Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the first annual Safe at Home Luncheon and Style Show presented by the Astros Foundation. The luncheon was held to raise money for charities that help victims of domestic abuse. It was held at Union Station at Minute Maid Park. Union Station is a beautiful room that is perfect for events like these. In one corner, they have a cabinet with memorabilia from the 2017 World Series win.
The first thirty minutes or so allowed time to arrive, register, and mingle. Different charities had booths lining one wall. News crews interviewed all the relevant names in attendance, Astros players, Jim Crane, Reid Ryan, foundation executives, etc. Lunch consisted of a grilled chicken salad and some lavender cake dessert. I’ve never had any food made with lavender before…a little soapy tasting but not terrible. During lunch, Astros sportscaster, Julia Morales, emceed. She introduced Judge Goodwin who told a very touching story of how he came to represent victims of domestic abuse.
The event ended with a style show with clothes from Tootsie’s being modeled by Astros Wives. The ladies did a great job and it was fun to watch the players admiring their wives on the runway. Kemp and Correa especially got into the show. I just happened to decide to start shooting a video right before Daniella, Correa’s fiancee, came out. I’m glad I did. Not only was she wearing a cute dress that I want but I ended up catching a great picture of Correa filming her strutting her stuff. I feel like the picture truly captures their love.
Speaking of Correa, I got a picture with him! I was walking back to my table from visiting the different charity booths and saw him just standing over to the side. I almost went back to my seat but then thought, “What the heck. Nobody is over there. Let me just walk on up.” So I walked over and asked if pictures were allowed. He was super polite and took a picture with me. After I said “thank you” and walked away, I regretted not talking to him. Oh well, there is always next year, right?
No, I could not resist adding on that extra little bit to the title.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not a test. BBMak is back and just as good as ever. Time to give them some Cosplur Hype because this reunion is having me fangirl all over again. This takes me right back to great times. My mom knew that, every time we were driving somewhere, I was going to have my CDs with me. It was a constant rotation of ‘NSYNC and BBMak. Nobody else was worthy of the radio time. She knew names, birthdays, and other fun facts I found in all of the fan magazines.
BBMak, though just comprised of three band members, had and utilized the most amazing harmonies. The trio was truly talented. They released two albums in the United States. That wasn’t good enough for me, though. I was always tracking down the imports. You could usually find a true gem hiding as a bonus track to an imported single…case in point, their song “Miss You More”. Love it!
I remember, one day, I was listening to “Ghost of You and Me” and an entire music video played out in my mind. I was so excited about it that shy, younger me actually called the record label and asked how to submit the idea. Of course, I was told that unsolicited ideas were not accepted. It was maybe a month later when they released their video for the song. I know mine would have shot to the top of TRL. Haha. Gee all these memories are making me smile. I actually was speaking to a videographer about creating the video a couple of months ago, as I still want to see it on the screen and be able to share my vision. Unfortunately, the actor who I selected suddenly quit replying to e-mails so the project has been shelved again.
In July 2014, I was blessed enough to meet Christian. I heard he was touring with BT and would be in Dallas. I knew two people who lived in Dallas so I made the drive and we headed to the club. I remember I was facing my friend at the bar when she looked over my shoulder. “Isn’t that the guy you’re here to see?”, she asked. I turned around and heading straight our direction was Christian. I tapped him on the arm, apologized for the inconvenience, and asked if I could get a picture with him. He was amazingly kind! He said it wasn’t a bother and then even asked me to check the photo to make sure I liked it and didn’t need to take another.
And now…NOW…I get to meet all three when they return to Texas on their tour. I can’t wait to hear all of the new music. I have had the album pre-ordered since it was announced a few months ago. It is BBMak so there is no doubt that all of it is fantastic, as their new single “Bullet Train” proves.
Don’t forget to check out www.bbmak.com for tour dates and all BBMak info!
