Wednesday night
Dream 1: Home Sweet Home
It was November and I had to work late. I got caught up in a snowstorm on the way home, and parked for awhile in a covered garage at some sort of a monument in a city park to wait it out. When the weather finally let up I drove to the family home and walked in carrying a large, lightweight, black plastic stereo speaker over my head. I was confronted in the kitchen by one the members of my family, Janice Soprano, who immediately tried to make me feel guilty for having been away. In a sarcastic tone she said, "So, did you enjoy your Thanksgiving?" She went on to regale me with stories of fights that I'd missed at the holiday dinner table.
I looked around for the family dog and realized that he was outside. I went out to get him, but found that Tony (Soprano) was already out there, leading him back in from the cold. Janice had already tried to get the dog to come back, but had been unsuccessful. I didn't trust Janice, and I got the impression that the dog didn't trust her, either.
Dream 2: Strange Set
I had great seats for a Paul McCartney concert in the 1970s; I was so close to him that I was practically on the stage. McCartney was standing on the left side of the band, playing bass. Soon it became apparent that this wasn't going to be a typical McCartney concert; he was singing cover versions of others' songs instead of his own. His first number was by The Eagles.
*****
Dream 1:
Another dream featuring snow. I am so tired of this heat.
I had this dream while sleeping on the couch in the living room, just after watching the last episode of season 3 of "The Sopranos." Two things in this dream will ring true to any fan of the show: Tony loves animals, and Janice is not to be trusted under any circumstances.
There is another Sopranos episode that features black stereo speakers. Two members of Tony's crew borrow two huge speakers from his house and set them up on his boat in order to blast Dean Martin albums at the home of a lawyer who lives down on the Jersey shore. They continue disrupting his evenings in this way until he decides to let Tony out of a real estate deal.
I had black plastic speakers as part of an early stereo set that I kept in my parents' basement playroom years ago.
I didn't recognize my office building or the family home in this dream; it wasn't the Soprano house from the series, or anywhere I've lived before.
Dream 2:
The Eagles number that McCartney sang was one of the mellow Glen Frey tunes; either "Take It Easy" or "Tequila Sunrise."
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Another Day, Another Theater / Strike Up the Band
Tuesday night
Dream 1: Another Day, Another Theater
I was going to a movie theater to see a film; I think it was some sort of a children's classic, and I got there before it started. As I entered I noticed my friend Preston sitting in the front row, in what looked like a church pew. His friend Jeff sat to his left, leaning against the far left side, and stretching his legs out, as if he was on a couch at home. I didn't see Jeff's face, but recognized the back of his balding head.
I walked up the right aisle; the theater was more crowded than I'd expected. Finally, I found an empty seat on the far right and sat there, but not for long. Soon my brother Andrew walked in, and he came up the same right aisle. I flagged him down and looked around for a place where we could sit together. A Mexican man and his family seated near me pointed out some empty seats half way back in the center section, so I got up and Drew and I sat together over there.
Dream 2: Strike Up the Band
My wife and I were at the home of the neighbor who lives to the left of our house in Nashville, when suddenly we heard some loud music; it was coming from our own backyard. We rushed outside and peered over the chain link fence to see our neighbors from the other side, Jack and Hilda, and a bunch of their friends and neighbors, serenading us with "The Star Spangled Banner," played on brass instruments. They weren't professionals by any stretch of the imagination, and some members of the group hit a few bum notes, but it was a wonderful surprise, and we were thrilled. Once the song was over we clapped and cheered, and then Hilda said, "O.K., on to the next house!" They were taking their merry band to select homes around the neighborhood, playing one song per family.
*****
Last night's dreams were pretty unusual on two counts: I very rarely dream of similar situations in the same week (movie theaters), and I very rarely dream of our home in Nashville, while I dream of my former home in Arlington all the time.
Dream 1: Another Day, Another Theater
My older brother Jimmie and his wife, Dawn, are expecting their first child, and yesterday Jimmie said that I'd be in charge of instructing the kid about old black and white movies. Just before going to bed last night I sent him a list of 20 black and white classic films that would be near the top of my "curriculum." I suppose that's why I was going to a theater to see a children's classic.
