#i had really hoped that once i added all my stickers id at least sell those

[pumpkinnqueenn]

.

[bts-love-sweat-tears]

Julie’s Love Yourself Concert Diary

Concert Date: September 29, 2018

Written: September 30, 2018

Warnings: I curse more than I should?

Words: 3,330ish-added a few  things at the last minute (phew!)

A/N:

[Update: Tumblr couldn’t upload all my photos that I spent awhile choosing and placing, so I’m going to have to pare it down. Sorry bbs! I opted to cut my personal & merch photos in favor of the boys]

So I have one thousand and one things I should be working on-for school, for work, for my eventual job hunt. But instead I am going to write about last night’s experience while it was still fresh in my mind. I was thinking of doing a song-by-song play-by-play, but you can look up the setlist on Wikipedia, so instead I am going to talk about the things that jumped out at me. WARNING: This is essentially one giant spoiler, so I will try to put a “Read More” cut, though it’s been being weird for me lately. So scroll carefully if you’re going to a later date and don’t want to know. All photos taken on my (now ancient) iPhone 6, so I tried to choose the best ones). Will edit as I see typos I made.

I’m a little nervous since I usually write fiction instead of sharing my personal experience. Anyway, full disclosure that this is just my perspective, and I’m (always) happy to discuss things (civilly) if you disagree with me.  <3  Photos and opinions are mine.- please don’t re-post anywhere else.

The Background/ Pulling a Namjoon and Leaving my Ticket at Home

Even though I was going to the Saturday show, I flew into LaGuardia using frequent flyer miles on Friday morning. I was staying with a friend in Queens, so I went straight to her apartment. I’m a grad student as most of you probably know at this point, so I spent most of Friday working on a paper that was due. I had two friends I met at last year’s concert going to the Friday concert, and they went for merch promptly at 9, but I had just arrived and had a deadline to meet for school.  Around 4:30PM, I decided that I was done for the day and opened Ticketmaster to print my ticket for the next day’s show. When I logged in, I saw the notice that the ticket had been mailed to me. I remembered having seen that when I bought the ticket in May, but in my defense I was jet-lagged and ill on that day. Furthermore, I moved to and from NYC in that time for a summer internship, and SO MUCH HAD HAPPENED. The tickets had been mailed while I was living here and I had never seen them, so somehow it slipped my mind. Obviously I lived too far away, but I didn’t know if I could express overnight them, but I think when I called Ticketmaster, the old ones were deactivated when the guy tried to send me the link.

Anyway, print at home was not an option, so I called Ticketmaster and in a panic explained my situation. They said it happened all the time and offered to send me a link. Luckily I kept the rep on the line, because it turned out that even they couldn’t email a link because of the anti-scalpers/fraud/whatever.

Then the rep said that I could show the credit card, but I had literally cut it up the week prior since the Vendor (e.g. the store that the card was through) had switched their card to a different bank (e.g. Visa to Mastercard), so I seemed shady af, even though I was telling the truth. He said as long as I had a login to a statement showing the transaction (I didn’t, since they had opted to close the account at an institutional level).  So I called my mom frantically, and luckily she is the hyper-organized type who keeps paper copies of everything and sent them to me. Seriously, Mom for the win!  I run to this print shop as it’s closing and print everything out.  I had the Ticketmaster receipt & order #, and two photo ID’s confirming my address. The guy said it should be fine, but I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. This was my one birthday gift and something I had been looking forward to for months. Anyway, my friend and I went out to a local bar near the Halsey (yes, the singer took her name from the station) stop on the L line, and I was super anti-social because I was so upset. I also burst a blood vessel in my eye  (it will heal, no worries) because of too much birthday partying the prior weekend, so I’m sure I was a (sour) sight to behold.

I slept poorly for obvious reasons, and left the apartment around 7AM, and arrived to Prudential center around 8:30ish. There were only a few people outside of will call, but the GA line was already wrapped around the building. I made small talk with people outside of the box office, and one woman told me she had gotten soundcheck both days. Seriously, what kind of karma do I need for that to happen to me? She and her friends had been camping out since Thursday, and they were SUPER organized: while she waited in line, one was at merch, and someone else was holding their GA site. I almost wondered if they were a fansite or something. ARMY are a truly organized bunch (except for me, clearly).

