In 1990, Pretty
Woman was a hit movie and "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips was at the top of the Billboard
Charts. I graduated from high school, began George Mason
University’s music program, and dated my first boyfriend.
Dad #3 had
disappeared and gone back to Germany resulting in a nasty cross-continental
divorce. Mom and I saw it coming. His “business trips” back and forth to
Germany lasted for longer and longer periods of time. The final straw was
a six-month stint that effectively ended the marriage.
My mom remarried
within the year to a wonderful man who adored her. His determination to win my
approval meant that he accompanied me to ear-splitting rock concerts and endured
housefuls of teenagers for “haunted house parties.” He was a happy, social guy
with a lot of friends and a great smile. Everyone loved him. His laid-back and easy-going manner
was a welcome change, and Mom and I both felt like we could breathe again.
My own life was
consumed with the rocker boyfriend I’d finally found. Three years my senior
(better than the ten-year-my-senior rocker from before), D was a talented
guitarist I'd met while working at Toys R Us. I would date him for the next
four years (until I began to develop feelings for his best friend, and then it
all went south—a story for another time).
That fall I joined
the music department at GMU and majored in voice. Most of the classical
training for singing involved performing arias and learning operatic techniques. I sort of got a
kick out of learning to sing with that kind of power and technical ability, but
I really just wanted to rip some Skid Row or Queensryche.
The music
department was a shock. I had never had formal music training before, and I
suddenly had to learn how to analyze orchestral scores, sight-sing from sheets
of music, and memorize symphonies and composers. After years of thinking I
wanted to be a singer and/or an actress, my dreams and plans began to
change.
Did you pursue the career path you originally intended?