I was also e-mailing with Preston yesterday, and I spoke with Andrew on the phone. The three of us will be together in less than a month to play the second round in our yearly poker tournament, and Andrew and I will be staying at Preston's. We always look forward to the reunion. Preston mentioned in one of his messages that he and Jeff are taking part in a fantasy football league. Preston and Jeff knew each other in college, and they were roommates when Jeff moved to Virginia in the 1990s. I visited their apartment regularly, and we had a lot of fun times. Two years ago Jeff played in our poker tournament, had a round of bad luck, got steamed, and decided that he wanted to leave and drive back home to New Jersey that night. (He'd moved there after getting married.) My friend Ed, who runs the tournament, walked in from the table in the other room, with Jeff in tow. Ed turned to me and said, "He wants to leave, so I'm cashing him out." (I'm the keeper of the rules and the stats.) It was against the rules to leave early if you still had money, and nobody had ever done it in the history of the tournament. Without thinking, I said, "That's a violation!" Jeff spat out, "Try to get people to start on time -- see if that's a violation. LATER..." and he walked out. He never spoke to me again.
It's so wierd that it came to that, because Preston, Jeff and I had had a great time at dinner before the tournament that night. I've written to Jeff a couple times since, but he hasn't responded. I don't know if he ever thinks about it, but I really regret that that friendship ended; I never meant to embarrass him. I was just surprised that he was quitting early that night, and was telling the head of the tourney that that's not allowed. Anybody else would calm down later and understand the situation, but apparently not Jeff. Oh, well. Life has it's regrets, and that's one of mine.
I must be trying to tell myself something with these theater dreams, but heck if I know what it is.
Dream 2: Strike Up the Band
This dream must have taken place in the early 2000s, because there were still chain link fences between our backyard and the neighbors; we've since taken them out and repaced them with a nice wood fence.
Jack and Hilda are wonderful neighbors who have been very kind to us; I wouldn't put it past them to learn how to play brass instruments just to surprise their friends with a song.
I think I know the origin of this dream. Back on July 4th I was having a down day, feeling stressed about my new job, isolated from most people in town, and missing my friends back in Virginia. Hilda was out working in her garden, and she happened to mention that there was a July 4th block party that day only four blocks or so away. I walked over there, and was thrilled with the sights and sounds, to say nothing of all of the free food and drinks. There was a parade of kids on all sorts of vehicles decked out in red white and blue; the mayor read the Pledge of Allegiance; somebody else read from the Declaration of Independence, and, to top it off, they had a wonderful brass band in somebody's front yard, playing a mixture of patriotic songs and popular tunes from the 1940s. I felt something like the Grinch did when he realized that maybe Christmas didn't come from a store. The swelling feeling in my heart of buried patriotism just about knocked me out. It had nothing to do with politics; it was love of country.
And is there anything in this world better than a brass band?
Dream 1: Another Day, Another Theater
I was going to a movie theater to see a film; I think it was some sort of a children's classic, and I got there before it started. As I entered I noticed my friend Preston sitting in the front row, in what looked like a church pew. His friend Jeff sat to his left, leaning against the far left side, and stretching his legs out, as if he was on a couch at home. I didn't see Jeff's face, but recognized the back of his balding head.
I walked up the right aisle; the theater was more crowded than I'd expected. Finally, I found an empty seat on the far right and sat there, but not for long. Soon my brother Andrew walked in, and he came up the same right aisle. I flagged him down and looked around for a place where we could sit together. A Mexican man and his family seated near me pointed out some empty seats half way back in the center section, so I got up and Drew and I sat together over there.
Dream 2: Strike Up the Band
My wife and I were at the home of the neighbor who lives to the left of our house in Nashville, when suddenly we heard some loud music; it was coming from our own backyard. We rushed outside and peered over the chain link fence to see our neighbors from the other side, Jack and Hilda, and a bunch of their friends and neighbors, serenading us with "The Star Spangled Banner," played on brass instruments. They weren't professionals by any stretch of the imagination, and some members of the group hit a few bum notes, but it was a wonderful surprise, and we were thrilled. Once the song was over we clapped and cheered, and then Hilda said, "O.K., on to the next house!" They were taking their merry band to select homes around the neighborhood, playing one song per family.
