If you’re not familiar with the MTV series I Wanna Be MADE! than you’re missing out. To be honest we don’t have cable anymore (people like you to pay for that) and I don’t even know if it’s still airing, but when we did have cable I loved it.
The premise is that MTV takes a kid with a dream to be something bigger or better or different, throws them a demanding life coach and transforms them from their plain old self into something bigger…or better…or different, whatever you get the point!
There’s nothing per se, that I’d like to be MADE into now. I mean really…other than my cleaning habits, poor time management skills and lack of cooking talent…what is there to change?? Do I want to be MADE into a cleaning lady? A cook? A time management specialist? That would be a resounding no. Why no I don’t.
But there once was a time when I was not as perfect as I am now. It didn’t last long, but it happened. Try to imagine. I was 15 and awkward. I dressed in baggy jeans and boy shirts to avoid drawing attention to my growing bosoms and my face turned red when I talked to people. Not just boys. Or teachers. Or authority figures. Anybody. Just plain uncomfortable talking to ANYBODY. (Remember this is before I became ridiculously popular and powerful and perfect).
I knew I was awesome on the inside. I could make people laugh dammit that HAD to count for something. But you know what I couldn’t do? SING!
I had a dream. A dream to be heard. A dream to be seen. A dream to be popular and desired and celebrated!
I had a dream to be MADE!
Into a singer that would bring my school to it’s knees. The auditorium would fill with blackness as the school waited for the next talent show performer. You could hear a pin drop as I quietly made my way to the center of the gym…surrounded by bleachers of my friends, teachers, and cute older boys.
BAM! The spotlight would click on and there I would be. Just me and my guitar. Nervous yes, but confident and ready. There would be whispers, “what is SHE doing up there?” they’d ask one another.
I would open my mouth and “youuu say……I only hear what I want to. youuu say….I talk so all the time…..so…” and a hush would fall over the crowd. “Oh. My. Lord she’s like an ANGEL straight from heaven!”
“And you thought what I felt was simple and you thought that I don’t beLONG and now that I am leaving now I know that I did something wrong cause I missed you…..yeaaaaah I missed you….”
My friends would shrug their shoulder in awe, “we didn’t know she could DO this” they’d say. People would start swaying from side to side, arms around one another.
“And you say………..staaaaayyyy…..”
The crowd would break into a roar as I strummed my last…..strum!! People would rush to me after the talent show to congratulate me and invite me to parties. Everyone would want to be my friend. Everyone would request for me to sing at the school dances. I would be voted Homecoming Queen and my English teacher would go home feeling guilty about the inappropriate thoughts he was having about MEEEE!!!!!
Because who knew!?!?!
Who knew Quiet Kathy had SUCH a talent!?!
NOBODY knew THAT’S who.
Because there was no talent.
Only a dream.
A dream to be bigger….better….and different.
A dream to be heard. A dream to be seen. A dream to be popular and desired and celebrated!
A dream that could have been if only I had been MADE!
Now it’s your turn!
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back and sign Mr. Linky. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!
The Prompts:
1.) Ask someone who loves you what one of your weaknesses is.
2.) “I need all the help I can get and if repeating something healthy and inspiring to myself several times a day helps, then I’m going to do it!” -What affirmation makes you feel better? WELL THINK OF ONE.
3.) I Wanna Be MADE! You remember the MTV series where nerdy high school kids are made to be popular and what not? If you could be MADE into anything…what you be made into?
4.) I’m reading a book about dogs and kids…it says you may need to compromise some of your dog standards when choosing a dog that will fit every family member’s needs. I think that’s like marriage. What did you compromise when you married?
5.) Why didn’t they ask you? Write a list of 5 or 10 sentences that begin with the words ‘No one ever asked me’; then, write about one of them in detail, or use them all in a poem, or use several in a personal description of yourself.
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{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooohhhhh I always wanted to sing…I mean I can sing, just not that great. I’m mean it’s okay it’s just not like Idol quality. Tried it once…I sure do sound good when 8 OTHER people are singing with me…or in my car when I am singing “Tigger’s are wonderful things” And when all else fails, I know my oldest will always appreciate me singing “Baby Mine, don’t you cry, Baby Mine, dry your eye” And my biggest audience will always hold me tight, tell me he loves me and tell me that I am the best singer in the whole world! =)
I always wanted to play organ in a garage band at that age. Seeing how it went for those I knew that did play in the band, I’m kinda glad it didn’t happen. {*grin*}
Don’t you want to relive those days of yore when everything felt awkward and you were sure everyone was staring at you? I thought not. {*grin*}
I ALWAYS wanted to sing.
