Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Stupid things I did that made perfect sense at the time, to look back and realize I should probably be dead right now.

Growing up was hard for me.

I had "delusions of grandeur."

I felt a need to be liked, and to be famous.

Tragedy of youth ensued.

I was in a pop group.

I was 20.

It had a name...sort of. NFX...then, nothing. Because no one could agree on a name and I said NFX was stupid.

It all started at Tower City mall in Cleveland, Ohio. When there were still stores in there, and no homeless people. I went with a friend of mine for an open casting call for the WB's show Dawson's Creek. We ended up not being able to audition since my friend needed to be at work by a certain time. What did happen, was I saw people there recruiting for a "pop group." This was back at the time when boy bands were super popular, and everyone was looking to cash in. I ended up going to an audition, sand the disco classic "Last Dance" and they immediately asked me to be part of the group. At the time the group consisted of two blond 19 year olds that used way too much hair gel, and were the same guys that would go to clubs, and clear the dance floor so they could "break dance." There was one other kid in the group that has a lisp. Then, began the auditions for the other people. By the end, we had a guy named Geo that was our choreographer, and a little blond girl that had a stage mom, lispy guy, and one other young teenage boy still in high school.

That's the background for the post I would like to entitle "Stupid things I did that made perfect sense at the time, to look back and realize I should probably be dead right now."

Our "manager" lived in a studio apartment in a town close to Cleveland. He was a wedding photographer, about 40, and he devoted himself to having a place where teens could hang out. Our musical director was a 450 lb dude with a casio keyboard, that lived with his mom. We all had busy schedules, so as things progressed some of the members of the band were asked to stay overnight to get more things accomplished. I was never asked, but lisper and teenager were both asked. You see where I am going with this?

As things progressed, I would write the lyrics to songs about love and they were LAME. You know, about first love, and kissing, and going all the way. We got this big audition to perform at Tower City. We practiced, and practiced. We were performing Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas." The young guy still in high school got a little bitchy over my spotlight.

One weekend, we all got in a big argument, and the music director and I decided to take off for Windsor.  Yea, we drove to Windsor. He gambled. I drank. Then, we got a hotel room where oddly enough there was only a queen sized bed. WHY DID I THINK IT WAS PERFECTLY NORMAL? When we got to the boarder, I had no passport. They asked me what city I was born in. I told them. Then they asked what county that was in, and I had no idea. They still let me through. Probably, because they assumed I was not going to come back anyway. Seriously. I went to ANOTHER COUNTRY with a dude I barely knew, and then slept in the same room with him. WHAT THE HELL. 20 year old Liz was about the stupidest person I have ever known.

You're lucky I am here to tell you all about this embarrassing time in my life. I should probably be a skin dress right now.

I will write more about my epic tales as I remember them.

1 comment:

  1. ha ha ha ha ha. liz, you have the most awesome stories. so glad you didn't end up dead!

    ReplyDelete