Spoon. The Band.

I went to see Spoon over the weekend. Talk about a huge break – a show on a Saturday night, with a band I know I will like. That doesn’t happen often anymore. I think I mentioned this before, but I now have fairly strict criteria for seeing bands live. The criteria is this: I have to KNOW I will like the show. Period. I can’t take chances anymore that they might be good. Must know. That it fell on a Saturday night is total gravy. Anyway, the show was very decent. I didn’t get the two songs I really wanted (“The Fitted Shirt” and “Utilitarian”) but I got some very very good ones, like “I Summon You,” “The Beast and Dragon Adored” and “Something to Look Forward To.” Surprise of the night was how good some of the new stuff sounded, particularly “Written in Reverse” which provided much more of a kick in the pants than the album version does. And that’s why you see live bands. Of course, they sounded great, as always. The New House of Blues on Landsdowne in Boston is……sigh. Pretty much the same room as Avalon, except there’s a balcony now. I’d rather be on the floor where the energy is anyway.

The oddest part of the evening was the company. Not odd people, per say, but I just did the math in my head and collectively, they were people I hadn’t seen in nearly 25 years. One was an old high-school classmate who I haven’t seen in at least 15 years and the other was an old Rounder friend who I probably hadn’t seen in 10 years. Funny! But it worked! Of course, you can’t do much talking or socializing during a show unless you are screaming and we weren’t there to do that. But we went out for a drink beforehand and a couple of more afterward and I found myself greatly enjoying everyone’s company. I was thinking it might be a little odd to carry conversations with people I hadn’t seen in so long, but it turned out it was totally enjoyable. Just a good night all around. Glad to see I can still get out and do it and hoping I can see people again before another collective 25 years flies by.

Beautiful Graffiti

As a passenger or a driver, it used to be that I’d drive down the highways around the towns where I grew up and I’d see tons of spray paint, especially on large rocks or bridge overhangs. Mostly it was inane stuff like “LHS 82!” or something like that. Or it was some lame attempt at urban art. There was always the “undying love” spray painting as well – a big heart and inside the heart something like “Jim and Brenda 4eva!” Now, I could never imagine permanently declaring my love for someone on a rock, but apparently many people could. I always pictured Jim and Brenda smoking cigarettes and popping open Miller Lite cans somewhere, listening to the newest Judas Priest or whatever.  Maybe Pat Benatar. Who knows? Imagination is a funny thing. Maybe it was Air Supply they were listening to and they were doing their homework, right? My point is this: I’m either not paying as much attention to my surroundings or the kids are too entrenched in their video games to decorate the countryside. I’d like to think it’s the former, but I have a feeling it’s the latter. Although studies do show beyond a shadow of a doubt that as we age, we become less aware of the wonderous beauty going on around us and more focused on the tunnel that is our own lives.

Is this a stop-and-smell-the-roses post? Geez, I don’t know. I don’t get all choked up about the good-old-days when I think about all the spray paint on the rocks and bridges in Leominster and Lancaster, but I do wonder if I’m missing things. If I’m too focused on the exit number of the highway than the carefully manicured, flower-filled, deep green median. I don’t know.

Is there less spray paint out there today?

I Like The Way You Talk

As I have stated before a few times, I try not to make this blog a gushing tribute to my kids or inane banter about things they do. There are plenty of blogs out there for that. But sometimes I just have to report funny little things so when I look back later, I can be reminded of things. If there’s anything I’ve discovered in life, it’s that there is a gaping hole of my life as a child in pictures and words. I should rephrase that. There are a fair amount of pictures – I just wish there were thousands more! But I so wish I’d kept a journal as a kid. Back then, of course, it wasn’t cool at all. Lame-o! I’m sure given the choice as a lad, I would have opted mindlessly to ride my bike, or explore the apple orchards behind the house. Those apple orchards look so small when I drive by them now, but when I was a kid, it was a vast, wide open spot of land that seemed like a entire state’s length.

Anyway, a journal was out of the question. That said, I hope that my kids, when they are grown, will have inherited that same burning desire I have now to understand, see, read and appreciate the things they won’t remember. Because they are going to have a vast treasure trove of documented memories, courtesy of their parents. That’s also the beauty of the internet. Flickr. Facebook. The site you are reading now. It will be interesting, as the newest generation of young children will have unfettered access to the largest database of memories ever put down. Fascinating. I wonder how they’ll look at it or what they’ll think.

