January 6, 2011

Smells Like Sweet Nostalgia

A: I am not a gamer. I’ve never even personally seen World of Warcraft. I’d rather let someone shoot me in the arm (in the style of Simon from Go) than really have to dedicate any time whatsoever to video games. Mario does not count. 


B: I can’t play an instrument (skin flute excluded). This, now, is a bitter disappointment. I’d like to play bass guitar in the styles of music that bring me joy. Think grunge princess in a torn dress with a Schecter 5 string Stargazer bass in crimson ghost. Alas, it’s just not in the cards for me no matter how much I’d like it to be. 


A + B = I’m not great at Guitar Hero but I still attempt it. I can get a 90+% on the easy setting and that’s alright by me. As I said, I’m not a gamer. I don’t mind having to play on the easiest setting because even then…for just a few slight moments in the songs I love playing….the room fades back and I can see myself onstage. Dress, ruined tights, boots, shiny lips, hot pink streaks in my tresses…the whole 9 yards of it. Those fleeting moments are addictive which is exactly why Guitar Hero is fucking genius. 


I want to be a rockstar when I grow up.


That’s what my song, age 5, tells me now. He sucks at Guitar Hero even more than me but he doesn’t care. Even in the living room, he has awesome stage presence. He’s the Sid Vicious of GH and he rocks that plastic instrument because he loves music and wants, badly, to be a part it all. I don’t have the heart to tell him that realistically his dream is “I want to play an instrument in a band, even if talented, will likely never make it past playing small bars and whose members will all have day jobs at records stores and construction companies.” He’s 5. I’ll let him hold on to his dreams and in fact, for our Guitar Hero nights, I’ll  join in the dreaming. 


We have Guitar Hero 5 for now which has not only made me envision myself in full rock garb onstage in some Seattle hole-in-the-wall, half forgotten bar but it has also made me nostalgic for the days when grunge rained supreme. It includes bands like Nirvana, Bush, the Screaming Trees and the Smashing Pumpkins, Spacehog and even Garbage (oh whoa Shirley Manson). There’s a couple others as well. It’s taken me back in time. Who knew that all you needed for time travel was the right play list?


I play those songs smiling even as I fuck up from trying to sing along, eyes closed, game momentarily forgotten. They take me back much like the Allman Brothers used to do for my dad. If I could bottle the exact chemicals created by my reaction, I am fairly certain I could make Prozac obsolete. On top of A and B listed above, I’m also not a chemist. I can, however, make a musical collage aka A MixTape. 


It would be impossible for myself and everyone I know to make an album compilation featuring all the songs each of us loved or had fond memories tied to even from just the 90s, but we’ve made our best faith effort to recapture our youth for a few hours. A MixTape for time traveling on antidepressants. 


If you feel you’re in need, I’ll be happy to share a copy. Just contact me with your address. Don’t ask for a digital copy…MixTapes only come in tangible forms…in this case, a 3 disc, handcrafted-with-love set of cds.



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about me. not really.

dear you,

i don't talk about my child or being a mom. i don't talk about my garden. i won't mention my craftiness (often) or how much i save each week with coupons. if you're looking for that sort of thing, you're in the wrong place.

instead, let's abandon the tethers of domestication for a moment and remember what it's like to laugh at vulgarity and the world at large.

xo,

j

talk amongst ourselves


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