Monthly Archives: August 2004


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Purple Reign

Prince

Last night, I joined four girlfriends up in the rafters of the MCI Center for Prince’s Musicology show. W-O-W!

I cannot even begin to descibe how godawful my day at work was. So awful, in fact, that I toyed with the idea of bailing out and eating my ticket.

But in a fit of, what…. rebellion? despair? complacency? – I logged off my computer, grabbed my broken red umbrella, and ran in the rain to Fado for a quick pint before the show.

And once I was there… Prince worked his magic. The show was incredible… HE was incredible. I will forever remember his acoustic rendition of Little Red Corvette.

At one point, Prince disappeared, leaving Greg Boyer on stage with his trombone, and changed from a devilish red ensemble into a teal outfit. The fabric shimmered, like a glossy silk.

The color reminded me of this suit I once wore, when I was first interviewing in DC some nine-odd years ago. And the music conjured a strange sensation, a long lost feeling of hope and idealism and fun and adventure. My first job paid less than $25,000 a year, but I was so much more upbeat, intoxicated by life’s many possibilities.

Now I’m bored, detached, reclusive, in park, spinning my wheels but not going anywhere. I spend most of my days daydreaming instead of doing something I enjoy. Is this what happens when you meet goals and get what you think you want?

The concert inspired me. Why am I working in public relations? My destiny is screaming – go on the road baby… travel and see the world…. be a roady… be a dancer…. be a groupie…. blog about the tour from the road…. be happy now, today.

I want to leave all the bureaucrats to their peon existences and trade in my corner office – and all the good it’s doing me – for a happier existence.

Things did look better this morning (things always do, right?) – and the music and the rhythms and the nostalgia and screaming my lungs out and gyrating like a mad woman and hanging out with a bunch of girly-girls and flirting with the guys behind us definitely helped some – but my job search, my career makeover, offically began today.


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Numbers

numbers

The Sunday morning tv wonk shows emphasized numbers. The number of soldiers who’ve died in Iraq. The proportion of people who will vote for Kerry. The share of voters who will vote for Bush. The percentage of Catholics who attend religious services at least once a week. The total of Catholics who only attend church on holidays.

I sat watching these pundits, thinking, “I am an individual, I am NOT just a number.”

And then I realized that they’re all right – as much as I’d like to argue against it.

I can’t get through a day without flashing one of my numbers:
– a social security number
– a credit card number
– a phone number
– an employee number
– a drivers license number
– a bank account number

And that’s just off the top of my head.

As for the pollsters, I’m counted in lots of percentages –
– the percentage of college-educated females who will vote for Kerry
– the percentage of single, white females who feel the President lied about weapons of mass destruction
– the percentage of Americans who have traveled abroad
– the percentage of Christian non-hispanics who are pro-choice
– the percentage of Americans with hi-speed internet at home
– the percentage of single females who bought a major appliance in the last six months

I feel my defenses go up each time I read or listen to the results of the latest polls…. “what do they know?” I think. I am not so easy to predict. I am an individual goddammit!

As much as I’d like to feel comforted by the idea that some of our leaders aren’t placing emphasis on poll results, I know it’s a lie. And pols have become masters at orchestrating public opinion – at influencing poll results.

Is it a bad thing that life can be summed up neatly by the results of a simple survey? For a short list of poll topics, go here.

Who’s got your number?


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Words of Wisdom

 choices

A wise person once said:
“Our lives are not defined by our abilities, but by our choices.”

Of course, I don’t recall who this sage was, or which film it was in, or the book I lifted it from. I just remember that simple sentence.

I’ve made some bad choices. Sometimes I almost feel like I’ve been running from the choices I made ten years ago… and if I don’t make changes and soon, I’ll be in the same place another ten years from now.

Which isn’t necessarily an awful thing. It just isn’t great either.


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Family Gatherings

 bridal shower

A bridal shower holds so much promise. Family and friends join the future bride to break bread and assist her on the way. Boxes wrapped in pink with oversized bows stack on a table. Floral and spicey perfumes mingle with the scent of crisp bacon and omelets. A cake, shaped like a giant sunflower, sits in a corner.

The maid of honor passes around homemade bingo cards. Games are played. Flashbulbs flash. Cameras whir, spent film cartridges rewinding.

Some women look older, thinner, plumper, shorter. I recognize my childhood conspirator in the face of the woman before me, a baby boy on her hip. My mother sits beside her mother, first cousins, cramming in the last ten years into a 3 hour brunch.

Frayed photos are passed around. Mini-albums pulled out of leather purses. The women proudly showing their loved ones, their young ones, their children and grandchildren.

What is it about women? Living individual lives, yet coming together to ensure their own succeeds? No matter how different, how radical, the common shared traits are often most significant.

Pregnant women, married women, single women, little girls, mothers, daughters, cousins, friends, sisters.