“More than meets the eye!”
So, as an addendum to the Myspace saga, I was looking at the pic and I realized I was wearing the The Black Turtleneck.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever told this story on the blog before, but if you’ve met me for more than 5 mins, you’ve heard this story.
Anyway, back in college, I used to look forward to a cappella events ’cause that was the extent of my social life. When we’d go on tour to other schools, that was the mother lode. Imagine, being 19 and thinking you’re the shit ’cause you can sing a poor rendition of a popular boyband song, and people will ACTUALLY pay money to watch you do it! It was the tits.
One of our favorite schools to visit was Yale. Now, I missed the first trip which yielded National Greg Levow Day (ask a callboy), but I WAS there for the next trip. We were singing with a group called Something Extra (who ROCKED, btw) and we knew that afterwards was the obligatory “after party”. Sometimes these parties were ragers. Sometimes we would’ve had more fun at a Denny’s. This party was…interesting, to say the least.
Well, I happened to be wearing the same sweater as in the pic, and little did I know it would become a conversation piece. One of the members of Something Extra starts giggling to one of her friends. I guess the friend said “Go for it”, ’cause the next thing I know, there she is in front of me. Let’s examine the awkward exchange which followed (along with commentary!):
Her: “Oh my god! Are you wearing a black turtleneck?” (What kind of a line IS that?)
Me: “Uhh….yeah…” (Smooth, Will)
Her: “Oh, god! I totally LOSE IT for guys in black turtlenecks!” (Umm…desperation, party of 1)
Me: *nervous laughter* “uhh…heh…you lose it for guys in black turtlenecks?” (that’s right, Will. Reflect it right back at her)
Her: “Yeah!”
Me: *nervous laughter* “…..” *turn and run away*
Yeah, I ran. It goes without saying that we weren’t invited to sing with Something Extra again. Was that the reason? Probably not. But I gained a new reputation that night. I’d gone from being “The Black Guy in Last Call” to being “That Weird Black Guy in Last Call”. We had Eddie by then, so he was the normal one, and I was the crazy Negro.
It loses some of its emphasis on paper, ’cause you have to see the gleam in her eye. She TOTALLY lost it for guys in black turtlenecks, but what exactly was “it”? I’m thinking her sanity. Either way, I didn’t even know how to play that game. Was it a joke? Was it real? The world may never know. But I’m still alive today, so I think running was the correct choice…
