Back in time

The crew desk called me last night to give me my assignment. The scheduler gave me the trip number and I got excited for a second because that number, 5918, usually refers to an international trip.
- You're laying over in J.A.C., he said. Where's that, Jacksonville?
- Uh no; Jacksonville is J.A.X.
- Then I don't know where you're going. Good night.
I didn't know where JAC was but I was pretty sure that wasn't an international destination. After I checked my schedule, I found out I was spending the night in Jackson, WY. Great. I don't know what is going on but lately I've been going to all those little towns that I've never been to or sometimes even heard of in 12 years of flying. Buffalo, NY; Providence, RI; Harrisburg, PA; Jackson, WY... I really wasn't looking forward to this trip. To wake up at 4am to drive to LAX and work five flights to end up in some town in Wyoming. I don't even know if I've ever been to Wyoming before.
On my first flight one of my coworkers looked at my trip and said: "Oh you're going to Jackson Hole". It turns out Jackson and Jackson Hole are one and the same. You learn something everyday.
We finally landed in Jackson Hole around 9pm. The sun had set but it was still clear enough to see that we are surrounded by mountains. It actually looks really beautiful. After driving for about 20 minutes in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, we reach the town of Jackson. I feel like I'm in a western. The town looks like it hasn't changed since the 1800s except maybe for electricity. I'm expecting cowboys on horses to appear in front of us. From what I can see now that night has fallen, it is and "interesting" place.
We reached the hotel and as soon as I got to my room, I went online to look up Jackson Hole. I found out that we are actually in the middle of a National Park, south of Yellowstone. Now I can't wait for tomorrow to see more. I don't leave until the afternoon, so I'll have a few hours to explore. To be continued...

Diva By Diva 07

After months of learning music, words, getting frustrated with all the dancing in the show, it finally all came together this weekend. We had three shows this time: one performance on Saturday night; one matinée on Sunday afternoon and our last one on Sunday evening. We had a slightly different audience at all three shows (age, gender, sexual orientation), but the feedback has been overwhelmingly amazing. As a performers there are shows that you enjoy more than others because of the music, or the theme, or whatever specific likes or dislikes that you might have. I am sure as a spectator this comes into account as well, but the perspective is different I guess. As singers we never get to see the finished product until we get a copy of the recorded performances weeks later. So we go through months of rehearsal having to rely on the Artistic Director's, and Production Manager's word. We really don't even know how we sound as a group since we mostly hear what our own section is singing. So it is really amazing when after all this work and effort the reviews come in and they are positive. Most people said this was if not the best production ever at least one of the best. It definitely was fun and I believe all singers had a wonderful time but I have to wait for the DVD to have the full experience.
As with every show we put on, we stress until the last minute. Will we be ready? We always wish we had a few more weeks. But the curtain comes up and we find out that we are in fact ready and even if we had more time the stress level would probably be the same. For this show, I also worked on Production. I believe this is the third or fourth time that I do it and of course this doesn't help with the stress. It is however really rewarding to have a vision and see it come to life. To have access to this photo album, click on the Flickr picture grid on the left, then on Filsdelalune to access my pictures, or hover over the little yellow man on the slideshow (bottom left corner) and click on "Diva By Diva 07".

Screen name

This is where I got my screen name from; Fils de la Lune (Hijo de la Luna or Son of the Moon). I used to love this song by Mecano when it came out years ago. There is a French version, "Dis-moi Lune d'argent" (Tell me silver moon). They also had another great hit, "Mujer contra Mujer". The French version "Une femme avec une femme" (A woman with a woman) went to number 1 as well on the charts, even with a theme way ahead of its time.

Mecano-Hijo de la Luna



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Great loves

Matt was watching an episode of "Sex and the City" on DVD (again) and I sat to watch too. His "friend" Carrie was wondering how many great loves any person can expect to have in a lifetime. One, two if you're lucky? She's had two great loves, "Big" and Aidan. She was only in her 30s and two great loves had come and gone. Now What?

My first great love was in Paris. I met Franck on my 21st birthday in 1988 and I knew the second I saw him. He did too. Although I was dating another guy and he had a girlfriend, we started a torrid affair. I broke up with my boyfriend and he broke up with his girlfriend and we began an awesome, incredible, difficult and hurtful relationship. We were together on and off until I moved to the US in 1991.