In 2013, I had a friend who sent me a video that was advertising the inaugural year of the dance festival, TomorrowWorld. I had never heard of such a festival before. In fact, while I loved certain EDM songs, I didn’t even know it had its own genre and scene. When I heard the beats and saw the outfits, I was instantly hooked and knew I had to attend. I booked the trip, ordered a custom rainbow-colored bra from Electric Laundry, and, a few months later, off we went to Atlanta.
I have to say, I could not have asked for a better introduction to the festival scene. The festival was seven stages set up around beautiful property. It is liked I completely stepped out of reality and entered a beautiful world of freedom, nature, and bliss. This is where I was introduced to PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect). Everyone at the festival was so kind and accepting. I love the whole PLUR mentality, which is why I incorporated into my cosplay name, Cosplur.
I had so much fun that I had to return the following year. In 2014, I did not have anyone to go with so I decided to go solo. When my parents looked concerned and said, “You really are going to go by yourself?!” I smirked and replied, “I’m not going alone. I’m going with 50,000 of my friends.” I didn’t end up being alone, though. I ended up meeting someone on the plane to Atlanta and he invited me to join his group. I am still friends with them to this day. Again, PLUR at its best. After seeing everyone from around the world representing their countries with flags and costumes, the year before, I decided to have a USA outfit made. The designer did an amazing job!
The next year was the final year for the festival and, yep, I was there. This was the most adventurous year. It even made the news. After an excessive amount of rain, the wet grounds caused transportation issues. Due to certain incidents (there were different reports on what happened) all transportation was shut down for people staying at hotels and everyone was literally left stranded. The police even shut down the road to taxis. Some people slept on the side of the road; some walked miles to the closest public areas to catch a ride. I ended up meeting two great people from Canada and we started down the street. I would say we walked at least 5 miles. Finally they opened the roads and we shared a car back to the hotel. We didn’t get back until around 7 a.m. A lot of people complained about everything that happened but I look at it as a memory I will have forever. As my Canadian friends and I said it, “We survived Cedar Grove Road!” Hey, I have new friends because of it.
I have since joined my festival friends for a couple of trips to Something Wicked, Middlelands, and Sun City Music Festival but my favorite festival experience is definitely TomorrowWorld!
The last Darkness Radio event was held November 2012. I loved those events. I wish I had discovered them earlier so that I could have gone to more. This event had a zombie theme for the meet and greet night. It said to come as the undead. Well, not really being into the zombie look, I took “undead” as a legal loophole and dressed up as a vampire. I gave the costume a little bit of a burlesque twist. I met a girl at the previous event that I stayed in touch with. She is a make-up artist and did an awesome job on my make-up. It was great seeing everyone again. Zak did not attend this event but Aaron, Billy, Jeff, and Dave were there. Also there was Aaron Saagers. He was cool. He liked my costume. Dave played a slideshow as his “goodbye”. I was bawling. I just really love all of them so much so it hurt to think that those events were ending. Like I said before, though, I don’t plan on losing contact with everyone. It was just nice to have them all together as a group and seeing them all at once.
For a while, I had been wanting to head out to Las Vegas. I never really had a good reason to spend the money, though. That was until February of 2012. Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures tweeted that he was going to help host a charity bingo tournament for the NSPCA. I had my excuse. After all…it was for Zak, I mean charity. 😉
On Friday, February 24, my friend Rachael and I flew out to Vegas. The bingo tournament was not until Saturday morning so we just walked around the strip. We joked that it felt like it was the longest day ever (in a good way). With going into dimly lit buildings and back out into the daylight, we just completely lost track of time. We went to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum where I got to pose for a pic or two with Justin Timberlake. (Aw, my teenage dream come true. Aren’t we so cute together?!)
