The first thing I did this morning was that I kicked myself. I was SO mad it wasn’t even funny. And for good reason. I had missed John Lennon’s birthday on October 9th. I had made a mental note for myself to go to Strawberry Fields at Central Park and spend a few hours celebrating with all the other Beatles fans. On the night of October 8th when I was returning from dinner with some friends, walking towards midtown from the upper west side, a man who was quite obviously high on alcohol, walking close by, just out of the blue said ‘don’t forget Lennon’s birthday celebration tomorrow at Strawberry Fields’ and I looked at him and said ‘yes I’m aware and I will be there’. How random was that? And if that wasn’t a reminder from God, then what the heck was it???
So now you have a sense as to why I was so mad at myself. Anyway, since I couldn’t go back in time, I figured that I would go to the park today and have a belated celebration of my own. Every weekend there’s a band that plays by Lennon’s memorial and a few times in the past I have stood beside them and sang myself hoarse. The last time was with my friends who were visiting from Chicago a couple of weeks ago and it was such a memorable time. In fact we all agreed that it was the most fun thing we had done in the 4 days that they were here. And believe me, there was severe competition since we had done so many fun things!
So at 5:00 pm today I made my way to the park, my vocal chords intact. It was so amazing. I guess a lot of people couldn’t show up on the 9th and were there today including some celebrities like Alec Baldwin and Emily Bergil. I made myself comfortable on the floor, next to one of the guitarists and sang every single song with them for about 3 hours. I didn’t just hum or sing quietly – it was as if I was the lead vocalist! I was so into the singing that I didn’t realize for quite a while that the woman sitting on the bench next to the band, just above where I was, wasn’t just any woman. It was Yoko Ono! How random is that? My favorite moment was when before leaving, Yoko tapped me on my shoulder and said ‘you sing very well’. Oh my God!!! I could have died and gone to Lennon Heaven right then!
Anyway, at the end of the night, I said my goodbyes to the band and thanked them for the many evenings I had enjoyed listening to (and singing with) them. Turns out that one of the band members is half Indian and his dad is from Bangalore. How random is that?
Also as a punishment for forgetting Lennon’s birthday, I’ve decided that I am going to have to come back for it next year. Heh.
Speaking of ‘random’, the Saturday before I was moving out of my apartment my doorbell rang at 11:30 pm. No one has EVER rung my doorbell at that hour without my knowing exactly who it would be. I was in my pajamas and I opened to door to see a pretty woman holding an alcoholic beverage.
Me: “Hello”
She: “Hello”
She: “I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”
Me: “No, not really. I just got home a short while ago”
She: “Well, I’m at the party next door and I was very curious to meet you”
Me: (Thinking) “Why would she be curious to meet me?”
She: "I know you're wondering why"
Me: "As a matter of fact I was". Damn she was good!
She: “Actually, we share the same last name and first initial”
How random is that?
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I ended up partying with them until 2 am, meeting my neighbor for the first time, two days before I was leaving the apartment.
How random is that?
I have many more random stories to share but it will have to be another time, another posting.
