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Sixties Music and Magnificent Obsessions
Good morning world! It is a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, though still a bit chilly outside. I’ve been experiencing a prolonged state of bliss while having breakfast and thought I’d take time out from my euphoria to write about it. A foolish act, I well know, but I just can’t help myself!
About 7:30 I was awakened by Fiona and Arthur informing me Vivian (the cat) had “thrown up” in Fiona’s bedroom. It turned out to be a minute quantity of spit and a tiny hairball, but you really don’t want to hear about that, do you? With the disaster averted, or cleaned up, I went down to make coffee and fix some breakfast. While watching the morning sunlight brighten out back yard I put in a CD of sixties music I’d made years ago. Arthur soon came downstairs and said “this music is cool” or something like that. I told him this is what I listened to on the radio when I was his age or a wee bit older. Fiona came in and I soon found myself singing and dancing.
Then Stephanie came down and we ate. While she was looking something up on the internet, I had a wondrous experience. As I’d been listening to the soundtrack of my youth I was slowly being pulled back in time to sunny Saturdays long ago. And when ‘Windy’ by The Association began to play, that eleven year old me and 53-year-old me suddenly became one! The happy-go-lucky sound of 1967 and those lovely harmonies transported me to a moment when I was riding in the car with my mother down West Avenue in Rochester on a sunny Saturday in the springtime so long ago. Just a brief moment frozen in time. I don’t know where we were going, but it wasn’t long ago. That snippet of a memory became so vivid that I was him and he was me simultaneously! And the essence of “the sixties” and the pure joy of my childhood filled me with a flood of emotions. I felt the bliss of being that carefree eleven-year old boy, and also the loss of my parents and a world that no longer exists all wrapped into one intense out-of-time instant of Transcendence! Zowie!!!
I love it when that happens. Isn’t music incredible! A vehicle that allows us to connect so intimately with our memories, conscious and unconscious. But I guess anything can trigger those kinds of awareness. A certain smell, the echo of spring peepers or the whistle of a train in the distance, the colors of sunset, the angle of sunlight on grass in the spring, the taste of a favorite food; anything! But even though that world of childhood memory is no longer apparent, it feels like it still exists, if only in our memory. And maybe after all of us who remember those past worlds are gone, they still exist in dimensions beyond our perception. Who knows?
I just know it’s great to be alive on a morning in spring! Even more so when you’re around people you love.
Now on to Part Two of this morning’s post.
I love Craigslist. Last week I sold a dresser and a bicycle on craigslist and we found a nice little desk for Stephanie all in the same day. I’d been looking around for a really cheap computer to use upstairs in the back room (which I have come to call “The Sanctum”) off our new bedroom. Just something I can use to write where it’s quiet and cozy, and also use to listen to my music collection and internet radio. Though I considered craigslist, I decided to check out Computers Etc., a nice store in Brockport that sells used and refurbished computer equipment. It’s actually the retail outlet for Sunnking, which has a huge warehouse near Brockport where they recycle all kinds of electronic equipment from all over the place.
So I went there and found a really decent HP Compaq office computer about 3 or 4 years old with two Pentium 4 – 3.6 Mhz. processors for 200 bucks. Not a bad deal, I thought. And it came with 2 GB of RAM!
This, dear friends, is my obsession. Even though we have 2 desktop computers and a laptop downstairs, I still NEEDED another computer. But the kids need a computer, and the laptop is very convenient for a music server in the kitchen, and for $200 I couldn’t past it up! Could I?! Well, an extra $5 for a keyboard and $49 for a wifi adapter, but now I’m good to go. I’m typing this in the privacy of The Sanctum while listening to RadioParadise.com. Life is good!
I do have a bit of an obsession, I’ll admit it. I love Linux and I have great fun trying out different operating systems. So I’ve spent several days playing with and installing a couple different distros on this computer. But I seem to come back to Linux Mint in the end. It’s just so familiar and easy to use and everything works dandy. So hopefully my obsession has been appeased for now and I can get on with actually using this computer for what I got it for: to write more!