*****
Last night's dreams were pretty unusual on two counts: I very rarely dream of similar situations in the same week (movie theaters), and I very rarely dream of our home in Nashville, while I dream of my former home in Arlington all the time.
Dream 1: Another Day, Another Theater
My older brother Jimmie and his wife, Dawn, are expecting their first child, and yesterday Jimmie said that I'd be in charge of instructing the kid about old black and white movies. Just before going to bed last night I sent him a list of 20 black and white classic films that would be near the top of my "curriculum." I suppose that's why I was going to a theater to see a children's classic.
I was also e-mailing with Preston yesterday, and I spoke with Andrew on the phone. The three of us will be together in less than a month to play the second round in our yearly poker tournament, and Andrew and I will be staying at Preston's. We always look forward to the reunion. Preston mentioned in one of his messages that he and Jeff are taking part in a fantasy football league. Preston and Jeff knew each other in college, and they were roommates when Jeff moved to Virginia in the 1990s. I visited their apartment regularly, and we had a lot of fun times. Two years ago Jeff played in our poker tournament, had a round of bad luck, got steamed, and decided that he wanted to leave and drive back home to New Jersey that night. (He'd moved there after getting married.) My friend Ed, who runs the tournament, walked in from the table in the other room, with Jeff in tow. Ed turned to me and said, "He wants to leave, so I'm cashing him out." (I'm the keeper of the rules and the stats.) It was against the rules to leave early if you still had money, and nobody had ever done it in the history of the tournament. Without thinking, I said, "That's a violation!" Jeff spat out, "Try to get people to start on time -- see if that's a violation. LATER..." and he walked out. He never spoke to me again.
It's so wierd that it came to that, because Preston, Jeff and I had had a great time at dinner before the tournament that night. I've written to Jeff a couple times since, but he hasn't responded. I don't know if he ever thinks about it, but I really regret that that friendship ended; I never meant to embarrass him. I was just surprised that he was quitting early that night, and was telling the head of the tourney that that's not allowed. Anybody else would calm down later and understand the situation, but apparently not Jeff. Oh, well. Life has it's regrets, and that's one of mine.
I must be trying to tell myself something with these theater dreams, but heck if I know what it is.
Dream 2: Strike Up the Band
This dream must have taken place in the early 2000s, because there were still chain link fences between our backyard and the neighbors; we've since taken them out and repaced them with a nice wood fence.
Jack and Hilda are wonderful neighbors who have been very kind to us; I wouldn't put it past them to learn how to play brass instruments just to surprise their friends with a song.
I think I know the origin of this dream. Back on July 4th I was having a down day, feeling stressed about my new job, isolated from most people in town, and missing my friends back in Virginia. Hilda was out working in her garden, and she happened to mention that there was a July 4th block party that day only four blocks or so away. I walked over there, and was thrilled with the sights and sounds, to say nothing of all of the free food and drinks. There was a parade of kids on all sorts of vehicles decked out in red white and blue; the mayor read the Pledge of Allegiance; somebody else read from the Declaration of Independence, and, to top it off, they had a wonderful brass band in somebody's front yard, playing a mixture of patriotic songs and popular tunes from the 1940s. I felt something like the Grinch did when he realized that maybe Christmas didn't come from a store. The swelling feeling in my heart of buried patriotism just about knocked me out. It had nothing to do with politics; it was love of country.
And is there anything in this world better than a brass band?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Vinyl Days
Monday night
I was in my room downstairs at my parents' house in Arlington, and had decided to cull a large amount of albums and picture-sleeve 45s from my record collection, in order to turn them in for credit at the Record and Tape Exchange. I put an LP on the record player so I could listen to some tunes as I sorted through it all.
Some of the albums belonged to my wife, so I had to be careful not to put any of her records in the "discard" pile; the ABBA album was definitely hers. All of the singles were mine, and there were thousands of them, kept in poly bags and neatly lined up in a wooden cabinet. I proceeded to sort the 45s into two piles; the keepers were on the left; the trade-ins, including some by STYX and other 80s groups, were on the right. The keepers included an extremely rare early solo single by Stevie Nicks, taken from the pre-Fleetwood Mac album "Buckingham Nicks." It featured a cover photo of Nicks with her pre-dyed brown hair.