We went to Rainforest Cafe that night. It was going to be about a 45-minute wait to be seated, which had Rachael starting to rethink our dining decision. While standing in line, I remembered I had the Landry’s Select Club card which bumps you in line. I said, “Wait here.” I went up to the host and said, “Does this card help at this location?” He looked at the card, asked how many in the party, and, when I said two, said, “Follow me.” I motioned to Rachael to follow. When we were immediately seated, she had this awestruck look and was like, “What just happened? I feel like a rock star.” Then I introduced her to the Cheetah Rita. YUM! After dinner and drinks, I talked Rachael into walking back to the Venetian, where we were staying. About halfway there, she was ready to kill me. She kept trying to convince me to get a cab and I kept telling her we were almost there. She roughed it out and laughed about it later. I just couldn’t imagine not walking the strip.
Saturday found us heading straight to the Silverton for the bingo tournament. I saw Zak and Aaron across the room. I didn’t know Aaron was going to be there so that was a nice surprise. I walked up to Aaron, who in true Aaron fashion gave me a hug, and then I said hi to Zak. Aaron and I chatted for a minute and he told me that Billy was going to be spinning at the Foundation Room in Mandalay Bay that night. I went back to my seat where Rachael was staring at me in amazement. She said, “You are the bravest person I know. You just walked right up to them like it was nothing at all.” The bingo tournament was so much fun. I was one away from bingo a couple of times. There was a funny moment where one of the actors from the Bee Gees show actually won a ticket package to his own show. I, also, met an adorable dog named Austin. I wanted to take Austin home.
Saturday night we went to the Foundation Room. It is on the 48th Floor. I have never seen a city view like that before. It was fantastic. We got to watch Billy spin and we talked with Aaron for a while.
We had to fly back home Sunday. I didn’t gamble very much and I kind of want to next time. The little I did gamble was fun, though. I ended up breaking even or coming out a little bit ahead.
After attending the Darkness Radio event at the Stanley Hotel in March of 2011 (see previous post), I vowed to attend another. Flash forward to November 2011. The event was back at the Stanley Hotel. This time it was held the weekend after Halloween so they announced that the first night was going to be a masquerade.
Masquerade?!? Awesome! I couldn’t have been more excited. I had purchased an Italian mask a few years prior and I had yet had a chance to wear it. Well, here was my shot and I wasn’t going to miss it. So I searched out a seamstress in my area and had her create a dress to go with it. The concept and sketch were fantastic. It was going to be white and grey and have all these ghostly layers to the skirt. Yeah…unfortunately, she decided to make a “creative” change without asking me. When I showed up to pick it up, two days before the trip, I was disappointed but had no way to fix it. It still turned out nicely and I received compliments all night, but it was not what I had envisioned.
It was so great to see everyone again at the meet and greet. The Constantinos were there again. Jeff was there (whom I had recently spent time with when he went to Austin in October). Chris Fleming, Dave, Billy, Aaron, and Zak were also all there. I also got to meet Gary Galka for the first time. If you watch Ghost Adventures, you know that he was on one of the episodes with the emotional story of his daughter.
I signed up for the Friday investigation. I didn’t get my name in an EVP this time but I did have a weird experience in the concert hall. As we were sitting there, I started hearing music. I shut my eyes and it was like I felt myself drifting away. It felt like there was a party going on but from the ’50’s era. The song almost reminded me of a Patsy Cline style. I had never heard the song before but it was like I knew the words. As I was getting deeper into the feeling, they told us it was time to switch rooms. Rats! While in the concert hall, Gary let me hold his Mel-Meter stuffed bear prototype which was later used on Ghost Adventures. When I saw it on the show, I couldn’t help but smile.
Jeff had his lecture before the investigation that night. He was amazing, as always (and integrated two topics I mentioned to him in Austin). During the lecture, he mentioned there was a pet cemetery on property and he could show anyone who wanted to know. After the investigation that night, someone mentioned heading out there. So Jeff led a group of about 7 of us out to the pet cemetery and Zak joined us. My coat was back in my room and I didn’t want to take the time to go get it so I really got to experience the Colorado winter weather. It was fun, though. Zak tried to capture EVP’s of the animals. His personality really comes out when there aren’t a bunch of people around. I swear I have never seen that many stars before. The sky was crystal clear and absolutely amazing.
