THE BEGINING TO DAY ONE
where do i begin...i guess it started when i was 13 with woodstock ‘94...i had my face glued to the TV the entire weekend...i watched the whole damn thing on pay-per-view. i remember hearing that it was the 25th anniversary of the original woodstock and there would be a 30th anniversary one...i did the math and figured out i would be 18 by then. i remember telling my parents that i was gonna go and i told all my friends “we are so there!”

back in february/march of this year, i started hearing talk of woodstock ’99. i had a countdown going until tickets went on sale...i had it all planned out...it would be awesome...we had a whole group of people who were going to go...then by may/june we still had no tickets and people were starting to back out...”i’m not allowed,” “i’ll be away,” “i just can’t afford it,” all good reasons but each one made it less likely to happen...

well next thing i know its july 19...the Monday before the festival. i had been working on the set for the play and shawna and kelly were helping mee. after we finished working we went to the diner. our stupid waitress wouldn’t give us food...tara was there and she came over to say hi...somehow woodstock came up...i was all pissy cause i wanted to go so she invited mee along...i was really excited but i wasn’t friends with anyone she was going with...so shawna and kelly said that they would go and shawna’s boyfriend mike would take us....sweet!! so now i am happy again...until kelly is not allowed and mike doesn’t wanna go...so it was back to mee and shawna...which meant i would have to drive...for those of you who have been in the car with mee before, you know i am way paranoid and i hate to go on the highway...so knowing the only way i could go is if i drove, i chickened out quite a few times...i realized that i would regret it for the rest of my life if i didn’t go, so i finally decided that i couldn’t pass this chance up...

i again informed my parental units that i was going and thats just the way it is....they have no say. my dad wasn’t thrilled but i don’t think he wanted mee to miss out on this opportunity...mi madre on the other hand, threatened to ground mee for the rest of my life, take away my car or report it stolen if i left! i sat down and rationally discussed the situation with her...(we screamed at each other for about 2 hours until i told her it was just tough shit and she would have to deal)...

by this time its Wednesday, i still haven’t finished the set, and we have no tickets or directions. BUT WE WERE GOING TO WOODSTOCK!!! shawna had got off work already and i had talked to my boss...before i went to work on Wednesday, instead of getting our tickets, i had to argue with my mother again. she just wanted to bitch at mee about why i shouldn’t go, and i don’t know what i’m getting myself into...blah, blah, blah...but she knew i had my mind set and she wasn’t going to talk mee out of it...

i finally tracked down a ticketmaster charge by phone number and $337 later we had TICKETS!!! but we also had less than 12 hours before we had to leave and i needed sleep for that nice long drive...mee and shawna went on the net and called some friends and pieced together directions. we found the list of Do’s and Don’ts as well as maps and schedules. we cleaned out my car, went to the A&P for food and all that fun stuff, and went to shawna’s house and packed her sleeping bag and shit in my car...it was about 12 by then so i went home and went to sleep not having packed any clothes, food, tent, or anything else.

my dad woke mee up at like 5:30 to say goodbye...i dumped some clothes in a bag and stuffed my car full of shit....then i took my last shower before i left...my mom helped mee pack some food and water in a cooler and i was off...i picked up shawna at about 7:30. we swung by the A&P again and we were on the highway by 8:00

we were both half asleep until we got on the thruway...i got my car upto about 95...we had the radio blasting and we were singing at the top of our lungs....we screamed and beeped at people and shawna flashed every guy in sight especially the truck drivers. we got followed for like 15 by one truckdriver and a solid half hour by some guy in a blue car....he would look down at his wang and up at shawna and back to his wang again and make noises...’twas funny but it got annoying after a while....a bit later, we passed some kids who looked like they might be going to woodstock too..shawna flashed them and we got mooned....then we asked them if they were going (we made a sign that said “woodstock???”) they all started screaming and shit so i guess they went but they sped up and i couldn’t keep up anymore...

we did the same kinda shit the whole way to 365...we got a bit confused there and went the wrong way...see, we didn’t actually have tickets yet, just a number and directions to go pick them up but of course the directions didn’t say 365e or 365w so stoopit mee follows the crowd...of course they have tickets and we don’t...so we got stuck in the traffic trying to get in the gates...we had to go the opposite direction. we had until 1 pm to pick up our tickets but it was noon and we were PARKED on 365w...oh fun...no tickets obviously no entrance, which meant no camping which meant we would have to sleep in my car....which would suck...so its 12 o’clock i have been up since 5:30 i am tired and cranky and i haven’t eaten...needless to say i don’t feel all too great...i have this thing with my stomach....if i dont eat for a while and its hot out, i get really dizzy and black out and sometimes i pass out...but if i eat, i get nauseous-what can i say...i am a mess... so anyway i am driving...well inching actually...i was all whining and shit so shawna is like “i have my permit let me drive!” so i let her and i layed down for a few...she was like “yo, we are never going to make it by 1 if we stay here.” so with a bit of convincing, i let her do a u-turn over the divider and she drove down 365e for a bit till i felt better...

we switched back and i drove really fast to get there on time. by now its 12:45 and we are still really out of the way...traffic westbound is so backed up, people are parked and walking up and down the highway, playing football...’tis funny...we finally find the road and get to the turning stone casino...its now 12:58...we run in find the room where the tickets are and the line is out the door...so we wait and finally get our tickets...we hung out in the A/C for a while, called shawna’s mom and then we headed down to the festival.

we got into the lot at about 3-3:30, but i still wasn’t feeling too great...we sit in the A/C in the car for a while and i force myself to eat some foods. some guy comes over and sells us some indian books...’tis sweet...we pack up all our shit and head out to the gate about 2 miles away...on the way some guy hands mee a balloon of laughing gas...i take it but tie it and carry it around until he’s gone...i wanna deflate it and keep it but i can’t untie it so i drop it by the gate where some chick pops it...

