So the other night, some friends and I were at a bar when they started doing karaoke and, like Proust and the madeleine cookie, the whole thing brought a very singular memory rushing back to me. When I was in high school, my dad really wanted to go check out this new Korean bar down the street from our house. I was really shy then, so I didnt want to, but he eventually talked me into it. Little did we know that this was a karaoke bar, and that they were in the middle of an epochal run of karaoke. It should be added that my dad is short and stocky, while I was tall for my age and very slender, so Im certain we looked absolutely hilarious together. He ordered a beer, while I just awkwardly sat there and tried to pretend I wasnt at least a head taller than everybody else there, and stuck out like the proverbial sorest of thumbs. And then, this beefy, jockish-looking Korean-American dude (he was really more of a bro, as I think on it) got up and sang a shockingly beautiful and earnest rendition of the song The Rhythm of the Rain by The Cascades. And nobody but me in the whole place seemed to be paying any attention or even to notice it! So I just wanted to say, wherever you are, bro (or brah if you prefer), you summoned a weird visitation of pure beauty into a night of almost existential awkwardness, and thank you.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 23:40:50 +0000