Abigail M. Schilling

Do you ever have those moments when you're certain that life will be perfect forever? You're getting all the green lights and then you find out that Jennifer Garner is starring in some book-to-movie fave and then your best friend calls to tell you that everything at Gap is like 90 percent off and you're certain that pretty soon the sky will rain dollar bills and Starbucks?

I had one of those moments Sunday morning. Not that exact moment, but if Gap is having that sale please CALL ME right away.

It all began when I found myself driving, unusually, on Sunday morning. Why was I driving on a Sunday morning instead of laying in bed? Why I had decided to go to church this day out of all the days? Why was my drive so much longer than before I had moved?

Well, you see, clearly it was because I was destined to win John Mayer tickets. NAY, I deserved John Mayer tickets. I was going to church!

The radio started to give them away Friday, but I never try to win things on the radio because it's too discouraging. Whenever concert ticket giveaways are announced I merely think wistfully for a time when I have the foresight to look up concerts in advance and the income to spend on them.

This time though they were selling tickets "before you can buy them!" John Mayer! At the Hollywood Bowl! How fun! I thought. And the concert wasn't until June. If I bought the tickets and nothing else for the rest of time it would be totally justifiable.

Until I looked up the tickets. $110 for the cheap seats. (Over $500 for the front seats.)

I am never gone to see John Mayer ever.

Talk about discouragement.

But then! BAM! The stars collided and I was within grasp of my fate. The tickets were to be mine!

So I called the radio station and talked to the DJ.

"You're giving tickets away THIS MORNING?"

"Yup, sometime between 9 and 10. If you go to my page on star987.com I've posted the exact time."

I thanked her and dialed my mom. Quick! Look this up! I'm going to church! I'm going to win these tickets! She tried her best and delivered no data (unless you count the website's sidebar menu) but I soldiered on.

They announced the giveaway. Caller twenty wins a pair of tickets to John Mayer at the Hollywood Bowl!

I dialed.

It rang.

And I was caller twelve.

Twelve.

I got through and I was not the right number. Do you understand how close that is? SO CLOSE.

And now I've sunken to the depths of despair. I tried winning the rest of the day but never got through. Caller twelve is the closest I'll ever get to John Mayer.

So if you hear that Jen is going to be in The Solace of Leaving Early please call me. I could use the encouragement.

[New blog design up. Refresh a lot to load all the new pictures.]