Music...makes the people....come together

You all know your Madonna, right?

The Mr. and I had the good fortune to see U2 recently.  They were on my list of Bands To See In Concert and, although I wish I could have seen them in the Achtung Baby glory years, they still put on an amazing show.  While we were waiting to see them the discussion turned to what other bands are on The List and which ones we've already crossed off. 

The Cure was a big one for me for many years. I finally saw them in college on what was supposed to be there "final tour."  Notice how lots of bands have like, sixteen "final tours"?  Kind of annoying.  Anyway, I was psyched to see them and they put on a great show.  Because they are awesome. Awesome.

One of the others that I was able to cross off my list in 2004 was Madonna. Hey - I am an 80's girl, I love me some Madonna.  It was the Re-Invention World tour. My girlfriend and I had called and got a bunch of tickets because there was a group of us that were going.  There was also a limo company that was trying to get on our Preferred Vendor List where I work and they had agreed to give us a limo - for free - for the drive up to the show. Holla!  So off we went in grand style.  When we got to the show we split up the tickets and went in - we were not seated together.  When the check in lady scans the tix, they won't read so she sends us over to the window.  The lady there proceeds to look at our tickets and tell us, "These are for tomorrow night's show."  D'OH!  Then as we all stood there with our mouths open, she flips through a stack of tickets and says, "here you go, the show's not sold out so I can exchange them."  Okay, we can move again.  We then proceed to like the best freaking seats EVER!  I mean, I could see Madonna's muscle definition. I felt kind of bad after the show though when the other crew described their seats as being, "Three rows from the back wall."  Sorry again about that ladies!

The first concert I went to was the Moody Blues. What?  My parents had like, the entire Moody Blues collection.  Someone at work gave my Dad the tickets and it was after Mom had died so he told my brother and I that we could go. I was stoked!  The Fixx opened for them. They were okay, but man - I loved the Moody Blues. Yes, I'm a geek.  I'm also a good wife.  Because I went to see KISS with the Mr. and that is SO not my cup of tea.  But he came with me to see Alanis Morrisette and Tori Amos (or the Angry Women Tour as he likes to call it), so he gets props for that.

Any concert stories you want to share?  Who is on your must-see list?  Who have you been able to cross off that list?  I'm curious.

Just because you're right, Al Gore, it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Enough with this fooking weird weather already!!!  I give you 2009:  crappy, never-ending winter which led into a rain soaked spring which led into The Summer That Never Happened.  Until it did happen - at the end of August and into September. Dressing the kids is a nightmare.  Shorts and t-shirts or pants and t-shirts?  Shorts and long sleeve shirt? T-shirt and sweatshirt? Sandals? Sneakers? GAH! 

I know I shouldn't be complaining.  At least we did get some nice weather finally.  And who doesn't love 75 degrees and sunny? Even if it is on September 24th.  Thing is, I love the seasons of New England.  Well, I don't love winter other then that first snowfall and during the holidays.  But all in all, the transition into Spring, with all the little green things poking out of the ground makes me so happy.  When the Summer heat rolls in, with it's long days? I'm in love.  The crispness of an Autumn day, kicking through leaves on the sidewalk is perfection.  Being at home with a fire in the fireplace while snow softly falls outside? Is the only time I like Winter.  But three out of four ain't bad!

What I don't like is the weather messing with my head.  Never mind it messing with people's lives.  (See this post from Carolyn...Online who describes it best.)  I admit to being a little freaked out by the changes in Mother Nature's script over the past few years.  It will be interesting to see if we humans can actually make a positive impact on the Earth, as we've kind of been screwing it up for some time now.

All I know is, whatever little tan I had is long faded and I'm ready to cover up my pasty legs with some tights and boots.  I know it's slowly coming - Fall, that is.  It's creeping in around the edges like this:

A random branch of red in a sea of green. I'm ready.  As long as it isn't two weeks of Autumn followed by an early snowstorm that starts a wretched winter.  If that happens all bets are off and we're moving to Florida.

On the Inside

I never saw the movie, "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", but I find the concept intriguing.  Erasing part of your mind. 

Let's take a journey inside my head.  Hmmm.  This lovely desk holds my education - much of it learned outside of any "hallowed halls of higher learning".   You'll notice the English drawer is a pretty big one - at least compared to the Mathematics folder tucked into the back corner over there.  There's some Science in there, but I'm pretty sure History has been reduced to a few crumpled pages.

These pretty boxes house the memories of my youth.  Some that are wonderful - some not so great.  But all a part of who I am today.  A lot of them have become faded pictures as the years have gone by.  I wish I could remember more.

That giant armoire in the corner is full of totally useless stuff about celebrities and a LOT of song lyrics from the 80's and 90's.  That's a fun place to hang out now and again.

There's a whole room over there dedicated to parenting.  The memories of the kids as babies, seems so long ago!  The funny thing's that they have said - although it's really best for me to write those down as we can already see the memory room gets hazier and hazier with everything I'm trying to cram in there.  So yeah, parenting stuff. School schedules, phone numbers for playdates, that nagging feeling that I've forgotten to do something for someone.

Oh, that's the work wing over there.  Best to stay away from that whole area right now.

