Cheeseburger & Paradise (Karaoke Edition)

It has been over a month since my last post. I know- totally slacking. So in an effort to redeem myself the next couple will be short vignettes about my second full month in Bloomington. Enjoy!

Pop quiz blogging friends. J.T. moves to new town. What should be his first outing in the city:

A. Take in a concert at Bluebirds (One of Bloomington's live music venues)
B. Go see a movie at one of the AMC theaters
C. Sing Karaoke at Cheeseburger and Paradise with friends in the HESA program
D. Go out? I didn't know doctoral students left the library

If you answered A, B  or D, then you clearly do not know me at all. The correct answer is yes (shouts out to KP). I love to sing karaoke, and that is just what happened. [On a sidenote the first car I owned was a 1989 Ford Probe that I named Emily (R.I.P 2003). It was for sale by owner so I took it for a test drive and checked out all the functions. It had an aftermarket pioneer cd player professionally installed. It was sweet! Unfortunately the AWESOME cd player had a Jimmy Buffet cd stuck in it. So every time that I got in the car I would hear the song cheeseburger and paradise (think How I Met Your Mother episode  arrivederci fiero).]

I arrived at Cheeseburger and Paradise around 10pm, and met up with several of the other graduate students in the HESA program. Folks had already begun drinking and sing karaoke. Two people in particular had tremendous voices: Brian Mcgowan & Whitney (I can remember her last name. Let's just say Houston - pre Bobby and crack).  Brian and Whitney sang a duet of one sweet day. It was phenomenal. All the new HESA doc students had to perform. I considered doing one of my all time favs  (Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye), but I decided to go with Journey - Don't Stop Believing.

 Now I am usually a little nervous whenever I perform, but this time I was literally shaking before the track started. So I took a deep breath and got into character. I grabbed the microphone and kept repeating to myself, This is Journey - I can't lose. As soon as the music started the crowd cheered and sang along. It was great! You know before I came to Bloomington I didn't really see myself being able to meet new people and have fun. I thought I was going to bury myself under a mountain of books and never see the light of day. But the students I met at Cheeseburger and Paradise give me hope for some semblance of a life away from doc student work. Here is hoping.