In my mind, I had a great voice, soaring highs, breathy lows. I used to sing along at top volume to anything I could. Until one day, one of my friends TAPED me, and played it back…
There was this warbling-bleating sound that could only have been coming from a constipated walrus. Surely that was not me? But alas, to my utter humiliation, it was. I never sang in front of anyone again.
My daughter, in a fine twist of fate, has the voice of an angel, and has sung at many community events. I now live my dream vicariously through her.
Great story Mama Kat. I’m up early this week. YAY for me!
I did the same thing Brea! I used to think I had a great voice until one day I taped myself singing Mariah Carey…Never again!
I am not a singer either–can’t even tell when I’m off tune but don’t much care. I make a joyous sound to the Lord on Sundays and through the week outside when no one is around while I walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus. Sometimes I’ll make up my own tune with silly words, just a little ditty which my husband seems to enjoy.
Wow, girl! You have some mad skills. Why didn’t you become a singer? ‘Cause from that video you were fabulous. ;)
I totally think that at the next boot camp, you should be the talent and sing for the party.
Karaoke + alcohol = there’s no telling what I might do.
You do know that the Made peeps are not miracle workers, right? You have to have some talent under all that awkward for them to take a hold of and run with. Well, they did do that one with the hip hop dancing girl so, yeah, maybe?
I had no idea that MTV was still on the air …. do they play music anymore?
Why would MTV play music?
I would love to be able to sing, but I have zero talent. What made it worse was that pretty much everyone in my whole family could sing. But when your own momma tells you that you can’t carry a tune you pretty much know for sure that you don’t have a shot.
“To dream…the impossible dream … to sing ..when there is no singing talent. This is my quest … to sing in high school, where everyone will love me, and I’ll be so cool…”
(Sung to the the song from Man of La Mancha)
; )
Ummmm…not seeing Mr. Linky so I guess I’ll put my link here:
My Post Is Here
This was great! Maybe you could be “made” at the next Bloggy Boot Camp. :) I’d like to be “made” too…into Little Miss Perfect. I loved this writing prompt, Kat. I can’t wait to read what everyone else came up with! Have a great day.
Kristi, Live and Love…Out Loud
@TweetingMama
I hear you loud and clear on this one. I’ve always wished I could sing beautifully too. That people wouldn’t turn the radio up when I start singing or throw me that line “Who sings this song? Yeah , well let’s keep it that way.” I didn’t even make it past the first round of choir try outs. Sniff, sniff.
But years (and years) after high school, as I rock my two year old to sleep, my daught asks me to sing her Hush Little Baby. I guess that will have to do.
That was awesomeness Kat :)
ummmm am I the only one that can’t see Mr. Linky? I’m kinda sad now..
Um that is totally my favorite song EVER!!!! lol
I love that show!! This is a good twist on it.
Hey, where’s Mr. McLinky?!
http://2muchtestosterone.blogspot.com/2010/03/writers-workshop-affirmations-funny.html Because Mr. McLinky appears to have taken ill?
Uh…maybe I shouldnt have asked my kids.
No stinky McLinky, so here’s my post: http://ratiooffailures.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-one-ever-asked-me-mama-kats-writers.html
This is so great! I think we all have dreams of being a great performer. I even went so far as to try doing it, which led to me doing a five month stint as a singing mouse in a children’s theatre but that’s a different story. Anyway, great post!
I LOVE that Lisa Loeb song. And gotta be honest, I *still* have that dream. Too bad my guitar is sitting behind my son’s glider in the nursery, and hasn’t been touched since before he was born. Learning to play 10 kid’s songs is on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, though, so I’ve gotta dust that puppy off some time between now and 2012. Thanks for the reminder!
wow great job. i was only comfortable singing with a group or all alone in my house. i fear i would be boo-ed off the stage. probably a given since my girls tell me not to sing :)
fun prompts this week.
This was so funny! I used to blush all the time too. It’s great to be perfect now though, isn’t it?
Yes. Being perfect is clearly what I was meant to do with my life.
Whew, Mr. Linky is up now lol at least I see Jenners had the same issue as me…I don’t feel so bad now! And I meant to tell you in my first comment but I love that video. The only place I can sing without worry is church and the shower :)
I STILL want to made into a rock star….specifically I want to part of the B-52s (I should have wrote about that).
By the way, I read several posts before mine in Mr. Linky, but because several Blogger people don’t have the Name/URL choice, I am not able to leave a comment. :-(
I love that song.