Anyway, after another half hour of pure anxiety, they opened up will call and I was panicking, but they were really helpful and gave me my ticket after I verified the order number, showed my id and confirmed some other personal data. I decided then and there that nothing else mattered and I was just happy to be there and be in.

Waiting in line/Logistics/Staff

I left the box office, and got into the GA line. It was probably around 9:15, and the line had already doubled-back on itself all the way around the building. The woman from earlier told me that her friend had got #1000 and was only 3 rows back, so I still had some hope. Basically, you line up to get your spot in line- though it’s kinda dumb that you have to line up twice, it makes security go faster and guarantees that there isn’t a huge surge/stronger people cutting  in line later.

I wore what I thought were my most comfortable shoes, but after standing on concrete for hours, I don’t think it makes a difference. People were so friendly though-  I never once felt awkward even though I was by myself. The same was true last year- the friends who had gone up for merch on Friday I met while in line at last years’ Wings concert. I chatted with people around me, drank the two bottles of water I had, and looked at my phone. Bring an umbrella for shade and sunscreen though-I didn’t and am rocking a nice farmers burn/tan today.  It wasn’t humid though, and it wasn’t raining, so it could have been so much worse.

Even though there were tons of people, everyone was well-behaved. I didn’t see any altercations, though as the day went on the staff seemed a bit overwhelmed with crowd control.  I didn’t see too many people selling unofficial merch like last year, though I did buy a few necklaces (Joon and Chim, ofc).

After 3.5 hours, I finally got my wristband. They told us to be back by 2pm to line up for real, as they were going to try to open the doors at 3 instead of 3:30 (didn’t end up happening).

Merch

I then ran to merch, but there wasn’t much left. The fans/pickets were selling out as I got in line, and people were basically yelling “NOOOOOOOO” everytime the staff put up a “SOLD OUT” sticker. I bought what I could that was left, including a bracelet, which I’m actually in love with, the eco-tote (super overpriced tbh, $50 for a canvas bag), but the shopper bags were gone and I needed something to carry the box and batteries V3 ARMY Bomb I bought. I had one from last year that I also forgot, but I think the new version was cool because they are synced up with the music so you can change colors and patterns along with everyone else. Overall, it’s EXPEN$$$$IVE, but if anyone’s worth it, it’s Bangtan.

Newark

I was getting super tired after this, so I kinda passed on the photo studio table, big poster, and UNICEF stuff. I tried to go to Starbucks, but even though it was the middle of the day, I didn’t feel that safe, even though it was like 11:45 in the middle of the day. I’m a 27 year old who’s lived in Latin America (which is generally stereotyped for violence), solo traveled around the world, and I’m from the Rust Belt (aka home of true urban decay), but that part of Newark sketched me the heck out. Probably it would have been fine, but I opted for caution, and went to a Dunkin Donuts and empanada place right around the corner. The timing was actually good since we had to get back pretty quickly to line back up.

The second line was where the staff struggled, telling people to back up and get in order, but it seemed like staff were doing different things. Plus, if they wanted people to back up, they should have created room at the back first, before telling the front to basically “back that ass up” on the people behind them.

GA vs. Seated

I can say this- if you are short, you probably want a seat. Or if you have any kind of knee, back, or joint problems- I stood for approximately 14 straight hours on concrete yesterday. I am just under 5”5” but I was probably one of the taller people in the crowd, so I had a pretty good view. Even though they asked people to not take videos or record, you WILL be looking through a sea of cell phones. I could see pretty well, but sometimes when they were on the main stage I had a hard time seeing around other people’s arms.

Last time I had P2 seated, and the view was wonderful. I went to the bathroom, charged my phone, and ate nachos (lol), so it was generally a more chill experience. I was still super close but up a little higher and could see absolutely everything. But last night I was SO close I could see Joon’s dimples irl, and got splashed by both Jungkook and J-Hope when they threw the water bottles.  Probably 100 people think this, but I’m also pretty sure Yoongi  (and maybeeee Jimin) saw me jumping and singing along like crazy since I was one of the taller people. At the very least, Yoongi keep looking in the general direction I was in. Ofc I looked gross af with my messed up eye and crazy hair, but what I loved about the concert is that I was 100% able to forget all the insecurities I carry around with me on a day to day basis and have an AMAZING time.