Later, I brought the large stack of albums and singles to the used record store, and browsed around as they tallied up my credit. Before long, I came across a mid-'60s album by The Everly Brothers. I studied the back cover first, and saw the titles of two of their last hits, "The Price of Love" and "Gone, Gone, Gone." I flipped it over and stared at the photo on the front of the LP; it was a dense jungle scene, focusing on one central tree which was filled with monkeys. Phil and Don were in the tree, too, poking through the foliage on the left and right in the upper part of the tree. They were apparently naked, but all the observer could see through the canopy were their heads and shoulders. Suddenly, as I continued to stare at the album, it morphed into an early, color promotional video for the record, shown in a continuous loop. The camera panned through the jungle, and the only sound that was heard were natural sounds made by the birds and animals. The camera panned up the tree and stopped on the album cover photo, followed by a loud drumbeat; then the video started over again.
*****
I did bunk in my parents' basement playroom during the last few years I lived at their house, and kept a pretty large record collection down there. My wife and I didn't get together until over 10 years later, so her records were never there. For the record, we both like ABBA.
The two Everly Brothers songs mentioned in the dream are real, and were featured on some of my Christmas compilation CDs in the past, but the Everlys album and the Stevie Nicks single are purely fictional. No Everly Brothers album cover features a "jungle" motif, and Stevie Nicks never released a single prior to joining Fleetwood Mac. I did own the "Buckingham Nicks" album, which is now considered a rarity, and gave it to a former girlfriend long ago. (I'm sorry that I got rid of the album, but glad that I got rid of the girlfriend.)
Not long ago I was reminiscing through e-mail with my friends Gordon and Preston about record collecting, and how I miss picture sleeves. I think I told Preston that if I had money to burn, I'd probably get on e-bay and buy every old picture sleeve single that I ever wanted, and proceed to frame them. I've got a start on that project, having bought up every Elvis sleeve I ever wanted already...
I was in my room downstairs at my parents' house in Arlington, and had decided to cull a large amount of albums and picture-sleeve 45s from my record collection, in order to turn them in for credit at the Record and Tape Exchange. I put an LP on the record player so I could listen to some tunes as I sorted through it all.
Some of the albums belonged to my wife, so I had to be careful not to put any of her records in the "discard" pile; the ABBA album was definitely hers. All of the singles were mine, and there were thousands of them, kept in poly bags and neatly lined up in a wooden cabinet. I proceeded to sort the 45s into two piles; the keepers were on the left; the trade-ins, including some by STYX and other 80s groups, were on the right. The keepers included an extremely rare early solo single by Stevie Nicks, taken from the pre-Fleetwood Mac album "Buckingham Nicks." It featured a cover photo of Nicks with her pre-dyed brown hair.
Later, I brought the large stack of albums and singles to the used record store, and browsed around as they tallied up my credit. Before long, I came across a mid-'60s album by The Everly Brothers. I studied the back cover first, and saw the titles of two of their last hits, "The Price of Love" and "Gone, Gone, Gone." I flipped it over and stared at the photo on the front of the LP; it was a dense jungle scene, focusing on one central tree which was filled with monkeys. Phil and Don were in the tree, too, poking through the foliage on the left and right in the upper part of the tree. They were apparently naked, but all the observer could see through the canopy were their heads and shoulders. Suddenly, as I continued to stare at the album, it morphed into an early, color promotional video for the record, shown in a continuous loop. The camera panned through the jungle, and the only sound that was heard were natural sounds made by the birds and animals. The camera panned up the tree and stopped on the album cover photo, followed by a loud drumbeat; then the video started over again.
*****
I did bunk in my parents' basement playroom during the last few years I lived at their house, and kept a pretty large record collection down there. My wife and I didn't get together until over 10 years later, so her records were never there. For the record, we both like ABBA.
