Having too much fun is a good thing

Where am I? What day is it? When was the last time I wrote something? Honestly these questions aren't a bad thing. It just means I've been busy doing exciting things. I just hope I don't forget to write about all of them. I've been keeping little notes, but they're scattered in about 5 different places.

I think I left off after the Wichita, KS show. The next night we were in Oklahoma City, OK. We had an awesome VIP named Patrick (aka Kevin)! He followed the VIP directions, which I'll have to post for you sometime, very well. He came up to me and gave a compliment with out being creepy. Go Patrick! Kimberly started the VIP hangout-ness while I was still packing up, so I didn't really hang out with Patrick much. :( Boo!

Otep's drummer Justin also hurt himself before this show. From what I heard he tripped and cut his foot all the way down to the tendon. Mike and Shaun, the drummer from Picture Me Broken, went and got him gauze and stuff. Now the Otep crew has 2 hurt feet.

Kimberly's cousin was at the OKC show! Her and her husband were amazing and bought us dinner. They also had a house in the area they were trying to sell that still had a couch and beds and stuff in it that they offered to us. So we yet again got to sleep somewhere other than the limo, and Jason managed a shower. If you happen to read this, Thank you again! You're amazing!

The next show was in Little Rock, AR. On the way, I bought myself this epic mug so I'd stop wasting so many disposable cups.

Little Rock, AR

At least the wall blocking our view of the stage made it feel like we could see...

The venue in Little Rock served food, including deep fried Oreos that Tristan got. He let me try some. AMAZING!!! If you ever have a chance to try deep fried Oreos, DO IT! Or maybe you shouldn't because they're awesome and you're going to want more. Also at this venue there's a bench with band stickers all over it. I got one of the guys helping out there to put a OED sticker on it for me, and he stuck another on a pillar somewhere. We're leaving our mark everywhere!!

While the first of the two opening bands was playing, a guy who was clearly already drunk came is and wanted a OED shirt. He accidentally handed me an extra $5 and when I tried to give it back, he told me to keep it. I gladly accepted it as my adorableness convenience fee. Plus that was 5 less dollars he could spend on more alcohol. Later, security noticed him. They didn't want to kick him out since it was still so early, so they took his wrist band, got him some food, and sat him down. They told him he could stay, but if they caught him drinking they were going to kick him out. Way to go staff for taking care of your patrons!

Later when Junior was at the table, he bought another shirt. Junior almost talked him into getting the 7CD pack for $60. He spent a while going through his wallet and pockets looking for money, but in the end only had enough for 1 CD. Should we feel bad about taking all of his money? He, and other guys I've dealt with, willfully came up to the table and didn't need much to talk him into buying stuff. I wonder if I should add conning drunk men out of money to my resume, or does that make me sound like a stripper?

While the drunk guy was at our table there was a girl helping me hold the table so he didn't knock it over. After he left, she asked “Is this supposed to be here” while pointing to a huge joint. It must have come out of his pocket or wallet while he was searching for money. We had a laugh over it and she took care of it for us.

Kim's helpers for a song

At this show we had 3 VIPs. One of which was Natalie (aka Natasha) who's also going to be our VIP at several other shows. We talked for a long time and I'm really looking forward to hanging out with her at more shows! After the show we all went to Ihop. Best Ihop experience ever! Our waiter Michael was GREAT! He had a feisty, fun attitude and was a load of fun. At the end of the night his manager took a picture of him with us. Someone at another table took a picture of us having our picture taken, and someone at yet another table took a picture of him, taking a picture of us having our picture taken. It turned into a huge crazy party involving half of Ihop. Jason gave everyone stickers, got some business cards, and told everyone to be sure to post the pictures on Facebook. So far we've already had one!