Without an investigation to attend on Saturday, I attended Dave’s lecture. The man knows how to give a presentation. I sat on the front row which is the last place you want to be when you hear the speaker say, “I’m going to get two people from the audience.” I was avoiding direct eye contact but then realized I probably look like a student sinking down in their chair, so I looked up. Yep, you guessed it, as soon as I looked up, Dave said, “You! Come on up.” Gee…thanks Dave!
Alas, Sunday was upon me; time to go home. Mom and I went to the lobby where people were taking their last pictures with the speakers. We just kind of waited over to the side. Dave noticed and came over and talked to us. My mom said we were just waiting to get a pic with everyone. Of course, she meant individually because that is just how it is done. Before we knew it, Dave hollers out to everyone to get together for a picture. So I actually was lucky enough to get a group photo!
Unfortunately, these event weekends always end way too soon. It was time to plan where I would see everyone next.
One day in October of 2010, while I was flipping through my cable box guide, I came across this show called “Ghost Adventures” on The Travel Channel. Already being a fan of another ghost show, I thought that I would just watch for a second and move on. Little did I know that that “second” was going to turn into me continuing to watch the entire weekend marathon, setting my DVR to record all episodes, and buying the previous seasons on DVD to catch up on what I missed. Needless to say, I was hooked. So when I saw on an episode that they did public ghost hunt events, I got on the internet to see when the next one was. The first one that worked out with my schedule was a weekend at The Stanley Hotel.
On the way to Colorado, I kept thinking about how I hoped my trip would be worth it. I had never attended anything like this before and didn’t want to have to go back home disappointed. I know that ghosts do not always respond on cue and as far as personal interactions, I felt that all the speakers are well-known people and I was just going to be one of many fans there.
Thursday night was registration and the meet and greet. After everyone was registered, we all assembled in one of the banquet rooms and all of the speakers were introduced. The Constantinos, Billy Tolley, Zak Bagans, and Aaron Goodwin all sat down at tables. We all lined up and were able to take pictures and get autographs. The Contantinos were first. OK, I admit, my mom and I told them that one of our dogs was their fan. We had to mention it, though, because there was one episode that they were on that our dog literally stopped in his tracks, turned toward the television, stared, and even started growling at the EVP they captured. They were really nice, though. They even told us about how some of their pets react to paranormal happenings.
Next up was Zak. My mom asked if she could take a picture of us together and he was very polite and said, “Please do”. Then came Billy and then Aaron. My mom took a picture of me with the both of them. Aaron was really nice and asked where we were from. Then that was the end of it. I don’t know why but I thought I had read that there was an autograph portion and a photograph portion to the night. After I walked away and realized that everything was actually together and now over, the mental comments started firing in my head. “Darn, I should have talked more. … Oops I got a picture OF the Constantinos, not WITH them. … Why didn’t I take a picture with Aaron and Billy by themselves? Now I have a picture with Zak but not one with Aaron exclusively. …(blushing) Zak just put his arm around my waist.” I thought for sure that I had just messed up half of the reason I attended. No use dwelling in the past, though, so I moved on to thinking of the ghost hunt taking place the next night.
Friday, I pretty much just relaxed in the room all day or went outside to take pictures. After way too many college lectures, I have a difficult time sitting still in seminars without falling asleep, no matter how interesting. I did want to see the Contantinos, though. So my mom and I went over by the banquet room doorway since it looked like inside was pretty packed. Another reason I liked this particular spot is that we were standing right beside Aaron. He even leaned back one time to stretch his back and flashed my mom and me a huge smile.
While wondering around the grounds, that afternoon, I experienced first-hand the lack of oxygen in high altitudes. I’m a sea-level girl so, while I had always heard the air is thinner, I was not prepared. My mom and I went outside. I decided I wanted the gloves that I had left in the hotel room. So I told my mom I would be right back and sprinted up the stairs to our room on the third floor. As soon as I hit the top of the stairs I was so winded that I thought I was going to pass out. I ran over to the window and tried to take in as much fresh air as possible. I thought, “Well, this is how I die. I will be sure to make the ghost hunt interesting this weekend.” But, after probably a minute of torture, I recovered and took the elevator back downstairs.
