The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid.

- Lady Bird Johnson

People at my new job keep asking me if I get nervous before I go on stage. I think it's interesting, because I am almost always completely calm backstage.

Sometimes, right before my lines or a big scene, I'll get a little churn in the old tummy, but generally I'm cool. It's the same thing with Movieoke. Karaoke however, is an entirely different story. It generally takes a lot of self-administered pep-talking to get me to get up and sing in front of people. And yes, it must and can only be self-administered. When people try to coax me into putting in a slip I always get self-conscious and slip back a confidence notch or two.

I dunno why that is. Part of it is obviously rehearsal. By the time you have an audience for a play you've (hopefully) had it down for a couple of weeks. That would explain my karaoke reticence, and yet, I'll hop up and do a Movieoke scene I've never done before with little to no trepidation.

<shrug>

Speaking of Movieoke, the final day of Movieoke Idol is this Sunday. I'm trying to approach this the way I approach most things, which is my patented blend of positive cynicism. I'm certainly hoping that we win, but I also realize and acknowledge that there are many reasons why we may not.

Oh well. Please send us any spare positive vibes you may have laying around this Sunday night! I'll post the recap of the event on Monday!