Saturday, January 27, 2007

Thank You for the Music

I decided to pay a visit to my friendly local independent record store the other day on my lunch, remembering that it was time for the annual sale. Outside, there was a sign up saying that the shop was closing. Forever.
I had a lump in my throat for the rest of the day.
Don't get me wrong - I cherish good memories, but in general, I'm not exactly a nostalgic person. But THIS STORE. CLOSING. It's one of those places that you just assume will always be there, like the gas station or your hair salon.
I hung out at this store in high school with skater kids on the weekends. I bought Kate Bush b-sides and issues of Creem Magazine. And Volume Magazine - that UK music magazine from the early 90's. Talking to the guy who worked there about Japan and That Dog and old episodes of Dragnet. Without meaning to, I'd usually end up spending all the money I made at my crappy college job.
And cassette tapes. Oh my GOD, the cassette tapes.
That Petrol Emotion.
The The.
Saint Etienne.
Tricky.
the Sugarcubes.
Killing time between classes in my freshman year of college, shuffling through the CD's with my matte sky-blue painted fingernails for whatever techno album had just been released. Before the internet, that store was my lifeline to any kind of good music, because you for damned sure weren't going to find it at the mall at Camelot.
I shopped there for 16 years.
Thanks for the memories, for the music, for the free CD's and posters, for selling our high school underground 'zine when no one else would, for the Kate Bush t-shirt, for that time in the store when at least 10 total strangers bonded while singing along to "Funky President" by James Brown in 1995, for the Andre the Giant Has a Posse stickers, for the killer discounts, for making us realize that THEY were the weird ones - not us, and for the sum total hours of entertainment playing with the magic 8-ball and Dr. Evil action figure while my friends were still shopping.
I'll miss you.

Monday, January 15, 2007

6 Weird Things About Me

At the bidding of Trouble (and I think we all know what happens when you don't do Trouble's bidding), I am posting 6 weird things about myself. My response: only 6? And it goes a little something like this:
  1. I despise squirrels. Hate them. They're foul. They dig up the yard, and carry disease. I actually have an aversion to all rodents, but most people don't think this extends to squirrels. It does.
  2. I hate pickles and olives. Most ppl who have eaten at any sort of restaurant with me know this. I won't eat any sort of pickle or any sort of olive EXCEPT Kalamata paste. On special occasions.
  3. When I was a kid, I would always have a favorite song that I called "The Most Beautiful Song in the World." It changed periodically. I mostly remember loving "Time" by Culture Club and "Message in a Bottle" by the Police.
  4. I honestly didn't believe the Leaning Tower of Pisa actually leaned until I saw it in person. It does.
  5. At the age of 11, I sprained my ankle by jumping off the roof of my neighbors' house. It was one story, plus an attic, but still.
  6. I have something bordering on a genuine fetish for office supplies. I don't keep many around the house; we got Staples in our town a cpl of years ago, and I've only been there once (we have other chains, btw). You have no idea how much discipline this requires.
So there you have it - a little oddness without any Twin Peaks personality quirks. When I start wearing an eye patch and blogging endlessly about silent drape-runners, ppl can start to worry.