When I was almost two, I wanted to be a ballerina. And so, I took a shower cap, the kind that separates the hairline from the face and looks like a halo, slipped off my bulky diaper and stepped into …
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When I was almost two, I wanted to be a ballerina. And so, I took a shower cap, the kind that separates the hairline from the face and looks like a halo, slipped off my bulky diaper and stepped into it. However, when mother started taking photos and expecting pirouettes and grand jetes, I left the dance world for good.
In grade school, all I wanted to be was a girl with long hair. And so, Mother crocheted a cap from yellow yarn with two long braids for me to put over my pixie cut, and wear around the house. It felt good to have long hair; even better to be a blonde.
As I grew, I wanted to be a Marine Biologist because that’s what my older brother wanted to be. When he spoke of it, it sounded important. However, to avoid sibling rivalry, my parents said pick something else. And so, I chose Architect, and when said brother wanted to be an Architect, I was encouraged to choose again. After seeing Mick Jagger strut across the TV screen, I chose rock star. No one bothered me about that choice, and so that’s what I stuck with from the time I graduated high school until I was in my thirties.
When I no longer enjoyed smoke-filled night clubs, staying up all night, little money and the arduous lifestyle of practicing music, I went back to college for a while and studied psychotherapy. I was number one in my class at CUNY. However, upon realizing the career entailed listening to people’s problems, I dropped out of school to pursue a career as a visual artist.
During my ten years as a fine art painter and sculptor, my work appeared in several publications including Elle and People Magazines, plus I was represented for a spell by Meisner Soho, now The Meisner Gallery. Yoko Ono attended my first and only opening, and almost bought one of my sculptures, a chair made entirely of cracked eggshells with barbed wire as handles. Had she made the purchase, my career would have soared. However, her Hungarian art consultant talked her out of the buy at a time when rents were going up, and job prospects were nil, and so I left Manhattan and moved Upstate.
Upon landing in the Callicoon area, I joined theatrical groups as an actor, and really enjoyed it. I played Bananas in House of Blue Leaves and the lead ingénue in Dracula. When I realized I’d have to travel back to NYC to further this pursuit (this was before internet auditions), I created characters on two reality shows, Wife Swap and Design Star thinking I could get into the biz that way. But alas, they didn’t get it. Besides, I had a daughter to raise, and so I dedicated myself to being a mom.
Then one day, while walking to the post office, I bumped into the Editor of the Sullivan County Democrat, a paper I had always loved. Said Editor asked for a sample of my writing. He must have gone to a Yarnslingers’s event where I, along with many others, shared our true stories. I submitted three samples and was offered the job of Tuesday Columnist and so, here I am today; something I never thought I’d be, a writer.
The next Yarnslingers is on Sunday, January 26th at 11:30am at Seminary Hill Cidery in Callicoon, NY. The theme is ‘winter,’ and it’s free to attend. I’ll be there, content as one of the writers, a place for me arrived at merely through this crazy maze called life.
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