youth

I love looking at pictures of me when I was younger, and my friends and family. I like to try and remember what I was feeling then, what I was doing. I can honestly say I'm more content with my life at 33 than I have ever been before, but there is a certain excitement to youth that is irreplaceable. A fearlessness.

This here is my favorite picture of all time. It's at the Tibetan Freedom concert in 1998, which would make me just turned 20. At this point in the 2 day concert, we were all corralled inside the stadium's hallways because lightning had struck - it actually struck a person, it was pretty scary. We headed home not long after this...this evening, Radiohead, supposed to play that day, held an impromptu concert at a local small venue. We were already too far home to turn back and have a chance of making it in.

All is well though, because the next day, Radiohead joined REM on stage and I got to see Thom Yorke and Michael Stipe singing together. Epic moment, epic.

The guy in the picture was my first love. We weren't together yet here, just playing with some massive crushes. We went on to date for the better part of the next 10 years. We stay in touch, he's in California now. We were crazy about each other, in young love. Great memories.

My sister took this picture - we had met up with her and her now husband. I think it looks like a movie still. 

(This recap here doesn't tell you a very critical point about this concert. Hot couple Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were in attendance, watching from the side stage. =)

A little about this concert:

Washington D.C.

RFK Stadium June 13 & 14 1998 $1.2 Million raised Over 120,000 Attendees
Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Sean Lennon, Mutabaruka, Money Mark, A Tribe Called Quest, Dave Matthews Band, Sonic Youth, Nawang Khechog, Wyclef Jean, Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, Buffalo Daughter, R.E.M., KRS-ONE, The Wallflowers, Blues Traveler, Live, Pearl Jam, Luscious Jackson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chaksam-pa, Pulp. Many bands, including Kraftwerk and Beck, were cancelled after lightning strikes at the beginning of Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters' set on the first day of music.
Speakers: Xiao Qiang - Human Rights in China, Lhadon Tethong - Students for a Free Tibet, Palden Gyatso - Former Political Prisoner, Wei Jingsheng - Chinese Democracy Activist and Former Political Prisoner