny it is that I have so many questions for him. He said that he liked it. I was like: "Really? I kinda thought you were annoyed by them." He said "No, I love 'em!" YAY! Someone took the opportunity at this point to say how much we all loved "Goodbye to the Girl." I responded by clapping. haha. Kathy asked him when they wrote it, and I said that it was pretty late in the album process. Andy said that he didn't know off the top of his head, but then said "I could actually find the exact date, though, because I still have the musical idea on my computer." Wait wait WHAT?!?! I think someone came up behind him at this point and made a comment to him, because I remember him kind of looking over his shoulder and saying something to someone...while I stood there dumbfounded over what he had just said. A few seconds later, I said "Wait...so "Goodbye to the Girl" was YOUR idea?? He said (and this is NOT an exact quote), "Well yeah, I came up with the musical idea." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Ok, so I didn't actually say that, but I was certainly thinking it. Instead, I said "You're a genius." As his sheepish expression came back, I held up two fingers and said "See, that's twice in one night that you've been declared a genius." I'm sure I had a massive smile on my face. Proud fan over here. He kind of shook his head (still with the sheepish grin), as if he were saying "You give me too much credit." But seriously...he deserves it. Goodbye to the Girl. Was his idea. Just let that simmer for a bit, folks. Take your time. I'll wait. -

Ok then. Let's move on... At this point, I saw the opportunity to sneak in another question from the list. It was related to the convo, so why not? So I tossed-in question 84. I said "By the way, who was the genius [insert Andy laugh here] who wrote the last line, replacing "girl" with "world?" He said he didn't remember for sure. I then told him that I thought it was the best line in the whole song, and that even though I'm not a very emotional person, that song hit me "right here" (tapping my heart). He said that he agreed with me that it was the best line, and that when he saw it in the lyrics, he knew it was right for the song...that *that* was what it should be. I assume when he said that he "saw" it, he meant that Neal or David wrote it and then showed it to him. There was also one other thing that happened during the convo, but I don't remember when, so I'm putting it here. LOL. I asked him if he had seen my tattoo since it healed (I knew he hadn't, but still. lol) and then turned around so he could look at it. He was like: "Yeah, the one from Spaceland (I got it on the day of the Spaceland show)," and then said "You unwrapped it and showed it to me there, remember?" I was like: But it wasn't *healed* then! I then told him that it took two weeks to heal, and that it was only then that I showed it to my father. I added that my sister thought my dad would kick me out of the house, but luckily (lol), he didn't. Andy said something like "Well that's good." Then jokingly added "As long as it doesn't ruin your life to have me tattooed on your back." I laughed and said "It only makes my life better." Cheeeeeeesy, I know. :P Finally, it was about time for everyone to start heading out, so the convo wound down. Andy gave me another hug, and said thanks for coming to the show. I told him that I'd see him at the next one, even if it was in Timbuktu. He then said goodbye to the other gals, picked up his guitar, and started walking over to grab Jennie so they could leave. As he walked by me, he said "Have a safe flight home!" I said "thanks, and you have a safe flight to New Jersey!" He smiled and nodded. And that was that. Ya' know, I didn't realize just how long I talked to him until I typed out the conversation. Holy cow. It didn't seem like that long! LOL Jeannine, her hubby and I went outside and made our way to the parking lot to retrieve the car and head home. As were were driving out of the lot, who should walk into the parking lot but Andy and Jennie! Andy was on the right side of the car, and Jennie was on the left. We stopped, and both Jeannine and her hubby rolled down their windows. Jeannine said bye to Andy as I waved from the backseat. He saw me and smiled. Jeannine's hubby told Jennie he wasn't going to run over her. LOL. I

