The Dino-Aspie Ex-Café (for Those 40+... or feeling creaky)

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I'm in an "80's" music mood today for some reason. I was just doing some sketching, when I realized that I was drawing the
face of singer Terri Nunn from the group Berlin.

I rarely ever went to concerts when I was young. I never had the money to go. In 1984 I had just finished 8 years of college, and knew that I would soon be leaving Memphis. So I decided to go to the Memphis in May Festival that year (a Friday, Saturday, Sunday free concerts/ pork bar-b-que deal they do every year) to see some bands. In my ignorance, I went waaaaaay too early on the Friday - 2:00pm and no one was there. I walked around anyway.

Up on one of the stages my eye caught a woman with two-tone hair: blonde on top, black below, and she was dancing like a ballerina - practicing a spin and jump move. Then some guy joined her, and they danced together for a long time. I walked up to the stage and watched them. Nice looking couple.

When they finished, she approached me. Asked me if I was a musician.

"No. But I like to draw."

"I don't see you drawing."

"I draw inside my head."

She looked at me and smiled. I had already memorized her, but I wanted to make sure to remember her eyes, because they were intense. I took a longer look than I probably should have.

They started their sound checks. I stuck around. So she sang "Take My Breath Away" for me. I was the only one there.

"Well", she asked, "what do you think?"
I had never heard of Berlin, or Terri Nunn, or almost any band at all. But OMG that girl could sing! Even with my central auditory processing disorder, I was blown away. I didn't answer. Wish I had, but no words came. I just stood there, memorized her face, I smiled at her, she smiled back, and I walked off. I walked all the way home. I didn't see anything else of the concerts. I went home and locked those memories in so that I would remember her voice and how she had danced.

I've thought about drawing a picture of her dancing and sending it to her, but no way she would remember an artist who draws in his head.

This is what she looked like that day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-LyKT8B ... re=related
this is the song she sang for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZtRZfWXIv8

...its the most remarkable drug ever: sleep. Normal quantities of sleep. After months of very little. And I'm still a bit exhausted from that stretch, but after a few day's snoozing, I'm now very much on the mend. So watch out!

Heh, heh! It won't be long!
Back atcha' Merle!

Giggling and lurking

...still drawing - and remembering.
The thing that I didn't describe very well in the above post was that "Take My Breath Away" had not yet hit the airwaves.
Memphis in May was mostly made up of local bands. I had gone hoping to see my favorite local band "Calculated X", whose lead singer was a local dentist.

So I had gone expecting that level of talent.

I had no idea that the young woman with two-toned hair was even a singer. I thought she was a dancer. After her ballerina practice, she and the guy I assumed was her boyfriend were ballroom dancing - all without music.

During the band's sound check, she just hung out to the side, watching things happen.

Then she picked up a microphone, walked up to where I was standing at stage's edge, crouched down and sang "Take My Breath Away" while looking straight into my face.

So when she finished, and then asked, "Well, what do you think?"....

Can you see why I was speechless?! !!? And I mean it was flawless. I had exchanged a few words with her, so I knew she wasn't from Memphis. I figured California. So I thought she might be from a local band there. That's why I left to memorize everything. I was afraid that I would never hear that song again, and I wanted to remember it, and didn't want anything to fuzz up the memory. So I left.

How was I to know that it would be song of the year 2 years later, and that I would be able to hear it then as much as I wanted to?

One of my roommates, Jamey, was a music buff. He was getting ready for a full night of Memphis in May. I stopped him and said, " Man, I just heard this girl sing - you wouldn't believe it. Over at Memphis in May."
Jamey: "Was it Joan Jett?"
" I don't know. She had two-toned hair and sang "Take My Breath Away."
"Never heard of it. Who was the band?"
" I don't know."
"What was her name?"
" I don't know."
"Probably someone local."
" California I think. I think she's gonna be big."
"Which pavilion was she in?
" I don't know."
"You all right?"
" Yeah. Why?"
"You look a little funny."

I asked everyone I knew who knew anything about music for the next 6 months if they had ever heard of "Take My Breath Away". No one had. Then it started hitting the radio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRiuQFbP_64

OMG!! !
Lauri!! !! !

...and just where have you been young lady?!?

Trying to worry us I see.
Hope that you have been well!
Care to self-disclose?

My oldest son told me about the "metallic cellists" so I had to check them out. Speaking of the oldest member of my mob, he was accepted at the local University. He'll be majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Linguistics.

What I mean by "hard done by" is my life is apparently really difficult and extremely stressful. I failed to notice this fact until it was pointed out to me on a number of occasions recently. In December, all the aches and pains that I've had since I was a child and thought were arthritis were explained by a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. I wasn't ready for that one. Add that to the Crohn's and migraines and it's no wonder life is a little painful. Also in December I got the confimation of AS that we all knew. No surprise there. I guess if you add all that to being a single mom with 4 kids who all have their own special needs, everyone seems shocked that I'm not sitting in a rubber room. I must have missed something because I have to say life is pretty good in my world.

The fact that I seem well-adjusted and in no need of counselling or therapy has these "professionals" looking amazed.