holiday show!

today we have our holiday show at school! the teachers insisted we do it on the big stage, so we're gonna do it. i don't think they realize we haven't had much time at all to create & prep this show. the kids came up with all the acts (well, i nudged one that couldn't focus, so now they're doing a variation on whose line is it, anyway?). at the end, the staff is SUPPOSED to sing. james & i will do a few numbers. and i'm so happy my long-haired boys, who can be alienated from school, are going to perform. they are so talented. one, we found, can sing like johnny cash, so that's what he'll do today. the other dropped right in on high hat & ANYTHING HE CAN HIT WITH A STICK & is laying down a perfect 2-beat. this angelic boy is a supremely talented musician; he can play anything. a quartet is performing a play they wrote. when james came to watch a rehearsal the other day, i saw his face beaming w warmth as these little ones danced & sang. middle school is so interesting that way: kids are on the cusp, some still so innocent, others heading into adulthood, some unfortunately much more sophisticated than they should have to be. i am so sad about one of our girls, who was mistreated terribly by some boys. i still have high hopes for this girl, who is sharp as a tack. so many of our kids have horrible lives bc of their adult custodians. then there are others whose only offense is poverty. some parents toil bravely under such conditions. i am glad right now we are reading dickens, & that i get to be there with these little lives, watching them, supporting them, hoping to shape them. i love them so very much now, in my middle-aged years. i am grateful for this change of my heart.

yesterday's show

was so wonderful. so much talent. only one snob. that snob should know even if that snob knew big manny well, manuel would never go for someone being a snob!!! i am trying to get ready for work, but i am overwhelmed with self-consciousness due to having seen a video. my vocals sounded horrible!!! i look like a fat cow!! ok, i'm over it now. i have to go to work.

everyone was wonderful. the snob played really great guitar, schooled by manuel.

james kicked butt, as usual. ruben & raul showed up. jaime & tommy harkenrider are complete gentlemen.

ok, i just heard a school bus go by. i am going to go to work now & be a teacher & not think about screaming into a mike trying to hear because i didn't check my monitor & wearing a dress that made me look like a fool.

manuel would have loved, loved, loved the show in his honor. that's the thing to remember, not a snob & how sh*tty i looked & sounded.

i'm going to work now.

tomorrow!! sunday!!

https://www.facebook.com/whiteboyandjenny/photos/a.511826072306344/1437056106449998/?type=3&theater
updates: we'll have a raffle of little cool stuff for christmas gifts, oneself. raul medrano will be there! when i talk to raul on the phone, it's a little spooky in a nice way bc he sounds so much like manuel in inflection & just what he says, which makes sense since they were friends most of their lives. everyone is happy raul will be there! james will get to see tommy harkenrider, who played in james's band years ago! (i think most everyone played with james's band!)... actually, the so-cal & beyond american music  scene has many cross-overs, connections, & incesty [sic] parallels. i'm not sure what i mean by that except to say everyone seems to know everyone, even when the scene is nearly dead! like with manuel: at various times, he played with karling's band (with whom i played), had mike vernon playing with him (a texan guitar player i used to know), and,,,, and,,, well, i need more coffee, i think. i had many, many connections a minute ago.
...but like we go someplace & see at least one someone with whom one of us have played or one of us met, knew, friends of someone, even when we're out of state, like it's happened in new orleans, in boulder, green bay, milwaukee, paris, etc.. this sounds braggy but it IS interesting, i think... time for more coffee...
aaaaaah. better. (insert ken nordine; man, this is just swell! listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k88msPKWkKY )
...maybe it's not incestuous except where ppl who played in bands together like bros & sisses then get involved, which has happened & near-happened to me before i met james. maybe the connections are more like the three degrees of separation. that does seem to be true. many are easy these days for me bc  james has met so many famous, really bada** people, but let me see if it works, truly works:
1. the resident of the u.s. -> mike tyson -> us
...yeccccccccch.
2. barack obama -> mike tyson -> us.
...i like that one better.
3. muhammad ali ->> mike tyson -> us.
4. lady gaga -> mike tyson -> us.
... maybe if you meet mike tyson, you have indirectly met most people of the world! let's go another direction...
5. arnold schwarzenegger -> james -> me
6. elon musk -> cousin paul -> me
i think it works!