The two Everly Brothers songs mentioned in the dream are real, and were featured on some of my Christmas compilation CDs in the past, but the Everlys album and the Stevie Nicks single are purely fictional. No Everly Brothers album cover features a "jungle" motif, and Stevie Nicks never released a single prior to joining Fleetwood Mac. I did own the "Buckingham Nicks" album, which is now considered a rarity, and gave it to a former girlfriend long ago. (I'm sorry that I got rid of the album, but glad that I got rid of the girlfriend.)
Not long ago I was reminiscing through e-mail with my friends Gordon and Preston about record collecting, and how I miss picture sleeves. I think I told Preston that if I had money to burn, I'd probably get on e-bay and buy every old picture sleeve single that I ever wanted, and proceed to frame them. I've got a start on that project, having bought up every Elvis sleeve I ever wanted already...
Monday, August 27, 2007
Videos / Lions / Girlfriend / Groovy Car Ride
Sunday night
Dream 1: Videos
I was enjoying watching new videos that someone had cut together from old footage for the song "Goin' Back" by The Byrds, and for another song by The Monkees. The Monkees video was much more "madcap," and for awhile I seemed to be be back on the set with them, as they ran around a hotel and did silly things, all the time dressed in matching white sweaters.
Dream 2: Lions
I'd heard that a new documentary film about lions was being shown locally, and called my brother Andrew to tell him about it. He agreed to meet me at the venue, which wasn't a local theater; it was a fancier place, such as the Smithsonian, or the National Geographic Society. There wasn't tiered seating in the theater; instead, all of the seats were arranged in a large rectangle on the same level.
I showed up just as the lights went out. While the screen was still dark, the film began with the roar of a lion. I couldn't see, so I called out, "Andrew!?" He didn't answer, but as the first images flickered on the screen, I had enough light to find him. He was seated on the other side of the aisle from where I was standing, and motioned for me to come over there. Our friends Preston and Mari-Jane were sitting in the next row behind him. At first I saw that there were several vacant seats next to them, so I said in a stage whisper, "Oh, I'll sit back there." Preston and M-J both spoke up, and pointed out that there was an empty seat next to Andrew after all, so I sat with him. As I did so, I noticed that Spike Lee was also in the audience.
Dream 3: New Girlfriend
Apparently this dream took place back in the 1980s, when I worked for Crown Books. I'd met up with my friend, Gordon, and I was with my new girlfriend, who had a complicated personal history -- former marriage, etc. (I don't know her name, but she had blonde hair.) I was standing with my right arm around her, and we were facing Gordon and talking. He had met her once before, but either didn't know, or didn't remember all of the details of her personal life. For some reason she thought it important that Gordon did know these details. She said something along the lines of, "If he's going to know me, he'll have to learn all of these things anyway," and started to quiz him about her past.
Later, when we were outside, Gordon said he had some plans, so he couldn't do anything that evening. I got the impression that he was giving me a bit of a brush-off, but couldn't really blame him, after the girlfriend's wierdness. I watched him walk down a steep hill toward his car. I walked down the same hill, and when I got to the bottom, the girlfriend wasn't around. Gordon approached me and suggested another day that we might get together, a holiday. He said, "All the kids will be out of school." I said, "It's going to be a work day for me."
Dream 4: Groovy Car Ride
This dream also seemed to take place in the 1980s. I was giving The Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend a ride home in a small 1960s car, possibly a Volkswagen Beetle, and we were listening to a tape of The Who's most psychedelic album, "The Who Sell Out" (from 1967). They were sitting in the back seat as I drove. Roger was singing along with the tape, and I was watching him in the rear view mirror. I noticed that as the album became more and more far-out, so did Roger's appearance, regressing to his 1960s look. By the time we got to "Armenia City in the Sky" (actually, the first full song on the album) Roger had a bouffant 'do and was wearing what appeared to be dark blue lipstick. I couldn't stifle the urge to make a snarky comment. I said, "Nice HAIR, Roger."
Eventually we got to their neighborhood, which consisted of old, medium-sized red brick apartment buildings, and Roger had reverted to his regular self. He and Pete got out and went into their respective buildings; they lived next door to each other.
*****
Dream 1: Videos
I grew up watching "The Monkees" on TV when I was a kid, and always found them to be amusing. The Byrds' song "Goin' Back" is featured on a CD that I'm giving out to some people this Christmas.