Of course the whole place is crazy high energy, but I feel like last night was INSANELY high. I’m not sure if it was the overall vibe or if that was the GA influencing my opinion.  It just depends on what kind of experience you want to have. Also, if you are claustrophobic, you should probably pass on GA. The guards kept forcing people to back up, at one point even coming in with a flashlight, and people would surge forward whenever a member came close. But someone said the night before was chill, so maybe it’s just luck of the draw.

The Show

The show was absolutely amazing. They opened with IDOL, which got people hyped from the get-go. Their dancing was ON POINT as always. People were chanting during the intro videos and chatting as it filled in, so it was a great vibe once again- just super happy feeling. The audio visual part was AMAZING, though I’m no pro, and I loved all of the concert outfits, especially Jimin’s super sparkly sweater. Lots of jumping, and lots of screams. I didn’t have earplugs and was fine, but if you’re sensitive to loud sounds I definitely recommend them. ISTG I remembered hearing a mashup of FIRE, but maybe not? Wikipedia seems to think not. But they played a few older ones too, which made me so soft and nostalgic.

More on the members during the concert

Kim Namjoon

Ok, this is so so so biased, let me start with that. If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know how much I love this man. Seeing him smiling and happy was amazing. And they had a professional translator for this concert, so I felt like Joon was able to relax a little and enjoy himself instead of worrying about translating for everyone else.  He is just as tall and proportional as everyone says he is.  Everyone talks about how soft he is these days (and I love it), but he has undeniable charisma when he raps. Plus him in sunglasses, ddaeng. Seeing him so close was akin to something spiritual for me (I SAW THE DIMPLES WITH MY OWN EYES), as were people shouting along with him to “Love.” At the end, he commented how we were all sharing the same air, and hearing him think the way (I know at least some of ) us think was so heartwarming.  

Also during some of the videos, there were some NOT AT ALL subtle Minjoon moments.  

Kim Seokjin

The crowd last night ADORED Jin and gave him all the attention he deserves to have all the time. People were chanting his name SO LOUDLY during instrumental breaks in Epiphany. His voice was phenomenal, particularly the high notes. it’s clear how hard he’s worked to make it sound so effortless.  I noticed that people weren’t moving as much during some of his notes and I can only think it’s because we were literally transfixed. It’s well established, but I don’t think this man has any bad angles. Even in the still pictures I took while dancing, he DOESN’T look awkward in any of them. #impossible.

Min Yoongi

Suga was clearly happy about something last night- he was SO cute and happy. Other ARMY on the train back to the city agreed with me. His rapping was fire (duh), but he was really smiley and took out his earpiece a number of times to hear us screaming. “Seesaw” starts with him laying on a couch and I can think of no better way to capture his true soul (lol). He was extra attentive to fans, and  I feel like what Tae mentioned in Burn the Stage, he was trying to memorize ARMY’s faces and live in the moment. I felt bad because there were clearly parts where he wanted us to sing along, but we couldn’t necessarily keep up with his tongue technology :P  But people definitely tried their best.  

Jung Hoseok

Idk what I can say here that’s new. J-Hope is one of the most charismatic members on the stage. And there’s something in the American air that turns him into Jay Hope. Seriously, he’s hard to move your eyes away from. “Just Dance” was the first solo track if I remember correctly and he did not disappoint. His glasses at the end were adorable, and one of the other members called him a “happy grandfather” or something like that.  Seriously, if you’re still sleeping on Hobi, we can’t be friends.  

Park Jimin

Jimin was ethereal as always, and the choreography for Serendipity was…..salacious, to say the least. Like if you thought the “Take Me Down” cover from last year’s Festa was too much, then idk what to tell you. Bring holy water or something. Despite  the free water that fans were providing to others (ARMY are seriously the best) there was a different kind of thirst occurring, if you smell what I’m stepping in. Jimin is pure charisma, like J-Hope. Obviously their styles are totally different, but when they move, you stop whatever you’re doing and watch. Again, I didn’t even see many ARMY bombs moving during Serendipity- I think we were too entranced. I personally thought that he killed his vocals and did great, but he seemed a little tired or like he was working hard at it. Jimin was also the one (at least that I saw from my angle) that got the closest to the fans, crouching down and leaning over the teleprompters/fans/lights/ whatever the black boxes were at the edge of the stage.

