Happy Birthday Jenny Lewis! What is your favourite birthday memory? I remember the day I turned 7. I was the eponymous Peter Pan in my class’s student-altered French-language stage version based on characters created by J.M Barrie. There were two incongruent Wendys, one of them portrayed by my first crush. Captain Hook was played by a boy who, throughout high school, stood on the tips of his toes as he walked, even though he was tall enough as it was. During our second performance, the one seen by our parents, I couldn’t find the words for the most important of my twenty three lines, one I will never forget again. “En guarde, capitaine!” Hook tried to whisper my line to me, but I couldn’t hear him through the panic in my own head. The rest of the show was a daze, and at the end I felt as though I ruined everyone’s hard work. Years later, I would see a videotape of the play and realize that the entire production was completely incoherent, consisting of nothing more than a group of children running around haphazardly, myself in green stretch pants and a funny hat. If given the opportunity, I offer sincere apologies to any adult forced to sit through that half hour.
January 8 – Jenny Lewis gets a young Peter Pan