We met with a friend for drinks a couple of nights ago, which started off with us sitting outside and enjoying some people watching. And…drinks!

We hadn’t seen our friend Brad in a couple of months, so it was nice catching up with him in some pleasant outside weather! Later, when it got more chilly, we headed indoors, but because the bar has a large garage door that was open, it wasn’t “really” like being outdoors. That made my husband and I more comfortable about being inside. We both still have some lingering “issues” about being indoors since the plague hit, though we are gradually becoming more confident.

About confidence? It’s one thing to feel confident enough to sit inside a bar (which wasn’t terribly crowded on this night), but it’s another thing to feel confident to take the mic and sing! Which, because I’d had enough drinks to think, “Why the hell not,” my dear friend Brad put in a karaoke song request slip for me. The song? “Sunday Girl” by Blondie. I agreed to do it, but warned him that “Sunday Girl” wasn’t one of my stronger Blondie songs for karaoke. Yet…I did it anyway – and I had to be first on the mic that night!

Good LORD was I glad the bar wasn’t too crowded! Yeah, I don’t really know the “cadence” of the song that well, so yeah…I fucked it up pretty good! But the DJ was kind enough to let me take the mic again, next time with a Blondie song I’m more comfortable singing, which was “The Tide is High.” I did much better the next time around, and even got to see a girl in the bar wiggling her ass on the barstool to the rhythm! I got more applause after doing that song, and of course felt better about myself.

Back in the mid 2000s, my friends are I were regulars in karaoke joints. Our friend Dave was quite the performer, taking the mic and doing everything from Elvis songs to Radiohead, to the Beastie Boys – and everything in between. My favorites were Blondie (which you already know), but I also tackled Sinead O’Connor, Alannah Myles, Sheryl Crowe, Debbie Gibson, The Bangles, Queen, hair band singers and even got brave enough to do a couple of showtunes.

If you can handle going in front of a crowded bar and singing karaoke, you can handle pretty much anything life throws at you!