Christmas Shopping for the Gifted

Standing in long lines, navigating narrow isles with large shopping carts, not to mention people coughing, kids crying and the like are all part and parcel when Christmas shopping.

I have assumed Jedi shopping mentality. It has been working LIKE A CHARM. For example, last night Canada picked me up with her “not a mini-van” and we headed to the GREAT CANADIAN SUPER STORE to help Santa lighten his sleigh load with the purchase of a HUGE games table (air hockey, pool, ping pong).

While waiting for the sales clerk to wheel out this 200lb GW (183lb NW for the record ;-)) I became quite parched and wanted to zoom over to the drink isle which is a short hike to the other side of the store. I knew I wanted Ting and set off on my mission leaving Canada browsing the toy section.

I have my course plotted allowing for quickest return time when sudddenly my plan becomes foiled! I am boxed in! A man at ten o'clock and a couple with a grocery cart at twelve and one o'clock, from the rear a small family close in with a loaded shopping cart. The Christmas isle was a bad choice I admit, but SO much fun to walk through, who could resist?

Then the words come to me: USE THE FORCE NANCY, USE THE FORCE

Mentally I tell the man on my left in my faux British accent “That gift is not appropriate, why am I looking at this, I could be home watching TV, my feet hurt…”

To my utter amazement he suddenly turns and walks past me. One down. Next the couple on my right.

“Yes, this is perfect, put it in the cart, a young and very attractive lady is behind you trying to get by, it's Christmas time, do the right thing and move aside”.

BINGO! Full of apologises and smiles they clear room and I'm by!

Two for two!

Grabbing my Ting and prying the cap off, the delicious contents splashing over my arid mucosa ~ SUCCESS!

I return just in time as the clerk wheels up to Canada with the game table and we set off to “not the mini-van” to load it up.

Jedi shopping is the way to go.

Life At Full Throttle

I find it amazing how music tags me back to life memories.

Music.

I’ve recently become aware of an interesting phenomenon about the musical interests of the men I’ve dated. (Yes, this is precisely what I do with my downtime, analyze, which is a step up from doing long division in my head in on the way home to watch the Flintstones for lunch. I digress. Entirely too much information).

Here it goes. Each man has had a very distinct, yet very dedicated taste in music. The roll call goes something like this:

Top 40 "80’s stuff" – this includes all the Wham, Foreigner, Chicago, Madonna etc that you can fill you boots with. "Our Song" was Lady In Red and The Proclaimers had us singing along on one of our many road trips.
Pop (keyboard haven) – Platinum Blonde, Depeche Mode, Eye Eye, Duran Duran, New Order, Glass Tiger, Honeymoon Suite…and so on...and so on...X was a HUGE pop fan – all his collection was comprised of actually (I couldn’t believe the narrowness yet vastness of his musical scope back then). With this came all the indy and local stuff too.
Reggae / Jazz – Marley, Marley, Marley and more Marley with an open buffet of Jazz so that no man, woman nor beast would ever go hungry again. Joshua Tree (the location) is etched in time.
Rock – You name it, it was there. This guy had actually developed, created, financed and marketed the coolest unique CD organization system.
Country – This exposure had me pulling on some deep musical roots and revisiting places I thought I had permanently turned away from.

Each one of those genres of music can be tied back to a specific time or event in my life. Be it high school, venturing out, death of a couple of close friends, liberating myself, loving myself, sifting through my past, remembering my family & my past.

The net result is that I realize that with the exception of The Beatles (and *perhaps* although unlikely... the Eurythmics, The Dan Reid Network and I Mother Earth/Edwin, BIG SUGAR & TRHCP) I am a musical orphan. Which means The Beatles are the only band that I feel like I truly adored and “arrived” to on my own.The country stuff was always on on the radio at home and in the truck (that's my dad). The only other musical exposure I rec’d was from my brother which looked something like Judas Priest, Pink Floyd, Meatloaf, The Who, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Zeppelin and so on….If it weren't for those LP's, it was the radio, country or Elvis!

It was around that time that tossed The Osmond’s tape my mom gave me for Christmas and bought my first single. (:-D!) Eric Clapton’s Cocaine A side, B side escapes me right now – but it equally ROCKED. Shortly after my first real crush died in a car accident, I embraced the Beatles more tightly than before and as I wrote out lyrics and lined my locker as a tribute to my friend, music had found a special place in my heart that was with me while I grieved ~ alone. No grief counsellors at school back then! Shortly after, it was announced that John Lennon was killed and up went his picture over my bed.

After my first LP, The White Album, further down the road I acquired some Foreigner, Chicago, Cyndi Lauper, but nothing ground breaking until the U2 Revolution that occurred during my solo trip to British Columbia after graduating college. Next to David Suzuki, Bono being perhaps one of the only other famous people that come to mind I'd like to eat diner with...

Today, I find myself floating in a sea of a musical identity crisis. What a fun place to be…I’m always up for a good challenge. In this case, to coax out that shy, introverted me that prefers to stay hidden in the shadows where it’s safe.

This is, the taste test of a life time!

Canada, this is your area of expertise, any suggestions to help me find my musical identity?



Thanks to Dave for aiding in my pursuit of musical happiness with his introduction to Last.fm.