Rock of Ages

I saw Rock of Ages when it came to Columbus almost two years ago now. Oh, how time flies. When I saw the musical, Constantine played Drew, and he was fantastic. And the guy playing Stacee Jaxx did not kill Wanted Dead or Alive, which I always fear with Bon Jovi covers.

I did not feel as passionately happy with Rock of Ages the movie. I was impressed by Tom Cruise, who I generally actively dislike, and somehow, he managed to pull off not only the role of an aging rocker, but one who could at least passably sing... which surprised me.

The musical contained a cover of Oh, Sherrie and I was sad that they left it out of the movie. I felt it was a cheesy part of the script that made a big part of the musical for me.

I almost cried when they did the intro to Heaven, by Warrant. I was a Warrant fan back when they were a nobody, playing 1000 person venues, and happy to do so. Jani Lane hasn't even been dead a year, and he died at 47. The jokes about the aging rockers? Are mostly true. I'm so, so happy that Jon Bon Jovi hasn't followed the same path. I am very thankful for that, and hopefully, someday, will get to tell him just what he and his music have meant to me.

Rock of Ages made me sad. The kid who plays Drew, Diego Boneta bears a striking resemblance to my oldest son - the same hair, the same eyes, the same build, the same stance with a guitar. I saw so very many concerts while I was pregnant with him (about 40 different bands) - and now that he's the epitome of the teenage rocker, pot-smoking, guitar-playing bum...

did the life I lead as a young person... as basically the wannabe groupie ... give me the very child that I so wanted to be?

Who Says You Can't Go Home?

"I spent 20 years trying to get out of this place
I was looking for something I couldn't replace
I was running away from the only thing I've ever known
Like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold
I been there, done thatand I ain't lookin' back on the seeds I've sown,
Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone
Who says you can't go home?"

I feel like I've spent the last 22 years, specifically, trying to get out of my hometown. To get away from everyone I've ever known, to start fresh.

Now, I'm 6 months away from doing just that, with the plan to return in a year.

What if I find, I can't return? Or that I don't want to?

I think I found Tommy. 

And maybe, I'm still trying to live on a prayer.

That's it... I am.

And if you think about it, who isn't?

A hope, a prayer, a dream?

I hope that 10 years from now, I'm still hijacking rainbows. And with the two I love, and my two children to share that with me.