Monday Storytime
Realized last week it has been 25 years since I left home to go to college. In someways it certainly does not feel that long ago and in other ways it feels like lifetimes ago. And in many ways it has been. I was going to be an actor. Went to a Junior College to get my grades up and was going to transfer to a senior college to pursue acting after receiving my associates degree.Someday I would be on Broadway. Or at least off-off-Broadway.
I have not been onstage since Spring of 1991. "Big River" was the last show I did. I had a great time acting but it all feels bittersweet now. I left for the wrong reason.
A girl. It is always a girl.
She did not like the idea of me being a romantic lead in a show, not that I had ever been one up to that point. I played the supporting characters that helped drive the story, never the main actor in anything I was in.Yet, she fretted over the possibility that at some point it would happen. We had several arguments over it. Really it was one of a series of arguments we had starting about 6 months after we started dating. The next 2 1/2 years would be mostly arguments. Both of us afraid of being alone. Ended up at times being more alone by staying in a relationship that lasted years too long.
Lost contact with her 3 years after I graduated college.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Monday, August 11, 2014
Monday Storytime
In April of 2001 I went to see Billy Joel and Elton John in Greensboro. I have been fan of Billy Joel since I was a kid and while not as big a fan of Elton John I knew it was still an opportunity to see one of the greats.
I was supposed to meet some friends at a local bar before the show but left work late and by the time I arrived at Greensboro Coliseum I was running way late. I made my way to where I thought my seats were (had little to no help from the ushers) and there were people in the seats. being by myself I decided not to bother anyone and eventually made my way all the way to the back of the coliseum to the furthest row sitting in a folding chair against the cement wall of the building. It was also behind the stage. I thought I would at least be able to hear the music and did not mind that I would not see either one of the performers.
I was wrong.
The band was directly below me so I could see them perform as they warmed up before Elton John took the stage. That is when I realized that there was a piano directly below me in direct line of sight from my seat. I knew then I would at least see either Billy or Elton perform. Lights went down and out came Elton and he sat the piano in front of me. Amazing. And while I do not remember what either Billy Joel or Elton John played, I remember watching his hands carve that piano. It was nothing like I have ever seen.
There is another reason I do not remember what Elton John played. I was perhaps in the middle of the row. Directly on my right was a large group of people who were about 10 years older than me at the time. And they had been drinking. Probably for hours before the doors opened. One of them apparently was a Billy Joel fan as he yelled, directly into my ear: "BILLY JOEL!!! BILLY JOEL!! We want fucking BILLY JOEL!!" throughout Elton's performance. The first few times it was funny but 20 minutes later it was annoying. Elton was fantastic. And soon he was walking offstage much to the delight of BILLY JOEL yelling man.
Intermission started, lights came up. I am not sure if there was music playing during this time over the speakers but that is my guess. Soon the lights came back up and Billy Joel walked onto the stage and sat down at the piano on the other end of the stage. He begin to play. But no shouts of his name came from the right of me.
BILL JOEL yelling man had passed out.
Slept through 3/4 of Billy Joel's performance. He woke and I noticed he was talking to what was his girlfriend/wife. He came down the aisle and apologized to everyone within yelling distance. He apologized to me at least twice as I was the one closest to him.
I accepted his apology with a big smile knowing I would have a story to tell.
In April of 2001 I went to see Billy Joel and Elton John in Greensboro. I have been fan of Billy Joel since I was a kid and while not as big a fan of Elton John I knew it was still an opportunity to see one of the greats.
I was supposed to meet some friends at a local bar before the show but left work late and by the time I arrived at Greensboro Coliseum I was running way late. I made my way to where I thought my seats were (had little to no help from the ushers) and there were people in the seats. being by myself I decided not to bother anyone and eventually made my way all the way to the back of the coliseum to the furthest row sitting in a folding chair against the cement wall of the building. It was also behind the stage. I thought I would at least be able to hear the music and did not mind that I would not see either one of the performers.
I was wrong.
The band was directly below me so I could see them perform as they warmed up before Elton John took the stage. That is when I realized that there was a piano directly below me in direct line of sight from my seat. I knew then I would at least see either Billy or Elton perform. Lights went down and out came Elton and he sat the piano in front of me. Amazing. And while I do not remember what either Billy Joel or Elton John played, I remember watching his hands carve that piano. It was nothing like I have ever seen.
There is another reason I do not remember what Elton John played. I was perhaps in the middle of the row. Directly on my right was a large group of people who were about 10 years older than me at the time. And they had been drinking. Probably for hours before the doors opened. One of them apparently was a Billy Joel fan as he yelled, directly into my ear: "BILLY JOEL!!! BILLY JOEL!! We want fucking BILLY JOEL!!" throughout Elton's performance. The first few times it was funny but 20 minutes later it was annoying. Elton was fantastic. And soon he was walking offstage much to the delight of BILLY JOEL yelling man.
Intermission started, lights came up. I am not sure if there was music playing during this time over the speakers but that is my guess. Soon the lights came back up and Billy Joel walked onto the stage and sat down at the piano on the other end of the stage. He begin to play. But no shouts of his name came from the right of me.
BILL JOEL yelling man had passed out.
Slept through 3/4 of Billy Joel's performance. He woke and I noticed he was talking to what was his girlfriend/wife. He came down the aisle and apologized to everyone within yelling distance. He apologized to me at least twice as I was the one closest to him.
I accepted his apology with a big smile knowing I would have a story to tell.
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