Little m Long a

A brief conversation after breakfast Sunday morning as we prepared to go to church.

Me:  Zia, I need you to get dressed.

Zia:  Can you help me?

Me:  Sure.  What do you think about this dress?

Zia:  Yes, yes, yes.  I like that one.  Can I wear my brown shoes?

Me:  They don’t really match the dress.  What about your white ones?

Zia:  Well, they’re too big.  The brown ones are just right.  I think I’ll wear the brown ones.  Don’t you like the brown ones?  I like this  dress.  Please don’t brush my hair too hard. It hurts when you brush it too hard.  Can you tighten my shoes?  Are we going yet?  It’s raining, we’re gonna get wet.  We should get the umbrella.  It’s in the garage.  My dress is going to get wet.  My hair is going to get wet.  Where is Zoë?  We can’t leave Zander.   Come on Zander, let’s go.  I like this dress……

Note to self:  Zia is no longer allowed to have extra syrup with her French Toast.

Inspiration comes.  Sometimes it doesn’t.  When it doesn’t, I have found a nifty little trick is to steal from those in the blogging community.  OK.  stealing is bad.  I’m borrowing, drawing inspiration, building upon the foundations that have been laid before me.  I got this from Mr. Big Dubya who apparently got it from Jason who got it from a website he appreciates.  You see, it’s not really theft if the original dudes all get their due credit, right?  Kind of like it ain’t plagiarism if I put a footnote.

Anyway, the rules of this little exercise are pretty simple: pick your favorite album (or what would have been your favorite, had you been of age) from every year of your life.  I fudged this just a tad.  Although I would like to think of myself as someone with a very eclectic taste in music (no rap–no country–a guy has to have boundaries), my wife would argue that my tastes are pretty mainstream and ho-hum at best.   Try as I may to argue with her–she’s got a  point.  I am the musical equivalent of illiterate.  So I picked many of what were or would have been my favorite albums and quite a few of what should have been my favorite albums.  As you will see, I still need help.  I welcome your suggestions.  I must remind you though, no rap–no country.

This would have been much easier had I started this say–ten or fifteen years ago.  But I didn’t.  I waited until now so I’ve got to track down forty three albums that count or would count as my favorite of the year.  I was going to break this up into at least two posts but by the time I got finished I’d  be trying to select well over fifty some odd albums (I tend to procrastinate.) and would have definitely lost all interest–as you no doubt will have by the time you reach the end of this post–if you haven’t already.

Here goes.  A year in the life–Album Style.

1965   A Charlie Brown Christmas                  Vince Guaraldi Trio  (To this very day one of my all time favorites.  In fact, my cd alarm clock is set to wake me to Linus and Lucy every morning.)
1966   Sounds of Silence                                 Simon and Garfunkel
1967   Are You Experienced                           Jimi Hendrix (still makes it into the weekly playlist)
1968   The Beatles (White Album)                  The Beatles
1969   Led Zeppelin                                          Led Zeppelin
1970   Moondance                                             Van Morrison
1971   Sticky Fingers                                        The Rolling Stones
1972   Talking Book                                           Stevie Wonder
1973   Dixie Chicken                                          Little Feet (just try to listen and not tap your toes.  I don’t think it’s possible.)
1974   The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway         Genesis
1975   Wish You Were Here                             Pink Floyd (We’re just two lost souls living in a fish bowl, year after year….one of my favorite all time lines in a song.)
1976   Chicago X                                                Chicago (My wife thinks I’m a dork but I’ve always liked Peter Cetera’s voice.)
1977   The Clash                                                The Clash
1978   Van Halen                                                Van Halen
1979   Toto                                                         Toto
1980   The Pretenders                                       The Pretenders
1981   Face Value                                                Phil Collins (In the Air Tonight–you know you play that drum line–you know you do!)
1982   1999                                                         Prince
1983   Synchronicity                                           The Police
1984   Purple Rain                                               Prince and the Revolution
1985   No Jacket Required                                Phil Collins
1986   Graceland                                                Paul Simon
1987   The Joshua Tree                                     U2
1988   Vivid
Living Colour
1989   Mother’s Milk                                          Red Hot Chili Peppers
1990   Shake Your Money Maker                       The Black Crowes
1991   Achtung Baby                                            U2
1992   Us                                                             Peter Gabriel
1993   Are You Gonna Go My Way                      Lenny Kravitz
1994   Dookie                                                      Green Day
1995   (What’s the story) Morning Glory          Oasis
1996   Crash                                                        Dave Mathews Band
1997   Secret Samadhi                                        Live  (It was a toss up with the Foo Fighters second album this year–I went with Live)
1998   Car Wheels on a Gravel Road                   Lucinda Williams
1999   Supernatural                                            Santana
2000   Parachutes                                               Coldplay
2001   Rockin the Suburbs                                  Ben Folds
2002   Up                                                             Peter Gabriel
2003   Unclassified                                             Robert Randolph and the Family Band
2004   Hot Fuss                                                  The Killers
2005   From Under the Cork Tree                     Fall Out Boy
2006   Continuum                                                 John Mayer
2007    Raising Sand                                            Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
2008   Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace          Foo Fighters

