You Say "Stalker" Like It's a Bad Thing

Those that have known me, and known me well, know that music is a large passion of mine. From the time I was small, my home was filled with music daily, from Elvis to Fleetwood Mac to Engelbert Humperdink to Jerry Reed to Hall & Oats. My mother encouraged a love a music in me, bought records for me often, and didn't sensor anything.

As I grew older, I began to find my niche and it came with screaming guitar riffs. Now, don't get me wrong - I love music as a whole and believe that if something moves you, the format doesn't matter (I have the Kenny Chesney, Andrea Bocelli, and Jimmy Buffett CDs to prove that). Art is for all. Art is personal and emotional. But there is just something about rock and roll that has spoke to my spirt all my life.

I remember the day I saw the video for "Livewire" by Motley Crue. I was 13 and hanging out in Daniel Urton's basement, who was a monster KISS fan himself. Being one of the first in our neighborhood to get cable, he had access to MTV and had been talking about this new band Motley Crue for days. Finally I saw them.

Holy fucking shit. The raw, gritty bad ass rock/punk sound was like audio heroin. Visually they were just overwhelming - they were all leathered up in black and red, had this spooky guitar player that totally shredded, a wild drummer with arms as long as my legs, a hot/pretty blonde singer that shook his cute ass, and a tall bassist with a gorgeous face who frickin' set his legs on fire! ON FIRE! That was it - I was hooked, and thus began my 30 yr affair with Motley Crue.

Specifically, that tall bassist who set his legs on fire - Nikki Sixx.

Tall guys with dark hair, pretty smiles, and chisled jaws have always been a weakness for me. So have bad boys. Nikki was both. Over the years however, as I slowly learned that bad boys are indeed bad, Nikki overcame his demons, dealt with his issues, and emerged as a good man. Who wouldda thought? I've met him twice and can report only positive things.

Over the last few years Nikki has been a very active, and interactive, presence on the internet, regularly using his Facebook and Twitter accounts, his own blog, and the blog for Sixx:A.M.. But what makes him an exceptional online celebrity is that he responds to/talks to his fans (myself and several friends among them). His online footprint isn't managed by a PR representative or a peon at some management company, but by him and him alone. He IS your friend on Facebook. He WILL reply to your Tweets. He ASKS for your input on his blog subjects. Not to mention the constant flow of personal photos he posts.

He wants to know who you are, what you think, what you feel. After years of being disconnected from people via the aforementioned demons, it seems he's now he's searching for all human connection he missed out on. He's made himself exceptionally accessible to fans, which when I was 13 was unheard of. And at 43 is a massive rush and privilege.

In this day and age where time and space has been shortened due to a million different apps running on a million different electronic devices, we are given the chance to get a glimpse into the lives of our favorite musicians and atheletes and actors. Now, all I have to do is log into Facebook or Twitter to see what Nikki, or Tommy Lee, or Joey Kramer, or Duff McKagan are up to. Hell, just yesterday I saw Joey Kramers' new dog! And we can comment to them about it (which I did). Could you even imagine in 1988 while listening to "Appetite for Destruction" that you'd one day be able to Tweet @DuffMcKagan64 and tell him that you loved the baseline in "My Michelle?" And have him reply?? It's crazy! In the best of ways.

As a result of this level of accessibility that celebrities are using, I have recently be accused of, by more than one source (all of which have been - interestingly - male), of "stalking" Nikki Sixx. In fact, judging by the tone of these people, I get the feeling that they're trying to shame me in some way. Well, to my accusers I say (in true Sixx fashion) - good luck with that, fuckers! As long as I am passionate about music, I will display that passion. As long as the people I admire make themselves available to their admirers, I will respond to and interact with them. If you don't like seeing my Facebook activity where Mr Sixx is concered, turn my newsfeed off. I won't change for you.

"What about prom, Blane?"

Prom made me drink.

Not my prom (although it should have since I took my future ex-husband), but The Teenagers prom. Junior prom to be exact, so it wasn't even The Big Show, just The Warm Up. But nonetheless, for months ahead of time the talk in my house was pertaining to this event, whether I liked it or not. I found myself devoting more time, mileage, thought processes, and funds to this event than I ever bargained for.

I'm a girly girl. I like clothes, makeup, hair products, shoes, accessories of all kinds. So initially gown shopping was fun. But I was quickly reminded that shopping for ANYthing with The Teenager is painful, because she must process everything. Ev. Re. Thing. There's no gut reaction with this kid, oh no, she has to gather data and think. After the third venture out into Formalgownlandia, I was kinda over it. So much so that I went over the very budget I made a big deal of announcing and repeating and got a dress she loved just to make it stop.

Then came the boutonniere. Then the pedicure. Then the hair.

I did hold my ground on not paying for acrylic tips, though. She got glue-on's from WalMart.

By the hour of the event, The Teenager was running around like a lunatic. In the middle of all this I txt'd one of my besties, Dorothy - her daughters prom was that night too (Senior, so The Big Show) and I knew she was feeling my pain. She quickly gave me advice - drink. She's wise, that one. But being that I had no "drink" in the house at the moment, I asked to join her at hers later. She agreed. And drink later, we did.

But I must say, even with all the stress and money spent, it was kinda fun. And she looked gorgeous. See:













And The Boyfriend also approved:













Kids: they make you broke, and stupid, and maybe an alcoholic, but it's moments like this that make it worth it.

Now, where did I put my Diet and Malibu.......