I Didn't Know What I wanted To Be, So Disco & Acting Lessons For Me.

According to my Senior counsellor he didn't know either... Issue # 42

…ifOnlyi… knew that dancing and acting were more ego-based than real-life career options for me, or were they? I benefited from both, but none became a lifelong career, so why did I do it?

It started with weekend skiing. Mom took us, kids, on a six-hour car trip to an incredible mountain called Mammoth for three days of Skiing.

Coming home, Mom cranked up the tunes in the car. She loved Donna Summers's “The Disco Queen” and played it repeatedly.

That’s why I decided to take up dancing lessons. The drive back home, listening to Donna Summers for nearly six hours, was mesmerizing. I wanted more; one way to get it was to learn to Dance!

I drove to Long Beach three nights a week to learn, and I enjoyed the music so much, even though I was a rock‘n’roller by nature.

I guess you could say that I was well-rounded in my listening. Dad loved his big Band's music and Jazz. Mom listened to Dean Martin, Glen Campbell, and Neil Diamond the best. I still love Neil, too.

I was raised listening to what my parents enjoyed in the car and at home, and I also listened to what I wanted in my room, at parties, and in my vehicle.

Yahoo, now add dancing to the mix. I became someone else when Disco played. It was 1978, and soon, I would be out and about dancing the nights away.

How? I was 17, soon to be 18.

Yes, I got a fake ID to practice dancing in local nightclubs and bars. Drinking alcohol soon became part of the rhythm and rhyme, too.

When I look back, I can’t believe I bought polyester shirts. How ridiculous it was back then. Soon, I would up my game and start wearing “Cravats,” yeah. But the truth is I loved Dancing A LOT.

The fake ID took me to many places where I had to be 21 to get into, and I later got in a boatload of trouble.

Dancing became an obsession later in life when I would go out 4 nights a week to enjoy the music.

I took about six classes for the acting lessons, each two hours long. What I soon learned was that reading with total conviction from a phonebook was, in fact, a difficult task for me.

How could I propose to a woman by reading someone's street number, address, and phone number and making it sound believable?

It just didn’t fly! I was not at all comfortable. Acting is stiff, and I have respect for their craft. But the phonebook was more than I could handle, so I quit and focused on Disco Dancing.

If you want to look uncool, try dancing for an hour on the floor and then looking like you just came out of a washing machine. It's not a flattering way to attract the ladies. I let my feet do the talking.

….ifOnlyi…. short stories are published chronologically and follow my life growing up in California from 4 years old. If you’ve just found me, the stories will come together when you start reading from….Issue #1