I’m sing…ing in the rain, I’m sing…ing in the ra…in, what a glo…rious fee…ling , I’m ha…ppy, again…, I sang at the top of my lungs towards the kitchen ceiling with outstretched arms like an operatic singer as I shared with my husband, my excitement to run in the rain, again, the following day. If you read my previous post, you know I hurt my quad while embarking on a mish-mash combination of following a real training plan and mine. Plus, my competitive-athlete side made an impromptu appearance. Since that injury, I wished on imaginary stars to heal quickly. It worked! I ran 8 splish-splashy miles of smiles a week after the quad mishap.

Need to Clarify
In my previous post, I noted my injury occurred on a Sunday; however, when sharing some not very exciting news with my brother, I realized the injury occurred on a Saturday (sun-drizzle-rain filled day). Sunday was a gorgeous, crisp, clear, and sunny day. Sweater-dress-minus leggings-with-cute tall-cozy-boots kind of day. I apologize for the mix-up. See what happens when a runner goes without a run on consecutive days-brain turns to mashed potatoes and gravy!

See what happens when a runner goes without a run on consecutive days-brain turns to mashed potatoes and gravy!

8 Mile Run
Loving knowledge creates an immense world for exploration. Like my diverse taste in people, books, food, sports, films, etc, etc, it is, also, true of music. Hence, why there are rap and hip hop songs I enjoy (great dancing beat) as much as other genres or The Beatles (to me, The Fabulous Beatles, are their own musical/life category). While I disagree with the misogyny and other themes in some rap and hip-hop lyrics, there is meaning to the words.

As I typed the words “8 Mile Run”, I thought of Eminem’s song, Lose Yourself, written for his motion picture film, 8 Mile. I haven’t viewed the movie, but I’ve heard the song, it’s one of those catchy tunes that make my body move…

Anyway, I thought about the lyrics and how applicable they are to the reasoning for this post.

Look
If you had
One shot
Or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
In one moment
Would you capture it
Or just let it slip?

If you’ve read my blog or tweets, you know, I make fun of my singing voice, a lot. While I can keep up with Shakira, and possibly outdo her hips, my voice is no competition for her or anyone born with the gift of singing. As I sang to my husband (as I often do), I heard the cracker-barrel tone while trying to hit high notes of Singin’ in the Rain. At the realization of sounding nothing like Mr. Fancy-Feet-Kelly, I had a thought. Lightbulb. Ding! Ding! Ding! I get those a lot. However, for some reason, I’ve never thought about actually working towards improving my singing voice.

Is Eminem, of all people, trying to tell me something? Not really. I had this thought before making the connection with his lyrics and my dream of being an opera or Broadway singer. Sadly, I’ll NEVER reach operatic or Broadway voice status. Bye, bye ship. You look bea-u…-tiful from afar, I apologize for not arriving sooner to join the excursion. Maybe in another life.

Back to singin’ in the rain…
I paused singing, froze for a few seconds, turned towards my husband and said, “…you know what?” “Wh-at?”, asked my husband with a tone and body language ready to hear something odd or sigh inducing. “I’m going to learn to sing, beautifully. I’m going to start, right… now!”, I continue while running towards my laptop with my teeth baring grin. Laptop is opened, started, and Google is ignited, click-clack-click-clack (click-clacks were: “learn how to sing YouTube”). In nanoseconds, Google provided a slew of YouTube videos and music schools to browse. What did I do, next? Started clicking on some of those links, of course.

And, so, a new journey begins…
I hope to no longer sound like Marion Strong when hitting high notes. If Lucy from I Love Lucy (I bet you have no idea who she is) were my friend, she would have said in her not-so-kind tone: “Marion (but, here, she would have said, “Karina”. It makes me giggle to think of Lucille Ball saying my name.), stop cackling. I’ve been waiting ten years for you to lay that egg.” In defense of Lucy, a character is still human, so she can’t be perfect. Also, my laugh is not annoying (or, maybe it is and I just haven’t realized it?), the annoyance and reason for this post is my singing voice.

