racing against sunbeams

I would like to be Zooey Deschanel kthnxbye.

No, seriously. I’ve always loved She & Him, particularly their playful “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here,” but I only saw the video today.

I love how badly-made it is. Zooey didn’t even attempt to lip-synch well; it’s like the producers just dressed her up in different outfits and told her to do her thing, which is basically to look effortlessly cute. M. Ward, meanwhile, appeared like he was  given specific instructions to look like he doesn’t give a damn about what’s happening around him. I love his deadpan expression!

Unfortunately, unlike Zooey, I can’t play any musical instrument.  Not for lack of trying, though. To expound:

- When I was about six, a friend of my uncle volunteered to teach me how to play the piano.  I managed to learn “Oh Holy Night” and a few other Christmas songs, and I was made to believe that I was musically gifted. Then one day he just disappeared. Whenever I think of him, Jose Mari Chan’s face comes to mind.

- When I was seven or eight my parents got me professional piano lessons. But my teacher didn’t have the soothing voice of my uncle’s friend, so I refused to cooperate. The relationship ended on a bad note, with her saying that I have very stiff hands. I hated her all the more for it.

- Elementary was all about imitating the Spice Girls with my four other friends.  High school was about winning in singing competitions, so I never considered trying to learn to play any instrument during these periods, which we shall collectively call  as my “pop phase.”

- When I reached college I begged my dad to buy me  a guitar. He bought an acoustic guitar for P4,000, but I gave up on it after a few months. The only songs I learned to play–and I use the phrase “learned to play” very, very loosely–were Nirvana’s “About a Girl” and “Come as You Are,” and Pearl Jam’s “Last Kiss.”

5. Last year I used to fool around with the drums and guitars of a friend who’s in two bands, the key word here being “fool.” I would freeze whenever he or his equally musically-inclined brother entered the room.