Brace yourself for a looooooooooooooooooooong comment.

I was going to enter this is the "I'm So Proud" contest, but I missed the deadline. By a longshot. Oops. Still, I think I did a pretty decent job on this one, despite it being so late. I could even say that I'm proud of it. But that's not the thing that I'm displaying my pride for in this picture.

See that thing that I'm holding in the picture? It's my favorite album EVER! Namely, Bounce by Bon Jovi. It's the band's eighth studio album, and the only album that they decided to ignore in regards to their most recent greatest hits. Not one song made it on there! So not only do the music critics and most of the fan base hate it, the very band that made the CD hate it, too. That makes me sad.

OK, enough ranting. Here's why I'm a proud fan of Bounce:

• It's the first Bon Jovi CD that I ever bought, thus solidifying my fanaticism for the band.
• It's one of the few CDs that I've ever listened to in which I can say I like every track. Even the weak ones don't seem so bad.
• The subject matter of the songs is very diverse-- from anthems and love songs to the aftermath of 9/11 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• It's a very visual album. I can see the songs in my mind as I listen to them.
• My first rock concert was on the promotional tour for Bounce. It was the best day of my life! And yes, the t-shirt in the picture is the one I bought at that concert. I'm wearing that very shirt as I type this. Coincidence? You decide.
• I LOVE the video for "Everyday". Yes, the raining televisions seem a little corny, but I still love the video. I was originally going to get a screenshot of the video to use as a reference in my picture, but I wound up using the satellite on the CD cover instead.

I have a lot of fond memories in regards to this album. I just wish it had generated a hit. Then it wouldn't have been forgotten.

Heck, now that I think back, some of the songs had been nominated for Grammys. I wish they would have won, even though they were nominated in the wrong category (pop, as opposed to rock) and were competing against the likes of *N Sync. Hey, it would have been better had they won their first Grammy for best pop song than for best country song with the friggin' Sugarland chick. No offense, country fans, but a band that was once classified as '80s hair metal making a country album? That just should not be. Oh, dang, I'm ranting again. Sorry. Please don't kill me for the above comment.

OK, now about the picture. I made it with pencil, colored pencils, and ink pens on sketch paper. I tried to blend colors more with this one, and I like the outcome.

Note: I'm probably going to post this one on my DeviantART account under the name KebaSiRota. If you see this picture on DA under a different name, please report it.