Pick a Record, Any Record! (An Email Reprint)

(This email is from 2010)

I hit the flea market at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday, and I scored a box of 135 45s for $10!

Sadly, my best turntable has been packed away in an effort to sell our house, so I brought the box to work today. I have a turntable at school, and I I was itching to play a few records.

The name of the game is "Randomly Pick-a-45-and-Play-Both-Sides," and so far I've blindly reached in and pulled out

Sade's "Smooth Operator" / "Hang on to Your Love" and Wayne Newton's Danke Schoen" (Ferris!)/ "Heart!"

This is fun! For $10, this box was a steal.

2017 Update: I didn't even remember that I had this box of 45s at school, but my student teacher spotted it when I was showing her where I keep the tests and other materials in the classroom closet.

Let's play another round of "Randomly Pick-a-45-and-Play-Both-Sides." 

Oh no! It's "Think of Laura" by Christopher Cross.

Better grab some Kleenexes:

"Think of Laura" link

They don't make songs like that anymore, and actually that is a good thing. Hopefully the B side is more up-beat:

"Never Be the Same" link

I think the flip side is almost as depressing as "Think of Laura," but even If I never play the record again, it was worth 13.5 cents.

Pay No Attention to that Boy Behind the Curtain (An Email Reprint)

(This is from November 2, 2011)

I grew up singing in the shower. I don't know why I felt so brave standing behind that curtain, but as soon as I stepped under the water I'd let it rip. I wouldn't sing a cappella though. I had to have some cassette "blaring to high heaven" (as my mom would say) to guide me along. It was usually the same tape over and over - there's comfort in repetition. I bet I sang along with side A of Rick Springfield's Working Class Dog almost every morning of my 8th grade year.  I don't even know one song on side B.

Although I no longer sing in the shower (I have more consideration for my family), if Charlotte's not sleeping, I'll will blast shower music for myself. Again, there's very little variety. Last year my iPod played the Presidents of the United States' These Are the Good Times People every morning, and 2011-2012 school year looks to be the "Year of the Black Keys".

Why the Black Keys? Daphne noticed that Charlotte likes them. When Char was crawling down the hallway one summer morning she heard "Tighten Up" coming from our bathroom.  She stopped crawling and started bouncing on her diaper in sync with the beat. After several bounces, Charlotte switched directions and zipped into our bathroom where she sat on the rug and continued to move to the song. Attagirl.

"Tighten Up" Link

Update: Charlotte and I went to the Trolls movies last year for a daddy daughter night, and the soundtrack has become our road trip CD. It depends on the traffic and stop lights, but we can usually listen to tracks 1-7 before we get to daycare. We had a daddy daughter afternoon on Saturday, and we finally got to track 11. That's the movie's cover of "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire. Man, Char loves that song right now. We listened to it five times this morning, and she belted out the lyrics each time.

These are the good times, people. 😃

Trolls End Credits Link

What a Drag

The snowfall total in Iowa is about is about 12 inches below normal this year. That's been driving Char crazy. She didn't get a white Christmas, and the one snowman she built lasted about 20 minutes after the sun came out. Daphne can't believe that she remembered to buy Charlotte snow pants back in October, and our daughter hasn't worn them for school recess once.

I wouldn't say we ended the drought, but it snowed 2.5 inches in the metro yesterday, and that was enough to pull out the sled! 

You can tell we're a little out of practice.

It's Not a Contact Sport (an Email reprint)

(I wrote this a few years ago when Char was one and a half and my knees were in better shape.)

While running in the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick 5K road race last Sunday, I noticed that a lot of the runners are people I recognize, but I don't really know them. I like to create names for these people based on what I see and hear. They all sound like mobster names for some reason. For instance, I spotted "Johnny Tourettes" (he constantly swears to himself as he runs), "The Mouth Breather" (the man sounds like a slow locomotive forever moving uphill), and the self explanatory "Hairy Back Boyd."

Now I get to add two more names to my list.

Sunday's record high temp prompted a lot of men's shirts to be shed (sadly, I got to see the rug Hairy Back Boyd wears from the shoulders down), and there were quite a number of tattoos on display. Like the cereal box at breakfast time, I'll stare at these tattoos as if they're the most interesting thing I've ever seen. I'll admit to being ink-free and out of the tattoo loop, but I thought only girls got tattoos centered at the base of their spine. Apparently not: this guy had a stylized globe adorned with two tribal lightning bolts.

