Recently I've been put in a situation that requires me to stand on a stage and sing something. Alright, anyone who knows me knows that, while I may sing (constantly, all the time, in the car, the shower, and while walking the dog), singing for an audience scares the living crap out of me.

There are a select few lucky souls who have no shame or just don't give a crap; some of them even really enjoy getting up there and doing their thing. I envy them.

But my chorus instructor always said that there was an art to making people think you didn't have stage fright, and that I was pretty good at it - or used to be, and my drama teacher said the same thing a couple years later.

Nowadays, I don't feel that way. Whenever I'm nervous, I shake and smile - which is good, usually. On most occasions, the audience is far enough away not to see the shaking, and smiling is never a negative. Unlike many nervous people, there's no foot shuffling or hand clasping, but I may not be able to avoid that, this time. After dating Max, I developed a nasty habit of wanting to clutch at something (mainly a T-shirt) for comfort. Grah!

Well, if I can convince myself to do it, we'll find out...