My Photo

Another Guy's Photo

Junior getting contact info

Kimberly resisting arrest

Next it was on to Longview, TX. This was only my second time in TX. Then again, it was my first time in Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, and I've only ever stayed in a hotel in Oklahoma while driving through. But TX is especially important because that's where Kim, Junior and Mike all live. For at least the time being.... I'm going to make them move to Los Angeles so they can hang out with me all of the time! :D

We got to the venue early, so we did some shopping! Did you know Paula Dean makes skillet dessert candles? Me either, but she does!

Wait, what?!?!

The venue was a weird little bar with not much room in front of the stage.

They had a really funny dress code sign too.  Mike got a photo that I need to steal.

I got stuck in a weird spot next to the stage. It was great for taking pictures, except it was too dark for them to really turn out :(

Shaun, Dante and Jimmy of Picture Me Broken, Brooklyn was too far forward

One-Eyed Doll, and the back of Mike

The one and only OTEP!!!!

Drumming with green lights for St. Patty's day:

 We also had two adorable VIPs!!!! Let me tell you a bit of a story first...

A while ago Veronica Varlow, one of Emilie Autumn's Bloody Crumpets, liked a page for Casanova Cupcake I kept seeing them tagged in Emilie Autumn show pictures too. I checked out their page and they seemed awesome so I liked their page to check out more later. However, being on tour I have very little time. I was talking to the 2 VIPs before the show and they reminded me of them. But, not knowing much about them I was afraid to ask. Finally I broke down towards the end of the night and asked them if they'd heard of Emilie Autumn. They said they'd preformed with her, and I called them Casanova Cupcake and fan girled out on them. How random is that! After the show I showed them my Bloody Crumpet Halloween costume and they signed a CD for Kimberly that they said she had to share with me. :D They were awesome and absolute sweethearts! I hope to run into them again some day!

 

Since the next show was in Austin, we dropped Mike off at home and the rest of us stayed the night at Jason's house. Yay for a bed and shower! It's funny what little things can make you happy when you live out of a van. I'll have to write about the Austin show in the next journal though because this is getting long and I need to update inventory numbers.

Awesome Dan and Awesome VIPs!!!!

I've finally figured out why my throat always hurts when I try to sleep at night. I'm also starting to lose my voice for the same reason. It's talking too much! I spend all night telling people about One-Eyed Doll, answering questions, meeting fans, etc. It's awesome! But being a usually shy, quiet person (which you'd probably never guess after meeting me at a show), my vocal chords aren't used to constant talking for hours at a time! But it's ok. If I lose my voice completely I'll just make signs or buy a white board so I can communicate. I should also probably not sing along to every OED and Otep song to save my voice a bit...

Wednesday night's show was at The Marquis Theater in Denver, CO.

Phil, Picture Me Broken's tour manager, rocking the girl tank top!

Super awesome Dan came to this show!!!!! :D Like Ed, I've known him for years from the Lennon message board. And also like Ed, this was my first time meeting him in person! This was his first time seeing OED, and I think he really enjoyed them :)

There were no opening local bands at this show. Also, the merch area was outside the stage area, so Kim and Junior could meet and greet with fans, and I could continue to sell merch while Otep was on stage. I was hoping that would mean we'd possibly get done early. Especially since we had a whopping 6 VIP fans this show! No such luck! There were so many people still wanting to buy stuff and have Kim and Junior sign it that we left about the same time we usually do.

Like I said, we had 6 super awesome VIPs last night! I was so tired I can only remember some of your names. If you're reading this, you were one of the ones I remember! :D Unfortunately it was a school night, so one VIP and his dad had to leave early. I talked to them a lot before the show, and I think they got to talk to Kim and Junior quite a bit, so hopefully it was worth their while. VIP purchases are awesome because they help make sure we have gas to get to your show!

Mike's handy work, but then...

We added more.  Believe it or not, we even stuffed more in after this photo.

The other 4 VIPs went with us to Denny's.

Hanging out in our swanky limo!

We're a good lookin' bunch!

