Silly Questions — “firsts” edition

Break Time for one of those silly tests — It’s kind of neat to think back…

* Who was your FIRST boy/girl friend?
Kindergarten — Jeff, Jeff & Glenn — I could run faster, so it depended on who could catch me

* Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
once in a while

* What was your 1st alcoholic drink?
either a rum & coke or a brandy in coffee — out by Belews Creek on a dusty summer night

* Who was your FIRST kiss?
his name was Andy, such a sweetie & really into RUSH

* What was your FIRST job?
volunteer — candy-striper
paid — associate in a high-end men’s clothing store

* What was your FIRST car?
bright red Toyota Tercel — think Prince blasting on the cassette deck 🙂

* Who was the FIRST person to talk to you today?
Chris, a little while after the alarm clock rang

* Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
a Civil War Veteran from the 122nd NY

* Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Miss Manor, one of only 2 teachers in my entire life who frightened me

* Where was your FIRST apartment or place of your own?
Greensboro, NC

* your FIRST ride on an airplane?
in a 172 in Greensboro, and to this day I prefer small planes!

* Where was your FIRST sleep over?
when I went away to school at 16 — my mom wasn’t big on relinquishing her kids

* Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
I played the piano (badly) for my big brother & sister-in-law

* What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
talked to Chris, packed the girls’ lunch

* What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
either Mme Butterfly (the opera) or the Statler Brothers

* FIRST tattoo?
Not yet — maybe when I’m an old lady

* FIRST piercing?
ears in 1984

* FIRST foreign country you’ve been to?
Bahamas

* FIRST movie you remember seeing?
On TV, it was probably something on “The Wonderful World of Disney” — maybe Johnny Tremain?
at the movies, I think we went to see Benji when I was little

* When was your FIRST detention?
6th grade — I punched a boy who made fun of my little brother (my Dad taught me how to throw a punch, so I wouldn’t be defenceless)

* What was the FIRST state/province you lived in?
North Carolina

* Who was your FIRST roommate?
Glenda — I knew her through my Dad

* What was your FIRST “bad” word?
Damn — I was 16 and felt oh so wicked!

* What was your FIRST broken bone?
and only — my foot — but I saved a computer from crashing to the floor

* When did you lose your FIRST tooth?
6 or 7 — there’s a snaggle-toothed school pic somewhere

* If you had one wish, what would it be?
I need at least 3 — for my girls, for Chris & for my writing — and peace on earth (just in case the judges are keeping score!)

* What is something you would learn if you had the time?
to fly an airplane, play the guitar and speak Spanish, Mandarin & Italian

Firsts: Get Down Tonight ( KC & the Sunshine band — 1st song I danced to with a boy); Angel in Blue (J Geils Band – 1st song I slow-danced to with a cuter boy); Fame (Irene Cara — teenage anthem); Upside Down (Diana Ross — song I learned to disco with); Sixty Minute Man (song I learned to shag to); Warwick Ave (1st song from Duffy); Just Rites (Don Dixon — one of the 1st club concerts I went to, love him and the rocking NC music scene!!); Erie Canal (choose your singer — one of the 1st songs I learned in school); Nocturne, Op. 9 (Frédéric Chopin — 1st classical composer I adored, I know he’s romantic & mushy — still); String of Pearls (Glenn Miller — 1st big band obsession); Silver Wings (Merle Haggard — 1st 8-track I would sneak into my big brother’s room and play); Abide with Me (1st song I played on the piano for my parent’s Sunday school class); Seasons in the Sun (Terry Jacks — 1st song we learned in chorus in 3rd grade); Birdland (Weather Report — turned me on to classic jazz); Blackberry Boogie & Smoke Smoke Smoke (Tennessee Ernie Ford — songs that taught about musical humor); My Life (Billy Joel — teen anthem); At this Moment (Billy Vera & the Beaters — what? Alex P Keaton was cute…..); Not the Only One (Bonnie Raitt — my intro to her); Harbor Lights (Bruce Hornsby — I love him, and this song just pulls you along); When I Fall in Love (Celine Dion — the first & only song of hers I like); True Colors (Cyndi Lauper — when I realized I like her better than Madonna); Side by Side (Dan Zanes — 1st artist that showed me kids’ music was cool); Times Like These (Edie Brickell — I just would love to listen to a breakfast conversation between her and Mr. Brickell [Paul Simon] — it would be so completely cool and random, don’t you think?); On Every Street (Dire Straits — Mark Knopfler is astonishing, and the bridge in this just goes on its own little journey); US Blues (Grateful Dead — my “on the bus” song); Just the Two of Us (Grover Washington — the 1st 45 I bought in a used shop, this & Sad Samba on the b-side were just so elegantly cool); Sending Me Angels (Delbert McClinton — 1st mommy song) and I Take My Chances (Mary Chapin Carpenter — my “song” for the longest time) and oh yeah Little Red Corvette (Prince — although in my mind it said little red tercel — 1st summer with a car song)!

You grow up the day you have your first real laugh – at yourself. –> Ethel Barrymore

Take care,
Aly