Hey, I found a simple little application for listening to streaming radio on Linux. Check it out in the Links below.
That’s all for now. Enjoy the day!
The Association – Windy (poor quality youtube video)
How Time Flies…
Wow! I can’t believe how fast March has flown by. It seems like so much has been going on that I haven’t had any energy, or coherence of mind, to write any entries. So here I am (not being one to let a lack of mental coherence get in my way) with a new post after three weeks.
These last weeks have seen an amazing transformation from winter to spring. It seems almost every time I’d go outside last week there were geese honking overhead. And the sunshine!! During the days the kids and I have been having a blast going to the park, playing ball, Fiona riding her bike, hanging out in the fort and cleaning up the remains of winter from the back yard. By the end of the day (like, just past sunset, if I’m lucky) I’m usually exhausted.
We’ve also made many changes inside the house that were long overdue. For the last four years Fiona Ruth has slept in her single bed next to ours. Finally last weekend we cleared out our bedroom and painted it a lovely pale pink, (per her instructions) and moved Fiona’s bed and dresser and toys into what is now her very own bedroom. And I bought a new carpet and Stephanie and I moved all our stuff into the new remodeled bedroom which has been mostly used as a storage room for almost two years. It’s almost like having a whole new upstairs! It’s wonderful. And Fifi has, to my surprise, done a fantastic job adjusting to sleeping in her own space without mama right next to her. There’s nothing like a new room to usher in the spring!
Today we’re finally getting a little rain and chilly winds. Even so, I hear lots of birds chattering outside the window. Starlings have built their nest in the hollow of our big maple in the back yard. And daffodils and crocuses and wild chives are popping up all over the place. God, I love this time of year!!
I also discovered some new music from the NPR music website I’d like to share. It’s a band called Mumford & Sons. Check them out in the links below.
Tomorrow: More new stuff!
Today’s Links:
The Quantum Physics of Photosynthesis
Health Care Costs Around the World
Winter Fun
It’s finally March! The hope of spring is in sight!
By the end of February around Western New York it seems as if gray skies and bitter temps will never end. Especially since we’ve had about 2 feet of snow coming down over the last couple of weeks. But the last week of February I’ve actually been enjoying winter! That’s another benefit of having young children. I’ve got someone to drag my lazy ass out of the house and force me to have fun in the snow. And I’m so glad they have!
Last weekend we had friends stay overnight with their 2 daughters, who my children adore, and we went out to do some sledding. Then this past Saturday Arthur and I went with our neighbor and his 2 daughters to a big hill outside of the village for more sledding. It was glorious! Vast expanses of whiteness with huge, swirling snowflakes filling the sky. And lots of exercise walking back up the long hill. With that and the snow shoveling I’ve done lately I think I’ve had more exercise in the past 2 weeks than I’ve had in the past 3 months! And I’ve actually been enjoying winter again. (Now if only I could get a little cross-country in before winter ends!)
The daylight is lingering longer, the sunshine feels a little warmer. And my friend Ky told me this morning Daylight Savings Time begins in 2 weeks (March 14). I love spring!!
Another thing I love is the art of film making. The Cinema. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards Ceremony is this Sunday, March 7th. Not that I generally care too much what the Academy thinks is worthy of recognition and what is not, but this year is interesting considering two science fiction films have received Best Picture nominations: Avatar and District 9. I think District 9 is a great film; Avatar I also enjoyed, but despite its unique achievements and technical innovations I can’t really see it being “Best Picture”. And I’m disappointed ‘Moon’ did not get any kind of nomination. It’s such a great film on many levels, but I don’t understand how Sam Rockwell wasn’t acknowledged for his amazing acting. Hell, he was pretty much the only character in the entire movie, besides Kevin Spacey as the voice of the computer! Just go see ‘Moon’. It’s a gem!
That’s all the time I have for now. I found a few movie related links below. Enjoy!
Dragonfly Dreaming 