Heather Barton

For some lovely reason, I seem to be a small fountain of knowledge on the Coachella website.  So I thought I’d do a posting on how I did this wonderful 3-day festival last year and how I plan on doing it little differently this year.

Last year was my first festival… and I blogged the experience (of course… when don’t I blog an experience!)

Coachella 2010

What I learned from that experience:  Don’t bother with chairs or blankets.. the grass isn’t gross and its pretty comfortable.  You won’t be able to see EVERY band you want.. cuz  its 130 ish bands performing on 5 different stages all at the same time.  You’re going to miss SOME!  lol

There is plenty of food and drink of all varieties but it can get expensive.  If you’re not camping I’d pack a cooler of snacks, alcohol & water in your car and take an hour out to visit it occasionally.  We’re planning on doing that this year… I’ll let ya know how it worked out!  But there are fountains to refill your water because at $2 a pop it gets expensive trying to keep hydrated out in the desert!

Last year when the line-up was posted on the Coachella website they had a link to almost every band that lead to video of their most popular song.  It was a wonderful way to plan your days.  I printed the line-up out, listed to every video and sorted them into a “yes!” “God no!” and “maybe”.  Then I planned on comparing my list to my fellow attendee who, of course, we no where near as obsessive organized as I am so hadn’t done much.  But he helped weigh in on the maybe’s.

All I’m saying is go as prepared as you can.  You can fluidly change those plans when you’re there but not knowing who is playing where and when will make it much less enjoyable.  I’ve purchased several of the albums from bands I first heard at Coachella.  Both to support the band and because I loved hearing them.

On the Coachella Facebook page you can find in (but its a search!) the  2010 & 2009 lineup.  And several joke line-ups that almost gave me a heart attack!

Right now the only way to buy tickets, that I know of is through the Coachella website.  On the home page is a “Layaway” button and choosing that will walk you through buying tix and camping spots through their layaway program.  I’d have happily paid full price but I didn’t want to miss out on a camping spot by waiting until that option was available.

Now… where to stay.  On the Coachella Facebook page there is a lot of talk about how great or horrible camping is.  It really depends on the individual.  Me, I’m 47, and camping wasn’t fun for me when I was in my 20’s!  I need a nice bed to fuck sleep on and I’d rather cook my breakfast cheaper than buying it at a local restaurant.  So I rented a condo for the trip.

“Oh but the money!” you say.  Well, yes.  Last year was expensive but worth it.. and we learned a lot about how to make it free for us this year.  Back in September I got a condo that sleeps six for a great rate in the nearby town of Indio.  By renting out the other bedroom and the pull out queen for the 3 nights of the festival I will have paid for the condo.  I also bought 2 camping spots with my ticket.  Why, when I have the condo?  Because last year, camping spots were selling for over $500 each on ebay because EVERYTHING was sold out.  There wasn’t a single place to stay and its not like its close enough to drive back to L.A. each night!  I plan on selling my camping spots for about the cost of my admission tix (maybe a bit more, hee hee… for alcohol!).

And viola.. my vacation is almost free.  So now I can buy the right shoes for the event!  Because you’ll be walking or standing for the better part of 3 days and it is just DAMN difficult to find the right balance between comfort and sexy!  Last year on the first day I went with sexy shoes.  But was sexy no more as I hobbled back to the car in agony.  Next 2 days I went with comfortable tennies but the pix of us at the event.. God, they screamed old foggies!!

You know me.. I refuse to go any place where the man next to me is sexier than I am!  And Sex God was totally getting checked out by the 20 year olds!  But, of course, he’s incredibly sexy most times.

So that’s how I did Coachella and what I plan on doing this year and every year after that.  It’s a wonderful vacation.

Although since we’re taking my little car to save on gas, I’m going to have to figure out how to rig the windows for privacy!

I’ve said it before (but no one reads the older posts, lol.  No one is as compulsive about going back to the beginning and following a bloggers journey as I am!) but I’ll say it again…  I have a different idea about the definition of my job as a parent.

In a way I’m like my Dad who took his role of “father” as seriously, but only when he actively chose to get involved in us, which was rare. Like most kids, we were parented by our mother with our father peripherally involved. Probably what made me a dominant female who married a man who preferred me that way.

So when I had my own kids I took to it a little like a job.  There were a million tasks to be done, decisions to be made for the little guy (s) and constant need-answering being demanded.  Which I’ve always been good at doing.

Yet when I look back on my style of parenting I can categorize it as different from my friends on a few levels.  I realize that we all parent the same way, basically, but we do it with different levels in each category.  For Instance:

The Caretaker: We’re all in charge of the basic needs of our kids.  Food, shelter and the basic healthy well-being of each.  You know, like any unemotional system.  Here’s your grub, brush your teeth, go to bed, wake up, here’s your grub, off to school.  Most parents, men especially, find this the easier road to master.  Because its just management.  Constantly changing as the years go by Management, but management just the same.

The Teacher: We’re also supposed to be training our kids to be ready for adulthood, a task many completely forget.  It’s impossible to imagine or plan for this when they’re under 3 years old and since those are the primary trust years I always say pamper the shit out of them during those first 3 years.  But once they are older…. oh, welcome to the REAL world!  You can start them off with “helping” Mommy which can turn into chores which can turn into responsibility.  Which I covered in these 3 blogs.

Kids and Money #1

Kids and Money #2

Kids and Money #3

The Loving Parent:  As “MOM” our job is to love them like few others do.  We have to give them all the levels of love.. unconditional, conditional, loving- you- while- still- being- the- heavy, silly love, playful love, I-almost-lost-you-and-can’t-live-without-you love… and every other aspect of love you can experience.  We feel that and shower our kids with various ones at least once throughout their lives.  Including the I-Love-Who-You-Grew-Into love.

What I noticed, is some people express their Parent Love in Caretaker form.  They shower the kids with whatever thing they want.  Some do it because its easier than dealing with correcting the whining behavior  over and over again.  Some do it because they want a better childhood for their kids than they had (was it really THAT bad? Are you a mass murderer?)  And some do it because they feel its the best expression of them as a Loving Parent.

The truth is we all like to feel we do each part pretty well.  But we do some parts better than others.  I excel at The Teacher and I’m pretty damn good at The Loving Parent but I was a better Manager when they were little.

Of course, part of being The Teacher is out-sourcing some of my management responsibilities to the  kids!