New Name #1: "Tramp Stamp Terry"

Around the second mile marker I caught up with a runner who had sprinted the first mile, but was fading fast. As I was safely passing him, I felt this guy put his hand on my tramp stamp, if I had one, that is. The contact wasn't a bump or the result of his arm swinging in stride either, he had his fingers on me for about two seconds. That might seem like a brief amount of time, but it's not if somebody has their unwanted, sweaty fingers on you. "Hey! Watch it." I growled over my shoulder, but he didn't even react - he just kept plodding along looking at the road beneath his feet.

New Name #2: "Bennie the Bad Touch "

Hands Off! Music Link

Update 2017: Found video footage from this day. Char was also anxious to get in on the running action after watching all the runners. Her little legs carried her from Daphne, past me, and stopped at Grandma Deb who asked, "Are you running the race?" 

These races were a family affair. I miss those days, and I know Daphne does, too. 

Stupid knees.

(Not) At the Hop

Daphne and Charlotte atteneded the Sock Hop at Char's school last weekend. Check out those poodles!

Daphne gave me a "Get of of Jail Free" card, so I played it on Friday night.

That way everyone had a nice time. 

Southside, Baby! (An Email Reprint)

(From June '14)

Bruce Springfield was in town last Monday, so I dug up an old Jersey LP to share.

First, some wikipedia facts:

1) The "Jersey Shore Sound" is a genre that enjoyed a vogue from roughly the late 1960s through the mid-1980s. The "Jersey Sound" is a synthesis of pre-Beatles rock and roll and pre-Motown Rhythm and Blues.

2) Southside Johnny (real name John Lyon, born December 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes. Lyon grew up in Ocean Grove, New Jersey and has long been considered the Grandfather of "the New Jersey Sound." Jon Bon Jovi has acknowledged Southside as his "reason for singing."

3) Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes are a Jersey Shore musical group that have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recorded and/or performed several Springsteen songs, including "The Fever" and "Fade Away".

Springsteen has also performed with the band on numerous occasions and in 1991 guested on their Better Days album.

During the bands formative years, Steve Van Zandt acted as the bands co-leader, guitarist, songwriter, arranger and producer while other E Streeters including Clarence Clemons, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Ernest Carter, Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell have all performed, toured and/or recorded with the Jukes. The bands horn section - The Miami Horns - has also toured and recorded with Springsteen. More than one hundred musicians can claim to have been members of The Asbury Jukes, including Jon Bon Jovi who toured with the band as a special guest during 1990.

Today's track is from their This Time It's For Real (1977) album:

Link: "She Gots Me Where She Wants Me"

Lightning Strikes for a Third Time

Charlotte was chosen to take her classroom's pet for the weekend. He's a stuffed snake named Lightning, and he is kind of a big deal around here.

Daphne made him snowman pancakes in the morning.

To work off the syrup, Lightning shot hoops in the hallway with Char.

Lightning wanted to take us to the Des Moines Art Center to see the Vivian Maier exhibit. 

He then accompanied Charlotte to a performance of Ramona Quimby at the Des Moines Playhouse.

Talk about a fun guy! He needs to come over more often. 

Welcome to Char's Beauty Shop

No toes are safe... not even mine.

Guess Who's Coming for Dinner?

When you eat with Charlotte, you never know who is going to show up.

Still, It Would be Cool

Eight years ago I spotted a small ad taped to the front window of a Goodwill store. The ad was for a new website: shopgoodwill.com.

"Participating Goodwills from across the country offer for auction on the site a wide array of art, antiques and collectibles as well as new and nearly new items pulled from their vast inventories of donated goods. From unique one-of-a-kind items to estate pieces, the depth of resources is enormous."

So, it was like eBay, but I'd be bidding on stuff that was donated to different Goodwill stores across the US. That bummed me out a bit. The presence of this site meant that the good stuff was going to be cherry-picked behind the scenes, and I have to compete with a nation of thrift shoppers to buy it. Booo.