That night, we opened our room door to head down for the hunt and all of the lights had been turned off except for the emergency lights. It totally set the mood for the event ahead. We met in the banquet room again to be separated into groups and to be told the rules. …basically just be courteous of other hotel guests, have fun, and don’t make a bunch of noise that would interfere with investigation results. The example Dave Schrader, the host, gave was don’t start giggling and saying, “Oh, did you see Zak’s butt when he just bent over. He is so hot.” To which Zak quickly turned around and bent over.
We split into our groups. The first stop for my mom and I was room 217 with Zak. He was testing out a new piece of equipment but we were not able to get anything from it. It was still cool to do an investigation with him, though.
Then it was down to the basement with the Constantinos. It was so dark down there that I had to use the light from my camera to see where I was going. They caught a couple of interesting EVPs but nothing profound.
Fearing I wasn’t going to get much evidence and knowing that I had already blown my shot at talking to everyone at the meet and greet, we headed up to room 401 with Aaron. The px device was talking a lot. Aaron said that it really had not been saying much for the first group but it certainly was now. About halfway into the investigation, my camera shut off for no reason. Then, right after I turned it back on, the px device said battery killed. I immediately spoke up and told Aaron what just happened. He asked my name then asked if the ghost could say my name. A few seconds later on the EVP recording a spirit whispered my name. I was so excited.
I was so excited about what happened in room 401, in fact, that after a couple of minutes at the concert hall, my mom and I decided to stop investigating. After all, I had already hunted with Zak, Aaron, and the Constantinos, and I don’t think anything was going to top having my name said. We went back and grabbed a drink at the bar. They were airing Ghost Adventures on the screen behind the bar so we watched a little bit of that. As we were heading back to our room, we passed Dave who asked if we were having a good time. I told him about 401 and how it made my night. He told me that if I wanted, I could spend the rest of the 45 minutes left in the investigation up in 401. My mom went back to our room but I quickly ran up to 401. Nothing major happened but it was still a blast.
I was expecting Saturday to be boring. Meet and greet over, awesome ghost hunt over, pretty much nothing to do until the flight home, Sunday. Boy was I wrong. I went downstairs and the next thing I know, I’m having a conversation with Jeff Belanger. Then he asks if we would like to join him for dinner along with his group, which consisted of Bill Chappel, as well. Jeff is a riot! I was in tears at one point. Bill is really nice, too, as is his wife. After dinner, an evidence review meeting was just wrapping up. My mom noticed that there were people taking pictures with everyone. Woo hoo! Another shot at meeting them and not rushing through it like I did before. I went up to Zak first. Just as we were about to pose, he said he had to take his jacket off because it was too hot in the room. No complaints here. 🙂 Then my mom actually asked to be in a picture with him. I told him that she never lets herself be in photos so this was a rare experience. Then I got a picture with the Constantinos. Then I stopped for Aaron. My mom told him that I was Deven from the night before. He said, “Oh yeah! I love Deven.” Then swept me up in a big bear hug. We spoke for a little bit. It was like talking to an old friend. I almost forgot that I actually just met him. Later that night he passed me in the lobby, stopped, gave me a hug, and told me that I was “absolutely gorgeous”. I was super flattered and knew that this weekend was extremely worth it.
Sunday didn’t fail me either. Dave saw my mom and I in the restaurant and said hi to us. I thought it was very nice of him to remember us. Then out on the front porch, we saw Aaron. I was going to leave him alone because I figured he was probably tired of people by that point. As I started walking by, though, he held out his arms for another hug. We talked some more but soon it was time to leave. Just like I was instantly hooked on the show, I am now hooked on these events. I caught myself immediately checking out when the next one was. Unfortunately, it was sold out. …But they were going back to the Stanley that November. It was time to book some flights.
The Deven Times 