I let the stars determine

Dancing was my first love. I first took to the stage at age three with a ballet Pinocchio routine, which included the best costume I have ever worn to this day. Right down to the bright blue shorts and red suspenders. I was also signed up for a tap dance class following ballet at Cisnero's studio, but my sister Amy and I always convinced our mom to let us ditch so we could go to McDonald's and load up on chicken nuggets, fries, and sometimes sundaes, which were the three main food groups in my diet until I was eleven and went all health-nut vegetarian on the world. I quit ballet when I was five, and about a year later I was on stage peforming "A Christmas Carol" at the Laguna Town Hall Theatre. I don't even know if it still exists, and I don't even think I had a big part because I hardly remember stressing over lines or places or anything. But then again, I was six, so who knows. Throughout most of my life, starting at this time, my sister and I have been choreographing dance routines. Also around this time, we moved to a new house in Elk Grove that had an entire room devoted to music. I was primarily focused on the microphone and speaker system.My favorite childhood memories are still the ones where I was in that room, performing concerts for anyone who happened to be over or wanted to watch. When I was seven, I moved to a different elementary school that was deep in the ghetto, and got some friends together and did a little hip-hop performance for about sixty people to Aaliyah's "Try Again." When I was eight, I moved to another elementary school in a much nicer neighborhood which had a lot of drama and the most strange teacher in the entire world. In fifth grade I started watching American Idol and listening to Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, John Mayer and Aretha Franklin. I started singing in the shower one day and my sister came in and asked me if it was really me singing, and when I said "Uhm yeah.." (fifth grade attitude :P) I distinctly remember her voice, the look on her face, and the words that came out of her mouth in the following moment. "Whoa, you've got some pipes girl." I think this simple observation rewired something in my brain, because I haven't stopped singing to myself since then. The talent show at school was coming up and I decided to sing Aretha Franklin's "Respect" with my friend. Partly because I felt I was pretty good at the whole song and partly because I just enjoyed belting out the lines "R-E-S-P-E-C-T/Find out what it means to me/R-E-S-P-E-C-T/Take care, TCB." There wasn't any prize, so I can't say we won or got smoked or anything. But that small elementary school multipurpose room held about thirty-five people that night (mostly parents and annoyed-looking siblings who were probably forced to come and bribed with pizza afterward) which was the biggest audience I'd ever had, for a solo performance atleast. I'm not sure if they were patronizing or not, but a few parents and 'friends' (because who is REALLY your friend at a dramatic elementary school, right?) told me I was really good. I then skipped sixth grade, and have been running to catch up with myself ever since. Middle school was two years of awkward, humiliating, and crucial phases, as it often times is. Sam Brannan Middle School was also the holder of some pretty embarassing and classic performances. These included: a hip-hop routine and a jazz routine at a dance recital, two school musicals, one where I was an egyptian queen and one where I was a southern twin in a time warp, and a cover of the Spice Girls' "Spice Up Your Life" (feauturing yours truly as Baby Spice.. platform heels, pigtails, mini skirt, and all). Then came highschool, which at first was a downward spiral of bad choices and poor judgment on my behalf, but sophomore year I picked myself back up and put all the pieces back together and tried out for the play. I got a small part as a secretary/assisstant type of person, and was very thankful for it. I continued trying out for the plays junior year and got a part as a nine year old daughter of a promiscuous bachelor, and ended up getting lead in the following play as an extremely mentally unstable yet happy-go-lucky runaway wife. And that leaves me about where I am today. Still acting. Still dancing. Still singing. And more recently song writing. I really hope I get a chance to share it all with the world someday. I've found that dancing is my constant, acting is my escape, and singing is my passion.

And that's it. That was the moral of the story.

And hopefully, just hopefully,
there won't be an ending.