Introducing Josh

Sweet Joshie.  What a roomie.  What a tenor. 

When Josh and Marcos sang solos in one of our college concerts, the local paper covered the event.  The days leading up to the concert were pretty average, we worked hard on the music, and publicized the hell out of the show.  Our concerts were always a big deal.  They were black tie affairs, and we had to be on our best behavior.  The day of the concert, Marcos and Josh dyed their hair bright purple and turquoise, respectively.  Well, there was nothing Dr. Alt could do about it, and the show had to go on.  The concert went on without a hitch, and the audience was a-buzz about the hair colors.  The newspaper in the morning praised Josh McDougall's (NOT his last name) performance and mentioned his fucshia hair.  Rather than get upset about the misspelling of his name, Josh exclaimed, "It's turquoise!"

NATS competition, (circa 1998, forgive the paraphrasing), a bunch of singers stayed at my mom's house in Albuquerque.  Mom loved talking to everyone, listening to them warm up in their bedrooms, and creating a bed-and-breakfast atmosphere.  Again, Josh and Marcos, sitting at the dining room table with Maureen, now she's the reporter.  She asked Marcos, who was hooked up to a personal humidifier, how he gets in character for his songs.  He told her, "I will be performing an aria was about a man who wants to exact revenge on the man who stole the love of his life.  I visualize two mighty soldiers in battle and pretend to be one of them."  Then he reattached the mouthpiece of his humidifier. 

Mom asked the same of Josh, who replied, "This is a song about a guy who is really arrogant.  I just pretend I'm Marcos."

Josh was very much the homemaker in our world of college chaos.  He made blueberry pancakes for Marky's birthday breakfast.  That may have been the first and only breakfast ever eaten at 1310 Van Patten.  And when I came home from school Josh would as me how my day was, recititative style.  We would review the day like a mini-opera.  When I was really struggling to learn piano, he was super supportive.  Josh got really excited for me when I learned to harmonize the McDonald's melody from a tray cover. 

Josh could speak to his dog.  He would say things like, "I have to go to work now, so you have to go to the backyard and refrain from barking."  Mudley would always look at him, process the information, and do just what Daddy told him.  Our crazy calico, Max, wouldn't really snuggle with anyone but Josh.