Anyway, as I search and browse singing technique, I tell my husband with grand enthusiasm, “I know what I’m going to do for all of us for my birthday this year! I’m going to sing, beautifully, to you on my 40th birthday!” His response was funny and sweet (mostly, funny-not-so-nice, but funny). Anyway, as I mentioned, I’m turning the big cuatro, cero. That’s four-o (4-0, it’s really four, zero, not sure where the “o” initiated, will look into it for all of us and if you know, please share with me?) for those of you not familiar with the spanish tongue. Ha!

I know, I know, I am beyond a dork, but if you are my real life friend or cyberspace friend, then I think you are, also, w-ell…, how do I spill the beans…, bordering on the dorky side. So sorry to break it to you. EEk! I know..., but look at the beautiful, bright, sunny side of life (what song is this line from? If not sure, please see “epilogue”), if you weren’t a tad dorky, fun, and willing to jump off your high horse from time to time (I do the same, so not judging, we’re smart, we have to be on our high horse, sometimes, our wisdom is like pollen to bees-must be readily available.), you wouldn’t have the pleasure of being friends with someone as awesome as me. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Turning 40…
As you know, I am honest to fault, so good or not good, I will always be frank on my thoughts and feelings on everything if asked, and, since deciding to start a nonfiction book, a ton more than I ever imagined, without being asked (on my unplanned blog). I’m sharing personal and once private experiences, thoughts, feelings, and actions because I feel a need to help normalize certain universal thoughts, feelings, and actions. The fun anecdotes are for my cyberspace friends since I don’t get the joy of interacting with them in real life.

Anytime, someone starts a new decade of life or major milestone, there are a myriad of thoughts and feelings related to the new journey. I’m not going into detail on mine, here, but I will say, I’m not afraid to leave the chickling years behind. Why? My thorough response would require another book, but my short response is: I’m very excited to turn 40 in November! I don’t feel any older than I did twenty years ago, in fact, I feel younger. I don’t look younger, but that’s the beauty of aging, I don’t care about looking older because my mind and body feel young and vibrant.

See, late teens-early twenties-undergrad-Karina, I told you… I knew you would embrace wrinkles. 

I like my laugh lines, they give me character and depth (literally, ha!). Laugh lines should be embraced and esteemed by our youth obsessed society. Even, non-laugh lines and wrinkles should be welcome with open arms. They are signs of a well lived life. Wrinkles and lines are the symbol of our life stories. Being able to see those, means we’re lucky enough to live to tell a deep story. While not all lines are filled with joy, the fact most older adults have visible laugh lines, even if only for a minute or two, they show joy was experienced.

Embrace those lines, they are your unique story.
I wish more women realized they are a lot more than temporary, un-creased, American society’s idea of a beautiful casing (ladies, we have the power to stop the anti-aging powerhouses from trying to sell us: less wrinkles = happiness). Humans are like beautiful artifacts, if there is no depth or deep connection to it’s origin and roots, the beauty is overlooked after a while and end up in attics, basements or donation bins. I work hard at being more than a beautiful casing and artifact because I don’t want to end up in damp, dark, corners looking through old pictures, wasting precious, limited, time mourning un-creased skin, gorgeous shiny locks, and whatever else the beauty and cosmetic giants have been trying to ingrain in me as the be all and end all of life. I want to continue enjoying life. Life isn’t the reflection in a mirror, we’re all more than reflections and casings, we are humans, born with the ability to continually add information and experiences to the fascinating human brain. Dendrites keep growing each time we learn, keeping us happy and healthy far longer than what physical beauty and youth obsessed societies tells us is our expiration date.

Come out and play!
Many days, my child self takes a peek and I happily welcome her with smiles and cuddles. Of course, there are times and moments when life should be approached with a serious and professional tone; however, allowing the self to be like a carefree child keeps the mind and heart young- eternally energetic and vibrant.

