11 August 2006

I never wanted to be a fireman

Some friends and I were just on our afternoon break, discussing who we had wanted to be when we grew up. We came with answers that ranged from Stevie Nicks to Barbara Cook. I didn't say anything during the conversation, because -- well, because I get so much ribbing about being a hippie as it is that the hooting would have been deafening had I said....

Joan Baez.

(I'll wait. Hoot away.)

I know, I know. "My life is a crystal teardrop." (Some people should not write books.) But I thought she was beautiful, brave, and idealistic, and I still do. The funny thing is - I never really cared for her voice, but she stood for something very pure and very courageous, and she had wonderful taste in songs. "Lady Came from Baltimore," "Children of Darkness," "What Have They Done to the Rain," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." She and her sister Mimi once sang a duet on "Bread and Roses," both so beautiful and so sincere.

Over to you. Who did you want to be when you grew up?

6 comments:

Carrie K said...

I don't remember wanting to be a particular person but I do remember wanting to be a world famous journalist.

And to live in a house with a spiral staircase.

Jennifer said...

I wanted to be an FBI criminal profiler like Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. Feel free to giggle. That character will give you a clue to PQL's name.

Nana Sadie said...

I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Anna Pavlova. Ok...I'll wait for the hysterics that usually follow THAT announcement. I was a ballerina. (I was good, too - till real life got in the way and I had to give up that dream) I studied ballet for 22 years. I even taught for my own teacher in the last years...My toes are permanently twisted. My knees creak.
(sigh)
(oh...and I wanted to suffer for my art!)
(((hugs)))

Maven said...

I feel the same way about Pete Seeger, too:)

Heather said...

well...after I realized that professional baseball was not in my future (D'oh!) I figured that I'd be a pilot. Chalk it up to the Seasame Street "Women can be anyting" song.

Becky said...

I wanted to be a librarian or an English teacher. Go figure! I became a teacher since library school would have taken my "country boys" into the East Bay Area in California -- and they would not have survived! Of course, dream of dreams would be to be a writer -- but that was not within my grasp.

Joan Baez is one of my favorites! I love her voice and think she is a beautiful woman, inside and out.