n� sync with my milli vanilli: recollections of my 5th grade self

True Story: after a recent night of drinks w/ the girls, i noticed how pretty the lights downtown looked. the festive decorations reminded me of the magic i felt as a child every december. nearby, kids from an elementary school were gathered around a lighted tree, singing �santa claus is coming to town�. proud parents stood in a small huddled audience, snapping photos. my 5th grade chorus memories rushed back�oh, how i loved dressing up for the holiday concert! BUT... a confession: i often lip-synced during elementary school music class and chorus.

was it shyness? laziness? peer pressure? all of those? ahh, peer pressure: it was 1984. my best friend, kimberly burton, and i did everything together, including chorus auditions, b/c it was the �cool thing� to do. the teacher, polly fravel, put us in the back corner row of choir bleachers b/c i was taller most of my peers. (hard to believe now, i know. but by jr. high, i lost ground). any kid�ll tell you that you can get away with goofing off more in the back row than the front. so every week, kimberly and i would slink in to chorus practice late**, usually w/ a forbidden wad of bubble-gum discreetly tucked under our tongues! we�d share a knowing smirk, and when the other kids� started singing, we lip synced with enthusiasm, enunciating every word so it looked like we were singing with utmost passion. who were we fooling? definitely miss fravel, for one: every six weeks, come report card time, she invariably gave me an �A� in music, and wrote �excellent singer� in the adjacent comments section.

**[our tardiness stemmed from lengthy gossip sessions about judy blume books, spin-the-bottle, or speculations about some girls in our class who we knew were flat-chested and suspected of stuffing their bras. we�d admire our jelly bracelets and friendship pins and of course, we talked about boys. i�d incessantly crush on jason rooney, while kimberly tried to talk me into a 3-way call where she would listen as i fished for clues to whether some boy liked her]. haha, a �three-way�!

as for shyness: when i was little, my piano teacher marveled at my good ear for music b/c i excelled at sight-reading and could pick out a tune on the keys after hearing it once w/ no sheet music. unfortunately i wasn�t blessed with the same ability to belt out a song. my mom eventually said not to sing in public b/c i was tone-deaf. sadly, once you become self-conscious, it sticks. so i guess lip syncing was my only option. and about the lazy factor: there�s anonymity in crowds. i took social psychology in college and learned about social loafing. for homework, i read articles saying that scientific voice-volume measurements confirm that individuals in larger cheerleading squads, or singing groups exert less vocal effort than in smaller groups. therein, i recognized my 5th grade self.

on that note�i�ve gotta go clean my apt and pack.