One of My Wildest Dreams

I am finally going to share one of my most personal and closely kept secrets ever. One of my truly wildest dreams.

Perhaps my Mom, Dad and my sister, the people who were most attuned into my crazy, nerdy childhood will be the only ones who will have known or will completely understand this obsession goal dream of mine.

And here it is… I have always wanted to be this guy:

Not this particular guy, but I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to conduct symphonies and symphonic choirs. I wanted to exist on the edge of reality and music, as these maestros often do. I wanted to walk around with music bouncing around in my head all the time!

To give you a history, when my parents bought their 80’s Plymouth Voyager mini-van, it came with the “Infinity” sound system, which also had a demo cassette. One entire side of this demo cassette was dedicated to classical music, because it was, obviously, royalty-free and who was going to listen to this stupid cassette anyway….

I was.

I listened to that thing over and over. I wore that sucker out! I listened to it in the car, at home, outside while jumping on the trampoline. Everywhere. Not only did I listen to it, I conducted it! It distinctly remember sitting in the passenger seat in the Plymouth Voyager while VIOLENTLY conducting the music! I was all over the place! There wasn’t an ictus in sight.

One night, I was watching the news (oh yeah, there was a daily ceremonial surrendering of the remote control to Dad when he got home from work so he could watch “the news”) and seeing a story about the first woman who became maestro of a major symphony orchestra. It blew my mind. They actually let real, actual, live people become that! “How do I get your job?” I wondered.

Fast forward several years… I started singing in choirs when I was 13 years old. I loved choir. Over the next 10 years I sang in lots of choirs, and some of them were pretty amazing choirs with pretty amazing directors. But my dreams of becoming a world-renowned maestro had to take a back seat to my more realistic goals of becoming a successful theatrical director.

I’m a firm believer that I have a lifetime to make my dreams come true, and so one day you will see me direct some really important choir…

Until that time, though, I’m still practicing with the cassette.

12 thoughts on “One of My Wildest Dreams”

  1. Ok, a couple of comments.. i can totally see you in that car acting like a spaz.. you always were and will be a spaz to me (in a good way). Second, you forgot to mention your very important possition as pretty boy front man:P. In they eyes of the group you are our american idol.. haha.

  2. I would have loved to have seen you jumping on the trampoline conducting and listening to the music.

  3. Three things (I know, me with the lists, gee.):
    1. I had a roommate at A&M who would pretend that she was conducting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir every Sunday morning before church in the mirror. She had never been in any choir, even ward choir, but LOVED to “conduct,” practicing her goofy faces that she had seen on many a General Conference. It was hilarious to watch! One year, her family bought her a baton for Christmas as a joke, which she thought was funny. However, she kept it in a special box and busted it out to do her conducting on Sundays. It was greatness. I really miss her.

    2. I always watched the news with my parents and then went to bed. To me, that was a completely normal thing. Now, I realize just why my mother use to say I was born 30.

    3. I’m sure you will realize your dreams and all of us will be sitting around in our living rooms one evening watching TV, screaming that we knew you way back when, and no one will believe us. Until then, you should practice your faces in the mirror like my old roommate.

  4. I’ve never wanted to be that guy, but I’ve always wanted to look like that guy.

  7. Could you just make that face for me just once? Please? Pretty please with sugar on top? That would definitely make me laugh!

  8. Oh, and one more thing…one of my wildest dreams was to become an astronaut…but my bubble was burst when I read this blog about how NASA is a big waste of money. 😉

  9. I think that is a fabulous dream. But one that would make my arms tired. I would be fine for one long song, but when it’s like…..some 2 or 3 hours long symphony…..not a chance.

    Also…..I notice that we get only a hint of this crazy conducting demon inside you at ward choir. I think you need to unleash the beast. I want wildly waving arms and contortions and last-death-throes type faces.

    What is the use of having your signature white eyebrows if you don’t move them alot making faces at choir? I’m just saying.

  10. Well, it’s true and not only was W.E. obsessed with that tape, but the other bros. were too. Not for the classical, but for the old rock songs on the side A. That was one funky tape. So when are you going to admit the dream to be Wink?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.