"I Love the 80s!"
- MADNESS: OUR HOUSE ... “I remember way back then when everything was true and when we would have such a very good time, and such a fine time, a happy time”....
What is a funny memory of a parent, sibling or guardian in your childhood home?
I was too young to actually have a decent memory of this, but it's become family legend. My brother, sister and I had a babysitter, someone from the neighborhood (which, if you know anything about where I grew up, tells half the story) - an adult, but someone we didn't know well. And she clearly did not have the measure of the three of us, because she was plunked down someplace else in the house, reading a magazine or something, while the three of us...had a mustard fight. In the kitchen. Which was surprisingly complicated, given that my mom was (is) the frugal sort, and didn't buy "squeezy" mustard, but rather the kind in the short, squat glass jar. God knows how we managed to sling it around the room, but we did. Well, I don't know how much I was slinging, but I know there was a lot of mustard on the [formerly white-painted] ceiling, on the cupboards and counters, and ground into the carpeting. It was kind of awesome, in the original sense of the word. I don't think that babysitter's services were ever employed again, and I doubt that she was paid for that night's "work." - MEN WITHOUT HATS: SAFETY DANCE ... “We can dance if we want to, we’ve got all your life and mine...as long as we abuse it, never gonna lose it, everything will work out right”....
What activity did you do that would be considered dangerous or reckless?
putting aside (for once) all my clearly criminal behavior, I'll say that flying to another state to meet a guy with whom I became acquainted on Facebook was, if not dangerous, at least reckless. That it turned out only to be bizarre was just luck. - FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: RELAX ... “But shoot it in the right direction, making it your intention...live those dreams, scheme those schemes, got to hit me, hit me, hit me with those laser beams”....
What was your dream job and what did you actually wind up doing?
when I was very young, I only ever wanted to be a photographer. Of course, I had no idea what that actually meant, in practical terms (what sort of photographs would I take? For whom would I work? Where would I live? How would I actually make money, to live?) Once I started college and had a dose of that version of reality - which isn't the full version, but is at least more than that with which I'd started - I came around to my a new dream, which shifts and changes but hasn't ever left: I want to make a living through writing.
Instead, I'm making a half-assed living through other peoples' writing. Isn't that just the way the world works? - MODERN ENGLISH: I MELT WITH YOU ... “I’ll stop the world and melt with you...you’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time, there’s nothing you and I won’t do...I’ll stop the world and melt with you”....
What is the most romantic getaway you have taken?
hindsight being 20/20: 10 hours in Chicago. - THOMAS DOLBY: BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE ... “I don’t believe it! She’s tidied up again and I can’t find anything! All my tubes and wires, and careful notes”....
What valuable item have you lost?
in literal terms, $100 cash. During college, that was the equivalent of the entire farm, and I was financially and emotionally devastated for a long time afterward. In more metaphysical terms: it's got something to do with my feet. - DEVO: WHIP IT ... “Crack that whip, give the past the slip, step on a crack, break your momma’s back”....
Were you spanked as a child? How were you punished?
I was spanked two times, and I viscerally recall both the reasons for and the results of each event. The more frequent - and probably more consistently effective - punishment that I received was "a walk" with my dad. In my dopey naivety, it took me a remarkably long time to figure out what that meant. We'd start walking, get however far away from the house (proportional to my age and ability, I suppose), and when we were as far as we were getting, we'd turn around, and then Dad would heave a big sigh. "I've been thinking...." He would, in some open-ended way, lay out the problem (I wasn't pulling my weight, I was being a trial for my mom [nonstop from age 10 to when I moved out, I think!], I'd committed some violation of an agreement and failed to remedy it), and it was weighing on him. And it might sound lame or trite, but I know that it's true - I know that he wasn't just reading some parenting manual and following some expert's advice in how to do deal with "a kid like me." Because it really did work, and yet that's really my dad, too. I can still feel the sting of those conversations, of wanting to be...better. So I wouldn't make him feel bad about the bad stuff that I couldn't help but do. Childhood is hard. - ANIMOTION: OBSESSION ... “You are an obsession, You’re my obsession, who do you want me to be to make you sleep with me?” ....
What is the oddest thing you ever did to get someone to like you?
wow. Um, at the moment I'm more like to share my failures than my successes, so this is pretty awkward. I guess I could link to the other blog, where it's all laid out in horrifyingly graphic terms - but, no.
I tracked down an orange camouflage cowboy hat, just to prove that I could. In the words of my friend Sparky, "Epic Fail." - TOMMY 2-TONE: 867-5309 JENNY JENNY ... “Jenny Jenny who can I turn to? You give me something I can hold onto... I know you think I’m like the others before, who saw your name and number on the wall” ....
Who do you regret giving your phone number to?
no comment. The walls have ears! - KAJAGOOGOO: TOO SHY ... “Modern medicine falls short of your complaints, ooh, try a little harder, you’re moving in circles won't you dilate? Baby try”....
What is your favorite medicine or drug?
Fioricet. It's made from a combination of butalbital (a barbiturate, 50 mg), acetaminophen (325 mg), and caffeine (40 mg). It is generally prescribed for tension or muscle-contraction headaches, but is also used as a supplemental prescription for migraines. It's got some interesting side effects, but as compared to a migraine, side effects are nothing. This stuff is amazing - for the purposes for which it is intended. - GARY NUMAN: CARS ... “Here in my car, I feel safest of all, I can lock all my doors, it’s the only way to live, in cars”....
What was/is your favorite car?
I think about this a lot, and I've yet to come up with an answer. It was obviously time to be done with my last car, the '02 Civic (manual). And the new one (the '11 Civic [auto]) is running right - though it still gets 1/4-1/3 lower gas mileage than the '02 did, which burns me. The worst thing, though? It's incredibly, terribly, horribly BORING to drive. I mean, I can't stand getting in it for a trip of any distance, because it's just...ugh. If you don't like to drive, there's no way I can explain this to make you really understand, but anyone who occasionally just gets behind the wheel to let go, for no other reason than to drive, you see what I'm getting at. I haven't just gone for a drive in months. What's the point? It's not fun. Surely there's a car that I can afford, that's safe, that's fun to drive. Right? - THE GO-GOS: OUR LIPS ARE SEALED ... “Can you hear them? They talk about us, telling lies, well that’s no surprise” ....
What is the worst lie or rumor anyone ever told about you?
that I know of? The first guy I ever kissed told "the world", with the help of one of my good friends, that we'd done much more than kiss. Up to that point, my reputation was spotless. From there, I was making up for something I hadn't really done. - DURAN DURAN: HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF ... “In touch with the ground, I’m on the hunt I’m after you, smell like I sound, I’m lost in a crowd, And I’m hungry like the wolf” ....
What food do you crave so much you would brave a long line or travel a far distance to get it?
I've moved too much to be like this, but there's definitely food in each place where I've lived, or even spent a lot of time, for which I'd happily travel. Around here, you can get some pretty good Mexican and a really good steak. In A2, I'd need a few days, to work through Marco's Pizza's breadsticks, Mr. Spots Philly cheesesteaks, and everything at the Gandy Dancer. In W-town, it's all about the donuts. - JOAN JETT: I LOVE ROCK N ROLL ... “I saw him dancing there by the record machine. I knew he must have been about 17. The beat was goin’ strong, playin’ my favorite song” ....
What was the last song you paid to hear on a jukebox?
probably "Fishin' in the Dark", at Shorty's - which has been closed for ages (since it burned down!). It's been a while since I've paid for music in a bar.
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