so friday night was a big ego boost for your muser. i did finally go out karaokeing w/ Bikermommy and Pappy and their rowdy biker friends. we went to this one place that has a number of different hangouts... we went to the karaoke bar. there was also a hip-hoppy / 80s pop & punk spot where i think people were supposed to dance, but mostly people just trekked through on their way to the bathroom. there was also a C/W dancing bar, and there were a lot of people in there. and a sports bar, which had no people but is where Bikey and i got our dinner around 11 p.m. neither of us had eaten since lunch, and my blood sugar had taken a dive, as it tends to do when i skip meals, so we were able to get the kitchen's last batch of chips, queso and salsa (Pace, right out of the can -- get a rope, where are we, New York?).
so yeah, as always, i was a microphone hog at the karaoke place, but i wasn't even the biggest one in the place. there was this one guy named Jack who sang like every third song, and then Pappy himself, along w/ his good buddy Randy, was up on stage a lot. it was cute, they got up there and sang Brown Eyed Girl, and every time they got to the color of her eyes, Pappy would point at Bikermommy and say "Blue Eyed Girl", and Bikey and i kept yelling "they're green! Pappy, they're green!" but he was just so proud of himself every time he changed the words that we just giggled at his colorblindity.
then there was me. i started with Martina McBride's Independence Day, in honor of Sean Hannity, whom i heart. everyone said i was great, but i thought it stunk. oh well. so next time around, i dueted on Summer Nights (from Grease) w/ Randy, and it was quite good, if i say so myself. we really got into it and got a great response from the crowd.
--Pause-- ok, this karaoke bar has about 5 people who work there and are onstage practically the whole time and kinda control the whole who-goes-next thing (and no, they don't go by the order you sign up, as i learned near the end of the night). fine, whatever, that's nice. and like every 3rd song is one of them singing alone or they'll do a group project that they've all choreographed nicely together. and since that's not enough spotlight for them, they tend to get up there at the spare mikes (and i do mean spare) and sing background or if you're not any good, they'll sing your part along with you, and you know, i'd do the same thing if i worked there too, because the microphone gives off too strong a magnetic pull for my iron-filled blood to resist. anyway, they kept singing along while i was singing, and that's fine, because they stayed in the background at first, whatever. but then they kept trying to sing louder than me (actually, it was just this one girl who was doing this, and she only started doing it after the point that all the guys that work onstage there kept giving me hi-fives when i was done telling me i was great), trying to drown me out or something. i wanted to punch her in the face. :) ok, not really, but i did have a strong urge to turn to her and say, HEY! I'M SINGING ON-KEY, IF YOU'RE GONNA SING ALONG, I REQUIRE THAT YOU SING ON-KEY TOO! YOU'RE MESSIN' UP MY SONG! and i felt bad for thinking that, because i saw her in the bathroom once, and she seemed nice. that's really where you learn about a person is in pottie-central at the sink. i also didn't understand why she was off-key, because when she would sing her solos, she did fine. anyway. --End Pause.--
so at some point i also sang Born to Fly by Sara Evans, and at the constant behest pestering of Randy, i got up there with Bikey, and we sang Black Velvet. i wasn't going to sing it by myself, because i couldn't remember anything but the chorus. but as soon as i saw the words, it was all good. i did I Will Survive, that was fun. and finally, last song of the night, i signed up to sing Avril's Sk8er Boi. haha. and i waited. and waited. and waited. and looked up on the little flourescent marker board where they were writing our names, and my name was on there, but it wasn't getting any closer to being at the top of the list. hmm. i started watching what they were doing at the song changes, and sure enough, they were skipping me and pulling the names under mine. WELL I NEVER! but that kinda made me feel good, because i knew the reason they were doing it was because they didn't like being shown up. :) in fact, when they finally decided to start moving my name up the list, Pottie Central girl and this other girl who sings really well had to discuss it and kept looking at each other like, "well? should we let her on again?" and it wasn't like i was being rude to them. i always smirked smiled when they were singing and when i was finished w/ one of my songs. hmmph.
somewhere along in there, Bikey and i had gone to Pottie Central, and on our way back, there was a group of 3 or 4 guys standing in hip-hoppy bar that stopped talking and just turned to stare. let me tell ya, i was feeling good. and after i sat back down at my table, this one guy came and introduced himself (Dwayne, yep, i'm in Texas) and told me he'd seen me from the other room and came to ask me to dance. !!! after such flattery, i even almost said yes, but remembered that 1) i'm not a dancer, and 2) i was going to be singing soon. i thanked him and told him as much, and he promised to come back in and hear me sing. i felt good, but he never came back to hear me sing. oh well.
on to yesterday. after sitting in a smoky bar w/ Bikey's smoky friends (i think Bikey and my Aunt Carol might be the only ones who don't smoke), i showered immediately when i got home Friday night and went promptly to sleep without setting an alarm. so i woke up at 9:30, which didn't suit my hiking at 7 a.m. i went anyway. it's not smart to hike in the heat of day, but first off, i really need to get some color on these pasty white legs, and second, i need to get some fluff off. so i started around 11, and oh my goodness, was it hot. it was 105, and in the bare open canyon with the sun reflecting off the rocks and the sand, it was even hotter. that was fine, i'd brought 2 liters of gatorade and sucked on my little hydration pack straw the whole time, so i stayed hydrated. i stopped at every single shaded area (and there aren't many) on the trail, which was 6 miles round trip. it took me about 4.5 hours, which i expected, since i knew i'd be hoofin' it in the high sun; i was disappointed that there was no water along the trail, especially when i ran out with about a mile left, and this other family also ran out, and their little girl wasn't doing so well.
all i can say is my hiking buddy on the Grand Canyon trip better be more responsible than i am about waking up early, or we'll never make it to the river by dark.
Hey, How are you gonna make it on American idol if you don't get more practice? Good job! And potential suitors to boot? Wow, SarahK it doesn't get any better than that.
Posted by: rightwingduck | Sunday, August 01, 2004 at 07:18 PM
Watch that ego Sarahk. Your humble readers don't want you going diva all over the place.
Posted by: Exile | Monday, August 02, 2004 at 06:50 AM
Whenever I karaoke, I croon the immortal Right Said Fred's classis "I'm Too Sexy!" and bring down the house.
One time, when my other overly macho male friends and I decided to let loose and have some fun, we all sang "Stand by your Man." There was beer involved.
Posted by: dvgulliver | Monday, August 02, 2004 at 05:12 PM
but i wanna be a diva!!!! just kidding.
btw, bikermommy wanted everyone to know that i left out the best part, which was her massive biker friend Paul heckling all the performers except me (probably because i would have kicked his pinky-toe).
Posted by: sarahk | Monday, August 02, 2004 at 07:18 PM