mellow guy

Linda and I are on a five day vacation in her hometown, Crescent City, for a family reunion of her family and a memorial for her sister Lois. So I won't be posting these posts until I get back to Bend.

I grabbed some CD's on the way out the door. I've kinda quit listening to music in the car; I like my peace and quiet, but it's a long trip. Around Crater Lake I put in Patsy Cline (yeah, I like her and Hank Williams, too. What ya gonna do?). I started joking the music would be a perfect score for the Twilight movies. It was pretty magical there for awhile, driving through the cathedral forest and listening to her pure voice. Crazy.

Linda gets both CD's and DVD's in her used bookstore, even though she doesn't really want them. I tell her to take them, because out of every batch there is one or two I actually can stand to listen to. Most of them are kind of vanilla, for some reason. But I like some absolutely white-bread stuff once in a while, guilty pleasures like Roger Whitaker and stuff like that. It's a bit of an exploration into unknown territory, sometimes.

Yesterday's batch had a John Hiatt, who I already like and have in my collection. Listening to these songs, we both realized that they were very '80's -- about the time Linda and I were first getting together; kind of rhythm and blues and a bit of disco or electronic. (I think of John Hiatt as your quintessential guitar songwriter...) Fun stuff, even if a bit dated.

Elliot Smith. Very John Lennonish.

Michael Penn -- circa 1992. He writes one killer song, and dresses it up in killer ways. Linda and I also have a Micheal Penn CD from earlier.

I also gave Linda a CD book, based on the comic series FABLES, called PETER AND MAX, and told her part of my present was I'd be willing to listen it on the way home. I don't like being read to, much. I'd rather get the author's voice without someone interpreting for me, but I'm going to think of it as a 'new' and 'Linda' experience.

I'm really trying to loosen up this trip, go with the flow, let everyone else do the planning, and be casual. Last night, watching Twilight, I had to restrain Linda from telling the women behind us to be quiet because I just didn't want the drama -- and she was only doing it because she knows how much it bothers me.

As it happened, Twilight was kind of corny anyway, so their cackling didn't bother me -- and I decided to treat it as a 'new' experience -- just part of all the Twilight crazyness.

They say guys mellow as they get older, and I'm trying to facilitate that.

Just before we left, Linda got a huge batch of used CD's; some really soft stuff like Johnny Mathis and Air Supply -- and Roger Whitaker. So I'm going to skim the edges of old fogginess and try listening to some of them (Not Air Supply!).

Next thing you know, I'll be getting myself a motorhome and a metal detector and some black socks and sandals and listening to Johnny Mathis and kicking back with an Old Milwaukee and to heck with all you young whippersnappers.