Karen and the Band Part Deux

I was joking with Julio on the way over to my second audition that there would be another woman there to one up me.  And there was.  Well, let's say we have different qualities to our voices.  And she was my neighbor.  We both drove a half an hour to sing our hearts out.  My son actually had a crush on her daughter in kindergarten.  So while we were waiting for the last band member, we gabbed for awhile.  We were both old enough to not have any competition between us.  At least, I was not in the least competitive.  I was having fun doing what I love.  We both were cheering for eachother and having a good time doing some back up as well.  As I watched her on stage, I could definetly feel she was a better fit.  It's not my low self-esteem showing through, it's my objective view of the situation.  She had no inhibition to singing Hard to Handle and did a great job of making up the words.  It's just not my cup of tea.  Will I lose out on this band because of that?  Am I a musical snob?  Music is just so personal to me and call me crazy, but I have to like what I sing. They are still auditioning people and are not in any way ready to make a decision.  I had so much fun to keep me going for the rest of the year just to do something with music.  I can't just be a housewife.  I can't just be a mother.  Some women are completely fulfilled or overwhelmed in those areas to not think about things they are passionate about.  You have to carve out that time for yourself.  Even if the kids whine that you're going out or say, "Mom sitting at that audition was really boring." I say no one died of boredom.  I watched firsthand how being a housewife full-time can make you forget who you are and sometimes ruin you.  In the long run, your kids respect you more if they see you are happy.  I have to tell myself that while my kids are still young and complain.

Karen and the Band

I will share my joy with you, reader, for tonight I got to audition for a rock and roll band. I have certainly tried different venues to release the inner diva, but to no avail.  I'm not getting any younger and would like to do something with music for once.  Rock and roll? Well, not really what my voice is meant for, but you take what you can get. My husband witnessed the event and told me I looked very happy and natural on the stage.  How did a little wife and mother get to become rock goddess for fifteen minutes?  Let me tell you.  There was an ad in the paper. A local guy was looking for a singer with no attitude to practice once a week with a band made up average joes with day jobs.  They would play local friends parties, etc. Well when I spoke to him, the hours did not conflict with any of mine, so my family and I went for me to audition. These guys are good, but not pros.  They had a limited song list, with even a more limited female songs.  I chose an Alanis Morrisette song out of their playlist which the guys hadn't practiced in awhile and I hadn't heard in years.  I read the lyrics from Julio's blackberry while singing.  Imagine the hijinx that ensued.  After a couple of tries we got it together and I was belting it out.  My kids are holding their ears and are dumbfounded.  Julio liked it.  The guys did too, but insisted I learn the other songs they know so next week we can try those out.  Some are cool:  Sheryl Crow, Garbage...but the Black Crowes, Green Day? How could a female voice do those artists justice?  And I hate the Black Crowes--from day one! All in all, I told them even if they didn't like me, it was great for me to sing with a band for one night in my life.  So next week should be interesting, because they are very open to learning new songs, but me sing "Hard to Handle?"  No way!

A Quick Heads Up

For anyone that has tried contacting me through my site, I am unable to receive them for some reason.  It doesn't even show that someone has tried to e-mail me so don't think I'm rude.  You can e-mail me the old fashioned way and I should receive it. 

Nice Guys Don't Always Finish Last

I have subscribed to the Philadelphia Inquirer for at least five years.  I have seen various deals when signing up for their auto-pay.  I never got around to calling when those were in place to benefit from them.  So when a telemarker called me to make a payment, he asked me how I was.  Well, I could hear the suprise in his voice when I asked him the same. When I asked him about specials for signing up for auto-pay, he said they didn't have any now.  I told him I recalled last time I saw theater tickets for signing up for auto-pay, he said he'd ask his manager.  When he found it would take sometime to track some down, he said he'd call me back.  It took him a half hour just to dig up some tickets.  Why would a stranger do such a thing?  He said my friendliness motivated him.  I let him know it was not in vain because I live in the boondocks, void of such culture.  It brightened my day.  And all I had to do was be nice.

A Word to the Conservative Woman or Those Faint of Heart

I am what you might consider white. Very white.  Well, my husband is hispanic only by skin and by food choice.  Otherwise, he's very white like me.  I am not prejudice in anyway and instead looked forward to learning about my husband's culture from Puerto Rico.  I have learned a lot in the ten years I have been with my husband.  Nothing could have prepared me for a Puerto Rican bridal shower.  It's rare in my experience to see a mother "corrupt" her daughter in order to prepare her for marriage.  Puerto Rican women have a strange sense of humor and I saw every aspect of that last Saturday.  Let's say it doesn't matter what age you are if you're a PR woman, your level of silliness like that of a twelve year old girl never ceases.  Especially when it comes to introducing a young woman to her "duties" of marriage.  I have been informed this is a very old tradition that introduces an ignorant bride to be of any male body parts that might be foreign to her.  A good point was brought out by someone there, that such tradition is archaic at best.  So this blog remains a warning to such a woman that has an ounce of morals inside her to know what you're getting into.  At least, be careful with accepting souvenirs, especially lollipops. 

"Emily of New Moon" Anime Series!

I was excited to find this:  an anime adaptation of "Emily of New Moon" was released this month in Japan!  I can only hope and wait for a US DVD release.  I hope to watch it with some close friends (Ceido, wink, wink ;) ), and even Julio wants to see it.

"Emily of New Moon" Anime home page

Spoke Too Soon

Last night was a bit rough.  I felt awful all day, getting worse until, when Julio got home, I asked him to take me to the ER.  I called my surgeon's office to talk to a nurse and see if I could get a new medication, because the pain medicine they gave me wasn't helping.  The surgeon is on vacation, and the nurse told me that she couldn't prescribe me anything else.  "That's what he prescribed you and that's what you should take." she said.  Unbelievable!  I was in all this pain and she was not helpful at all.  I had so much pain in my sinuses, and having the nasal junk dripping down my nose into my stomach was making me very nauseous.  I went to the ER and was there for a few hours.  They gave me two new medicines which have helped a lot.  When we got home, I threw up, but that helped me feel better.

I'd like to thank everyone who expressed their thoughts and concerns here and on Julio's site.  I really appreciated that.  Hopefully I'll be getting better in the next week or so.