got straps?
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as apartment, back pack, backpack, breaking my heart, car, conviction, disappointment, dolly, everything, Free, gig bag, grip, pack, pack straps, repeat, revelation, sam ash, today, use, zippers
I don’t quite remember when it was that I got my red keyboard, but I’ve had it for months now. Months and months. Not a full year yet, but definitely months.
And I have been toting it one-handed all the while. Never knowing it could be any different. Never realizing that life was only one tiny revelation away from being SO. MUCH. BETTER.
Because, see, I go to Sam Ash today. I had to do a gig tonight and was prepared to bring all my instruments. Well, all two of them, anyway. But, I need to buy a stand for my keyboard, and get to talking to the salesman. “How in the world do you guys tote everything around on the subway?” I ask.
“I have a car,” he admits.
Must be nice.
“But you have a Nord, you say?” he asks, and I confirm.
“Yeah, I got a dolly to roll it around,” I add.
“Why don’t you use the straps?” he says.
“The straps?” I repeat.
“The straps,” he repeats, this time.
“Uh…there are only tiny straps–and I do use them–I grip ‘em with one hand…”
“No, the back pack straps. YOU DO HAVE A NORD, RIGHT?”
“Yeah, a Nord,” I agree.
“And you have the Nord case–the red one?”
I nod.
“Then, use the back pack straps. Wear it on your back. Free your hands.”
“I’ve never seen those straps…” I say, but this time with a little less conviction.
“GIRL,” the salesman says slowly and directly, like he’s speaking to a monkey who is just learning his commands, “UNZIP THE ZIPPERS ON THE BACK. PULL OUT THOSE STRAPS. WEAR. YOUR. NORD. ON. YOUR. BACK.”
I say thank you and decide to try just that when I get back to my apartment. But I don’t expect it to necessarily happen. It’s the heart that is well-acquainted with disappointment that learns to keep things in check; to not rely on much until it’s tangible, you know. Don’t need no backpack strap-less gig bag breaking my heart. Not on an otherwise lovely Monday.
And, wonders of wonders, it works! It feels like magic, unzipping those hidden (well, previously to my eyes, anyway) zippers and pulling out those back pack straps. I strap the thing onto my back and walk proudly around the apartment, showing Betsy how much better my life has gotten in just the last sixty seconds.
You guys, I feel so bamf walking around the city with my keyboard strapped to my back. I mean, to be completely honest, it does get a little heavy after a while, and, not used to having my keys, my uke, and the stand on me in the subway, I did accidentally hit someone with the uke (“YOU GOT MY EYE!” a guy yelled. I felt horrible. But then he told me he was okay. And then I felt better)–but still, I can haul all my stuff all by myself and if that’s not the definition of a strong woman, then I don’t know what is.
And just think–what other revelations are just around the corner, waiting to make life better?
Now, if only my keyboard stand could be folded into ear muffs or something; life would be just about perfect.
FINALLY.
caught.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as all sorts, Boundaries, business, but, car, dime, dyckman, gestures, getting a girlfriend, half, kind, Line, nod, priorities, starbursts, subway, subway car, sweet business, THINK, WOULD
It’s awkward when:
You are sitting on the subway, minding your own sweet business, and a guy boards. The car is basically empty and he sits right. next. to. you.
Not a good sign, you think, but you’ve been wrong before, so maybe you’re wrong again. You hope so, anyway.
But then he starts talking. And talking. And asking too many questions. Boundaries are obviously not high on his list of priorities. You know what is? Getting a girlfriend. How do you know? Cause he tells you this. A lot. You say the regular line, tell him that you have a boyfriend, and, when pressed, you even say that you and this fictitious boyfriend live together. Apparently you’ve been living together for a year and a half. Though, you’ve never seen a dime for rent. Perhaps a real boyfriend would be better for that kind of thing.
He starts asking for your number (BUT WHAT WOULD MY LIVE-IN, MOOCHING, FICTITIOUS BOYFRIEND THINK?!), telling you about how fine he thinks the ladies are in Chicago (of all places), which is when you decide to hop out at 190th and hop onto the next car over. The conversation is over. It’s wasn’t–but it is now, cause you’re peace-ing out.
“This is your stop?” he asks, noticing you jump up at 190th.
It is now, you think, and give him a nod as you jump out of that car and onto the next.
