Only In America

When I was in 7th grade, my long-term boyfriend ("long-term" meaning more than a month) broke up with me over the phone so that he could hook-up with another girl at a neighborhood slumber party. I was heartbroken. It didn't matter that he was nice enough to at least break-up with me before he cheated on me....all that mattered was that I had no one to write notes to, no one to talk to on the phone, no one to trade Swatch watches with. My world was torn apart. My heart was in my hand. For a few hours, anyway.


Being that it was my first official break-up, I did what any heartbroken 12-year-old would do.....I shut the door to my room, turned off the lights and listened to Journey's, "Open Arms" over and over again on my cassette player. Then I cried until my body wouldn't produce any more tears because this was the worst pain I had ever felt in my whole life, and my life would be forever in shambles.


Okay, so obviously I recovered from that heartbreak, but one thing remains with me to this day: the Open Arms of Journey consoled my wounded heart. I was a faithful follower from that day on......


Cody and I traveled to Dallas this weekend with a few friends to see Cheap Trick/Heart and Journey in concert. I had no idea that the original lead singer for Journey, Steve Perry, was no longer with the band. I found this a little disappointing, but we had already paid $75 a ticket and equal that in babysitting fees, so I was riding this pony as far as it would go.


The concert was pretty amazing, and I'll tell you a little more about the lead singer in a minute....but first, let me say that the people who attended the concert made Journey look like a sideshow. Seriously. We saw numerous people who have yet to leave the 80's. Maybe it was the 50 year old man with large, long, permed hair who wore a Mavericks basketball jersey with bicycle shorts....or the 40 year old woman who came dressed to impress in her one-piece bathing suit and combat boots. And I can't forget the bleached-blonde lady with the sleeveless, velor, mock-turtleneck shirt in hot pink. I swear she dug that shirt out of her Jr. High closet. I should know, I had one.


I really, really wanted to approach several interesting attendees to ask if I could take their picture, but I just wasn't bold enough. Plus, if they asked why I wanted their picture, I would have to be honest and say that I intend to make complete and total fun of their attire on my blog. Hmmmmm.....I'm not sure how they'd take that.


Here are Cody and me at the concert.....we obviously left the 80's in the 80's. My pinch-rolled, acid washed jeans are thanking me.

Okay, so back to Journey....the lead singer most of us are familiar with is Steve Perry. He was replaced (due to a degenerative hip disease and blown vocal cords) with another singer named Steve Augeri (rhymes with Perry.) After Steve #2 blew out his vocal cords, Journey was left without a singer. The guitarist took matters into his own hands and set out on a search for a replacement and found someone on......you guessed it, youtube. This guy's name was Arnel Pineda and he was from Manila. The story is simply amazing as Arnel was at one point homeless and living on the streets of his hometown.

Hear his story here.

Now you guys know that not only do I love Journey....but I also love Asians (part of my heritage), so Arnel was like the best of both worlds for me! I mean, who doesn't want that "Pretty Woman" ending? Street prostitute turned wealthy man's wife. Of course, it helps when you look like Julia Roberts and when it's a Hollywood script. But Arnel Pineda is, like, real life. You know this guy is waking up everyday saying, "Pinch me.....I've got to be dreaming!" (As a side note, I kind of wonder what Steve Perry is thinking when he realizes that he's been replaced not just once, but twice, and that Journey continues on as successful as ever. That thought can't be good for the ol' ego......)

Only in America.......