My old friend Joe Weismann fronts the band The Smarts, which is the house band for the Minnesota Public Radio show In the Loop.

“In the Loop” did one of their occasional open-mic Story Slam tapings last night, and Joe encouraged me to show up and perform. Theme of the show was “Disguise,” so I told a story (perhaps not mine to tell) my high-school guitar teacher once told me, about the time she attended a costume party dressed as God.

She bound her breasts, wore baggy clothes, pulled a paper bag over her head, and refused to speak. This was met by universal hostility, as each guest demanded to know, “Are you a man or a woman under there?” and “Who are YOU supposed to be?” Eventually one of the guests became so upset by the ambiguity that he squared off and tried to fight her.

I’m ambivalent about appropriating her story, and I’m not sure I rendered it particularly well. The best I can say is that I fought down stage fright and spoke slowly and clearly. Beginner’s mind, beginner’s mind…