And I am working on my post. Better late than never, right? :)
Ha ha, awesome, Kathy! That paragraph when you describe yourself walking onto the dark stage and stepping into the spotlight reminds me of that scene in “Coyote Ugly” when she is up on stage and can’t sing, and then all the lights go out, and she gets her confidence back. LOL!
I heart that song! Going to watch the video again…
Who needs to sing when you can write so entertainingly? Making people laugh is really more fun anyway :)
Great writing Mama Kat! Honestly, you captured that moment for an awkward teenager! Thanks as always for hosting!
I am so feeling you right now, MamaKat. I used to sing at the top of my lungs in my car (Jesus Christ Superstar, embarrassingly enough), and imagine my own Superstardom.
I thought I was the only one that had a school singing dream like that, except my song was “Lean on me”. Everyone linked arms swaying and singing along. Sometimes it was “That’s what friends are for”, I was a real American Idol. Ha.
My daughters high school had that MTV show come out for auditions. They picked someone to make. Pretty big news for that small country school. Not sure if it ever aired though, we don’t have cable either.
Girl I had that same dream :) Now I need to go did out my Lisa Loeb CD, I love that song.
I meant dig not did
I had that dream come true traveled all over the world signed to 4 different record labels. The music is a gigantic monster beast and if your not careful in who you are it will take you on a journey you may not come back from. I did thank God and glad to be here today to talk about it and have kiddies and a hubby:) Love your site Mama Kat:)
xoxox
Ms. Wanda
Oh, am I lovin’ your stuff. So glad to find you, some of the coolest stuff I’ve read today. Absolutely fantastic…looking forward to more…oh, I need to figure out how to budget my time. I could spend an hour here…
Thank you for all of it.
Hey Ya’ll .. That was great mama kat..I used to sing..when I was a young girl in my daddy’s church!
WHAT? You aren’t perfect at everything?
I used to want to be a fantastic ice skater! I completely forgot until I read that!
I sing best when I am in the car! ;) You tell it so great. I loved your choice.
Part of the reason I love hearing my daughter sing, besides the fact that she’s so talented, is because I STINK! I would LOVE to be able to sing, but alas, not to be.
You couldn’t pay me enough money to relive the teenage years …. yuck!
Oooooohhh, I am totally Beyonce in my own mind. Clearly, that explains all the bootyliciousness I have going on as well.
I attempted prompt #1…asking someone you love what one of your weaknesses is…but it resulted in something being hurled across the room at my husband….so I think I’ll just enjoy your post and visit some others!
Ha-ha I had that same exact (in every detail) dream when I was growing up (heck I still do). Funny.
I loved MADE. I liked the one with the girl who wanted to be a cheerleader. :)
I don’t know if I am smoking crack or what, but I don’t see Mr. Linky. Here’s my post, though!
http://namastebyday.blogspot.com/2010/03/writers-workshopi-wanna-be-made.html
I’ve always wanted to be a singer too… which is why I moved to the country. When I pretend I’m Celine Dion no one runs for cover. (Although the cows mysteriously start mooing.)
I had a similary dream! ..
who am i kidding? I still dream that! ;-)
I wanted to participate in your WW today but the only thing that jumped out at me was asking someone what one of my weaknesses was.
I asked Michael, my husband.
He pled the 5th as to avoid and hurt feelings.
lol. Oh…he knows me too well.
Wow, a lot of us have had that dream! No wonder Simon Cowell is a billionaire! Great blog!
Oh c’mon now, how do you KNOW that you don’t have that talent? Calling it strumming your last strum? Surely there has to be a better name for it that you didn’t learn because you didn’t start that band, right? Regardless, I giggled. I was supposed to giggle, wasn’t I?
I wanted to be that girl too…and the captain of the cheerleading team…and the star swimmer. I had an active fantasy, but not social, life.
SO I couldn’t really think of any one person or thing I would want to be made into…so I picked a hybrid of a few people. Cause I’m sort of an OCD perfectionist like that. And I’m certain I’m crazy and on the brink of lunacy most days.
Ta Ta,
Megan
P.S. Thanks for the workshops…I enjoy watching what comes out of me. :-)
http://reddirtandcrazy.blogspot.com/
You rock! I can’t even sing in the shower.
That would’ve been my #1 choice too.
Aw, poor Kat. You’re all pathetic and shit. I guess you’ll just have to sing to the shower head.
Justine :o )
On the off chance I might write the piece I just turned to CK and asked him my weakness is. I really could have foretold the answer.
‘CK husbandman?’
‘Yes Wifelubbard?’
‘What would you say is my weakness?’
‘Me.’
I rolled my eyes so hard I am still trying to retract them from my sinuses.
It’s never too late. Maybe you could be MADE now and perform at high school assemblies across the country.