42nd Street psycho blues
No I don’t go to parties anymore
When they ask for entertainment
I don’t feel like a guest
I feel like a whore.Janice Ian, 42nd street psycho blues
About a half hour before the rehearsal of the fund raising skit written for this year, I sat down with the script and music to make sure I would be able to do my part. To my astonishment I discovered that the writer had expanded my role this year. I reluctantly agreed last year to play piano for this event. This year I made the mistake of not looking closely at the new script when it was first presented months ago. I looked over the music and told my boss it didn’t present problems. Of course, I was only thinking of accompanying.
Imagine my dismay to find that the writer had written an entire satirical number for me to sing and play based on Billy Joel’s “The Piano Man.”
I quickly ran through it.
The subsequent rehearsal was an unpleasant experience for me. It is a group of parishioners with whom I am not comfortable. When I mentioned to the group that I had not realized I had a singing role, one of them caustically asked me if I could sing. The speaker was a singer who had joined and quit my choir (along with her husband who had done the same). Neither of them ever told me why.
I’m not sure how I responded to her comment about whether I could sing or not except to say something about singing in bars and in local coffee shops.
The cast sat in the opposite side of the choir room from the piano gathered around a table. Most of them had their backs to me. When I sang the parody there was much merriment among them. It felt distinctly like being laughed at. Not a pleasant sensation.
There is one choir member in the cast. She is the “director.” Upon learning that I had been taken by surprise, she asked me if I was going to do it. I told her at this late date I didn’t think I had a choice.
So a week from tomorrow, I will be in the uncomfortable position of playing with three other very very fine organists and feel out of place. A few days later I will be in the uncomfortable position of singing a Billy Joel song satire based on myself in front of the gathered Grace community and feel equally out of place.
My boss is out of town or I would go over and bitch in person to her. I don’t think I can write an email about this that won’t upset her. Fuck it.
Next time I will examine more carefully any request like this made to me.
The 15th-century doctrine that let Columbus ‘discover America’ is now the basis of Indian policy – ThinkProgress
I read an entire bio of Columbus by the historian Samuel Morrison and don’t remember this heinous doctrine.
Dove Drops Ad After It Draws Criticism for Being Racist – The New York Times
Insane and unthinkable that this ad and others mentioned in the article managed to see the light of day.
Polarize and Conquer – The New York Times
The president of the United States is now certifiably our “hater in chief.” Sad but true.
Wow, sorry dad. Please don’t do it if it’s awful like that. I’m sure they can live without it. I love you! X x x
I’m sure they can as well. However, It seems to me the adult thing to do to simply participate. I’m not as despondent as this post probably sounds. I have done a lot of silly things and it seems like keeping my own counsel and sense of humor is the best course. We shall see, I guess.