"Welcome To The Real World She Said To Me"

On Friday night I attended my sister's orchestra concert. The show was great. And predictable. Like every Pops Concert before, the show ended with all three orchestras performing Stars and Stripes Forever. And just like every Pops Concert I had played in, as the last section of the song began, in full FORTE, they dropped the American flag. So patriotic.

I knew it was coming. Every year as I stood in the orchestra pit playing those very notes, I couldn't look at my friend Abby without laughing. Laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it. At the audience clapping along, goofy grins plastered on their faces. It was always a riot.

As I sat there watching my sister and laughing to myself, I realized how weird it was to be on the other side. Watching, not playing. That was me up there from fourth grade till graduation. Hours of practice, countless concerts and one amazing trip to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and the South Pacific. And for the first time in a long time, I longed to play in a group again.

Afterwards, we all filed into Cafeteria A for cookies and juice. As we pushed through the double doors I felt like John Mayer should be playing in the background. It was all so familiar to be back there, but also so strange.

Had it really been only seven years since I last walked those halls?

It feels like a lifetime ago.

Trigger

I listened to the self-titled Third Eye Blind CD on my way into work. (Yes Michael, you can have it back and yes, it was in a case and no, it's not scratched.) I know the words to every song. It was the CD I played on repeat in my CD walkman during a trip to the Jersey Shore. It was the CD I bought for all my friend's birthdays and the CD that makes me think of overnight bus rides during my trip to Australia.

The trip down memory lane got me thinking about other music that represents a certain time for me. There was Green Day's Dookie, the first CD I ever bought myself in sixth grade. This followed the first ever bought for me, TLC's Waterfalls, but we don't need to talk about that.

Eighth grade brought Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, for when I was angry or just felt like being moody. This was followed by the girl-power anthems of Meredith Brook's Bitch single (we changed to words for a summer camp song..."I think farm's cool, you grow vegetables, and when they're grown you eeeeaaat them!") and I was a Wannabe for the Spice Girls. Marcy Playground's Sex and Candy, Semisonic's Feeling Strangely Fine and Savage Garden (another one we can forget) were all played at top volume as I danced around my bedroom.

Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit and Jay-Z's Vol 2...Hard Knock Life corresponded with wanting to break up with my boyfriend and spread my wings.

I bought Dave Matthews Band Crash because a boy I liked was a big fan. I could never get into it and packed it away for years until I met Michael, also a DMB lover. Since then I've really grown to like them on my own. I guess it took meeting the right boy.

Speaking of the right boy, Counting Crows' August and Everything After is the CD I associate with Michael. Always one of my favorites, it became the soundtrack to the long drives and talks into the wee hours of the morning that our relationship was built upon.

I love how music can trigger memories.

Bet you have Meredith Brooks stuck in your head now, don't you?