Everywhere I go, People um, Sometimes Know...

Who I am, Where I come from.

I don't know if anyone else knows that chant, I know it from summer camp*.

I was reminded of it the other day because while I was walking on Essex** the other night and I passed some tourists who were very lost. They looked right at me and said, "oh no don't ask her, she looks French."

WHAT?

There are a lot of things I can be mistaken for, but I don't really get how I could be considered looking French unless they could innately sense my love of cheese.

It is not unusual for people to be unable to guess where I am from.

I think the reason is because I don't have a Long Island accent***. I can partially blame/thank my camp for that, because it exposed me to a lot of New Englanders, who taught me how to draw out my vowels and embrace the word "wicked".

This is much to the perplexing of good pal and diction expert Jennie Smash, who is constently trying to figure out why I sound like I was raised by Midwesterners in a NewEengland household.

It's hard to place my accent because it's never really consistent. I'm kind of a Chameleon talker.

I've got a knack for accents. I'm known to do:

German - I started this one during a history class in 6th grade. I faked it because we had a substitute and we were all bored. I got a kid kicked out of the class because I was so convincing she got mad at him for making fun of the "little German girl".

Midwestern- if you've seen my stand up act, or if you've gone drinkin' with me you'll know that when I get drunk, I get Midwestern.

British- The dude at the Smoke shop on W4 St. is pretty much convinced I'm from a small town right outside of London. Don't ask me why I started this habbit, but I really can't break character now.

Southern- I once did this accent in Atlantic City in order to get drinks faster. Guys love to help out a Southern Bell. I did it so well that when I tried to show one guy how well I can "fake" a NY accent he told me that it was the worst attempt at a New York accent he's ever heard.

And whenever I travel outside of New York people rarely know where to place me:

Chicago - They thought I was from there.

Florida - They thought I was from there.

Virgina - My fast talking gave me away as a New Yorker.

Boston - They thought I was from there.

San Francisco- My fast walking gave me away as a New Yorker.

Atlanta - They didn't know where they were let alone where I was from. I was asked for directions more than anywhere else, and I actually knew how to direct them.

I guess in a way I'm a woman without a true accent, and as a fifth generation New Yorker, I think that sorta makes sense.


*I spent about 5 summers with two week stints at Camp Bernadette in Wolfboro, NH.
The song this blog refers to is one of MANY camp chants:
Everywhere we go, people want to know,
who we are,
where we come from,
so we tell them,
we're from Bernie,
mighty, Mighty Bernie,
and if they can't hear us,
we shout a little louder -
and then it's refrained, louder.

**right by the Laugh Lounge - where I have a benefit show on July 18th, at 7pm, only $7 if you bring a can of food. Tell your friends and family about this show - it's for a good cause!!!

***My Long Island accent will come out when I am tawking to my best friend Vicky, or angry 'bout somethin'. It's very rare, and not very pretty.