Enough Already / Ya Just Gotta Hear It

Friday night

Dream 1: Enough Already

My wife and I were staying at a hotel, along with my brother Andrew and his wife, Susan. We were in town for a family wedding. Drew has always been a kidder, and we used to "roughhouse" a bit, as my mom would say, but this time I just wanted to relax, and he simply would not leave me alone. We sat in chairs near the pool, and he was kicking me and pushing me, just fooling around. Finally, I'd had enough, and dove into the pool. Somehow, as I did so, Drew grabbed me by my feet, and held them. He wasn't trying to drown me or anything, just having a little more "fun."

Dream 2: Ya Just Gotta Hear It

I was talking with someone about Bruce Springsteen, and I was wearing a baseball jersey from the 1980-1981 world tour, featuring a drawing of the cover of "Born to Run." The person on the other end of the conversation was a fan, but mainly knew Springsteen's later work. I said, "If you like his stuff now, wait until you hear bootlegs of his 1978 tour. You won't believe it!"

*****

Dream 1: Enough Already

My wife and I recently watched "A Christmas Story," and I laughed whenever Ralphie and his brother Randy fought each other to leave a room or to get up the stairs. We did a lot of that in my house, but the problem is that my brother Andrew still thinks it's funny to kick me and block my path, and I'm over it at this point. I was visiting Andrew and Susan at their home in Richmond, VA about 10 years ago, and we took a tour of the Confederate White House. We held up the line because Andrew refused to walk up the stairs in front of me. Of course, I finally went up the stairs first, and he proceeded to kick me in the ass several times, only stopping when the guard gave him a stern warning. This was when he was a grown man, in his mid-30s, and he had not been drinking.

Dream 2: Ya Just Gotta Hear It

I like a lot of Springsteen's music, but there is something very special about his 1978 album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and the recordings of his accompanying tour. His shows at that time were particularly passionate, and Gordy, Ed and I bonded over our shared love of Springsteen's music from that period. We were teenagers when that record was released, and all these years later, it still moves us. Ya just gotta hear it.