 

This is the last year of my 30’s, and, the start of more chapters in a long series of adventures… I’m ready to start writing new chapters. I can’t wait to see and experience the characters, settings, and plots the older years have in store for me…

If brave enough, maybe, I’ll share my singing progress with you one day. But, I can definitely share anecdotes of the process, like a “behind the scenes look at the making of a singer!” (doesn’t that have a reality show title ring to it?). Ha! I make myself laugh.

Until I have other thoughts, etc. to share with you, I’ll be dancin’, singin’, and of course, runnin’… in the rain… oh, and sunshine, I live in California (a.k.a., the sunshine state).

Is there something you’ve always wanted to do? If so, what has held you back? Since I’m embarking on a somewhat scary adventure, one I’ve always dreamed of, but never imagined possible, I thought I’d share my singing dream with you. In sharing, maybe I can inspire someone else to venture into the darkness and search for that magical door. What is your operatic/Broadway voice dream?

Epilogue
Answer to the question :

Keep on the Sunny Side of Life by Dan Zanes and Friends

Who?!
Dan Zanes and Friends. G-eez! Clear-ly, you are not cool at all if you had no idea who Mr. Catch That Train is. But, lucky you, you have a cool friend to fill you in on Mr. Stylish Hair and Suits.

A few years ago, they were the biggest band in our home. I was bordering on groupie, then. I followed their tour schedule like a groupie. Not because I had a crush on Dan or his friends, but because my son LOVED their music, and to be honest, I did, too. Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but I really, really enjoyed the show as much as my son. Okay, fine, sometimes, more. They had a FUN dancing beat!

These were two of our favorite dancing Dan Zane’s songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF6yuKXnMpo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed1eVHmck88

We had daily dance parties in our home and his music was one of the most requested by the party attendants. Watching these videos brought back wonderful, deep, joyous sigh filled memories… I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to enjoy those moments with my cutie. The only regret? Those years zoomed like a rocketship…, but, Father Time is uncontrollable. Darn that, Father Time, he should grant parents longer time to spend with those adorable creatures that gives us headaches, but compared to the love, smiles, and laughter they emit, the tiny-big headaches here and there are SO worth it.

2008 Anecdote:
Husband: “… Why are you driving all the way to West L.A. at that time of day?! Traffic is going to be crazy…”

Me: “… I know, but Dan Zanes is playing at the West L.A. Lakeshore store, only, tomorrow.”

If you’ve ever driven in crazy Los Angeles traffic, especially, anywhere near the 405 freeway, during rush-hour, you know why my husband was questioning my sanity. My son was a preschooler, too. If you’ve ever experienced one of those in traffic, it further clarifies the reason for my husband’s question. But, music is crucial to a well-rounded development and I wanted to foster my son’s love of music.

Circa, 4/21/2007… Dan Zanes Concert @ UCLA’s Royce Hall. Feeling a little guilty I didn’t invite my sister’s younger son, but I thought two active 2 year-olds and a 6  year-old might be pushing it… As you can see, I did buy my younger-cutie nephew a souvenir (the cute  Dan Zane’s and Friends autographed book-bag his equally adorable older brother is holding in the picture), so I wasn’t too much of a mean aunt…

 

Also, by that time, our son had already attended a few Dan Zane’s concerts at UCLA. See, why my husband thought I was koo-koo? Crazy or dedicated or both, it didn’t matter, I was happy to nurture my son’s love of music. While he was born with a beautiful singing voice and fancy-dancy moves to match, he didn’t choose music as one of his extracurricular activities. However, providing a musical foundation has contributed to his love and appreciation of music. Maybe one day, he will use his beautiful voice and share with the world, but for now, he loves to sing and dance away for himself.

And, he can sing a few Beatles lyrics, too… Not sure where he heard about the Fab Four…