I really like this a lot....

Hello Stephen,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtg8Cas3lbs

"Patiently" and "Opened the Door," LIVE....in concert.

Someone posted this today on Facebook, and I really enjoyed it a lot....(though nobody seems to know who those beautiful women are, in the video).  I know you don't kiss and tell so I won't even ask.  They really are beautiful though.  You lucky dawg, you. Wink-wink-nudge-nudge-say-no-more.

I chuckle every time I see you wearing that yellow cheetah shirt...cracks me up!  Do you still have that thing?!  HA!  That would be a HOOT if you wore it NOW and had your picture taken...I double-dawg-dare-ya!!  Come on!!  Go dig through your closet and find it!! You can't fool ME, Mister, I know you've got it stashed somewhere...as much as you wore that thing, you absolutely seemed to LOVE IT, so I'm betting you still have it.  I do have to say, though, that it looked much better with the tuxedo jacket over it. (or pretty much any jacket would do, really...it was hideous). hehehehehehe But I still love ya.

I only wish I could have been at this particular performance to see and hear it all LIVE.  But alas, I was 16 when you guys came around to Michigan the first time that I knew about it, but my mom said I was "too young" to go to a concert.  I was so upset!!  So I had to wait until I was 18, and I was finally allowed to go to Detroit, to the Joe Lewis Stadium, on October 8, 1986....and it was the Raised On Radio tour.  I missed all the ORIGINAL Journey stuff, and that makes me so sad.  I was so born in the wrong decade.  Now I can only see the original stuff on video, youtube, or on DVD.  Huge bummer.

I mean, the other day, Randy Jackson went on the Ellen Degeneris show, and as he walked in, they played "Don't Stop Believin'" in the background, and he played AIR GUITAR...now, I like Randy Jackson, he seems pretty cool....but COME ON, REALLY???  His only "big" gig was with Journey, or what?  I thought he'd been around in other bands before and after that?  Why didn't they just play the theme from American Idol???  That seemed really and truly bizarre to me.

I remember going to that ROR concert and feeling so upset that Ross and Smitty weren't there...who the heck was this Michael guy, playing drums?!  That's NOT who I wanted to see!! (Hell, I don't even remember his last name anymore).  That's how much of an impression he made on me.  And if Randy weren't on t.v. now, doing his own thing, I wouldn't have remembered HIM either.  NOBODY can replace Ross and Smitty.  And nobody can replace YOU either.  Not ever.

Anyway, so when somebody digs up something like this, and posts it, I get goosebumps all over me, as though I have been transported through time back to my "pseudo-groupie" days of my youth, feeling as excited about hearing it NOW for the first time, (that is, THIS version of the songs), as I was THEN.

Yep, I'm gonna just be blunt and say it, you made me cream my jeans back then.

That is the magic that you gave to me all my life, Mr. Stephen Perry.  The excited goosebumps, the chills down my spine, the adrenaline rush watching you run around that stage like a wild man, the passion and super sexiness that you exuded was contagious to anyone who was there to witness it.  THAT is magic, and you've got so much of it, I do believe it's even comin' outcher ass every time you bend over.  Makes me wanna RUB that ass, and hope that some magic gets all over ME.....wait....um....that didn't sound right....I don't want anything comin' outcher ass AT ME like that....good Lord....I need to rephrase that. Okay, I want to rub your sexiness, (wherever it is located), and hope that I can vicariously live it all over again.  Does that make more sense?!  (SIGH....nevermind).

I just love you.  That's all I can say.  No frills.  Just a plain old smarmy cliche, "I love you."

Seriously.  You wonder why people out here in the real world LOVE YOU?!  It's the magic, that's why. Your voice transports us out of our drudgery, takes away our problems for awhile, focuses us on the voice of an angel, (which I SWEAR TO GOD I heard angels sing the minute you walked through the door of a meet-and-greet when I first met you).

You reached out with that voice, and flew us away with you and we soared above everything that drags people down, and you wrapped your voice around us all like a toasty warm blanket, or a comforting warm hug, and you took us along on a ride above all turmoil, to witness the love, the passion, and the magic.  EVERY TIME YOU SING, that is how we the fans, feel about it.

It's addictive, this magic of yours.  I don't know where you got it, but baby, you've got it.  And that is a rare gift, my friend.  A might rare gift indeed.  Just don't bend over too much and lose it all outcher ass. Mmmk??  Cuz that could get quite messy if not attended to.  Sheesh.

I don't know why but I just wanted to tell you that.  As silly as I am, I really mean it. You do have a magic about you, even though you're just a plain old guy, no frills really.  The frills we all loved are in your voice, my friend, and in the way you danced that sexy butt of yours around the stage.  But even without all that "frill and thrill" stuff, you're just a regular human being, and a very good man.  And THAT is also part of the magic.  EVERY MAN SHOULD STRIVE TO BE MORE LIKE YOU. And that's what women fall in love with, you know...the POTENTIAL of a man, and how good he can be.

Sure, you're a dirty damned dawg sometimes, a brat, a jerk, and probably even an asshole now and then. Every man on this planet has those moments, and I have no doubt that you do as well.  Who cares?!  Just open that pie-hole and sing, and we really and truly don't give a shit HOW imperfect you may be.  It only endears you to us all the more.

Yep. You are my favorite magical man on this planet.

Love you lots....bye for now.

----Rebecca     ps. Florence and I had a GOOD DAY today...all is well again...I'm sorry that I "vent" to you so much about her, sometimes, but I really don't have anyone else to talk to about it.  And I've never been able to just keep everything internalized without writing it out onto a page, or in this case, on a blog. Once I write it and get it all out of me, I feel more relaxed, and I feel like I can better deal with it. But keep in mind, please, that when people are venting, they often say things they really do not mean. That is the case with me.  I love Florence.  I would never hurt her.  I would never cause her any grief. She is my 2nd mom, and she's my family. I just wish I had been blessed with more patience than I've got. I am working on it though. Thanks for understanding.