Happy 2015 my excitable friends! I hope everyone has kicked this new years off with a bang and are taking it by storm! Are we all ready for the first edition of the spotlight this year? I hope so because here she is – Meet Vanessa Sena!
Vanessa gives partial credit of her 311 discovery to MTV. During an episode of Alternative Nation, they played the video for “Down.” That was her first exposure but it was later on during a car ride that she heard the Blue album in full and was completely drawn to them. “The vocal pairing between Nick and SA was unlike anything else but it was the rhythms that drew me in. From there I transitioned to 311 chat rooms, joined the message board (in 97-ish before it blew up), the mailing list and bought any album of theirs I could find.”
10 live shows are in Vanessa’s repertoire so far and she has a great outlook on the ones she’s been to. “It’s not 20 or even 100, but it’s more than never and that’s good enough for me.” Of the 10, she’s been to 311 Day 2012 and 2014. However her favorite so far was the Pensacola show in 2007. “It had been 7 years since I had seen them and given recent changes I had experienced then it was instant water works as soon as the lights dimmed out. I felt such immense joy that night, I’ll never forget it.”
The prize for song that means the most to her goes to “I’ll Be Here Awhile.” “It reminds me to remain strong and that there isn’t a thing I can’t overcome.” Some of her favorite lyrics come from the song as well – “But I’ll see it through in time.” Other favorite lines from other songs include “Like having phone sex with a deaf girl” (She says it always cracks her up) and then these words from the song “Simple True” – “I’ve got a working title somewhere and I know one day I’ll get there, I’m grasping here.” These lyrics really resonate with her right now because while she isn’t where most people the age of 31 are, she says she’s still here and fighting her way through all life’s rings of fire.
It was back in 1983 that Vanessa entered the world, the daughter of two wonderful parents who are sadly both gone from her life at this point. Her parents met while her father was in the Air Force. It took some time in Thailand and some distance in between, but they finally made it to the U.S. where they married. Vanessa has two older sisters and spent most of her time growing up in Northwest Florida (Fort Walton Beach). When her dad retired from the Air Force, he took a job with a company that eventually relocated him overseas. When Vanessa was in third grade, she, her mom and middle sister hopped a plane to join him there, while her oldest sister stayed behind to finish high school.
For the next three years Vanessa lived in Saudi Arabia. She says that’s an interesting fact that most people don’t know about her and that it isn’t what people think. “The majority of people I came across were very kind and welcoming. I did wear an abaya to cover my clothes but never anything covering my hair or face. I missed having pork and some other American fare but with authentic shawarmas and Kinder eggs at my reach I forgot all about it. It was a very humbling experience and would happily relive that piece of my childhood again if I could.”
Unfortunately in 1995 Vanessa lost her mother due to health complications. At the young age of 12, she travelled back to the U.S. to live with her sisters in a home her parents built in Niceville, Florida, and she says yes it is a real place! She went through a tough time dealing with the loss of her mother and handling the normal teenage growing pains. “I wasn’t used to cliques, wore glasses and until then my mom dictated my wardrobe. As a result, I saw no better thing than being gone because I felt it was my fault somehow that all this bad had come about. It wasn’t until years later that I would come to terms with it all but even now I’m hard on myself sometimes.”
Vanessa didn’t immediately enter college after graduating high school, choosing to work and experience life a bit more before heading there. It was in 2007 that she began working on her BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Public Administration. She now really wants to end up counseling young kids and while her education has been put on hold momentarily, she does hope to finish that chapter in her life eventually. She is just getting ready to relocate to Washington state, so she can add that location to her list of cool places she’s lived! As for funding her 311 habit, she works just like most of us do. She said once she’s relocated, she knows she’ll find something to help her start saving for 311 Day 2016.
Most people don’t realize that Vanessa is actually half Thai. As for her guilty pleasure it’s pretty simple – “I love food. Eating it, cooking it, and admiring it in books and TV shows. For instance, just after Thanksgiving I had the most amazing strawberry preserves at a local Phoenix eatery called Matt’s Big Breakfast. I shamelessly scraped the tiny round dish with the remainder of my home fries so I could eat the rest. It was that amazeballs.”
Vanessa also has an eclectic taste in music, which she credits to the influences of her father, mother, and sisters. Her dad was a Led Zeppelin fan, mom had an infatuation with Julio Iglesias, and her sisters listened to a variety of Hip-Hop, R&B, and Pop. Her playlist on her iTunes goes something like this (besides 311 obviously): Deftones, The Airborne Toxic Event, Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, Incubus, Slipknot, Adele, Maroon 5, Tool, Foo Fighters, The Sounds, Coheed & Cambria, Taylor Swift, Minus the Bear, Justin Timberlake, Matt Kearney, Big Band Jazz, some Rap, straight up 80’s tunes and Rock Oldies.
311 came into Vanessa’s life at a time she needed some guidance the most, right after she lost her mother. So here is her personal message to them:
“Music and poetry became my escape and in my quest for something to drown out my sorrows, this band unexpectedly entered my life. I would tell them thank you. Thank you so damn much for creating music together. You’ve opened my life to experiences I otherwise may not have had and I’ve met some amazing people in the process (including someone I’ve unexpectedly become fond of). If not for the countless albums and attendance at shows I don’t think I would’ve seen things through. In addition to everything else that keeps me held together, you five have aided me in seeing the positive in things and what I have to fight for. I love you all.”
Finally her message to the great people of the 311 community:
“No matter what our focuses, beliefs and opinions are in life those of you reading this very blog were brought together by this band and the brother/sisterhood most of us consider family. When I first became immersed in 311 groups I didn’t expect it to have an effect of this magnitude. Within months I found myself part of the Familia Secret Santa Gift Exchange then meeting some of your wonderful faces in New Orleans.It was while I didn’t bother to search for something that I was rewarded and I am forever grateful. I have found far more than just other 311 fans but genuinely kind people; friends. Thank you to everyone who has welcomed me with an open mind and an open heart. Remember to love yourself, respect others, live life to the fullest and for Pete’s sake don’t sweat the small stuff. Cheers and Happy New Year!!”
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Well said Vanessa! Thanks my friends in the 311 nation for reading and learning more about this awesome slinky sister! Happy New Year to all and may 2015 be full of positivity and prosperity.
Much love – The Runt