Get some popcorn cos this is pretty long.

I woke up at 4 am Saturday morning to catch my 7am Southwest flight. I met a friend at the San Jose airport that flew down from Seattle so we could hang out. My mom dropped us off at Great America and said she'd meet us later cos she too was meeting with an old friend.

Sally and I went on some rides and decided we'd get in line for the gig about 3 hours early. We eventually walked past the line and people were already waiting! We both freaked out. I asked a girl named Terry if she wanted to switch off waiting in line so we could all go on rides. She said she'd save us a spot.

We arrived back around 3pm to our nicely saved spot. The gates opened and everyone took off running. I knew we'd get in trouble for running but "everyone was doing it." Security started yelling at us. So I continued running whilst screaming to everyone in front of me "Eh! We're not allowed to run! Stop running! Stop!" They didn't listen so we kept going. Cross-country paid off and I got 3rd row center only cos press got the first 2 rows. We put our stuff down, got sum food, and came back expecting to see Everyone. The concert times were moved ahead so we missed Everyone and got to hear KJ-52. Not fun at all for either of us. He mentioned that he thought some of us came here expecting to hear a country concert [I was wearing a cowgirl hat that day]. I said yep and Sally and I left. We'd had enough of the whole right arm waving thing.

We played in a competition where you had 1-3 shots to hit a golf ball onto a little green and into the hole. She believed that it was God's will that she win and eat backstage with the Newsboys because she flew from Seattle without the plane crashing. I looked for Stu to putt for me but he was nowhere in sight. I would've run the other way if I saw Martin. Sally and I both missed 3-3. That golf ball was crooked!

Superchic[k] put on a great show. D: was on next.....I got out my flag, made sure my hair looked decent, used the loo, and speed walked back to our spot. I think they opened with Deeper...I forgot. and they closed with History Maker I'm pretty sure. It was all a blur. They played Dance in the River, DYFTMT, ICSOYLF, Investigate....? I loved Dance in the River. Security was going mad cos everyone was crowding the walkways. As we all know you hafta hold hands with the person on your left and right, and in doing so block the walkways right? Right. So Security just stood there and tried to look tough. When we stopped jumpin' around, Security went up and down the aisles getting people back to their benches....Mart decided we should do it again...I heard Security getting all frustrated and couldn't help but to start laughing. Suckers! WE DANCE UPON INJUSTICE!!!!!YEAH!

The concert ended so we got in line for Top Gun where we talked to the people in front of us with English accents. They told me that their uncle's a cowboy. I told then that I was an English Cowgirl but forgot to use the accent... that ended our conversation after some curious looks. lol it was great! My mom called to say she was talking to Martin and that they were waiting for me. I was like "what are you talking about?" So we left the line to go see them before Ian got ticked. I guess she went crazy telling Martin how "my daughter and her friend flew over here to see you guys and she's driving to Hollywood to see you tomorrow and she used your quote under her senior picture in her yearbook. Her names Ashley and blah blah blah...." She told me that he looked scared. She scares me a lot too Mart. I talked to Stew a bit about running and we said we'd see each other tomorrow. In the airport the next morning I met the Newsboys [all but Peter and Phill who were up ahead in line] and Superchic[k]. They're really nice folks! FOLKS?!?!

The next day comes and my buddy Damon and I head out to Hollywood, pay 8 bucks for parking, and get 2nd in line. We head across the street to see if we could find some food and then walk over to Capitol Records which was pretty boring. We figured that since D: just showed up right before we left, they wouldn't be out to mingle for awhile. We arrived back to our spot and everyone was gone. We went to the doors and could see D: with Sally from Action House TV. Yes, they're filming a second show with them. I realised that I'd forgotten my camera in my suitcase! We met up with a few more school friends and started walking around the building so we could accidentally run into D:. I realised that a D:Crew guy was right next to us while I was going over our "plan." I knew there was something "suspicious" bout him when we were looking for the boys. I was pretty embarrassed when I saw him filming 'em during the show. We got front row center again. Usually there's a big space between front row and the stage....our gap was only about 2.5 feet. It was so rad!!! The first half of the show was the same as the night before except for Martin forgetting his lines and going improv, dropping his mic, and getting tripped by Stu. No, he didn't fall but he did stumble a bit. They played Rain Down, the new one not the old one. All I can say is this next album is going to be awesome!!! It sounded like there were a few timing problems during Jesus' Blood. Tim's Rhode was a really nice touch. Oh my goodness Investigate...I don’t' even know where to begin. I was completely overwhelmed! The Holy Spirit totally engulfed the place. You guys know the feeling....you know those times when you want to worship God but you just can't feel it [or am I all alone here]? Wow. It felt great just to stand there and worship God with all my heart. Sadly, it's been awhile since I've been able to do that. I feel like a weight's been lifted off my heart.

I didn't see Martin do his chicken dance but he did do that one leg hop thing with his cool mic stand. they ended with Bliss and then came on for an encore. When the gig ended, we walked outside to get their sigs. I wanted them to sign my senior yearbook. They weren't outside so we figured they were going to sign inside [which should've been obvious in the first place] The Guard wouldn't let us back in. He said "No re-entry." This is the same guard that made me take off my punked out D: jacket at a Five Iron Frenzy Concert cos I had UK cones on it [which are cones not spikes] There was already a guy in there with spikes on his jacket....guh! I can’t' forget that we gotta dance upon injustice though. He told me the band makes all the rules which I know was a bunch of rubbish! I mentioned that that was odd cos they've never done that before. He replied with "Well, they're doing it now." On the way back to my car my buddy kept telling me to suck it up cos I was so disappointed. As we headed toward the freeway on Hollywood Blvd I found the Smiths hanging around outside. They're really buddy-buddy with D: so I told them my problem. Mr. Rodger Smith took me up to the door with his VIP pass and the guard told him that escorts weren't allowed. Rodger was like "give her a break she just wants her senior yearbook signed. Mr. Security broke and said to make it quick. I got Stu and Jon but all the other guys had already taken off. It was a bitter-sweet ending to one of the best weekends that I've had in a very long time.

added 03 june 2003