PROBLEM SOLVED.
And you settle down in the next car for the last remaining minutes on the A train until Dyckman. Which is when you notice that, through the window of your car and the window of the car you had just left, the man–the inappropriate one–is waving at you. A lot. And making all sorts of other gestures. Not cute ones, either. He looks kind of mad. And you feel guilty. You feel just plain caught all over again. Like the time you and your brother were discovered to have stolen the starbursts and framed another brother with their wrappers. You feel a little bit of shame again now, on the subway car, watching that man watch you sitting there, obviously having left the train just to simply leave his presence.
Now, I am not saying that it was bad, really, what I did. People who have no boundaries and are just out to get laid (without even the decency to pretend otherwise!) are much like terrorists. And, like the US policy with terrorists, I don’t negotiate with them. But still, it was super awkward, sitting there like that. Seeing him see me. I really could have used one of those disappearing capes of Harry Potter’s. But I haven’t found them on sale at the salvation army.
Not yet, anyway.
While writing on a plane.
in Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as audition, bus, car, cement truck, cement trucks, false eyelashes, golden gate bridge, knitting needles, mountain, mountain lion, plane crash, plane crashes, pop, side, side of a mountain, state, subway, Survival, time, zero temperatures
Today, I have ridden on a subway, a bus, a car, and now a plane. I woke up early, glued on some false eyelashes, and sang some songs for people sitting behind a table who do not know, nor care to know my middle name. Which is fine. There’s a big difference between the people [...]
yellow.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Loved Ones, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as bellies, booth, car, color, dinner, dream, favorite color, friendship, hearts, Important, LOVED, many things, parking, parking lot, truth, while, yellow, yellow roses
Once, a friend and I went to dinner. It had been a while. Too long, truth be told. We talked of many things and told each other not to settle for less than the things we dream of. We drove away that night, bellies full and hearts fuller. And then another month or so went [...]
me vs. my room.
in Thoughts and Feelings
as adulthood, car, closet, couple weeks, current room, Heck, order, purse, reason, rehearsal, roommates, step ladder, step ladders, tight schedule, time, tonight, underwear
This is a problem. My room. Well, my current room, anyway. See, for the past couple weeks now, I have not slept in once. Not once! ‘Welcome to adulthood, Jessica,’ is what you might be thinking. But, when an adult happens to be an artist–well, there still isn’t often a reason to get up early. [...]
when I got stung at 3am.
in Thoughts and Feelings
as 3am, baking soda, car, door, ground, hornet, hornets, kerfuffle, life, mamba, mamba jamba, moment, pain, pain medication, Philly, prehistoric beast, reason, Shane, spine
I would love to say that I’m on pain medication, but alas, I am not. The reason I would love to say this is because I was just stung by one of those huge, mamba jamba hornets. The kind that looks like a prehistoric beast with wings. The kind that’s thick. We were just getting [...]
sucks to suck.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as car, car thief, deep breath, door, dream world, favorite phrase, home, house, key ring, kid, kind, kind of sentence, nobody, purse, sentence, Shane, sister, sister jenna, starbursts
Last night was a tough one. And then I finally got home at 2:00 am and was all ready to trade the real world for the dream world, but before that could happen, I had to open up a door to my parents’ house to, you know, get inside. deep breath. Cause that was the [...]
ain’t my friend.
in MP3, there are pictures here
as Army, berries, blah blah, car, cost, expression, family, friend liz, glorious view, gloves, Huh, mullet, photo, photographer, photographer friend, red hair, Salvation, salvation army, song, tank, waste, way, Yesterday
I started writing this song in the car yesterday. Doesn’t get much more inspiring than a car, huh? Okay, maybe there are a few things I could think of that are more inspiring than a car. Especially mine. Which, I am grateful for, but…well, let’s just say that whenever I fill the tank up I [...]
lovebirds.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as beehive, brown hair, car, celebrity, celebrity section, dian fossey, diaper, distance, Fossey, goo, gorillas, groceries, lovebirds, magazine, medium length, Mimi, parade, people magazine, sight, way
I see them everywhere. Love birds. You know, like a real couple. “It’s like that,” my mom told me, after I mentioned this to her. “After Mimi died, I saw her everywhere.” Which is quite a feat, since my mom’s mom was 4’10 and had a bright red beehive piled high on top of her [...]