so of course i have to pee (again) and the port-o-potties are already almost full...its 437.2 degrees out and we are lugging shit to the gate. we kept dropping stuff and had to reposition everything. we finally get in and get our wristbands...now to find a home for the next four days....

we wander as far as we can make it, but everywhere seems to already be packed tight. we wander down the first side path we come to, buff path, and try to find a spot...again its is packed so we keep looking...after a while we just give up and wedge ourselves in between 2 tents a tree and the road on top of a shitload of rocks...so we set up camp and chill (in the sweltering heat) and people watch and nap for most of the afternoon...

we get some antisocial neighbors on the left and old, drunk, but willing to share neighbors on the right. they were nice but they wouldn’t talk about much besides booze...and that they were “canadian, eh?” “we got some vodka if oyu guys want some...” oh no thanks “some gin?? we got gin...” no thats ok...”how bout rum??” really thanks but no thanks, its a tad bit hot out and all...we didn’t talk to them much more than that...we watched and busted on all of the weird people who walked by our tent...until we got new neighbors, not nextdoor-neighbors, front door-neighbors...there were 3 of them in 3 separate tents (a chick and 2 guys) rite in front of our doorway...kool huh?? we couldn’t see anything anymore so we went to sleep....after a while i woke up and shawna wanted to walk around...and we had forgotten the spikes for the tent in the car and we wanted to go back and get them before it got dark. we went to the car (like 3 miles away) and ate some mushy sandwiches which were soaked from the cooler...we watched some fireworks go off in the distance and we hung out for a bit. we grabbed some more food and stuff and brought it back to the tent...we drop off our stuff and walk around for a bit...

shawna wants to go meet people...i want to sleep... we walk around but no one really talks to us. shawna stops to light a cigarette and says “we are staying right here until someone talks to us.” i just whined that i was tired and i wanted to go to sleep... some guy said hey or something and i was being all bitchy...i was like “there ya go...now can we please go to sleep??” so we head back to the tent...so far the night has been uneventful and i can tell shawna is a bit upset...but i am a pain so we head back to the tent.

we get like 20 ft away and this kid like grabs us and is like freaking out. at first he is like “do you know me?” we said no and he was like “can you help me?” we are like ok...whats going on...he is all upset and he says that he doesn’t speak good english but some one stole his bag...he askes us if we can help him find it...he is by himself wandering around...then he starts asking if we are ‘medical people’ he wants us to bring him to a security guard or something cause he’s bugging out so bad, but we convinced him to just walk around with us....he tells us eventually that his name is mark isenburg from r-r-ridge in jersey...he did like 6 hits of liquid acid...for the first time. his friends were playing mind games so he had to leave...

he kept saying that we had to keep him in this world...he would just jump into another world, where he was in a hospital trying to find his mother who was dying, but he was being chased by cops...so he would just get all paranoid and start running and think that we were cops when we ran after him...everyone was laughing at him and he was convinced he was dying...he would be ok walking around...then he would just take off. we caught up and reassured him everything was ok and we reminded him where he was...he was like “i am at woodstock? is it over yet? are we going home?” no mark it starts tomorrow...he was ok for a while...then he would just get up in our faces, scream “FUCK YOU!” and run away...one time he fell on his face...another he thought the lights near the port-o-potties was the cops...another time he just sat down in some guys chair...

this guy is like “get the fuck outta here man...” he was all drunk and pissy...we left but some chick invited us to come back...we all sit down with them...the girl, i think her name was lauren or something is freaking out mark with glowsticks... he just randomly jumps up to run away...the guy who had yelled at him is polish and had a really strong accent....mark says he’s bugging out cause this guy sounds like his father....we leave for a while and come back like 10 minutes later...and there is another polish guy there...the first guy’s cousin, victor...he is flirting with mee like crazy...he’s old though...he says he’s 29 but there is no was he is less than 35....he has a really thick accent and speaks four languages (interchangebly because he is so drunk) he just rambles on and on about how its hard to speak so many languages...mark seems to think he can speak polish but he just makes some weird noises....victor kinda forces mee to sit on his lap and he keeps putting my arm around him and keeps trying to put his hand up my shirt...i kept trying to get up but he was getting pissed so i kinda gave up...he kept singing to mee and whining about how woodstock is run by the man and it doesn’t mean anything cause it has no purpose because its not rebelling against a war or anything...blah blah blah...

we tried to leave but he followed...he kept trying to hold my hand and pull mee away from shawna...he kept trying to get mee to go down some dark path with him saying. ”oh lets just go for a little walk.” i’m like “i have to go make sure mark’s ok...i can’t” or “i can’t leave my friend i can’t lose her.” after a while i guess he finally took a hint and left us alone...

we walked around with mark for another hour until he remembered where his tent was...we walked him back to his friends...it was about 2 o’clock so we headed back to our tent and got some sleep...well we tried anyway...between my stupid stomach, the heat, the waves of screaming, the rocks in my back and the people kicking mee in the head trying to sneak past our tent and of course cramps...it just wasn’t happening...so i got up at about 4 am to go to the bathroom and discover that in two hours the road has completely disappeared...the entire road is paved in tents that you have to jump over to get through, which would explain the people kicking my head and such....i get back from the bathroom and talk to my newest neighbor and whine a bit about the road and my head and all, eat some cereal and get a little bit of sleep...

COMING SOON: DAY 2-4
highlights yet to come: KORN, ICP, fraggles, the rave, RAGE, naked mud hippies, EVERCLEAR, neighbors, new friends, harassing random people, LIMP BIZKIT, port-o-potties...and lots more....

WOODSTOCK 1999: PART 2: friday and saturday