So anyway, a couple of little things:

  • Stephanie is a solid keeper of memories. She writes down some good stuff. For example, she had the foresight to keep jars for each boy during the first year and just would write quick stuff down on a post-it note and throw it in there. Those are now priceless memories during a very foggy time.
  • I was walking in our kitchen this past week and in between all the busy-ness and rushing and chores and running around, I stopped and glanced at a little notepad that said “Nathan – “crocodeedle.”  I asked her about it and it’s exactly what you think – it’s his precious and cute way of saying crocodile. He does occasionally say it correctly, in fact most of the time he does, but he butchered this one and it just makes your heart melt.
  • Another one was “Oscratchers.” Steph and I were talking about watching the Oscars and he said something along the lines of “I want to watch the Oscratchers!” It will forever be known as such.
  • One of our favorites over the past couple of years has been “Okee-dee-kee.” Now, at first glance, you would look at this and say that they must mean “okey dokey,” but that is not the case.  What they are referring to is Pinnochio. We have a little wooden Pinnochio hanging in our playroom window and it somehow came out of their mouths as “Okee-dee-kee.” So that’s what it is, even today. We can’t even bring ourselves to tell them what it’s really called because it’s too cute.
  • The last one for the night is “criss-cross applesauce.” They say this whenever they want us to sit cross-legged. No idea why, but it does make us laugh every time.

My job is going great. Really good group of people. It didn’t take long for things to ramp up – I am probably as busy as I’ve ever been at a job, but there’s a lot of opportunity here and I’m really excited to be there and excited for the challenge. Oh and yes, I’ve already purchased a pair of skates. I did not take the job for the employee discount, I took it for the challenge. But the discount is a hell of a benefit. I highly recommend the Bauer X60’s. Only took me two games to break ’em in.

As you may have guessed, blogging time is greatly reduced. It used to be that I would blog while everyone else was driving to (or home) from work. Now I don’t have that option. So I sit here on a Friday night at 8:30, Sierra Nevada in hand, dinner just finished, writing. That’s the way it might be now. It’s cool. You can also catch me on Facebook and Twitter for the short-and-quicks.

Rock or Talk

Now that I’m a commuter again, I thought I’d be really making the IPhone sweat for music during the drives. But a funny thing happened on the way……I somehow have not been listening to music on the commute. Instead, it’s been sports talk radio. Now, let me get something out of the way – I am most definitely not a sports nut. I follow hockey and baseball. Football is on the periphery. Basketball is not even close to an option for me. So I’m not one of the diehards.

But I am enjoying these guys. Here in Boston we have not one, but two powerful sports talk radio stations, so you’re almost always bound to hear something good. For example, this morning the guys on 98.5 were discussing building the ultimate sports Frankenstein. In other words, taking the ugliest body parts of all professional athletes and assembling them into one athlete. Sophomoric, yes. Funny? Yep. Especially when they added “David Wells digestive tract” to the list.

Anyway, I thought I’d be all music, but it turns out I’m not listening to music at all. Interesting.

The New Guy

Starting a new job is pretty crazy. Some people do it every year, so they probably are used to it. The last time I did it was in 2001 and I’m not even sure that counts because nearly all the people I shared an office with in that physical location were not people I ever had to deal with. Eventually, by 2005 or so, I was working at home more or less full time. So I think I need to go back to 2000 for the last time I really had a “first day.” That’s ten years ago, for a company that flamed out in the dot.com collapse. I have forgotten how to be the new guy.

Anyway, I’m smack in the middle of it now. It’s very interesting, because I’ve been brought in to bring this company into the new millennium online. I must say, it’s great fun so far. Obviously everyone knows how important the web is, but nobody here really fervently lives it. It’s busy as all hell, but it’s ALL stuff I’m interested in. My phone rings a lot, too.

I find myself more interested, actually, in the warts. Not because I’m pessimistic, but because in order to really take stock, you have to know what’s wrong first. There is a LOT to do here. But the new guy thing can be intimidating. You don’t know the lay of the land – who is invaluable, valuable or unvaluable. You really don’t know anything and nobody knows anything about you. There is some common ground in that I’m pretty sure most of us are into sports. But no longer can I wax with a co-worker about Foursquare or the Bing-Yahoo search merger. Nobody here cares about that stuff – though if I have my way, they’ll care a lot about Foursquare soon.

The new guy. I’m getting used to it.