Dream 2: Lions
I wonder if the lion's roar at the beginning of the documentary is a take-off on the roar of the MGM lion, which comes at the beginning of so many of the classic movies that I like.
Dream 3: Girlfriend
The girl in this dream is no girlfriend that I ever had, but may be modeled on the wife of one of my wife's former co-workers. We were talking about that couple yesterday.
Dream 4: Groovy Car Ride
I've watched a few Who performances in YouTube lately; I've been trying to determine for myself when I think they "lost it," or became uninteresting to me. I liked Townshend's solo stuff up through his "White City" album in 1985, but have little use for what came after that. As for The Who's never-ending farewell tour, I saw them a few times in the 90's, but after awhile they seemed to be going through the motions, and there was no point to see them again. The post 9-11 concert in New York does seem to be an exception, however; they were playing for police, fire and rescue personnel, and really rose to the occasion. That was probably the last high point for the band, in my opinion, anyway.
Dream 1: Videos
I was enjoying watching new videos that someone had cut together from old footage for the song "Goin' Back" by The Byrds, and for another song by The Monkees. The Monkees video was much more "madcap," and for awhile I seemed to be be back on the set with them, as they ran around a hotel and did silly things, all the time dressed in matching white sweaters.
Dream 2: Lions
I'd heard that a new documentary film about lions was being shown locally, and called my brother Andrew to tell him about it. He agreed to meet me at the venue, which wasn't a local theater; it was a fancier place, such as the Smithsonian, or the National Geographic Society. There wasn't tiered seating in the theater; instead, all of the seats were arranged in a large rectangle on the same level.
I showed up just as the lights went out. While the screen was still dark, the film began with the roar of a lion. I couldn't see, so I called out, "Andrew!?" He didn't answer, but as the first images flickered on the screen, I had enough light to find him. He was seated on the other side of the aisle from where I was standing, and motioned for me to come over there. Our friends Preston and Mari-Jane were sitting in the next row behind him. At first I saw that there were several vacant seats next to them, so I said in a stage whisper, "Oh, I'll sit back there." Preston and M-J both spoke up, and pointed out that there was an empty seat next to Andrew after all, so I sat with him. As I did so, I noticed that Spike Lee was also in the audience.
Dream 3: New Girlfriend
Apparently this dream took place back in the 1980s, when I worked for Crown Books. I'd met up with my friend, Gordon, and I was with my new girlfriend, who had a complicated personal history -- former marriage, etc. (I don't know her name, but she had blonde hair.) I was standing with my right arm around her, and we were facing Gordon and talking. He had met her once before, but either didn't know, or didn't remember all of the details of her personal life. For some reason she thought it important that Gordon did know these details. She said something along the lines of, "If he's going to know me, he'll have to learn all of these things anyway," and started to quiz him about her past.
Later, when we were outside, Gordon said he had some plans, so he couldn't do anything that evening. I got the impression that he was giving me a bit of a brush-off, but couldn't really blame him, after the girlfriend's wierdness. I watched him walk down a steep hill toward his car. I walked down the same hill, and when I got to the bottom, the girlfriend wasn't around. Gordon approached me and suggested another day that we might get together, a holiday. He said, "All the kids will be out of school." I said, "It's going to be a work day for me."
Dream 4: Groovy Car Ride
This dream also seemed to take place in the 1980s. I was giving The Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend a ride home in a small 1960s car, possibly a Volkswagen Beetle, and we were listening to a tape of The Who's most psychedelic album, "The Who Sell Out" (from 1967). They were sitting in the back seat as I drove. Roger was singing along with the tape, and I was watching him in the rear view mirror. I noticed that as the album became more and more far-out, so did Roger's appearance, regressing to his 1960s look. By the time we got to "Armenia City in the Sky" (actually, the first full song on the album) Roger had a bouffant 'do and was wearing what appeared to be dark blue lipstick. I couldn't stifle the urge to make a snarky comment. I said, "Nice HAIR, Roger."