Similar to Tae and Yoongi, I saw him looking at fans A LOT during the show. He was exactly how he seems in V Lives and cameras, and I’m fairly certain I would spontaneously combust if I ever ran into him irl (even if I didn’t know who he was)- he just radiates warmth and friendliness. Seriously, if I believed in magic, I feel like he would be able to influence people’s emotions.

Kim Taehyung

So many fic writers have this ultra primal (for lack of a better word?) for Tae, but all I see is a cute sweetheart. Obviously I’ve never seen someone create as much tension with their own arm as he does during Singularity, but when he’s not dancing, I just got a super innocent, cutesy vibe from him. His voice was so smooth last night. I mean, I knew, but now I KNOW.  He actually was shooting hearts at one fan (how lucky they are), and pretended to fall down when they shot him back! They were further back in P2 as well so he really does work hard at paying attention to everyone. He actually called over another member (maybe Yoongi or Jimin? I was too busy trying to remember how to breathe, to see whatever he was seeing).

At the end he whipped a heart out of his beanie (how I pray to god someone got that moment on camera) a la Jin. He just seemed really comfortable in his own skin last night, and I was so grateful for it.  

Jeon Jungkook

I had a hard time seeing most of his Euphoria performance as it was relatively early on and people were taking a shit ton of videos. He also stayed mostly on the main stage, rather than come out to the extension area near where I was. His abs are just as great in person, and the screams were (as is to be expected), absolutely deafening. They’ve talked about it in shows, but his voice is  SO stable. Obviously they stopped at times and don’t use too much backing vocals, but it sounded EXACTLY how it does on the album. He threw something into the crowd  (I think a banner) at the end, and it FLEW so far-back to P2 or further. They’re not kidding when they talk about how strong he is.  

Final thoughts

At first, I was a little exhausted after my emotional trauma of the prior day, and from standing for so long but the minute it started I forgot everything else. I was salty when I couldn’t see that much bc of people recording (esp when they asked us not to), but I understand the specialness of the moment and wanting to have some tangible evidence that you were there. By the time the concert was over, I realized how special GA was, even if it’s more difficult logistically (since I went solo and didn’t have parents or friends to stand in). I still don’t know if it’s hit me that I was like 10 feet away from them, max. It reaffirmed how important they are to me. I didn’t write this to brag, but to hopefully share my perspective and let others live vicariously through my experience. If you want clarification or anything else, write to me!  

[oldnintendonerd]

Pickup Post #7 - Sony “Wiiks” 3

Been a while since a post, so this one will be pretty long, despite not having found something every single week, there are a few here, so it is pretty long. I have still made time to stop at a few places. I hit my local Goodwill, a few yard sales, and had a LetGo pickup. It hasn’t been terrible, just a little slow.

So let’s get into it.

I’ll try to go in order, and just after the last post I went into my local Goodwill and there looked to be a fresh PS2 drop off. No system, but there were about 15 games that weren’t there the last time I was in. Most of it was schlock, sports games, Guitar Hero and the like. But there was a copy of Need For Speed Pro Street that was in decent shape. I’d never played it before, and it was the best of the lot. The problem was, I’d forgotten my Game Hunting money that day. I really try not to let this hobby get in the way of normal life. I only hit places when they are on the way to a place I am already going, or if they are pretty close to a place I am already. I also keep this strictly within the game hunting money budget. So I looked for a place to hide the game in the store. I dropped it behind a row of DVDs. They were to the front of a pretty deep shelf and there was room behind it. I figured, if it’s there when I get back, fine, if they find it and it sells, I won’t be heartbroken.

Well, I was back the next day picking up dinner nearby, so I popped in, and, it was still there.

I popped it in to see if it worked and it does. Didn’t really play, but I did a quick race just to get an idea of it, and it is weird. I haven’t played any NFS series since the PSX had NFS Hot Pursuit. I did play that a lot, and enjoyed it, which was probably the only reason I gave this a go. This ran me $3.21. Still not a bad find.

It is complete. Disc is in good shape. Not great, but good. I’ll throw this in the collection to kill some time at a later date.