Between 91 and 93 although I dated, I never felt anything close to what I had felt for Franck. I started to think that maybe he was the love of my life and we had screwed up. Then in 1993 I met David. I remember being relieved, knowing that you can have those strong feelings more than once. 14 years later, I still vividly remember when, where, our first date, our first kiss... I think I have all this engraved in my mind forever. I still recall as well, the pain of our break-up after our short time together. The later hook-ups that made me so happy but also hurt so much because I knew they meant nothing.

Why Franck? Why David? I don't know. I meant "I love you" every time I said it to someone else but those words never felt the same way as with those two. Were they my Great Loves? What constitutes a great love anyway? Can it be just the way you feel about someone regardless of their feelings for you or lack thereof, as with David? Is it a great relationship that for some reason doesn't work out, as with Franck?

Now years later am I setting myself up for failure by aspiring to those feelings again? It got me thinking. I have been single since I broke up with my last boyfriend in 2004. Since then I haven't met anybody I felt anything for. I don't want to settle with someone just to be in a relationship. I want to see fireworks, get giddy like a 15 years old schoolgirl when I talk about him, have butterflies in my stomach when I'm thinking about him.

What do you do until then? What if I don't have those feelings again? Is a great relationship with someone who loves you dearly and whom you love as well not good enough? Did I actually doomed all my last relationships because of my idea of a Great Love? Is it enough to be some one's Prince Charming? Should both persons be each other's Princes? Maybe I should close the Cinderella book and start reading War and Peace.

He's got our backs

I guess with so many passengers every single day, a few of them are bound to be "interesting". We had a military guy yesterday who was "odd" from the moment he got on. Nothing to cause too much concern yet but we had our eyes on him. It's one of those "you had to be there" stories, but I'll give you the highlights.

We're still at the gate; my co-worker Rafael (from Costa Rica) wasn't allowed to sing in Spanish (to himself mind you). The guy told him "we're in America, speak English. You don't want to scare the passengers by talking in a language they don't understand". I thought he was going to have a heart attack when he saw me and then the Purser who's from Malaysia. 3 guys, all foreigners and not looking American at all.

We're now in flight; the guy rings his call button. I go to him and he asks me why we have flags on our jackets but none of them is the US flag. I tell him that it's only to identify our language skills and has nothing to do with where we are from. Some of us wear 2, 3 or more flags. He understands but still thinks we should wear an American flag above all others to show our allegiance. The lady sitting in front of him gives me the "I don't envy you right now" look and puts her headset on. My guy has 1/2 a point when he says that someone who doesn't know what the flags mean (basically him) might get worried. I can see how 3 foreigners wearing different flags on their jackets can seem a little "suspicious". I guess being in the military, he is a little more aware than the average "Joe". After talking to us and asking a zillion questions, he feels safe and tells us that he has our backs!!! In this day and age it's actually good to know who would help if something happened. Since 9/11 the rules have obviously changed. The flight attendants are now alone in the cabin. Under no circumstances will the pilots leave the cockpit to come and help, no matter what happens to us. Some flights have Air Marshalls but it's impossible to have them on all the time. So we're happy when we have police officers, or firemen, or military personnel on board. We feel a little safer. And our friend was determined to keep us safe.

Later in the flight; a passenger had the bad idea to suddenly change seat and move forward. Rafael and I are in the back of the plane and we see our guy jump from his seat and run up the aisle and get in the other passenger's face. Shit!! All we need is to have this guy start a fight. We go over and tell him that we have it under control. To him every person who gets up to go to the bathroom is a potential suspect. In between services, the 3 of us take turns talking to him to keep him busy and from trying to tackle some old lady running to the restroom. We can't wait for the flight to be over.

After landing; I'm talking to a lady sitting in the last row and our guy is talking to Rafael. All of a sudden I hear him ask out loud "How come you're not gay?". I can't help to burst out laughing as the people in the last 3 or 4 rows turn around, not believing what they heard. Rafael who's married with 2 kids, tell him that not all male flight attendants are gay. Actually out of the 3 of us, I'm the only gay one. Again out loud, he asks about me. Rafael says that he doesn't know. I choose not to answer although I heard him.

Finally, it's his turn to leave and I look at Rafael with a look of relief. Another normal day at work.