Mickeys, Luke Skywalker and Run DMC

Been awhile. Things here are good, was 75 degrees here today. Everyone was outside in full force, eating, drinking, lounging, enjoying the best weather so far this year. The birds are singing, trees are blooming, dogs humping legs, spring has come. The trees on our street had really pretty pink flowers for a couple of weeks (see above), and yes, I know, I've lost all semblance of masculinity, but it's really nice having seasons again. Of course I won't be saying the seasons are great once the mosquitoes are out, when it's winter, etc., but for now, you can't beat it. It also stays light until 9:30/10 o'clock, so it means you can spend as much time as possible outside, at least in theory, but Sara and I have been absurdly busy... hoping that will calm down soon. If not, at least we're getting a break at the end of this month to go away just the two of us (my parents are coming in to look after the kids) to Copenhagen and southern Sweden for my friend, Todd's wedding.

I've known Todd since 1st grade, the 1st day of 1st grade actually. We both thought we were really cool that day because we had these brand new Luke Skywalker shoes, but little did we know that there would be someone else in Mrs. Engleson's class with the same idea. To add insult to injury, we had to sit next to each other, which of course led to an argument about who's Luke Skywalker shoes were better, even though they were literally exactly the same, right down to new shoe smell, not a scratch or smidge on them... actually Todd's had a smidge on them I think, which is why mine were better.

Jesus, that seems like 10 lifetimes ago. Actually, it doesn't seem like my lifetime at all really. And to think Ethan has 3 more years to even be that age. It will fly by though... I will have to make sure and scout it out so that he is not put in the same predicament. Maybe we'll craft him homemade shoes for his first day of real school... that way he's sure to start things off on the right... foot.

Ah, memory lane. Speaking of which, I've been going through Apple's iPod music store and downloading old hip hop songs because that's what lame people like me do in my spare time. It's not the same as having the whole records, but I've lost or thrown or given away all my old tapes. I'm talking Eric B & Rakim, Funkmaster Flex, Run DMC, etc. olllld school YO! I was just thinking as I'm rocking out like the honky that I am to these songs, are these types of songs really going to be our generations oldies? I mean the music of most of my generation and even more so for more recent generations has been dominated by Rap/Hip Hop. Nothing But a G Thang is a classic hip hop song, but is it really classic, meaning timeless, won't get old, etc. I listen to it and I love it now, but will I love it when I'm 60 the way that my Mom loves Beatles songs??

That's actually a bad example as that song will always be classic in my memory because of the time my friend Andrew Bozzo called up the JMU radio station and being even honkier than I requested Nothing but a G String. Ha! Good times. I think that was also the weekend when, completely sober of course, Boz and I decided to burn cigarettes against each other's arms to see who would pull away first, and we were both so drunk, neither of us could really feel it, so neither one of us pulled away. Ah, college. Money well spent Mom & Dad.

Anyway, my point or my question is, I should say, what are our generations classic songs? Everything is so trendy and so quick to top and drop from the charts, getting replayed 50 times a day in between to the point where you can't listen to it again for 6 months without cringing. I I guess radio has probably always been that way. At least now we have a lot more choices. I think maybe there won't really be true, universally classic songs anymore because there are so many choices now and songs have such a short shelf-life. Maybe U2, Coldplay, 50, could be exceptions. What do I know. I'm rambling. It's late. I'm white. Or at least an off-white, hopefully back to brown by mid-summer.

I'm going to go put on Nothing but a G String for old times... dedicated to Boz and Nate, Adam Cunningham, Danny, Crackhead Scott and Karen Hwang and Nancy, Penwell, and of course, Richie Pierce. I always had a blast visiting JMU... was great to get away from the frat/Rugby Road scene, bust some spades and beer pong, drink too many 40's (Mickey's for me, I couldn't hang with the OE or the Crooked I) and crack out for a night, even if the campus smelled like dog food and I came back with scars and 20% less brain cells. Ethan, Sonia, Daddy's just joking.