They were all awesome and we had some interesting conversation. They were Emilie Autumn and Amanda Palmer fans too! One of them gave us another bag of yummy snackages :D

I forgot to mention before, but you may have been able to figure out , Salt Lake City was our best show in sales and we got bonuses. Well, Denver beat that! Junior was so excired, we decided we were going to splurge on a hotel room for the night after the Wichita, KS show.

Thursday night's show was at the Cotillion. I didn't get a picture of it, but I picked up a matchbook with their logo on it. The merch was set up in a hallway to the side/behind the stage so I didn't get to see any of the show. It's probably best though because I saved my voice not singing along to as many songs. I wish I could have heard the opener Apparition because they were super friendly and had a huge crowd at their table after they played!

Leaving our mark

 I have no idea how the rest of the show was either, but we had a huge crowd come to meet Kimberly afterward, so I'm assuming it went well :) And Otep's been toughing it out despite the broken foot! We also sold 2 VIP packages to 2 brand new fans! That's how you know it was a good show! And remember how I said Denver was the new best show for sales? Well, KS has now beaten that. Junior's trying to think of what kind of bonus to do if we double out goal amount (we got pretty close last night!) I fan gave us and Otep girl scout cookies too! YAY!!!! :D  And because of the merch set up, I pretty much stood next to Otep during all of her signing and picture taken, which is awesome!  :)

After the show some fans offered their place to us for the night, and said their mom would cook us some food. It was on the way to our next show, and only about 15 minutes from where our VIPs lived, so we took them up on the offer for food. We got there and “Mama” made her famous Chicken Noodle Soup, 100 year old gravy recipe, biscuits (not home made like she usually does because we didn't have enough time) the brought out beans, peaches, and kept trying to offer me salad since I'm a vegetarian. I was fine with biscuits, butter, and locally made honey. Mmmm.... we got spoiled. Kimberly also got a nice warm shower and they gave Junior all of their old iPhone 4 chargers because they'd upgraded to the iPhone 5. We also learned all about their family history. We didn't stay the night though because we wanted to get to our next city, but they were such nice, welcoming people.  Junior has their number for the next time they're in the area. We got a group photo, but I don't know who's camera it's on.

Our VIPs, Julian and Shelby, were super awesome as well. Like I said, this was the first time they had ever seen One-Eyed Doll.  They were so impressed they wanted to hang out with us afterwards.  Plus, this was their first real night out with each other since they're adorable baby was born 4 month ago (I got to see cute pictures!) so they splurged for the rock star treatment! Julian actually has family in Battle Creek where I'm from! We're around the same age too, but it's a big city and I didn't recognize the name. That's so crazy though!

So, we made it to a little hotel and I completely passed out for 6 or 7 hours until my alarm went off. It's amazing how well you can sleep when you're exhausted and used to sleeping in a chair. I took I shower for the first time in what seems like FOREVER, and it felt amazing. Then, we stopped at Penny's Diner for some breakfast, and now we're on our way to Oklahoma City for tonight's show!

They somehow knew we were coming!

SLC Metal!!!

Holy cow Salt Lake City! Who would have known the Mormon capital on a Tuesday night would be the best crowd yet! You went crazy at the merch table and we're sold out of some stuff now. A heads up to anyone coming to shows in the future, if you're thinking about getting something, get it while you can! We can order more stuff, but who know when we'll have it in stock again. Also, we take credit/debit cards :D

The night before we drove straight through the night with Junior and Mike taking shifts sleeping and drive. I had issues sleeping and felt out of it the beginning of the day. I don't know how they manage only getting small amounts of sleep here and there. At one point I woke up as the sun was rising and saw these beautiful mountains.

The concert was awesome!  I missed the first 2 opening bands because I was eating dinner and hanging out with Kimberly, sorry if that was you.  Let me know and I'll mention you some other time.  As mentioned at the beginning, the crowd was AWESOME!  OED has never played in SLC before and we weren't sure what to expect.  But the place was packed and everyone was really into the show.  In fact, everyone was so excited to meet Kim after they played that they rushed the table and I swear a couple of guys were going to completely knock it over!

