There's a whole generation of people who are reading me right now (121 of you at the moment) that aren't aware of my total consuming passion for all that is Axl Rose and Guns N Roses. Now, that's just not right. Sure, the passion has died down a lot since last year, but it's still there. It will always be there. I have no control over my Axl love.

So I just thought I'd take a moment to wax poetical on that which is my love for Axl. For those of you who have followed me here, feel free to skip this entry as I'm sure you're already aware of the love. But for those new people, let me take you on a little journey. A journey of love.

It all started when I was a mere 12 years old, in 1992. GN'R had just come out with the Use Your Illusion albums, and for some reason, I found something in those albums that I felt I needed at the time. I'm not sure what it was that started the whole thing, but I'm sure it had something to do with Axl.

Axl W. Rose is a hot guy. At least, he was about 12 years ago when I started this obsession, before he decided to have weird surgery and strange hair. Here is an example of his hotness:

When all else fails, I just plain love that tattoo. What can I say? I love the bad boys.

Before my love for Axl, my love was for Christian Slater. I had wall papered my room with pictures of him, all over the place, and it was a little scary. But then there was Axl. Pictures of Luke Perry and Christian Slater were then replaced with pictures of Axl and Sebastian Bach and Metallica, and thus the era of Hair Metal was rushed into my life. But, it was 1992, and that was pretty much the last year for such things. I'm a late bloomer.

I was totally obsessed with Axl. I wrote stories about him. I would literally stare at his picture for long periods of time. I'd carry it around with me, show it to everyone in sight distance. If you think this made me popular in my 6th grade class, well, you're wrong. I'm still waiting for Nick Stahl to do an interview and talk about that weird girl who had an obsession with Axl Rose and with him. It'll happen someday. Really.

I bought all the albums. I watched Headbangers Ball religiously. I once refused to come out of my room for a whole night because my parents wouldn't let me go to a Skid Row concert. And then.. and then there was the Guns N Roses concert.

Picture it: I'm 12 years old. I haven't even started 7th grade yet. The day before 7th grade starts, there's a contest on my favorite metal radio station. Call now, and win tickets to the Guns N Roses concert! I call, and well.. I win the tickets. I am so happy and so shocked that all I could say to this guy on the radio was "Oh.My.God. Oh.. my.. God." And I think the radio guy was just as shocked that this little girl just won GN'R tickets.

Anyway, I obtain the tickets, and I'm so extremely excited about it. The bad news: My parents won't let me go. They think that it won't be good for me. They actually worry that I will "become a groupie" and they refuse to let me go. I'm an ugly 12 year old with bad teeth and they think I'm going to be a groupie? I still question their judgement on that decision.

They broke my heart. But you know, like most people, I thought there would be another concert soon enough.

For 10 years, that was one of the worst dissapointments of my life. Everyone thought that there would be more concerts after that, more albums, but there wasn't. That was the last tour the whole band as we knew it would ever do.

I still held a candle for GN'R during the years that they disbanded and general chaos erupted. Whenever anyone asked, I'd still say my favorite band is Guns N Roses. After 1992, though, I'd get weird looks and a few snorts. I was deemed uncool for liking the band. But that's okay, I'm used to it by now.

Most people lost faith in Guns N Roses after all of the original members except Axl left. And really, I do understand that. Guns N Roses without Slash is just wrong, but he seems to have recovered pretty well with Duff and Matt Sorum in their new little Velvet Revolver stuff. Anyway.

I knew Axl would make a comeback. And he sorta did. I mean, we have to give him a little credit. He just wasn't quite ready to take the world by storm yet. He will be. Soon.

In 2000, the revamped GNR started making appearances at different festivals and such. On New Years Eve, they played Mandelay Bay in Las Vegas. The irony? I was IN Las Vegas ON New Years Eve, but I had NO CLUE that they were going to be there. You'd think I'd feel a disturbance in the force or something, but I had no idea. When I found out from a blackjack dealer in California (which was really a strange occurance, now that I think about it.. not that I was playing blackjack, but the odds that that dealer would have seen GN'R.. that's crazy.) about the concert, I was overwhelmed with frustration. I couldn't believe it! My lord!

But. Then came New Years Eve 2001. They announced a concert a few weeks before, and somehow I just knew I had to go. It was mandatory. It was coming up to my 10th anniversary of loving Axl, and I had to go. So, I did. And it was one of the greatest experiences of my whole entire life.

Then there was a tour a year later that a whole lot of people didn't go to, including Axl, and there were riots, and then it was cancelled, and there's still no new album out there even though Axl has had 10 years to work on it. To be honest, my obsession has waned a lot over the last year. What can I say? He broke my heart when he cancelled the concert in Dallas. That was supposed to be my graduation present. I lost a lot of faith in him after that.

But a few days ago, I heard they were going to play at the Rock in Rio festival in Portugal next year. That's big news. My Axl weiner is going a little crazy. But I'm not getting my hopes up. I love my Axl, but he broke my heart, and I'm a little weary of him these days.

But that's my Guns N Roses story. I will always answer the "What's your favorite band?" question with the simple "Guns N Roses." Although lately I've been tempted to say Coldplay instead, but I just don't have the heart to do it. Axl will always be my favorite, whether I like it or not. "Don't Cry" is still my all time favorite song. I still jam to GN'R albums on rare occasions. I have almost all the GN'R MP3's and I still scream along to every song. It's in my blood now. There's nothing I can do about it.

And that is my Axl story. Yay!