So What's So Bad about Being So-So?

I think the point of Lisa writing this story is to let people know that it’s ok to be so-so or even imperfect because no one’s perfect. We probably wish we all were, but that’ll never happen. I agree with her viewpoint because I’ve been there and I know that life isn‘t perfect because we are all just so-so in our own right. We have hobbies and opportunities in life that we should approach in some way, shape or form to see where it lands us. Whether its something you want to do the rest of your life or is something you just want to try out at the moment, you should go for it and never sell yourself short even if you’re not great and is only so-so. If you’re happy then that’s all that should matter, and being So-So, isn't So bad after all. There are many things that I’m good at and others, I’m just so-so. If you're so-so at something, good. If' you're good at something, great. The following story will explain a little bit about my So-So being.

Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Jackie who wanted to be an artist and a teacher when she grew up. She used to sit around and draw, and play school with her two younger brothers all of the time. This was fun to her and it’s what she wanted to do most of all. She even made a doll house out of cardboard boxes. As she got older, the idea of wanting this faded away. She started listening to music and dancing to the point of getting her brothers together and forming a group. One day while dancing to the group Parliament’s “Flash Light”, her mother and stepfather came home to witness the performance. Her mom immediately went over board with calls to radio and TV stations and who ever else she could get in touch with to see if Jackie and her brother’s could perform somewhere. Jackie didn’t think that her and her brother’s were good enough for that. It wasn’t something that she wanted to take outside of the house, but Jackie’s mom saw dollar signs, potential talent in the three siblings, and did what she felt she had to do to get them known. She wanted them to become famous like “The Jackson’s.”

From that point on the siblings were made into little stars. Jackie’s mom called them “Pookie and the Puppets.” Jackie’s youngest brother’s nick name was Pookie and he was made the star of the group and was put in front and center. Although Jackie didn’t like that very much because she was the one who formed the group and wanted to be the star, it was ok because Pookie was her little brother and he was the baby. The group went on to perform at their elementary school’s talent show’s (which afterwards the girls were all over Pookie at recess), concerts in the park, family picnics, and so on. They even got a chance to meet Randy and LaToya Jackson in Oakland on top of a roof building and got an autographed 8x10 photo signed by Michael Jackson. These were good times for Jackie and her brothers, but as time went on they got older and the brothers were no longer into it. Jackie’s mom tried pushing them to do it but they wanted to do something else so Jackie went on to do things on her own and took up playing the keyboard and writing songs which she was pretty good at. One day she went to her other brother Rob and asked him if he wanted to form another group which he agreed and he started playing the drums. Again Jackie’s mom saw this, stepped in, and through one of her friends, found a girl named Suzy. Suzy was added to the group and they were called Swinng.

They went into the Felstar studio (owned by Felton Pilate of Confunction) and recorded two songs, one of which was written in 1981 by Jackie called “Ice Ice Baby.” YES, “Ice Ice Baby” was written by Jackie in 1981. Swinng performed this song and others at the Solano County Fair in Vallejo and at the Holiday Inn in Emeryville. They were even featured in an Oakland magazine at the time. The group was together for a while before Suzy decided to go her own way, and then Jackie’s brother Rob left as well. Jackie stuck it out and found two other girls to form a group called “Total Pleasure.” She moved to Cincinnati to be with her group. They were in and out of the studio recording music, meeting different people, and trying to get their names out there. Jackie didn’t always feel like she was good enough and didn’t have the power in her voice like the other girls did. To Jackie she was just ok, so-so. She loved singing but knew she wouldn’t get far because there was so much more other talent out there that was better. Eventually the group wasn’t working out so Jackie stepped out and moved back to California and started a family. This is where she found her passion in cooking. Being a stay home mom and having to care for her family was important and making sure they were fed the best meals were a big deal. Cooking was fun, entertaining and relaxing. Jackie knew she had found the one thing that she was really great at and wanted to do it for others and not just her family. Today Jackie attends the Art Institute to become a great chef and hope to own her own restaurant one day.

I guess going back to my story, I did things growing up because it was something I really wanted but then once my mother stepped in, it didn’t seem to matter as much because she was more into it than I was. I feel like I was ok with what I was doing but it wasn’t good enough for me. I didn’t want to go out into the world and not be good enough. Plus being out there in the lime light like that, would’ve taken me away form my family and friends, something I couldn’t live without. I love to sing and my singing is for me only. I knew I could sing back then and I still can, but I’m no Beyonce or Alicia Keys. I knew I could write and still do occasionally, but I’m no poet. I know I can dance, and always have, but I’m no MJ (R.I.P), Usher or Ne-Yo. I enjoy what I enjoy and if it’s good enough for me, then I‘m happy.

My mother thinks to this day that I would’ve been as big as Michael Jackson….Ha….yeah right LOL, and yes, all I can do is laugh at her because she has no clue. I love my mom and appreciate the effort she put into trying to make something out of my brothers and me. It was just something I didn’t want anymore and haven’t wanted for years. She still tries to get me to so it today. I’m very content with the way things are going in my life right now. I still love to sing, dance and write songs; I may be so-so at it and that’s ok with me. I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it, or even make a living at it, it was just something to do at that time. I just want to have fun doing what I enjoy the most, and that’s cooking for others and making them happy in the process. Something that I’m more than so-so at doing.