When I'm asked to "tell a story" or "share an experience," I tend to get anxious and frustrated. I'm not great at remembering things off hand. I rely on triggers, often through conversation, to help recall such narratives, and my desire to deliver something profound clouds my head. Today's prompt was no different. I feel like I don't really have a truly "strange" experience to share.
This time, however, I'm surprised nothing comes to mind. 2013 has been a strange year, arguably my strangest year. Chicago bloomed for me the moment I set my mind on leaving. I led classes of elementary school students to and from lunch every day and coached basketball after school (we were 0-6). My hat changed in the evenings to that of a young guy who sold drinks to concertgoers at the Old Town School of Folk Music cafe. The band I so badly wanted to succeed was losing steam, but I was happy to be experiencing the city not as a music scene, but as an ever-expanding community of friends, coworkers, and strangers.
Then there was Portland, which is as weird as they hype it up to be. I saw a lot of strange things, but no one experience bears a "that was really strange" tag. Perhaps I just need to think on it a bit more. Sorry to disappoint.
Bloomington has been all too normal, despite it taking a fair dose of intuition to bring me here. I'm working on it, though. Give me a few more months, and I'll be sure to have something strange to share. I'll try and remember to write it down or something.
While I may not have a great story to share, I do have something; the wonderfully strange Folk Rock Gallagher. Borne of a few maj7 chords and Alex Thompson's gift for improvising lyrics about the articles in his apartment, this "new and unexpected" music project became one of the most memorable accomplishments of my year. Fortunately, the sonic bits of the magic ended up on SoundCloud, but listen at your own discretion. The lyrics are NYFW. Apologies in advance, mom.
https://soundcloud.com/folkrockgallagher
This post is part of Think Kit by Small Box
Today's post was "Share the strangest experience of your year"
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