What’s a good antidote to “The Blues”
What’s a good antidote to “The Blues”? I found myself frequently obsessing over that question in recent weeks.
I utilized Artificial Intelligence to see what it prescribed to get back to a sunnier frame of mind:
Physical activity
Connection with others (party anyone?)
Relaxation
Surrounding yourself with music
Then I asked AI what are some good ways to celebrate a milestone event because this summer marks fifty years since my husband and I met up again at our 10th high school reunion.
Top of the list for celebrating a special event:
Host a Party.
So we did.
And not just any party. A party that checked all the above boxes.
A KARAOKE PARTY!
After my husband and I welcomed everyone the evening of our karaoke party, I cranked out the following little vignette to add some context and some humor:
Bluntly put, my father’s message was,
“Iris, don’t f-ck it up!”
I guess I didn’t, because we are still together.
But back to the KARAOKE PARTY…..
There was a downside.
The largest private karaoke room I could find in Tampa only held 25 people. Whittling my lust – whoops, I meant list – down to 25 was an exercise in both social nuancing and tact. Those two attributes aren’t usually present in my personal bag of tricks.
I did the best I could, but many were left out. To those, I profusely apologize.
The venue: La La Karaoke in Tampa.
It made me slightly nervous when quite a few people I invited gave the following response: “Oh, I don’t do karaoke, but I’ll come.” I figured the open bar might break down some of their hesitation to belt-out a few bars of their favorite ballads.
My friend Lynne and I spent some late-night hours singing along with Internet music videos – songs from our junior high and high school years that could be classified as swoon-worthy. In addition, we concurred that for a song to make the cut it had to be easy to sing to and upbeat in both message and tone.
After listening to our renditions from an adjacent room, my husband snuck up close behind me and whispered with a chuckle: “Don’t even think about giving up your day jobs to start a singing group.”
We both laughed. We knew how bad we sounded.
Here’s a partial list of some songs we went ga-ga over during the night before the big event:
Dedicated to the one I love
Bad Bad Leroy Brown
Benny and the Jets
Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction
I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song
I Say a Little Prayer
Louie Louie
Love Will Keep us Together
Mack the Knife
Mrs. Robinson
Pretty Woman
Puff the Magic Dragon
Stop in the Name of Love
Sweet Home Alabama
Take it to the Limit
Truckin
Wake up Little Susie
Wedding Blues
Can’t Hurry Love
That’s What Friends are For
Did the shy people sing?
Some did and some didn’t.
Did the not-so-shy live up to their potential to belt out a song with verve and enthusiasm? I’d say, “Yes”.
How many REALLY had fun?
I think we hovered around 90 percent.
Would I do it all over again and throw another Karaoke party?
Absolutely.
In closing, a big shout-out to La La Karaoke in Tampa: www.lalakaraoke.com
The food was terrific – so was the alcohol – and the staff functioned like a well-oiled machine allowing me to sing with my buddies to my heart’s content
https://www.icloud.com/photos/#/icloudlinks/066Ydk9RJVIYFfJBu3eMhTLmg/
And that’s how to beat “The Blues”!
Keep Preserving Your Bloom,
PS: And major kudos to my son, Max, who also contributed to our Karaoke playlist. Unlike Lynne and I, he chose text only to communicate his choices. And, BTW, he’s wisely keeping his day job too.