Eventually we got to their neighborhood, which consisted of old, medium-sized red brick apartment buildings, and Roger had reverted to his regular self. He and Pete got out and went into their respective buildings; they lived next door to each other.
*****
Dream 1: Videos
I grew up watching "The Monkees" on TV when I was a kid, and always found them to be amusing. The Byrds' song "Goin' Back" is featured on a CD that I'm giving out to some people this Christmas.
Dream 2: Lions
I wonder if the lion's roar at the beginning of the documentary is a take-off on the roar of the MGM lion, which comes at the beginning of so many of the classic movies that I like.
Dream 3: Girlfriend
The girl in this dream is no girlfriend that I ever had, but may be modeled on the wife of one of my wife's former co-workers. We were talking about that couple yesterday.
Dream 4: Groovy Car Ride
I've watched a few Who performances in YouTube lately; I've been trying to determine for myself when I think they "lost it," or became uninteresting to me. I liked Townshend's solo stuff up through his "White City" album in 1985, but have little use for what came after that. As for The Who's never-ending farewell tour, I saw them a few times in the 90's, but after awhile they seemed to be going through the motions, and there was no point to see them again. The post 9-11 concert in New York does seem to be an exception, however; they were playing for police, fire and rescue personnel, and really rose to the occasion. That was probably the last high point for the band, in my opinion, anyway.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Portraits
Saturday night
It was winter, and I was walking through the woods; snow covered the ground. I came upon a clearing and found a very large rectangular block of snow, much taller than I was; it was almost like a monument of some kind. The top half of the rectangle had a beautiful framed color painting of a blue jay attached to it. Over time, passers-by had come to love and appreciate the painting, and had begun to hang their own framed blue jay paintings beneath it.
*****
Yesterday my wife and I took her father to Georgia to tour the Chicamauga battlefield, where we saw many large obelisks and rectangular blocks of stone, commemorating the deeds of various divisions involved in the fighting.
Last night I finished putting together a 500-piece circular jigsaw puzzle called "Familiar Birds," which was made by Springbok in 1970. It features a prominent picture of a blue jay, among many other birds. I'd found it on e-bay, so I'm pretty psyched that it has all of its pieces.
It was winter, and I was walking through the woods; snow covered the ground. I came upon a clearing and found a very large rectangular block of snow, much taller than I was; it was almost like a monument of some kind. The top half of the rectangle had a beautiful framed color painting of a blue jay attached to it. Over time, passers-by had come to love and appreciate the painting, and had begun to hang their own framed blue jay paintings beneath it.
*****
Yesterday my wife and I took her father to Georgia to tour the Chicamauga battlefield, where we saw many large obelisks and rectangular blocks of stone, commemorating the deeds of various divisions involved in the fighting.
Last night I finished putting together a 500-piece circular jigsaw puzzle called "Familiar Birds," which was made by Springbok in 1970. It features a prominent picture of a blue jay, among many other birds. I'd found it on e-bay, so I'm pretty psyched that it has all of its pieces.
MaMa / Kids
Friday night
Dream 1: MaMa
I was back in my parents' house in Arlington, in the upstairs bedroom used by my dad's mother prior to her death in 1990. I opened the lower left drawer of her dresser and found that she had kept one of my childhood toys there.
Suddenly I heard a commotion outside, and walked over to the other side of the room in order to look down on the front yard. Her casket was being carried back into the house; there was to be another funeral for her, all these years later. The casket itself was old-fashioned, rectangular and black.
Dad was downstairs, getting prepared for the service. I wasn't sure whether I'd go out to the re-burial or not. My brother Jimmie was also in the house, and chose that occasion to tell me that a novelist from Chile had just moved in to a house around the corner.
Dream 2: Kids
I had a ticket to see the Baltimore Orioles play a home game at Camden Yards, and was to meet some friends there. In the meantime, I needed to use the bathroom, so I stopped by the friends' house, although I knew that they had already left for the ballpark. I knocked on the door and the babysitter answered. I told her who I was, and she let me in. I walked downstairs and found a large circular room filled with retarded and 'slow' children. My father-in-law was there, playing with them and entertaining them. Part of the floor was covered with snow, and he was showing the children how to use a Flexible Flyer sled. He laid down on his stomach and was steering with his hands.
