SassyBlonde

Tonight was a completely bizarre trip into my past. Tonight I bought a musical icon who figures in one of my most vivid college memories a gin and ginger.

Many, many years ago, I was in college. I can remember my Then Boyfriend, much older and more worldly than my little nineteen-year-old-self whisking me off to a concert in parts unknown of another state to hear a rising star of the music world, a new and young and dynamic pianist very unlike the status quo, with a physique and stage presence to match. I can remember shaking his hand and stammering a nervous hello after the concert as he discussed the craft and art with the Then Boyfriend before turning to the next set of well-wishers. I can remember the stars sliding by through the open sun roof as we drove home through two states, marveling at the sounds we had just heard.

Tonight after rehearsal, I asked if he wanted to join us for drinks and he accepted. Then Boyfriend is by this year long gone and so he was stuck talking to me (more's the sorrow for him-- I am a dismal conversationalist when talking to someone famous I admire.) He got a martini, I got a beer, my friends had virgin daquiris and Diet Cokes. We talked about shoes. We talked about the new project. We talked about the crazy people across the world. We talked about fear of law enforcement, our careers, and hotel renovations. There were awkward silences and drink sip noises. Our friends talked to him of acquaintances shared and school days while I looked on.

My nineteen-year-old self could not comprehend sitting with him and conversing like equals. She would have lost her mind.

Who knows where we'll meet again. Under Mississippi stars, in local bars, concert halls, or restaurants. The world is a strange place, peeps.