From where we had the table set up I also had a great view of the show.  We were talking the other day about how Kim is so awesome that she can not only play guitar while singing, but while whipping her hair around, kicking over her head, and crowd surfing.  From where I was, I managed to get this video if it as proof.  (audio quality kind of sucks, but that just means you'll have to come see them live to get the full experience!)

As always, Otep was amazing as well.  I'm not sure what happened, but at one point Otep thinks she broke her foot.  She still finished the show, did and encore, AND still came out for photos and autographs.  Being a fan of hers and seeing her live I knew she was hardcore, but she really is one tough cookie!  Kim talked to Tristan and it sounds like she's done tours with broken feet before, so the tour's still on!

So far on this tour I've been mistaken for Kimberly or asked if I was her sister a few times, asked for my autograph twice even though I'm just the merch girl, and last night a guy kissed my hand. I've also seen everything from super nice, clean, well lit venue bathrooms, to dark, dirty green rooms that you have to walk outside past waiting fans to get to.  I've slept terribly, and was completely out last night.  Roadie Mike is threatening to post a photo he took of me completely conked out in his blog.  Last night I ripped my stripped tights and possible lost my Bettie Page t-shirt, spiked collar, and handmade chokers  *cries* :(  But overall this has been an amazing experience and I don't know if I'm going to be able to go back to having a "real" job.

These next few days are going to be rough, so please forgive me if I'm not able to write for a while. The shows are pretty spread out. Once we get done, pack up, and hang out with VIPs it's usually 2am or later. Then we have to figure out who's awake enough to start the 10 hour drive while everyone else sleeps. Plus, heading East we're losing hours.

Speaking of VIPs, we had 2 super awesome VIPs in Salt Lake City, Tim & Cody (aka Nick and Corey).  If they happen to read this, hi guys!  *waves*  Plus, it sounds like we a have a few more tonight!  :D  YAY!!!!!

Well, we're running late on our way to the next venue, so I think I'm going to see if I can get my make-up and stuff done in the limo.  BYE!!!!

DINOSAURS!!!!  *RWAR*

Wyoming

Molesto, CA

Today has been a busy day off. Let's see if I can remember everything that's happened.

Sunday night the show was in Modesto (aka Molesto) CA. I've heard some stories from so many people about this city, and it didn't disappoint. I've also never seen security guards work so hard at a club before. It's then fitting that this would be the show to produce my first fan, even though I'm just the lowly merch girl. Just a heads up to the rest of you fans that may be reading now that Kimberly's been pimping my blog:

*It's really great to meet all of you guys, but if you hang around the table too much, it's hard for me to do my job. The main reason I'm there is to help out Kimberly and Junior. I man the table and sell their merch so they can do their thing. If you're constantly blocking the table or consuming all of my attention, it's hard for me to interact with people who have never heard of One-Eyed Doll before.

*We have a pretty tight schedule. I honestly don't have time to hang out with you after the show. Once a show is over, we pack up our stuff and head out to the next one. The only reason we stick around is for VIPs. If you want to hang out with me, buy a VIP package!!!   :D

*I know it's a concert, and a bar, but I'm technically working. Don't be a creeper and please don't try to buy me drinks. Would you want me showing up at your place of employment buying you drinks and hitting on you? Wait, don't answer that...

*Concerts are very LOUD!!!!! It's really hard to have a conversation. Sorry if I ask you to repeat yourself several times. I also wear earplugs whenever possible so I don't lose my hearing on this tour.

Back to the show...  The venue was pretty small, but Junior managed to weasel our way into the area Otep was selling their merch in.  That meant I got to hang out with my super awesome friends Tristan and Snausage.  It also meant that I interacted with Otep a few times.  I'm pretty sure I managed to come off as a normal human being and not a complete idiot.  *high fives self*

Opening bands tonight were Nothing but Losers and Level 12.  Level 12's lead singer did this whole Ring Side announcer thing that was pretty awesome. 

