Looking For Normal

In so far as it is possible I try to live a "normal" life. I get up and shower, I get dressed, I make coffee and breakfast, I go to work, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. There are some things I do differently, but mostly I do the normal things.

Every once in a while, life throws you a curve ball, something not normal. That happened to me on Wednesday night. That day by brother, who happens to be gay, came into town for dinner and a visit. He brought one of his friends with him. A friend came over and she made corn-bread muffins; I made dinner and we all sat and ate together. So far, normal.

After dinner my brother wanted to go to a karaoke bar; not just any karaoke bar but a gay karaoke bar. No you might be asking yourself how is a gar karaoke bar any different than a regular karaoke bar. Well other than the complete absence of women, the nature of the male clientele, the decorations and homo-erotic photos on the wall, the phallic images and erotica periodically showing up on the video screens, and the glitter and lighting... nothing.

This is where normal stops and not normal begins, and continues, and goes on and on. You see, along with myself, my brother and his friend, my son came along and later on my other brother (definitely not gay) joined us. We sat there and had fun watching the young men mince their way on and off the stage and giggle their way through their tunes. I am surprised some of these fellows didn't self-immolate right there on stage.

Then my gay brother got on the stage. He is definitely not a mincer and he can really belt out a tune. Imagine a 6' 3" man in Carhartt overalls belting out a Shirley Basset tune in a high falsetto. Other than the incongruity of the setting, his singing was terrific. But he really is a man's man. In fact his most common complaint about his nightlife is the number of women who hit on him. That's not his target market.

After one brother sang, the rest had to. So, from my chair as I could not get onto the stage, I sang. Then my other brother sang. Then my gay and straight brother sang a duet with my gay brother singing the female voice in his best Miss Piggy impression. Again, not normal. But fun!

My son did not sing. We went home fairly early as I was tired. When I asked him about the evening on the next morning, he said "Dad, I would prefer to meet some girls in Calgary before meeting a bunch of gay guys." In other words, he was looking for normal. Me too!