waved to Jennie, and I'm pretty sure she saw me, because she smiled in my direction. I kinda feel bad that I didn't get a chance to talk to her. I spent too much time blabbing to her boyfriend instead. I need to remedy that the next time I see her. Sorry Jennie! :/ I don't remember much of the ride home. I'm sure we jabbered while, but I don't remember what we talked about. I was in a state of Post-Andy Bliss. Got back to my hotel and jotted down a rough outline of my recap. I didn't want to forget ANY details. Wrote in my journal, tweeted for a bit, then crawled into bed at around 2 AM. Woke up at 7-something and realized I had left a couple things out of my outline. So I got out of bed, wrote them down, and went back to sleep. haha Finally woke up for good at 8 AM. Jeannine and I were going to The Griddle Cafe and had decided to leave my hotel at 9:30. I talked to my mom for a half-hour, then got in the shower. Apparently the motion-sensing light in the bathroom did not detect motion behind the shower curtain, because the light went out in the middle of my shower. Luckily, all it took was opening the curtain to get it to come back on again. Got dressed, Jeannine picked me up, and off to brunch we went. The Griddle is always packed, but we only had to wait about 20-25 minutes. Considering the fact I waited there for two hours last July, 25 minutes was nothing! I had eggs, bacon, and griddle potatoes (yes, very similar to my meal at Denny's. lol). I got the same meal in 2010 and ate the whole thing...but this time, I left a piece of bacon and half of the potatoes. Damn diet. I hate wasting food. It was really good though, as always. As we left the Griddle, Jeannine asked me what I wanted to do for the rest of the day. I mentioned that I really like museums. So we decided to go to the Page Museum, located at the La Brea Tar Pits. I had never been to the Tar Pits, and they were really cool! I was quite fascinated by the gas bubbles that came up out of the pits. They looked like little fountains. haha. The museum itself was fascinating as well. It was neat to see the skeletons and drawings of all these critters that had gone extinct. After our trip to the Tar Pits, we went back to Chez Jeannine, where we listened to "This Quiet Night," checked out the new DCO, and jabbered for awhile. And I do mean awhile. It was several hours. We decided to eat dinner before I went to the airport, so I wouldn't have to find something in the airport (which I'm usually loathe to do). After her hubby and daughter got off work, we all went to a nearby Japanese place, where we also met up with her other daughter, who had gotten off work late. I had an Unagi Don, which is a rice bowl with eel. I hadn't had one since my last trip to Vancouver, so I was quite thrilled. We went to the airport right after dinner, and I actually got there about 20 minutes later than we had originally intended to get there. My flight left at 8:30, and I got to the airport at about 7:20 or 7:25. It wasn't a big deal, though, because there was no line at security. I walked right up to the TSA dude and right through the backscatter. The backscatter was different from the one in Tulsa...it just had to sides but no door-like thing that whooshed back and forth. If you've never been through a backscatter, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. lol

Found my gate and talked to my mom for awhile. Boarded, and nearly fell asleep while listening to the Sanctuary Sessions. I did doze for just a bit, but that's about all I can do while in a moving vehicle. This time, I sat next to a dude who did *not* pick his nose. He was also much younger than nose-picker. He played a game on an iPod while I listened to my music. The flight seemed to go by REALLY fast, and before I knew it, we were being instructed to turn off our electronic devices. We both put our stuff away, and out of the blue, he asked me if I was from Tucson. We ended up chatting all the way until we got to baggage claim. He had just graduated high school, and lived in Okinawa, Japan. We talked about where we lived, our jobs (or lack thereof), and other random stuff. It was a fun convo. As we got to baggage claim, we said our "goodbye, nice to meet you"s, and I wandered over to my waiting mother. Got home, greeted my excited dog, and got online to catch up on DCO. Then I wrote in my journal and went to bed, thoroughly exhausted. It's amazing how tiring it is to fly, even if you only fly a short distance. We've now arrived at the end of the story. You'll recall that at the beginning, I mentioned that Andy was a genius. Hopefully my "evidence" for this assertion was convincing enough for you. If not, then to thee I say "Pbffffffffffft." :P As usual, I don't know when or where the next "To Have Heroes" show will be. But I *do* know that there will be another one. It may be at Thanksgiving or Christmas, but it'll happen. And I will be there. Just like I promised. And I'll bring my questions, too.