That wasn't the case, though. When I first tried shopgoodwill.com, the site was under most people's radar, and I was scoring some pretty neat stuff. Retro video gaming wasn't as popular in 2009 as it is now, and I picked up some fun cartridges and game systems. I also bought some LPs that I had been on the hunt for, and I even scored some artwork. I had two of the Goodwill paintings framed at Michaels, and they are hanging on our walls at home. Both are heavy on atmosphere.

This one was painted by Reg B. Strange, and that is a real name. I like the depth and what looks like an angel or a ghost leaving glowing footprints on the floor of the castle.

J. Cain painted this one. To me, it symbolizes the warmth of home when the rest of the world is stormy.

(Earl, get off the counter.)

Here's the category selection at SGW•C:

See the last category in the middle column? One day I clicked on it, and I spotted the vehicle of my childhood dreams.

"Daphne!" I was in the basement and shouting in excitement, "There's a fire truck for sale on shopgoodwill.com!"

Her one-word reply came swiftly down the stairs, "No."

I kept shouting. "But it's a fire truck. Do you know how cool it would be to own one?"

It took Daphne a moment to stop whatever she was doing and come to the stairwell. "Brent, where we would put a fire truck?" It was a logical question.

"It's not a full-sized one. It's a mini-sized fire truck. You know, kinda like the short bus at school. We could park it out front in the street. PLUS, no one has bid on it. It's only $1,500!"

"Don't you dare bid on that!" Daphne was now walking down the stairs. " What on earth would you do with a fire truck?"

I spun the computer chair around and smiled at her, "What couldn't you do with a fire truck? We could use it to wash the house... water the lawn... and your garden... we could have a car wash... and a dog wash. Oooo! I bet we could drive it in parades! I'd let you ring the bell and work the sirens. I'll just drive and wave. It will be a blast!"

"You're not serious are you? I can see it in your face."

"No. Not really," I admitted. "But come look. Check it out. It's a real fire truck."

I turned my chair back to the computer screen, and Daphne leaned over my shoulder. "Yep," she commented, "that's a real fire truck." She squeezed my arm and walked back to the stairs. "And you aren't going to try and buy it. Right?" Deflated, I mumbled in agreement. 

For a moment there I had dreams of rescue vehicles and Dalmatian puppies... Dang! I forgot to tell her about the puppies. Maybe that would have been the tipping point? Nah. That wouldn't have worked, either. 

Now I'll never be featured in Vintage Fire Truck & Equipment. Sniff.

I had hopes of buying something else as cool, but Adam Fisher from Time Magazine ruined my chances. How? He told everybody else about SGW•C:

The game was over once SGW•C made it on the Best 50 Websites list. The bidding became much heavier, and the winning bid amounts skyrocketed. Boooo, again.

I Shall Call Her Dinner

Sorry, Charlotte, Dianthus was made into a Tex-Mex stuffed pepper with cheese.

If it makes you feel any better, she was delicious. Thanks, Daph!

It Also Makes Me Want to Bid

I suppose this eBay listing is supposed to be funny, but it makes me sad.

"THIS IS A VERY OLD DOG... SHE DOES LONG DIVISION, AND CAN SEE INTO THE FUTURE... I AM STARTING THE BID AT A DISCOUNT PRICE THAT WE CONSIDER A TRUE CROWD PLEASER! IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS I COMPLETELY UNDESTAND..."

I don't understand at all.

Link

I Shall Call Her Dianthus

Char spotted the largest red pepper that we had ever seen at a Hy-Vee grocery store today. 7.5 inches won't get us to the state fair, but it's still impressive.

Here's Char's version of Rene Magritte's The Son of Man.

After handling it in the store, the pepper took on a personality in Char's mind, and she wanted to keep it. "This is my baby, Dianthus, " she declared. 

Char kicked out her pocket trumpet, and made Dianthus a bed. Mom is a music teacher, and she was not pleased.

Later, while Charlotte was playing school, Dianthus found herself in the classroom's seating arrangement. 

Bo didn't feel like picking on the new kid. He was too busy "studying."

Okay, this is cute and all, and I'm really happy with Char's imagination. But real school starts tomorrow, and I'm hoping that Charlotte will get caught up in the "back to school" excitement and forget about Dianthus. What is she going to say while we are eating veggie omelettes, and she spots the strips of red pepper? I don't want to have the "You ATE my baby!" fight. 

Really. I don't want that fight. 

Not at all.