What's that?  Well, I try not to go out into that lake too often.  Unfortunately, things have a way of escaping from the depths.  Those are the memories of the past that I should let go of.  The things I can't change now, so really whats the point of dredging them back up again?  Except I can't seem to stop myself.  Replaying and replaying.  Thinking of all the best things to say and do, in hindsight of course.  This is the place I'd erase if I had the power.  Although I wouldn't want to lose the lessons, so not sure how that would work.  Since it's usually the stupid stuff you really learn from, and hell - I already obsess too much about this shit - I don't want to have to go through it again.

Guess I'll have to learn to live with it.  Hopefully I can at least try harder to focus on the present and the future, which I have some control over, as opposed to the past.  Still, I think I'll go hang out in my comfy chair by the big armoire.  I'm feeling the need for some mindless gossip and Duran Duran.

I got yelled at by an old man from Florida

(Which was not my Dad.  Ooooo, SNAP!)  Sorry, Dad - couldn't resist.

And the point was...?  Oh yeah.  So I'm coming home from work the other day and I am at a point in the road where two lanes go down to one.  You know, a merge.  I think most people know that the general "rules of a merge" work out to be that every other car kind of works it's way in until you're all in one happy line.  Well. The guy to the right of me was apparently not familiar with, or just didn't care about, said rules.  He is practically in the back seat of the car ahead of him he is so tight to their bumper.  So when I realize he is not going to let me in, I turn and look out my window to kind of give the, "What the heck?" glance.  My window was halfway down and his was all the way down and he proceeded to yell, "Learn how to drive!"  (He may or may not have sworn at me, I couldn't be sure.)  He pulls up past me and I notice his license plate. Florida.  An old man from Florida with poor merging skills just told ME to learn how to drive.  Nice.

Thing is, I am a pretty damn good driver. (The Mr's eyebrows just may have raised a fraction of an inch.) But it's true.  Yes, I have a bit of a heavy foot at times, I can admit that.  All in all, however, I know the rules of the road and I follow them.  Okay! Yes, I pass on the right occasionally - I'm not claiming to be a perfect driver.  I just don't do all the stupid shit everybody else seems to do.  Now I do live in New England, and we have *ahem* something of a reputation as crappy drivers.  And I'm here to tell you, it's true.  People here do not use their turn signals.  They do not seem to have any idea who goes first when you meet at a four way stop sign.  They pull out halfway into the street in the hopes that someone will stop and let them go. They drive the speed limit in the passing lane. (Hence the need to pass on the right.) Makes me crazy! 

And even though I don't mind driving and often enjoy it (as opposed to being a passenger), I would still be the first one to sign up to have a teleportation device set up in my house.  You know?  To have the power to "I Dream of Genie" my way out of one place and be in another?  I would SO make that my wish if I had the opportunity.  Not to have to deal with the pain in the ass New England, (and/or Florida) drivers, not to sit in traffic for no discernable reason, or worse for the eight miles of construction going on at rush hour.  Not to have to wait for the car to heat up in winter, or cool down in summer.  Just a quick double blink and I'm gone. 

That would be so cool.  I also think it would cut down on my stress levels quite a bit.  Since I might have a wee bit of that road rage thing the people talk about.  Although I wouldn't necessarily label it as "rage," more like a frustrated anger.  Which I realized recently is not such a great thing to have with kids who are old enough to understand everything I am saying.  The other day I'm in the car with Wonderboy and the Pixie sitting at a stop light.  The light changes but the car in front of us doesn't move for a moment.  Then I hear WB from the back seat, "Come ON, lady!  GO!"  Oops. 

So yeah, I'm down for the teleportation, apparate spell or whatever it takes.  Anything to keep my kids from developing a swearing habit - and keeps old men from Florida from swearing at me.

Connections

In the end of July two of my Aunts came to visit.  R lives in Colorado and S lives in New Hampshire and even though we're close to New Hampshire we just don't get to visit very often.  These two women are my Mom's sisters. My Mom was one of those people that made sure everyone was keeping in touch within her family. When she died, we lost some of that.  Not that we don't ever communicate - it's just that we all have our own lives and we're not as good as keeping up with each other.

So I was really thrilled when my Aunt R said she was making a trip East and was going to get S and come and stay with us for a couple of days.  It had been a long time since either one of them had seen the kids, so I was especially psyched for them to get to spend some time with Wonderboy and the Pixie, as well as the Mr. and myself.  These women are so special to me.  Not only because they are both really cool women, but also because of the connection I feel with my Mom when I am with them.  It's been twenty-six years since my Mom died, so my memories of her have dimmed a bit - relying more on pictures and stories.

But when I'm with my Aunts, I can hear her voice in their laughter.  I see the curve of her face in theirs.  I picture her, lounging on our couch after hunting through the shelves of cookbooks as R and S did - reveling in some of the Mr's and some I inherited from my Mom.  I see how she may have been with my own children - listening in that teacher's way to what they are saying and delighting in their words and actions.

It was a laid-back visit of the best kind.  One where we all got to hang out and just be with each other.  I may not always be the best about phone calls or emails, but I think they know how important they are to me.   And that in their way, they bring her back to me again.