For the purposes of the title, this post's topic will be focused on two things:
1. Gigs in nursing homes
2. Bowling balls in gutters
So I got a gig! It's at a Jewish nursing home on the West Side, and I'm playing Kohler duets with my MSM flute friend. I just got the music yesterday, and I have only days to prepare since we're performing next week. So good luck with that. However, I am very excited to be playing for old people, mainly because I love old people. I often do volunteer work at nursing homes and I find that there are three kinds of old people:
a) Old people who are very, very old, and who sit in their wheelchairs and eat dinner out of IV's. They are not very conversational or demanding.
b) Old people who are old, and crazy. They sit in their wheelchairs or walk their walkers while muttering strange sentences that do not apply, like "I knew that milk was bad!", and "The sardines are ready." (The latter, a true story.) These people live their old age in their head, with their memories. Which, if you think about it, is sentimental and sweet.
c) Old people who are old, yet abnormally sane! They ask you if there are any leftover cookies, or if you could be so kind as to push their wheelchair to the sing-along session. Then they say things like, "Thank you dear," and "my, you are beautiful!" (One of my nursing home senior friends, Margaret, once gave me that very compliment, yet I later heard her say the same thing to a bearded, fat man. He had brought Margaret some extra treats -- DO NOT TRUST HIM!)
Although old people tend to like me, I have never played music at a nursing home for them, and I am very anxious for their approval. I hope to have all three kinds of old people at my gig, for I am eager to see each of their reactions. I am hoping that they will love it, and love me. (I need love.)
In conclusion, I love old people.
PART TWO of this post:
I'm on my school's bowling team (you laugh? I don't care!) and we had a game today. I knew from the moment we walked into the bowling alley that defeat was upon us. Is it possible to play a good game when some higher source sends you a signal of demise before the game even commences? The answer to this question (from experience) is no. Eureka! You see? I have discovered the explanation for bad balls! It is divine intervention of the bowling gods! (On a side note: It is a well known expression that when it thunders, God is, in fact, bowling... Coincidence? I think not.)
And I have to say, gutter balls are malicious things. Getting a gutter ball is like buying a five dollar TastiDelight waffle cone (they're five dollars now) and then dropping it on the street. A COMPLETE WASTE OF EVERYTHING. You had the opportunity to eat the delicious cone, but, no, gravity just had to get the best of you. Same with bowling; you had the opportunity to get a strike and save your team from those serious girl-bowler rivals, but no, the ball just had to plop into the gutter.
Conclusions?
I suck.