*****
Dream 1:
We called my paternal grandmother "MaMa," with the a pronounced as in the word "back." She died in 1983, not 1990, and she never lived in my parents' house, although she visited there many times. Her bedroom in the dream was actually my parents' bedroom.
I attended MaMa's funeral in South Carolina, and she did not have an "old-timey" coffin.
That funeral was the occasion of one of my favorite family stories. Dad and I were standing together at the graveyard, talking with one of his cousins, when Dad said, "When my time comes, I don't want to have an open casket." The cousin looked at the size of Dad's waist and said, "Jamie, you might have to!"
Dream 2:
I called my brother Andrew last Friday and we had a good laugh about a baseball game the other day in which the Orioles lost to the Texas Rangers, 30-3. I asked him about the pitchers' earned run averages. He said, "Put it this way -- the first pitcher gave up 6 runs, and he had the good outing."
My father-in-law is visiting us here this weekend.
We've been going through an awful heat wave lately in Nashville. The other day a coworker said, "I bet this means we'll have an awful winter, with lots of snow." I said, "That would be great!" I haven't had a reason to take my Flexible Flyer out of the shed for awhile.
Dream 1: MaMa
I was back in my parents' house in Arlington, in the upstairs bedroom used by my dad's mother prior to her death in 1990. I opened the lower left drawer of her dresser and found that she had kept one of my childhood toys there.
Suddenly I heard a commotion outside, and walked over to the other side of the room in order to look down on the front yard. Her casket was being carried back into the house; there was to be another funeral for her, all these years later. The casket itself was old-fashioned, rectangular and black.
Dad was downstairs, getting prepared for the service. I wasn't sure whether I'd go out to the re-burial or not. My brother Jimmie was also in the house, and chose that occasion to tell me that a novelist from Chile had just moved in to a house around the corner.
Dream 2: Kids
I had a ticket to see the Baltimore Orioles play a home game at Camden Yards, and was to meet some friends there. In the meantime, I needed to use the bathroom, so I stopped by the friends' house, although I knew that they had already left for the ballpark. I knocked on the door and the babysitter answered. I told her who I was, and she let me in. I walked downstairs and found a large circular room filled with retarded and 'slow' children. My father-in-law was there, playing with them and entertaining them. Part of the floor was covered with snow, and he was showing the children how to use a Flexible Flyer sled. He laid down on his stomach and was steering with his hands.
*****
Dream 1:
We called my paternal grandmother "MaMa," with the a pronounced as in the word "back." She died in 1983, not 1990, and she never lived in my parents' house, although she visited there many times. Her bedroom in the dream was actually my parents' bedroom.
I attended MaMa's funeral in South Carolina, and she did not have an "old-timey" coffin.
That funeral was the occasion of one of my favorite family stories. Dad and I were standing together at the graveyard, talking with one of his cousins, when Dad said, "When my time comes, I don't want to have an open casket." The cousin looked at the size of Dad's waist and said, "Jamie, you might have to!"
Dream 2:
I called my brother Andrew last Friday and we had a good laugh about a baseball game the other day in which the Orioles lost to the Texas Rangers, 30-3. I asked him about the pitchers' earned run averages. He said, "Put it this way -- the first pitcher gave up 6 runs, and he had the good outing."
My father-in-law is visiting us here this weekend.
We've been going through an awful heat wave lately in Nashville. The other day a coworker said, "I bet this means we'll have an awful winter, with lots of snow." I said, "That would be great!" I haven't had a reason to take my Flexible Flyer out of the shed for awhile.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Buttery Goodness
Tuesday night
My brother Jimmie and I were having dinner together somewhere, and I was disturbed to see that whenever he used the butter knife, he'd lick it before placing it back on the table.
*****
Eew. I'm pretty sure that Jimmie doesn't really do this.
My table manners have been called into question on numerous occasions.
My brother Jimmie and I were having dinner together somewhere, and I was disturbed to see that whenever he used the butter knife, he'd lick it before placing it back on the table.
*****
Eew. I'm pretty sure that Jimmie doesn't really do this.
My table manners have been called into question on numerous occasions.
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