Oh I wanna dance with somebody ...

i wanna feel the heat ...

Oops. Sorry. You caught me. Singing cheesy songs that really and truly sum up my adolescent frame of mind.

And since we are on a Whitney Houston kick, here is how my popular culture-influenced life played out in NY recently.

On Wednesday, I went to see "The Seagull." The nice box office guy asked if I wanted a better seat. Uh yeah!

Seconds later, in my very good seat, I am sitting next to a very nice British lady. And so we chat. I ask her what she has seen. She names some plays. But then she says, "I am actually here because of my son." And I say, "Oh." And she says, "Daniel Radcliffe." And I say (but not out loud) OH MY GOD IT'S HARRY POTTER'S MOM! This was all exciting enough. And then Marissa Tomei sat in front of us. And that was exciting enough (times two). And then Dustin Hoffman sat next to Harry Potter's mom. I could barely concentrate on Kristen Scott Thomas and friends in The Seagull!

So the next night, I figured I better go see Equus. Since I'm a friend of the family and all.

And the box office guy tells me he has a great ticket for me. And I think "how much better can this get?" So minutes later, there I am, first row balcony, sitting next to a a cute guy. All alone. Single. So we start chatting. And guess what he does? SECRET SERVICE!!! Just like Kevin Costner in "The Bodyguard!" And when he isn't protecting the UN or the president, he sees PLAYS!! I imagine this is the perfect "how we met" story. I imagine many things.

So then I start rambling on like a maniac. "So what plays do you like? What have you seen?"

He says, "Spring Awakening." I say, "Me too!" I think, "Kismet! And he has good taste!"

I say, "what else?" And he says, "Jersey Boys." And I say, "Hmm." Mainly because I didn't see it.

So I say, "what else?" And he says, "Xanadu." And I say, "Hmm." Mainly because I am now sure he is gay. Because we are in the front row balcony of Equus and Harry Potter is gonna get naked soon. And he isn't going to be my Secret Service ex-boyfriend and Whitney Houston's "iiiiii-eeee-iiiiiiii will always luv youuuuuu" will not be our song and I am, yet again, sitting in a theatre with a gay guy.

Oh I wanna dance with somebody ...