Serious...as a heart beat

I love it when people mix metaphors. I used to work with a woman who did it all the time. My favorite was when she said we were all going to ‘hell in a purse.’ Really? I think I’d prefer to meet my destiny via attaché case.

My brother is coming into town tomorrow, and I’m mucho excited. Andrew is my baby brother, and one of my favorite people. It’s weird living apart from my family because I receive far fewer hugs than I used to when I lived near my family. I love hugs. They are probably the most sincere, non-selfish expression of affection that I can think of. I feel like I can read into a person’s soul when I hug him. My friend Caroline gives the best hugs. Caroline is on the short side, and she’s the quintessential petite girl, but when Caroline hugs it is with the force of a pro-football tackle (left or right, doesn’t matter). It’s as though all her determination and love and sincerity are pouring out through her arms. I’m always cheerful after a Caroline hug.

A friend of mine recently told me that next month a production of The Phantom of the Opera is going to be shown at a local venue here in Nashvegas. This isn’t just any production of Phantom, this is the 1925 original black-and-white silent film. And on top of it there is going to be live accompaniment by the Nashville Symphony complete with an organ. Nothing gives me goose bumps like a little organ music. I know some people think that Phantom is generic and sort of the Wal-Mart of musical productions, but I must beg to differ. For me there is still so much romance and intrigue and just general emotive music to this musical that I can’t write it off as cheesy. Perhaps it’s because I used to pretend that I was Christine. My parents house had a loft and I could stand at the top of the staircase overlooking the living room from my perch in the loft. I imagined I was being stalked by a masked man in a tuxedo and a cape. Wow, that sounds really stupid now. But I digress. I still love dramatic organ playing and big-lashed heroines and misunderstood bad guys. That will never be cheesy to me.

I’ve had that Relient K’s “Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been” running through my head all day. But not in a self-depricating way. It’s more of an apology to myself and a resolve to do better next time…which turns out to be this time.