Former Band Geek

Before I became one of the Cool People in Life, thanks to my status and identity as a dancer, I was a Band Geek.

Starting in the fifth grade I played trumpet all the way through to my senior year in high school. I never played any sports, so Marching Band inadvertently - and thankfully - provided a built in social life in high school. I never would have attended a single football or basketball game, otherwise. Thanks to the other band geeks, I have good memories of going out to pizza, attending school dances, and toilet papering each other's houses.

It was a little harder playing trumpet when I got braces. There was a lasting imprint from the wire on my front teeth, on the inside of my upper lip, from the constant pressure of the metal mouth piece.

I would have rather been a cheerleader. Maybe it's better I didn't, though. One of my friends was the school mascot and got picked on, sometimes. At football games, dressed in the cougar costume, he would throw candy from a basket into the bleachers. Mean guys would grab the candy and pelt it back at him as hard as they could.

I might have gotten my ass kicked at that school if I had been a cheerleader.

When I did start getting work as a performer, I thanked my parents for making me play the trumpet. The years of musical training came in very handy for vocal auditions and singing rehearsals. Musical directors were always pleased with those of us who read music.

P.S. If you couldn't already tell, I just now finally learned to scan pictures, last week, so be prepared to see even more geeky photos from my past.

You've been fairly warned.