All Points West... free tickets thanks to Lauren Seracene.

Alright, Lauren Seracene hooked it up with free tickets for myself, Erin, and this crazy kid Brett to go to all 3 days of All Points West, a 3-day, no camping, festival in NJ. Going for free was amazing- if I actually had to pay for a ticket, I would not.

Here are some good points of All Points:

-great lineup varying from Jay-Z, gogol bordello, pharcyde (who put on a really funny&entertaining performance), kool keith, mstrkrft, coldplay, vampire weekend (so impressed with, in addition to gogol bordello), tool, list goes on.

-some cool sculptures

- full-time electronic area with GREAT music by dolab

- great view of manhattan skyline&statue of liberty

- nice vibe overall in crowd; douchebag level was low

- i got a veggie jalopeno corndog, which is impressive

OK, just some the bad points:

- public transportation took WAY too long for where it is, and is way too complicated, with many transfers, etc

- not enough portapotties, AT ALL> the lines had literally 50 people waiting at times; a line that winded across the span of the concert field

- beer garden is the only place to drink booze& on top of it, it is way too far from any stages to benefit drinkers

- garbage cans were made out of cardboard, for a festival that rained 2 of 3 days

-recycling not up to par, if even existent at all

- large screens would list who played previously, which is of no help to concert-goers looking to see what's next where

-after arriving from public transportation, there is a 1+mile walk to the actual concert

-No parking if you drive

- Much of the food& other areas were set up so you could hear 2 of the stages at once, which sucks if you have ears

- No where to do a renegade piss/ no trees hide behind

- My luxury sandals were stolen when I was busy

As I said before, I very much enjoyed myself. But if you are going to throw a festival, you should know what you are doing, and if you don't, then do some research. I guess people from the city just don't know any better, so the All Points people don't have to go by the standards I am used to. There really were like 99 reasons why the festival sucked

And by the way, I missed Sunday, cause it was torrential downpour. Instead I had an amazing time at these Turkish/Russian baths. Then indian food at a weirdo place. I laughed so much i ended up not being able to stand by the end of the evening. I was literally falling on the ground cause I could not stand up.

ALERT TO ALL MEN

Yesterday, I awoke from my nap while the camper was driving in Slovenia. I had been wanting some real food all day, without success, and I opened my eyes into a horrible mood. Now, for me this happens a few times a year... the sort of mood that you feel has invaded your body- it captures my normally jovial spirit and replaces it with a scowling bitch. I hate this feeling, but this is life.

All women know of this mood- some more often than others. In addition to all the other fabulous features we enjoy as women (bleeding, pms, gross childbirth, sexual assault, societal double standards regarding everything from power, sex, aging etc.), we get to have unexplainable moods. WOO HOO!

And so, men whom have grown up with sisters or around a lot of women are aware of this, and accept it as truth, like rain, wind, and sun. This is life. Then, there are the other men. These men (or boys, I suppose) have either not spent enough consecutive time with women to know that this is normal, or they are too juvenile to accept it as normal. My crazy swiss friend Larsen happens to be the latter sort, I believe. There has previously been additional female wrath from Rahel, to which he did not seem to accept as a woman's typical mood swings. Now there is me, and I am quite familiar with myself, and know that along with glory (me) there must be blood (my bad mood). I also will include that I am used to being alone every day for a fair share, during which I recharge my social batteries and spirit. And additionally, I am used to running my own show- traveling around the world choosing whatever I want to do and wherever I want to go. On this trip, I have had no time alone and the Swiss to make virtually every decision. So throw that in a glass with the standard sauce of female foul mood and you have quite a nasty cocktail.

NOW HERE IS SOME ADVICE:
If there is a woman you have to be around when she is in a horrible mood, and you go to a store before it closes to buy yourself beer, and she likes beer, has money to give you, and enjoys getting drunk, GET HER SOME FUCKING BEER. It will be a nice gesture, the beer could help alleviate her mood, and if she does not drink it, you, being the complete alcoholic you are, can drink it. No problem.

And so, in some final words regarding the wrath of women- do not take it personally. DO NOT disregard a bad mood as simply crazy, selfish, etc. and dismiss the individual as inferior. Accept it as we women do; something we do not quite understand, nor like, but something we must live with as being the unfortunate givers of all that is life.

To reiterate this in terms for non-native english speakers: Women have bad moods. Women have babies. A woman had you. You are on this earth ONLY because of women. Respect the workings of a woman that wind their way throughout the world.