You let your mind out somewhere down the road

This one comes directly from the indoor/outdoor pool at the YWCA on Cross Keys Road, the week-long day camp that my cousin and I attended thanks to the largesse of my grandmother. There was this song on some tinny transistor or other, and (somehow?) the chance to see the That pool was enormous. Want to swim inside? Cool. Want to run and jump in in the sunshine? You got it.

I can't remember ever going in the winter, though we could have.

I heat up, I can't cool down

Summer at the pool. This crinkles out of the lifeguard's AM/FM Panasonic over the 3' - 5' area of the pool, the long part of its L shape. The sky and the water are the same color blue and when the breeze shifts, fryer smell wafts over the water, which you stay in from one whistle blow to the next. Enforced breaks, goose pimpled and sun-scalded skin, fryer smell now in your hands via a tray of perfect golden spears, maybe a Sprite. The towel is hot, the deck chair is hot, the concrete surface is hotter.

There is no better time, nor place.

God knows where we're heading

[Summer madness]

Since I don't know how to type out that synth sound for the title of this post, I'll just say "right on, man," revel in how g-d jazzy Kool & the Gang truly was, and hope I hear Herb Kent the Cool Gent play this on an upcoming summer Sunday afternoon. Long afternoons stretching into evening by the lake, Herb laying this out there. Yes, honey. Yes.

I'm actually thinking about yesterday.

Another loss. My age, my experiences, some of them, anyway.

I always dug this track more than their name-maker. This second single is just as lush, but tinged with loss.

I think Mike taped this one for me. On side two was something dissimilar, like Big Audio Dynamite. Or maybe that's not so different. It sounds like summer to me, the end of that first free summer of mine in 1991. It sounds like the distant blue line of lake and sky I'd stare at day after day, as much as I could.

Why won't Jimmy pledge allegiance?

Freedom
Love
Joy
Peace

Let's get some.

You're the poet in my heart.

I've always said, "Stevie always, always helps," but I didn't include this Stevie.

Stevie Nicks recalled the first time she stood on the painted floor of the Velvet Underground, a clothing store in San Francisco where Janis Joplin was known to shop for her stage looks. She talked about seeing her future as a musician there and urged everyone present to stick to their dreams — a platitude, maybe, but one that took flight coming from your hippie aunt Stevie Nicks.

I haven't been able to stop listening to Tusk lately. This isn't the only reason why, as it is, collectively, quite a balm to the spirits and mind lately--but it's a big reason why Tusk feels like the hug of a warm summer night for me. (Except, maybe, this)

The beautiful ones U always seem 2 lose

I always thought you'd be by my side

Me Now: How come u didn't go to the Purple Rain tour when you could have?

Me Then: I liked him, but I had to spend my money wisely--on L'Oreal eye shadow and Duran Duran import 12-inches.

Me Now: Gah---gackkk--ah. DUMMY!You liked Purple Rain...you liked it a LOT.

Me Then: Yeah, but I didn't buy it. Taped it off the radio...

Me Now: One lousy dime!!

Me Then: But none of my friends were going. I think. No, they weren't.

Me Now: You couldn't find a way to go?? I mean, you had to figure it out sometime. How else would you finally see U2 for the 45 (50?) dollars no one else was gonna pay to go with you?

Me Then: Yeah, but the concert was on a Saturday, and we had a speech tournament that day. We had to have. Or I had to work (and then go directly to Record Bar and buy another 12-inch).

Me Now: Just...just watch this:



Me Then: Goddamn.

Me Now: GODDAMN.

I'm so glad that I found someone to believe in again

Happy birthday. We need you, always.