My Music Collection 2

My Music Collection:
Episode 2 “Going Home”

This is part of an ongoing series where I explain why certain songs that I like are important to me. Music rules my life and powers me through the toughest day. So sit down and listen to some of my favorites.

This installment is full of songs that remind me of family and always feel like home to me.

King of the Road – Roger Miller

This song reminds me of how it was my mom and I against the world at one point in the early eighties. My mom was a single mother for a little while but she took amazing care of me. The song is just a song about being on the road and living hand to mouth and just getting by. My mom used to sing this to me as a lullaby so it will always hold a place in my heart.

Give Me Three Steps – Lynyrd Skynyrd

This song always reminds me of my mom and her college days and how to perservere. The song itself is about running away if given the slightest opening. The poor main character of the song has been caught at gunpoint and is begging for a reprieve. My mom was begging for a reprieve some nights doing work toward her law degree and hearing and singing along to that song made her feel better about it.

Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones

Well, really any Stones song will do it. I just picked one of their most prolific. At a very young age my dad trained me much like Pavlov did with his dogs. As we listened to the radio in the car my dad would ask “Who’s the greatest singer in the world?”. Was my answer Sinatra, Pavarotti, Lennon? Nope. I would enthusiastically answer “Mick Jagger!” And to this day, I still believe Jagger’s in the top 5. And every time I hear him sing I think of my dad.

Dancin’ Fool – Frank Zappa

Yeah, a Zappa song reminds me of a family member. That’s how interesting a bunch we are. My brother Alex is trained in the art of performance. (Sorry, Mr. Luthor, I know you prefer to be called Lex) He’s a great dancer and actor and has seemingly boundless energy. This song’s energy and enthuisiasm for dance and the goofiness are what remind me of my brother.

Whatever this is

And that’s my brother. Dancing to a J-rap song. Yep, he’s a genius at Stanford who probably has a 4.0 and a full scholarship and teaches classes at Stanford. Yes, that Stanford. Somehow this video makes me have faith that my brother isn’t a mindless robot.

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Nantucket Trip Pt. 2

Okay. So, in this next part, the times are all too vague to actually write down because time ceased to exist. Or I didn’t look at the clock on my phone anymore. Either of those two excuses. So here are a series of events that happened.

– My brother Alex and I sat around in our guest room. We divided the beds up though, knowing us, it wasn’t with power saws. I got the bed on the floor and he got the proper one. We chatted for a while and debated whether or not we had time for naps.

– Naps cleverly averted by scheduling, we headed into town to get some late lunch and spend some birthday time with our mom. After realizing that most places on the water were quite closed we finally ate at a place called “The Tavern”. What they lost in an original name they won out in cooking a good burger. Halfway through the meal we switched waitresses too due to a shift change. Not a bad thing, just never had that happen before.

– Got back to the house and took showers and got dressed for the night. I always feel somewhat false in good clothes.

– We sit around waiting for the ladies to get ready. The groom and his groomsmen fool around in the front hall until they’re chased off so the bride can safely move around.

– Off to the wedding. We get three blocks before we realize that we have no idea how to get there. Through a combination of cell phone trickery and a call to the wedding planner we get the correct directions there.

– Chaos.

– Wedding pictures begin. Everybody seems to have a camera and they begin to snap pictures of everything and everyone, flashes are going off everywhere. It’s a total whirlwind of activity. There’s a literal whirlwind outside as the wind is gusting up something fierce.

– The rain starts right as the wedding starts. Nobody seems to care. All the ladies eyes are wet too and some of us guys got a little misty eyed too. The wedding went off with only a few hitches but nobody seemed to mind and instead laughed it off and kept going.

– Food! We all sit down to a meal which is very delicious. I had New England Clam Chowder (in Nantucket is simply called Chowder), Salad, Filet Mignon, Mashed Potatoes, Lobster Pasta and Asparagus. Then the wedding cake. The conversation was jovial except for talking about theater business which I really don’t like talking about. I like talking about the art more. The isenglass kept the wind off of us and space heaters kept us warm. I lost total track of time at this point.

– We drive through the storm back to the house. It’s around 11:30 or so when we get home. Not only was it raining when we got home but the sprinklers were on in the yard. I thought “the heck with it” and ran through the sprinklers and inside.