After the show, some new fans helped us load the limo and hung out for a bit since we didn't have VIPs for the night.  They were all awesome, but I can't remember everyone's name or I'd give you a shout out!  You know who you are though!

We spent last night in another WalMart parking lot.  This time Junior tried the floor and I slept in a seat.  It wasn't too bad except for the very first time I woke up and had cramps in both of my legs.  Apparently I was sleeping really weird.  It's also way warmer up there then down in the little valley of the seats.  Jason even snuck into WalMart in the middle of the night to buy another blanket because he was cold.  In the morning we found a Planet Fitness and all got super epic showers.  Planet Fitness is great because they're all over the country and pretty cheap.  We just went to shower, but they also have a lot of equipment to work out on if we ever have time, so we don't get squishy riding around in a limo all day.  If anyone reading this works for Planet Fitness, you should pull some strings and get them sponsored memberships!  *hint hint nudge nudge*

Kim and Junior enjoying a rock star massage

After freshening up, we went and got some awesome Pho and Vietnamese food at Modesto Noodles and Sandwiches.  Wow, I use the word awesome a lot.  This place was just a little local spot, but it had good food, reasonable prices, nice staff and a super cute baby.  Not to mention a beautiful tree outside.

Me giving my new friend a hug

Kimberly and her booty giving my new friend a hug

Just a heads up, we charge $2 for hugs.  Unless you catch us at a show, then we tend to give them away for free.

I used the drive to learn the OED e-mail list system and input the 100+ new e-mail addresses we've gotten at the shows.  Another tip, if you haven't signed up yet, please write SUPER clearly.  Any small pen stroke connecting letters can sometimes make things hard to decipher.  Is that a U or an O?  An A or a squiggly E?  If you think you'll be drinking during the night, sign the list before you get too sloppy!  (And please drink responsibly, have a DD or call a cab)  If you've signed up on the list at the past few shows and haven't gotten a confirmation e-mail in a few weeks, try going to their site and signing up because yours may have been one that was entered in wrong.  Also, filling in the zip code portion is helpful because then you can get specific updates to where you live.  If they're playing an impromptu show in Maine, but you live in Hawaii, you probably don't care.  It also sucks to find out the day after the show that they were playing just down the road from where you were sitting all night bored out of your mind wishing Kimberly was around to throw sweaty clothing at you.

It wasn't all work work work though, I did get this picture of a line of palm trees :)

Then about 4 hours later, we were where there was snow!  :(

I thought I moved far, far away from this...

 Then, we were in Reno!!!!

We had too much fun playing on the arcade games upstairs, but we each have a prize to show for our effort.  Mike also won a purple, flame patterned gecko stuffed animal that has yet to be named.  If anyone has any suggestions, feel free shout them out.  Speaking of Mike, if you haven't already, go check out his blog for another perspective on this tour.  You can find it HERE!  I don't have any pictures from inside the casino, so I'll have to steal them from everyone else once they post them.  After playing in that area, we went down to the real casino part and each chipped in $5 to play something.  We decided on Roulette and they had me put all $20 on red.  It landed on 13 black :(  Then Jason decided to play one of the slot machines.  We learned that Kimberly's nose is really lucky, but found that out too late :(  Over all we had a blast, and were smart enough to quit before we lost too much.

Lastly, we had a late dinner at the Grille inside Golden Dust West.  If you're ever in Reno, there's a super awesome waitress that works there named Daisy!  They also have huge eclairs.  

Aaaaaaaaand, now we're making our way to Salt Lake City, UT.  I'm working on making a facebook where those of you I meet on tour can get a hold of me, but it's almost 4am and I'm starting to catch my second wind, so I'd better try to get some sleep before I'm up all night.  

Nighty night all!

 

More sushi!!!!

