Rebecca A. Foster

Before this past weekend I never knew the phrases 'tapas bar' and 'topless bar' sound so alike.* Go ahead and say them to yourself out loud real quick. See? Who knew! Not me, until we had this conversation about where to eat: Him: "How about a tapas bar?" Me: "Topless bar? The food won't be any good and it'll be expensive. Plus I don't want to go to a topless bar. You want topless, I'll take my shirt off while we eat real food." (Note: we were in Vegas, so this conversation is not as far-fetched as it sounds.) Him, laughing: "Tapas, tapas, not 'topless!' T-a-p-a-s.' Me: Laughing so hard I cry a little. Him: "But since you've promised to eat topless,** I don't care where we go!" *Pronouced as 'tahpahs', not 'taypahs.' I think people argue about this. I'm not sure which one  is right.  *I didn't eat topless, even though we went to a restaurant, and I am not making this ...

So, true story: when I was around 7-8 years old I thought stripping was the best thing ever. I wanted to be a stripper when I grew up, and I used to put on my dad's soundtrack to The Sting , crank up Hooker's Hooker , put on all the clean clothes from the laundry room and play stripper for hours in the living room. (I always stopped at my own clothes! I only took off the extra laundry!) My parents, being the laid-back parents they are, didn't freak out or chasten me for playing stripper. In fact, I don't remember them ever saying anything to me about it, ever. And one day, I just stopped thinking I wanted to be a stripper. Please note that at age 8, I had only a marginal idea of what strippers actually did; I thought it was just wearing pretty clothes and dancing, two things I still think are pretty awesome. As an adult, I asked my dad why he never told me to stop playing stripper or to stop saying that when I grew up, I wanted to be a stripper. And my dad told me, ...

In quotations, because it's the name of this song. My new favorite stripper song!  And yes, I watch Gossip Girl .   I checked it out because my Chinese students love it, building bridges and all of that; I lose credibility if THEY know something about American culture that I don't.  It's a silly show, but the clothes are fun and Nate is hot. And Chuck Bass is hilarious. 

When I was a little kid, I loved my dad's old records. The Sting was a favorite, especially the track Hooker's Hooker , a classic striptease song. I would put on layers and layers of clothes and play "stripper" in the living room. ( NOTE: I was always fully dressed underneath and remained so .) I didn't understand what strippers did in a larger context, but I thought they were beautiful and got to dance to the best music! (It's funny to me now my parents never said anything to me about my "game.") I still love classic stripper music. My friend J. in Texas introduced me to this great compilation, Take It Off!. (J's house is decked out like a 60's Rat Pack martini bar, my favorite house to play at by far. Those of you who have seen the picture of me on the bed under the mirrored ceiling? J's bedroom.) It's a lot of fun to listen to, as well as a great dancing/workout CD. Try it! (Samples here as well. I especially like track 8.)

On my list of things to do before I die: 11. Learn and perform a sexy striptease to this song . 12. Get appreciated for it.

Love shaking my money-maker to these songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifcMIz4_iho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuLf9meEbqU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVSa96G_niA P.S. these aren't good videos, but the songs are fun