The Reluctant Receptionist

in the midst of some difficult shit that’s been going down (most notably, my grandparents’ failing health and my father’s emotionally and physically exhausting quest to get everything squared away), and in the midst of all the opera craziness and day job stuff, a couple of really awesome things happened last week, and i’d like to share them with you.

first, my friend caryn, a music journalist, contacted me out of the clear blue sky at the end of last week. i thought that she was going to RSVP to my birthday party, but it was something even better: she asked if i could make it to a hotel in midtown in the next forty-five minutes in order to interview tori amos. now, if you know me at all, you know that tori used to be my end-all-be-all. she was (is?) the only artist whose every release i own; she’s one of very few i’ve stuck with through thick and thin; and one of the only i’ll move heaven and earth to see live every time she’s performing in a town near me. i’ve written many words about this woman on this blog alone, about how her music helped me get through growing up in a small town, how it helped me get through college in a small town. it got me through my first heart-wrenching breakup at 18, and every one since then. tori was the link that connected me with alyson, one of my best friends and the mother of my erstwhile godson. tori was the link that connected me with cory, who i’m still so close to 12 years and 1000 miles later. my point is, um, tori amos.

and i got to interview her. i got to sit on a couch with her, just the two of us in a room, for 30 minutes. we talked about music and recording and touring and boys for pele. we talked about singing and growing up. it was literally like a dream i’ve had, where i’m hanging out with one of my heroes (because, let’s face it, i don’t have many heroes. but tori is one of them.), and if i didn’t have it on tape i’d think that i dreamed the whole thing. but i didn’t dream it: i listened to the recording again yesterday, and sent a draft of the news blurb i wrote about it to caryn this morning. what else can i say? i’ve been smiling about it since it happened, and i’m going to be smiling about it for a long time. i met one of my heroes. and i didn’t just meet her, i got to talk to her, one-on-one.

the other thing that happened was that i got to sing at weill recital hall, which is part of carnegie hall. i sang a total of two lines in this opera that no one ever does, but you know what? 30 years from now, when i’m some fucking insurance salesman, i can tell my kids (who will be teenagers and sick of hearing their dad talk) that i sang at carnegie hall. and that’s a pretty good feeling.