Ok, it's the next day and I've gotten some sleep. Let's see what I didn't get to last night...

Merch sales went better than I thought. I didn't reach the amount needed to get a bonus, but it wasn't too far off. I think it's still a win considering they think there was only about half as many people last night as the night before. Plus being out in the entry way we didn't have as many people walking by between bands.

After the show as we were loading up, a girl from the show walked by. Long story short, her boyfriend got mad at her and left her there. She lived 45 minutes away and her phone was dead so she couldn't call anyone. We looked up the city and it was along the way, so she was our impromptu VIP for the night. We moved some of our stuff around so she had a seat, and we gave her a ride home. How many fans can say they not only rode in a band's limo, but they were nice enough to give them a ride home? I think we have a fan for life :) She was super cool and fun to hang out with, even though we were all exhausted and half asleep. She's a singer, and she sang along to some of the songs we played.

After dropping her off we went back to the same WalMart we went to 2 nights ago for some sleep.

This morning we went to a sushi buffet. I think I may have eaten sushi at some point every day since we left. This place had a normal buffet table with noodles, rice, fruit, etc, but then they had sushi on boats that went around in water and you could pick up what you wanted.

They could also make you something to order. They made me a super awesome, yummy veggie roll. Everyone tried it and thought it was better than some of the stuff they got :)

VEGGIE ROLL!

I think this is a dragon roll, but I don't eat fishies...

Ed is the best!

I completely forgot to mention last journal that Mr. Swimmy Socks was at the last show! Also, fan Jason who I met at the Whisy A Go-Go show (sadly not in the picture) was there too! He's super awesome and gave us a bunch of food and supplies. Did I mention how awesome he is?

Tonight's show was at the Senator Theater in Chico, CA.

It must have been a beautiful theater back in it's prime.

Another thing I'm excited about is seeing places like this.  The one down side was that the merch was set up outside the theater in the entry way.  Luckily from my spot I could still see inside.  But because I was separated I didn't catch the opening band's name.  Sorry whoever you are!  If you happen to come across this, let me know and I'll give you a plug!  An awesome thing about our set up was that when Otep came out after the show to take pictures, I was pretty much standing right next to her.  Plus all the fans had to pass by out table to leave, and most stopped to talk to Kimberly or pick up some merch!

Look how goooooood our merch looks!

 I still haven't really interacted with Otep yet.  Which is probably good.  I know I wouldn't crazy fan-girl out on her, but I'm sure I'd be all awkward and stupid.  But after being around more, I'll be more comfortable and hopefully just my usual awkward, stupid self.  Mike got to work out with Otep and her band mate today!  That's crazy awesome!

Later that night, doors open, people start filing in, and Ed shows up!!!!!!!

Side note, Ed ran into Kim and Jason at the coffee shop, but neither knew who each other were.  I believe Ed said he eventually realized who K&J were, but didn't tell them who he was in case they spilled the beans to me.  Now let me explain who Ed is.

Way back in 2001, another awesome musician Lennon released her first album.  I quickly became a fan, and spent a lot of time hanging out on her message board.  It was seriously the one place on the internet not full of jerks who hide behind usernames and most rude/mean/annoying comments.  I became friends with a lot of the other regular users, and even though the message board doesn't work anymore, I still keep in touch with a lot of them via Facebook.  Ed is one of those people!  When I first posted going on tour he was sad there wasn't a show near him so we could meet in person after knowing each other for over a decade.  But Ed is such a bad ass that he drove 6 hours from Oregon to come hang out with me at this show!  The rest of you'd better make it out!  (For the millionth time, tour dates can be found here)  And as you can tell by the hoodie he's wearing, Ed is now a fan of One-Eyed Doll!  So that's why Ed's the best and you all suck right now!  :oP

Well, we're getting close to WalMart and I'm ready for bed!  It is almost 5am!  G'night!  Er...  Morning?  Whatever...   Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz