I'm Jon's buddy, James Best. I've got some funny memories of me and Jon I'll share from time to time and just post other stuff that I think is pretty radical. This is probably almost verbatim the entire conversation Jon and I had when he first announced to me that he was going to try out for American Idol.Disclaimer: if you're a guy and you've had roommates you will understand the macho interplay of insults and mock sincerity that exists within a male dominated living space. In this situation I'm going to paint for you, don't take it as indifference on my part but the usual goings on of our apartment. Perhaps I'm speaking too generally and there are male apartments where everyone cares about each other's wellbeing in a very vocal way or they bake birthday cakes for each other or engage in more than brief physical contact, something more than the obligatory high five or one armed guy hug. (Which I like to call the Man-Clasp.)
Now Jon had probably already told his family, and he had mentioned it to some friends at the playhouse he worked at over the summer, but I was the first roommate he told. I think this was right before I got kicked out of the apartment by the landlord but then moved back anyway and slept on the Jon's couch all semester because the landlord wouldn't give me back my rent. He's a real sweetheart that way. This memory is culled or amalgamated from a lot of memories but I'll keep it that way to make it more interesting.
The Conversation
(Jon is downstairs in the shower while I am upstairs probably watching old episodes of SNL on Comedy Central with an open textbook next to me. Jon is singing his brains out, I can hear his voice over the TV. He was probably singing some Van Morrison or The Beatles. In my memory, I was at least watching TV and he was downstairs singing in the shower, his voice piercing all corners of the house.)
--Enter Jon stage left from the downstairs
Jon: Hey whatcha doin?
Me: Homework, see? I heard you singing. Why is your voice four times bigger than your body?
Jon: What? You didn't find it sexy, James?
Me: Yes, I almost jumped in the shower with you but then I remembered I like girls. (Usual guy banter, par for the course.)
Jon: Nice. Whatcha watching? (Now I notice Jon obviously has something on his mind, but I'm playing it cool, feigning disinterest.)
Me: Your mom. She's an actress now. And she sucks. (Not original but appropriate disdainful behavior.)
Jon: Nice. (He's most obviously distracted because he hasn't responded with a witty rejoinder about my own mom. Still, I ignore this because guy roommates don't ask each other about feelings.)
Me: You've been singing a lot lately. (This is about as close as I come to actually saying, "I care and I noticed something." Jon and I did a play together. I assumed he might be auditioning for another one.)
Jon: Yeah, I've been practicing. (Pause.)
Me: Oh, yeah? (This is spoken in a very careful tone. Because, once again, I don't want to show that I have a heart. That's where open mocking begins.)
Jon: Yeah. (Pause.) I'm thinking about trying out for American Idol.
Me: Oh really? (I actually look at him because I am shocked. It was probably the hugest thing any of my friends had ever done.)
Jon: Yeah. I've been thinking, Why not?
Me: Wow, dude. Good luck with that. (Long pause. We might have just shared a moment. This is a dangerous precipice. I'm seriously impressed and I try to pull back into normal guy territory.) Do you want a ride to the airport or something?
Jon: Yeah, that would be sweet. Thanks, dude.
Me: No worries, bro. (And then we nod at each other, man-style.)