The next week I stopped at a yard sale that was supposed to have Wii games. It was a Facebook ad so I could communicate with the seller. I asked what Wii games she had, and she replied with Mario Kart, some hunting games, and that she wasn’t sure what else. I thought it was worth a stop, it wasn’t far from my house and I was on the way to work anyway. I got there as the sale was opening, I asked about the games, it was raining and I was the only one there. Everything was still being set up because it was still a mess. They could not find the Wii games anywhere. I was disappointed, I’ve been trying to get a copy of Mario Kart Wii for a while with no luck. People keep wanting $15+ for it on LetGo or OfferUp, not that I can blame them, I think Pricecharting has this game at $15 just for loose disc. But, I thought this might be an opportunity to pick it up for $5 or so. I hung around, poking through the pile of mess they had in the garage, hoping he may find it. They had a pile of PS2 games that I glanced through. A case with like 25 DS games in it. I wished I had more time to paw through everything, but I was on my way to work. Sitting on top was Spirit Tracks, which would have been awesome CIB, but I popped it open and saw some other schlock game. Another let down. Pawed through the PS2 games a little more thoroughly, and it was more crap, hunting games, Medal of Honor games, Guitar Hero and sports games, etc. They did have Hot Shots Tennis, and having just got a Hot Shots Golf title, I figured why not. I came here, and have killed 15 minutes already waiting for the Wii games to turn up when it was supposed to really just be a 5 minute stop, might as well walk away with something. Offered $1, and he took it.

Haven’t played it, but the Hot Shots series is nothing less than a “Me Too” Mario Game copycat series, so if it plays anything like Mario Tennis, it can’t be that bad. For a buck? Why not.

It’s in good shape, and complete. Disc is better than NFS pro Street, so this one will go in the collection as well.

The PS2 collection is starting to fill out a little bit at this point.

I have gotten the PCSX2 emulator, and Free McBoot as well, so I dumped my own BIOS and the emulator works pretty well. Not all games play, but most do. I have also ripped these to ISO and run them from a HDD on the PC (they load SO much faster) and they can be loaded on a HDD on the PS2 as well (once I figure out how, heh). You can see the HDD in the “surgery” shot from last post, along with an IDE to USB adapter. So that’s in the plan. It is an 200GB IDE, or PATA, drive and I only plan on keeping copies of games I actually own on the HDD, simply to keep me from having to handle the discs to play the games. Hopefully that proves to work out. I’m just leery of all the programs you need to install and use to accomplish it. I may build a disposable windows virtual machine to handle it in case something winds up being malware.

Anyway, enough of that. Moving on.

The following week came and went, and on that Friday, there was another sale right on the way to the office that advertised a “Nintendo Handheld” and “Nintendo Games”. So I decided to investigate. I figured it could be anything from an old Game Boy and games, on up to a 3DS XL and games. Well, it was a regular DS, looked to be an original generation. With a $50 sticker on it. After I did a double take and tucked my eyes back in their sockets at the price, I leafed through the games. All schlock little kids games. Not even an Animal Crossing. Nothing. The sign there said they want $10 PER GAME.

Per game!?

You have like 12 games here! You are telling me you want $170 for all these games and the DS? You know for $200 you can buy a brand new 3DS XL. I’d be a buyer for the entire lot at maybe $30. MAYBE. But not $170, not even $150, or even $100. So I forgot about it. Way too far apart, and I didn’t want to insult her. If I offered even $40 it would sound insanely low to her given what she clearly thought it was worth.

Moving through the sale I spotted a Wii though, all by itself. No cords, no WiiMotes, nothing. Even missing the controller port flap. The games were sitting there, also labeled at $10 each, but the Wii itself was labeled $7.50. Already a decent deal, but with everything else priced so high, this was the only opportunity to get anything out of this sale. I decided to see if I could get it for a steal. I said that Wii looks a little rough, any cords for it? She says no. I’m like man, no cords, no controllers, it’s missing the controller port cover flap, would you take $5 for it? She thought about it for a moment, and accepted the $5.

Here it is.

It’s in pretty good shape, a little dirty, nothing that can’t be washed up. Since the Wii is my newest console that I own, it is on the living room TV, it was a quick swap in to test it. It works. When it powered on I heard it spinning up a disc, before it even got past that first black screen that makes you press A. I was like oh nice, free game. Judging from the games that were on the table that they wanted $10 each for, I was almost positive it was going to be some Barbie game, or something like Carnival Games. However I was pleasantly surprised. If you follow me on Instagram I’ve ruined this for you, but for those who don’t know yet, check it.

