Bus stop misfits

This post is dedicated to two young ladies who ride the bus with me in the morning. While I am headed to my joe job, they are most likely heading to high school. Dun dun dun... Normally I don't make it a point of observing teenage girls but these two remind me so damned much of me when I was that age I can't help but be intrigued. One is tall and gawky, the kind of girl that you know will be pretty when she grows into herself. The other short and solid, big head of curly hair, wears "Cat in the Hat" converse shoes every day and looks like the kind of girl who experiment with her sexuality later in life...if you catch my drift. The two of them are just so damned adorable I can't stand it. As a former high school misfit myself I feel a kinship with these young ladies. It's like looking into a mirror of myself from the past. I almost want to sweep them up in a big group hug and let them know it'll all be ok. Being the misfit also means you're generally the most interesting person in the room. Teenagers can't take interesting people. Seriously, think about it. Take a minute and think about the popular kids from your high school. How boring were/are they?! Having just been dragged kicking and screaming to my 10 year high school reunion I can assure you it's true. Not to say that these people aren't good people and that the wounds of high school treachery don't scab over with time but yeah...snooze. Although I might not have chosen the most conventional of lives I can be thankful life is never dull (even when it is if you catch my drift.) I want to let these girls know that they will find extreme satisfaction later in life when they realize they are, in fact, now the cool kids. So here's to you little ones...keep being you...

Happy birthday Jo!

Sometimes all you need to kick start yourself into doing something is the validation that someone else enjoys it. This entry is for my girl Joanna Mohammed who tonight (albiet probably drunkenly) asked me if I was still blogging and told me she thought I should because she enjoyed reading it. So thank you girl for getting me off my butt to start writing anew. If this birthday is a proper one you should in no way remember having this little convo with me but I appreciate it none the less. Knowing something you do is valued, even in the smallest way, is the greatest gratification. So here's to you Jo. Happy birthday! (P.S. You, Marla, Francois, Claire and the rest of The Diggs make Usher and Rihanna sound like tone deaf turds...you killed it!)

You don't know beans...

...until you come to Boston. So in the grand tradition of me not following through on tasks I set aside for myself to do, I have been neglecting my poor little blog for sometime now. All I can say is, I'm sorry little blog spot, deeply and truly sorry :(

Sometimes, in this life, all you need to recharge your batteries is a change of scene. Luckily, I have a built in escape plan (namely going back to Boston to see my rents). This trip actually happened quite by accident and ended up being one of the better trips home I've made of late. Between jetting through NYC and catching up with my gays and then spending quality time with both family and friends in Beantown I feel newly energized, if not a little homesick.

I'll leave you with a picture from one of my favorite artists whose work I was able to take in, in person, this week as it is on display at the Boston Athenaeum :) Edward Gorey, you are a genius.

Talking to God

"For a singer, your voice, singing...it's how you speak to God." -John Edwards

No not THE John Edwards...either of them...this quote came from not a former vice-Presidential candidate nor a television spiritualist. It came from my co-worker, massage therapist, future doctor but most importantly actor/singer/dancer: John Edwards. Leave it to a gay man (a theatre practitioner no less!) to so perfectly put into words a feeling that I have felt for years. Why do I sing? Why do I love it so? And why are people so drawn to vocalists?

It's my own personal conversation with the universe. Heavy huh?

Not really...for those of you who know me (I think I've even spoken about this in my blog before) I have an interesting relationship with the big guy upstairs. Namely I don't really believe there is one. HOWEVER, I believe in something...is it a baby in swaddling clothes or an ancient man in a white robe that would make even the purest bride blush? No. It's nothing that concrete. Call it a feeling, an intuition, a dream,fat, a giant purple elephantin the room (how Hindu!)...I don't know but there is something out there driving us all. Just take a minute to watch the tides of the ocean or a particularly beautiful sunset (I very rarely see it rise unless I've been up all night) and you'll feel simultaneously so small and so immense. Thanks mother nature for making me feel so insignificant while so integral in the ebb and flow of the universe. (side note...I also don't know if "god" is a beautiful elven lady wrapped in vines and birds feathers, lithe and birdlike while also strong as the roots of tree...in other words, mother nature? I don't know) I do know when I sing I feel a connection with myself and the world and people around me. I think people are so drawn to those with vocal talent because they can sense the discourse that's happening with the universe. I know it sounds like new-age hooey but I believe that tapping into your voice helps you tap into a universal conversation. It doesn't matter what language or key or style of music, you're part of the discussion and that is beautiful.

Let's face it. My relationship with my voice is one of the longest standing ones that I have (aside from my mumma of course) and like most long term affairs it has at times been so fulfilling and at others more trouble than it was worth. We have loved each other. We have hated each other. We have even LOST each other on occasion. But what can I say? I'm stuck with her and she with me. We had to learn to get along. Let me tell you, my voice has taken me far and wide. It's let me experience things I never would have, led me to some of my most special relationships and my darkest failures. If that's not proof that use of my voice is connected to the universe on a whole, I don't know what is.

So thanks voice...we've been through so much and we've got a long way to go. I can't wait to see what we'll do next...Universe? God?

You better get ready to keep on listening...

Please tip your....singer?

Now I must preface this post by saying that the catalyst for this post was a table full of rowdy drunk business people throwing cash on my bandstand. What better to write about right?! This past wednesday at my weekly gig at the Hilton I nearly doubled my pay for the night with tips. One would think "that seems regular"...hotel, high priced drinks, pretty lounge singer singing popular songs, tips would be a regular occurance. WRONG! In my entire time singing there I have only been tipped twice...TWICE! This got me thinking...why is it that people will automatically tip their waitress or bartender but will neglect to tip their live performers?! Now maybe it's just because I am a working singer but if I see a band or singer with a tip jar I will always contribute. I know that often times these gigs don't pay so well so I feel the need help out my fellow artists. Now I know this may seem like a petty gripe and I know that waitstaff do work hard (I've done the bartending thing) but when I am working my butt off singing requests all night I expect to be compensated. Moral of the story if you request some obscure tune from god knows what decade/artist and we attempt to try and play it...TIP! IF you enjoy the performance and just spent almost $100 on booze, throw the performers a fiver on the way out! If you're in town on business and stop into the hotel lobby to relax and find yourself really relazing to the soothing sounds of life music...give a little!

Thank you wealthy business men and women everywhere :)

BURLESQUE!

OK...run, skip, jump SHANTEE your way to this movie! Had a lovely "nips and soda" date with the wonderful Ms. La-Nai Gabriel and saw this last night and it ha changed my life. Ok...not really BUT this movie WAY exceeded my expectations (I mean I saw both Glitter and Crossroads in the theatre, yikes!) Granted the plot is a little predictable but who the hell cares when you have Cher and X-Tina belting their faces in sequins and pearls. Cher, I love you, you are the closest thing a woman will ever come to being a drag queen and it's fabulous. X, what can I say?! I have always and will always love you. Period. Maybe it's the gay man inside me but I was just all a twitter after this film. It was big, sparkly and fabulous. Such a feel good night!

Moral of the story...if you sing acapella in your underwear reverb will follow! Thanks X!

Stressball, thy name is Leah

Yep, pretty much every aspect of my life is stress producing at the moment. I've literally started breaking out all over my body (am I a 14 year old boy?!..next comes voice cracking! Joy.) I don't really know what the solution to this problem is just yet. However, I know something needs to be done soon. I'm sure my blood pressure is through the roof! Is this the virgo in me? Who knows...Ug.