So, when I decided to write a brand-new blog, I wasn't totally sure what it was going to be about. Now that it's been a few weeks and I've scoured the internet for ideas (mostly by Googling "interesting blog ideas" and reading article headings), I still haven't come up with anything life- changing or prophetic to write about. I'm not even sure I want other people to read this blog. In fact, I bet that even if I told people about it, they probably would just skim the first few lines so that they could say they read it (much like I did with those blog advice articles).
I feel like when people write blogs, they write them because they're on a "journey"; they've started a new diet, or a new job, or they're trying to make all of Julia Child's recipes in a year or something. But (and not to sound like someone who thinks she's deep) I feel like all of life is a journey, like whether you're starting something new or you're doing what you've always done, you always have stories to tell. So that's what this blog is going to be: my stories.
The first story I want to tell happened when I was in the 6th grade. At that time in my life, it felt like I had a world of possibilities ahead of me. I had a new best friend, a couple of acquaintances, and had made my mark as a world-class teacher's pet (by accident; it wasn't that I was genuinely sucking up, I was just really good at making conversation with people four times my age). So, when one of my acquaintances (whom I fondly call my 'fringe friends,' since I only ever thought of them being on the fringe of my interactions) asked me to sing with her in the talent show, I *obviously* thought it was a ~fantastic~ idea.
For weeks thereafter, she and I practiced under our breath during every class. She had chosen "Big Girls Don't Cry" as our premiere anthem. I didn't actually know the song (since my taste at the time was more Disney Radio than Destiny's Child), but listening to it on her Sony Radio during recess made me believe I could do it.
The day of the talent show, my friend and I warmed up next to an 8th grader who would be performing an original rap dedicated to "his haters" and she informed me that one of her other friends would be joining us. Her being "lead vocal," this meant that I was to wait until the third verse to start singing. I thought this was a waste of my musical genius, but whatever.
When we got out onto the stage (which was actually just a single microphone in the middle of our gymnasium) and looked into the crowd (which was actually just a captive audience of our classmates), I found my best friend and waved. I should've probably known from her cringing face that this was not going to be the "big break" that I was hoping for.
Our moment had arrived; the music began and the first girl in our trio started singing. We could tell right away that something was wrong. Suddenly, our voices weren't loud, in tune, or even in the right key. The next girl began, and she was even worse. Then, before the third verse of the song, there was a break and a guitar solo, during which the three of us stood in the middle of the floor, looking as awkward as we felt.
Then I heard it.
From the front row, one of the meanest and most sarcastic girls in my class pointed straight at me and yelled at the top of her voice: "YO! YOU GONNA SING?!"
Oh I sang, that one time and never onstage again.
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