WHAT!?

Been looking for this forever, and I finally get to play it. It’s a bummer it isn’t complete. But I’ve been looking for a Wii to try Soft Modding. I didn’t want to eff up my Wii somehow in the process and lose all of the content that I’ve paid for, so I have been keeping my eye out for a cheap Wii. This was perfect. To get a copy of Mario Kart Wii on top of that is just a nice bonus!

Finally, I had a LetGo deal with someone. We went back and forth quite a bit. The lot is for 20 PS2 games and she had it priced at “$2 each”. I was honest right off the bat, $40 is not going to happen with anyone on these titles, I said I’m usually at about $1 per game for PS2, and at first glance I see only about 11 games that are worth anything, would you take $11? I was expecting to be ignored or at least get a counter offer, that is the MO most of the time on LetGo, no one wants to hear the ugly truth about the games or systems they have. You offer a reasonable price for something, but its only half what they have it listed for and they simply ignore you. This offer being at only about 25% is like a lowball, but she had it priced WAY too high is all.

She just said “Sure”.

Since it looked like we’d make a deal I took a closer look at the titles. They were worse than I thought, the non-sports games were the likes of Guitar Hero, and Cabela’s schlock. That reduced the “good” titles down even further to more like 7. I use the term “good” loosely. In this lot good simply meant it wasnt a sports or guitar hero game. Even those 7 were luke warm, but I was still interested if she could come down some more. I said honestly, after looking closer, I’m closer to $7 on this, I apologize, but the titles are pretty weak. Plus I didn’t know if they were complete or not, though I suppose I could have asked, but since she agreed to $11 so quickly I thought I’ll just throw a price out as if they aren’t.

She said OK.

Apparently she knew they were on the weak side too. We met, and I picked them up.

I am glad I lowered my offer, NFL 2K3 is the ONLY complete title. The rest are without manuals. Which I’m OK with at a price of $0.35 each, I had no intention of keeping anywhere near all of these, I honestly wanted them to beef up the sale of the second PS2 I have, hoping to tack on an extra $10 - $15 or so with a nice big stack of games in the picture.

I’ll probably only hang onto these ones, and even a few of these are maybes:

Of those in the picture, GT3, SOCOM and GTAIII are the only ones I really wanted to actually keep, and of course none of them are complete. So who knows about even those.

I was thinking of asking $25 for the second fat PS2, power and video cables, and one controller. If I can throw all of the leftover games from this lot on top of it and get $35, I’ll be a happy camper.

Last thing about this pickup, the ATV games are wrecked, especially ATV Offroad Fury 2. The case is destroyed.

You can see ATV Offroad Fury in the background there too, with a big hole in the art on the spine. A couple more shots of the damage:

Fortunately, the find with the two PS2s in it from Sony Weeks 2 had an empty case for ATV Offroad Fury, and the Goodwill by my work had some empty cases they just went ahead and gave me that included ATV Offroad Fury 2, the last time I bought something there. Which by the way was GTA Vice City, I’ll get to that in a minute. Here are the empty cases.

So lets freshen up the ATV Offroad Fury games. Why not? Top row, from this find, bottom row from the cases I had on hand.

Boom.

There we go, both in their new homes. The ATV Offroad Fury game was even a greatest hits, so the disc and case match. Not bad. Not valuable, or perhaps even the greatest games, but they are at least complete now.

As for the mentioned GTA Vice City, I grabbed that because it was absolutely immaculate.

It literally looked like someone bought it, took the shrink wrap off, and then set it on a shelf, later to stick it in a box and bring it to Goodwill.

So down to business, we had $79.36 left at the end of the last post, so we are pretty good on hunting money. We bought two games at the Goodwill for a total of $6.42, that takes us down to $72.94.

Then we got the $5 Wii, and the $7 LetGo deal, bringing us down to $60.94 remaining hunting money.

I am probably going to relax a bit on hunting for a week or two. I’m not going to stop altogether but may back off a little bit. Maybe focus on getting a few of the games listed on eBay that I have that need to be sold before getting back out there real hard core.

Either way, $60.94  remaining is still doing quite good considering what we got in the last month. Happy hunting everyone.

2017.07.18