Amy Lu's View

I think I recently channeled Sally Fields. At least I imagine I felt like Sally did when she won the Oscar in 1985 and stated “…I can’t deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!” (While Googling this I learned that “You like me! You really like me!” is actually a misquote).

This surge of affirmation was inpsired by getting on the Too Beautiful To Live (TBTL) fan Talent Show. Brief exposition: TBTL is a podcast that we’re obsessed with (and the inspiration for several other posts including Too Beautiful To Go To The Fair and Brave Blursday). As part of a recent fan Talent show, listeners were invited to send in one minute videos showcasing a talent. Some of the videos would be selected and shown during a virtual Talent Show emceed live by TBTL hosts Luke and Andrew and aired as a live event on YouTube.

I knew immediately that I wanted to enter a submission, and that drumming was my best bet. Drumming is definitely my highest quality amateur talent, and I’m not above capitalizing on the uniqueness of being a middle-aged lady drummer. Yes, I felt a little silly, but I worked on my song and got it filmed and sent in right away. I didn’t want to forget and I didn’t want to overthink it. Luckily, I had recently “wrote” and performed my original drum solo “Pandrumic” for some virtual coffee houses so all I had to do was get it down to a minute.

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The hardest part was actually filming it and getting my phone at a relatively decent angle. The production quality was not high–the lighting was dark–but I figured it was as good as I was going to achieve. (Given what a narcissist I am I really should invent in a better filming set-up, but that would also take technical skill and knowledge. #LazyNarcissist).

We had no advance notice of what acts would be featured on the TBTL Talent Show, and I didn’t expect to make the cut. As Chad had warned me the night before the show in a well-intentioned effort to manage my expectations and avoid disappointment, Luke and Andrew had told listeners that they had a LOT of entries and they would only get to feature a few. (And of course, there were going to be a lot of videos featuring adorable kids and pets to compete with).

I was looking forward to watching the show even without thinking I would be on it–I knew my fellow TBTL fans would be talented and interesting and that Luke and Andrew would do an awesome job hosting it. But yeah, a small part of me hoped I WOULD be on it.

AND HOLY S#%T I WAS!

A few observations from being on the TBTL Talent Show:

• I loved watching Andrew and Luke groovin’ to my song. Seeing people react to my music (or acting) is magical.
• I’m happy that a fellow fan said in the comments that it was cool that I look “chill”…based on my friend Pat’s reaction to my “low-key” drumming style I’m always a little self-conscious that I seem blaise, so I love seeing this counted as as a positive.
• I’m happy I was one of the first entries…my Type A tendencies apparently got things off to a good start.
• I started out as a kid learning to play with a drum pad like Luke mentions. I didn’t get a drum set of my own until I was 17…which was almost too late to make much use of it, at least for my high school career (I used the drums at school). My mom really wanted me to have a drum set and it was almost more of a dream for her than me.
• My older brother set me on my path as a drummer so I don’t know how badly I wanted it, but was happy to follow the advice of my brother.
• I love that someone noticed and liked my headband!
• The pun “Pandrumic” was a hit!
• No promises on how long this will last, but I am inspired to actually put in some time practicing the drums because apparently I do have some talent (yes, #AlwaysInsecure) and could maybe get better if I make a little effort.
• The TBTL community is AWESOME and fellow fans are so sweet and supportive. (There’s no really good way to work this in but the whole TBTL community–fans and staff–have definitely been tuned into recent national events and the main TBTL focus, this post to the contrary, has NOT been on entertaining me or stroking my ego).

And I felt like people liked me, they really liked me*. And I really like that.

*purposefully using the misquote because it fits my purposes better