Let Your Freak Flag Fly!

Okay, so there are two things you should know about me if we're going to be friends.  One, I am a big nerd.  Oh yeah, big time, baby.  Particularly about history.  I should have been born in another era, for sure.   And two, I am a music fanatic.  I love me some vintage rock n' roll. 

I will never forget the day that I found out Elvis was dead.  I was about five and my Dad had given me his collection of 45's, which contained the likes of Crystal Gale (rockin' hair!), the Supremes, the Oak Ridge Boys (Elvira anyone?), and then there was Elvis.  Holy Cow, did I fall in love.  I deluded myself into thinking that he was an actual member of the family and that we would meet some day after one of his concerts.  Herein lies the problem...he had been dead for awhile.  I asked my Mom when we'd be going to a concert and she looked at me like I had two heads. "He's dead!" she said.  Nice tact, Mom.  My five year old heart was broken and I never got over it.  I pretty much know every lyric that he ever sang.  Just try me! My cousin Jamie and I actually performed for the family as Elvis twins, passing out scarves and sloppy kisses to our fans (sorry, Jamie).  


More evidence of my nerdiness: I was singing Patsy Cline songs by the time I was eight in full pink suede, fringed glory.  Oh yes!! There are videos of me traveling around Florida as a Patsy impersonator in Star Search type competitions.  And you know what? You can still catch me singing "Walkin' After Midnight" around the house while vacuuming; minus the fringe.  Sadly, it no longer fits.   If it did, I would find a way to wear it.  My love affair with Patsy began when I saw the biopic, "Sweet Dreams," at the ripe old age of 9.  Jessica Lange made Patsy look so bad ass.  I decided right then and there that I too would learn to swear like a sailor, and learn to growl and yodel as well as Patsy.  My Mom was psyched when I started saying, "People in hell want ice water, but that don't mean they get it!" with squinty eyes and a southern accent. 

You see, I have always had the heart of a honky tonk angel. My secret desire is to sing at a bar, preferably one where people line dance and there are peanut shells on the floor.  It's a far stretch from my opera training, but a girl needs to have a dream, right? I ain't no Patsy, but that won't stop me from singing.  


Final documentation of my nerdiness: I am a little cuckoo for Cocopuffs when it comes to the Civil War.  Like I said, I do not belong in this era.  There is NOTHING more thrilling to me than to pour over the census records from 1860, or wade through files of Civil War military records.  My family has been in the U.S. for a long-ass time, so I have dug up some incredible documents and stories over the years about my ancestors.  I just about seized up the other night when I uncovered some military records on an amazing website called Fold3.  Fold3 contains millions of American military records dating all the way back to the Revolution.  Sadly, my ancestors fought on the wrong side of the War of Northern Aggression (Ha!) but I find the South's complete dedication to a morally bankrupt cause astounding.  My forefathers literally starved, endured dysentery, lost limbs, and went home with Typhoid Fever all because they believed that God was on their side.  There is a lesson to be learned here: pride cometh before the fall!

So that's me.  Freak flag flyin' high!  You know what the best part is about having lived long enough to be comfortable in your own skin?? You can embrace your inner freak and rejoice in what makes you...you.  So hoist your flag and find your bliss! 

And if you're really, really sweet, I may let your hear my inner Patsy one day.