Last night I went to bed early. The weather has been so bipolar lately. While the Ground Hog predicted an early spring, who knows what bark in his hutch that this furred creature was smoking. So I decided to take a walk. It was raining, brought the umbrella. Why not? Better than getting soaked and sick.
Walking down the street I could see the damp, darkness that gets people depressed about New York. Actually, damp darkness could get people depressed anywhere. On the other hand, the street lights lit my way and I found a strange comfort. It was raining, that is what nature does sometimes.
Much to the chagrin of my mother. I used to enjoy walks in the rain. She would scream, "You have things to do and you can't be sick" as she would kidnap me from my trail in her minivan and then eventually peal my wet clothes off of my person. I wasn't a rebellious kid most of the time. I just think this was my way of sticking it to the man. I don't know. I am just talking out of my ass. I do that sometimes. But my mom didn't like it. Just saying.
Rain has always been an omen for me. One rainy night I was watching a ventriloquist special with my family. That Christmas I got a Groucho Marx figure. This is a skill that to date is making me quite well known. That spring on a rainy night I saw a movie called LA Confidential. I told my mother I wanted to act. She didn't say no. Instead she said, "Well, okay. If you want to do that you have to go to New York City. That's where people go to train, learn and get good."
I remember my dad didn't want me to go to New York. He thought I would get shot. He had been to the city in the 1970s and got off on the express train in Harlem and saw three black kids beating a car with a crow bar. Plus he just thought I would get raped and shot and raped again based on all the bad press my city gets sometimes, and thus letting the rest of the world know crime occurs everywhere.
Well the summer after my junior year of college we toured the Eastern Seaboard and I saw some All-Women's Colleges, many my dad's ideal picks for me. My plan was to go to one of them and then move to the city after I had been properly educated. One in particular scared the hell out of my dad. We went there and my dad saw several students with shaved heads, combat boots, and nose rings. I believe one growled at my father at one juncture but I am not sure. Sure, he had dreamed of me going there but not like this. My dad said to my mom, "Anne, what is going on here?"
To which my mom replied, "Bill, they need a place to go to school, too."
Well perhaps my dad could have dealt with the womyn population more gracefully if he didn't have to fill out a three page informational packet in order to obtain a special man permit. My father was told he had to have a man permit in order to be allowed on the campus, because ordinarily, there were no men unless permitted, hence the man permit. When we finished and my dad was able to toss out his man permit, he said, "So, April, Kid, if you want to do this for real I think you need to move to New York." Dreams have a funny way of making themselves happen I suppose.
I ended up moving to New York and the rest is history. It's funny how some of my teenage ambitions are slowly coming true. I dreamed of performing standup and now I do that in the city. I dreamed of publishing a book and I have done that. I dreamed of being on TV and I have done that. I dreamed of getting my music on the radio and I have done that. Whenever I run past MTV I chuckle because while I am not a regular I have been on there. When I walk past The Today Show I smile cause I have been on that program, too.
Yesterday I made my hometown magazine, special thanks to Matt Falsetti. Wonderful article. It was just yesterday it was raining outside and my mom said to me, "Well, okay. If you want to do that you have to go to New York City. That's where people go to train, learn and get good."
So now when I walk in the rain, I always make sure I see Times Square in the rain. It's beautiful even empty. But I dont walk to get wet. I don't walk to get fit. Although I use an umbrella I don't even care if I get soaked. It doesn't matter because rain or shine, I am walking towards my dreams.
Love
April
I Came, I Saw, I Sang: Memoirs of a Singing Telegram Delivery Girl
Paperback 877-Buy-Book, Amazon.com
EBook Kindle and Nook
Audiobook available in spring 2013
Portion of proceeds go to RAINN
Walking down the street I could see the damp, darkness that gets people depressed about New York. Actually, damp darkness could get people depressed anywhere. On the other hand, the street lights lit my way and I found a strange comfort. It was raining, that is what nature does sometimes.
Much to the chagrin of my mother. I used to enjoy walks in the rain. She would scream, "You have things to do and you can't be sick" as she would kidnap me from my trail in her minivan and then eventually peal my wet clothes off of my person. I wasn't a rebellious kid most of the time. I just think this was my way of sticking it to the man. I don't know. I am just talking out of my ass. I do that sometimes. But my mom didn't like it. Just saying.
Rain has always been an omen for me. One rainy night I was watching a ventriloquist special with my family. That Christmas I got a Groucho Marx figure. This is a skill that to date is making me quite well known. That spring on a rainy night I saw a movie called LA Confidential. I told my mother I wanted to act. She didn't say no. Instead she said, "Well, okay. If you want to do that you have to go to New York City. That's where people go to train, learn and get good."
I remember my dad didn't want me to go to New York. He thought I would get shot. He had been to the city in the 1970s and got off on the express train in Harlem and saw three black kids beating a car with a crow bar. Plus he just thought I would get raped and shot and raped again based on all the bad press my city gets sometimes, and thus letting the rest of the world know crime occurs everywhere.
Well the summer after my junior year of college we toured the Eastern Seaboard and I saw some All-Women's Colleges, many my dad's ideal picks for me. My plan was to go to one of them and then move to the city after I had been properly educated. One in particular scared the hell out of my dad. We went there and my dad saw several students with shaved heads, combat boots, and nose rings. I believe one growled at my father at one juncture but I am not sure. Sure, he had dreamed of me going there but not like this. My dad said to my mom, "Anne, what is going on here?"
To which my mom replied, "Bill, they need a place to go to school, too."
Well perhaps my dad could have dealt with the womyn population more gracefully if he didn't have to fill out a three page informational packet in order to obtain a special man permit. My father was told he had to have a man permit in order to be allowed on the campus, because ordinarily, there were no men unless permitted, hence the man permit. When we finished and my dad was able to toss out his man permit, he said, "So, April, Kid, if you want to do this for real I think you need to move to New York." Dreams have a funny way of making themselves happen I suppose.
I ended up moving to New York and the rest is history. It's funny how some of my teenage ambitions are slowly coming true. I dreamed of performing standup and now I do that in the city. I dreamed of publishing a book and I have done that. I dreamed of being on TV and I have done that. I dreamed of getting my music on the radio and I have done that. Whenever I run past MTV I chuckle because while I am not a regular I have been on there. When I walk past The Today Show I smile cause I have been on that program, too.
Yesterday I made my hometown magazine, special thanks to Matt Falsetti. Wonderful article. It was just yesterday it was raining outside and my mom said to me, "Well, okay. If you want to do that you have to go to New York City. That's where people go to train, learn and get good."
So now when I walk in the rain, I always make sure I see Times Square in the rain. It's beautiful even empty. But I dont walk to get wet. I don't walk to get fit. Although I use an umbrella I don't even care if I get soaked. It doesn't matter because rain or shine, I am walking towards my dreams.
Love
April
I Came, I Saw, I Sang: Memoirs of a Singing Telegram Delivery Girl
Paperback 877-Buy-Book, Amazon.com
EBook Kindle and Nook
Audiobook available in spring 2013
Portion of proceeds go to RAINN
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