Of the artists listed here I’ve only seen eight in concert.  Bonus points for anyone that can correctly guess all eight.

He doesn’t appear to be backing down.  He mentioned quite some time ago that he was going to do this.  Quite some time ago, it was safe to boast of this as quite some time should pass and our memories would fail us.  Yet he has reminded us of his claims, an ever present gnat buzzing always just beyond the swatter.  At times, his voice has been soft, like a whisper.  Other times, loud and booming.  He just couldn’t let it go.  And now, the time has come.  It is as they say time to put up or shut up.  I think a more commonly known allegorical reference may have something to do with moving one’s bowels or vacating the porcelain seat but since this is a family friendly place, I shan’t make such references.

Dan and his mates, ten of them I believe, maybe just seven.  Could be just Dan.  I’m not really sure who has committed but they all should be committed for even suggesting such lunacy. You see, Dan and his mates are about to embark on a journey,  seventy eight miles of walking in a mere six days.  (That’s an average of 13 miles a day!)  I’m not sure how many of you walk, or run or exercise at all for that matter, but the idea of walking 13 miles a day for six straight days has got to be daunting.  Hell, I get winded just walking upstairs when I’ve forgotten the telephone.  Half of the time I let a call just go to message because the effort to pry myself from my cozy couch is just to great.

Now, I’ve got to ask you?  Does this…..

appear to be a man that you would envision on a 78 mile hike?

Do any of these men?

Godspeed, gentlemen.  Godspeed.

In all seriousness, Dan is not just a loon on a mad mission to demoralize his mates.  He’s quite possibly one of the nicest blokes you’d ever want to meet and has a heart almost as big as his….self.  Dan and his friends will be walking the 78 miles of the Dales Way in Yorkshire, England to raise money for the Joseph Salmon Trust, a charity set up by Dan’s good friends Neil and Rachel in memory of their son, Joseph.  You can read all about The Dales Walk and the trust by visiting Dan’s site, All That Comes With It and also by visiting a site Dan established specifically to inform people of The Dales Walk.  More specifically, I ask that you contribute to this worthwhile endeavor.  Just click on the icons to the upper right of Dan’s homepage or on the homepage of The Dale’s Walk.  You’ll be glad you did and trust me, the warm feeling you’ll get inside (that would be knowing you’ve done the right thing)  will feel a whole lot better than the warm feeling in Dan’s shoes–that would be blisters.

There’s something to be said for Sleep Late Sundays.  The kids anticipate it’s arrival almost as eagerly as I.  A lazy day with no schedule.  No practices or agendas.  Just sleep in and go where the day leads us.  We normally begin our day with my now world famous from scratch pancakes.  It’s kind of morphed into a whole experience.

The kids will often help with the ingredients and pancake mixing.  Sausage sizzles and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee lifts everyone’s spirits.  Jazz plays softly in the background.  It has become one of my favorite family experiences.  Ah yes.  Sleep Late Sunday.

Today’s Sunday Sonnet (penned just moments ago) was inspired by the unexpected.  I really slept in this morning.  It felt good.

Waking in a Dream

Something surreal about sleeping in,
Like waking in a time warp, groggy.
Stumbling towards the bedroom door
Hesitant, unsure of what lies beyond.

It’s quiet.  Did the kids sleep, too?
Giggles.  Footsteps.  Twins are up.
Laughter and squeals and warm
Good morning hugs.  Nothing compares.

But three are missing.  Beds are empty
(Unmade, of course, but empty)
Silence.  No sign of them upstairs.
I hear them, voices calm, agreeable.

In the living room.  Playing chess?
Surreal indeed!

*As I typed this, the calm agreeable voices of children that appear to love each other and get along transformed into the screaming, crying, arguing children that normally dwell in this place.  That’s more like it.

Sleepy time is over!