The coolest thing that should have happened in the '70s but didn't

Donald Fagen gives Frank Zappa a call. Half of the genius behind Steely Dan asks the Mothers of Invention's inventor to play lead guitar on all studio tracks for the album Pretzel Logic. Mr. Zappa agrees, and I get to play the results on my stereo 30 years later.

A meme I saw...

Well, Corey said in his rendition on this meme that I would be the least likely to carry the torch and do one myself. Just to prove him wrong, here ya go:

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATER: Revenge of the Sith

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? I’m all about professional books these days, and I read them piecemeal in the mornings before leaving for work (e.g., “Consulting for Dummies” and a book on creative writing exercises)

3. WHAT WERE YOU DOING JUST MINUTES AGO? Reading Corey’s meme

4. FAVORITE MAGAZINE? Harper’s Magazine

5. FAVORITE SMELLS? Nag Champa (sp?) incense…hands down, the best incense around

6. FAVORITE FOODS? Marinated, grilled steak with “Annie’s” brand macaroni and cheese

7. FAVORITE SOUNDS? A “happy” woman (heh, heh…figure it out) and any of the myriad ‘70s guitar gods’ recordings that grace my CD collection

8. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Seeing blue lights in the rearview mirror

9. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP? “I like myself” …and I say it out loud repeatedly before arriving to work…actually, this is a new habit.

10. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE? I avoid them like the plague for health and environmental reasons

11.FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Dylan, Paige

12. FINISH THIS STATEMENT. "IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY...I’d quit my day job and work on my business full-time…oh, and I’d DEFINITELY buy a really cool car, like a black two-door, 6-speed BMW M3 with cool after-market rims, Dinan tuning good for 100 more horsepower, a moonroof, leather interior, and a sound system that makes my ‘70s guitar gods recordings sound f’ing awesome.

13. DO YOU DRIVE FAST? Always and very

14. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? No, but I have two pillows, and the second could be construed as a stuffed animal the way I sleep with it.

15. STORMS-COOL OR SCARY? Very cool, especially when they’re scary.

16. Describe YOUR FIRST CAR? A yellow 1975 Mustang II. Yes, kids…this is the one that was basically a Pinto.

17. FAVORITE DRINK? Mudslide on the rocks

18. FINISH THIS STATEMENT, "IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD: become my brother’s full-time mentor.

19. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? Yes.

20. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? I wouldn’t do it if I had the opportunity

21. NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN: Manchester, NH, Derry, NH, Chester, NH, Milford, NH, Amherst, NH, Allston, MA, Brighton, MA, Brockton, MA, Arlington, MA, Hooksett, NH.

22. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Baseball

23. ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU... Corey is a cool guy who reads my blog even when I’m not reading it myself.

24. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? A bunch of stuff destined for the filing cabinet I keep meaning to buy

25. TOILET PAPER/PAPER TOWEL-OVER OR UNDER? Over…and I actually prefer it this way

26 MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL? Night. I start to get into my groove around 9 p.m., and you can usually find me working until 2 a.m. This makes mornings a drag.

27. OVER EASY, OR SUNNY SIDE – Sunny side, and broken so that they mix with my pancakes.

28. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX! On my Italian black leather couch with the tunes blaring.

29. FAVORITE PIE? Like Corey, I prefer cake. In fact, my favorite is yellow cake with frosting, but preferably not from Nigeria.

30. OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WILL SEE THIS WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO DUPLICATE: I’d say Mudge, but he already has.

31. LEAST LIKELY? Shawn…sorry, buddy, but I just don’t see it happening. ;-)

Demons are right and wrong

What haunts you? Who stops by when the past visits?

You probably have a name for them. I call them my inner demons, and they are usually right.

The inner demon seeks justification. He wants recognition for his gripes yet offers no solutions. The inner demon considers being right a worthy end in and of itself.

Our inner demons hold us back. We must evict them. Only then do we stand the chance to achieve what would have made them happy in the first place.

Two Cents in the Mirror

Fight.

Quarrel with all your might. By God, you are right.

My dear, have this argument.

Say what is arrogant. Feel so indignant.

Exit triumphant.

Look in the mirror.

Play that game, you losing winner. Watch your lies; they have grown thinner.

Sinner!

The answer is bought. Two cents are thought. Many reside where one is sought.

None is fathomed, and so we have fought.

Moderation is best

It is best to exercise moderation, especially when exercising moderation.

Voicemails die hard

I'm a voicemail packrat. I save them as if they're shiny pieces of tinfoil, digitized keepsakes of my very own.

They seem meaningful. They are.

Yet meanings change, and so do people, and so have I.

She punched my digits into her cell phone three years ago. Like shiny pieces of tinfoil for my heart, her voicemails were gifts from the divine, messages we later lived out together.

And today I erased two old voicemails, two digitized, divine keepsakes. Their memory and lessons they taught have left me ready for meaning greater than any packrat could ever know.