Vinyl is my ex - Installment #1

Vinyl is my ex-girlfriend - hold On Sha-REESE, get your mind out of the gutter if it was there - I'm talking about recorded music folks. Vinyl. Records. LP's. Licorice Pizza (Perhaps the coolest name for a record store ever - thank you L.A.). Of all the formats to buy recorded music in, Vinyl is like an old girlfriend that I broke up with, one that I should have stayed with all along. One that I should get back together with - which may or may not happen. It should, but she lives far away. It wasn't so long ago that we were together, and I have nothing but wonderful memories of the good times we shared. Still, somehow it seems like a lifetime ago. And out of all the formats I've bought recorded music in, Vinyl is the best.

Vinyl wasn't shallow. She had depth, and even though I appreciated that when she was around, it feels like I appreciate it more with her being gone. Vinyl seemed a bit high maintenance when compact disc started showing up at friend's parties. Compact discs seemed perfect at first glance - and she understood my love for music and seemed very low maintenance - I didn't have to pull out a DiscWasher brush and run it over the surface to get the dust off and make sure the disc wouldn't skip. How was I to know that when Compact discs skipped, it would be so much more annoying than any pop, click or skip that Vinyl ever tossed at me? And let's not forget what may be my all-time favorite compliment: You have excellent taste in music. While I've received that compliment a number of times in my adult life, Vinyl is what I think of when that compliment comes to mind. Compact discs? A little. 8-Track Tapes? Never. Cassettes? Nope. MP3's? Not a chance in hell - though I do have quite a few of them mind you.

Wow - you have excellent taste in MP3's! Said no one - EVER.

How could I have been so blind that I didn't see,  even at half the price of Compact Discs, Vinyl offered so much more? Cover art, liner notes - both of these are serious eye candy for music enthusiasts. Substance people - the stuff solid, long-term relationships are made of.  Compact Discs? The same artwork shrunk down to a much smaller format. Nowhere near as visible from across the room. Liner notes in the smaller format are a bit like having to read something, as opposed to choosing, getting and wanting to read something. Taking the quantum leap, as my buddy Jeff called it when I bought my first compact disc player, came with a lot of negative things that Vinyl never had. Compact discs aren't as indestructible as the general public first thought, which didn't matter to a guy who saw a large music collection as a prized possession that I both had to take care of, and wanted to.

 Vinyl had a cool record care kit, at least in my humble opinion it was cool - the Discwasher system. A sleek and delicate brush with a beautifully crafted dark wood handle, a specialized solution that you put three or four drops of on the surface of the brush and gently ran the brush over the surface of your record to remove dirt and dust - oddly enough, even this, had some visual appeal - albeit in a geeky kind of way. To me, it was a small visual of proof that my music collection meant enough to me that I would buy such a device to take care of it. I looked at records before I played them, I cleaned them. I guess you could say this ritual was wining & dining - and it never got old. Compact discs didn't seem to matter as much, and now...well, with the benefit of hindsight that is always 20/20, all Compact discs offered was unparalleled clarity and perhaps more longevity for my investment. Both were false promises - in the early days of compact discs, some of the things I bought in the new format were nowhere near as sonically pleasing as Vinyl. Then there was a CD that simply stopped playing for no reason at all - no visible scratches or smears on the surface, no explanation offered. If Vinyl ever pulled such a stunt, and mind you she did, the reasons were obvious - I only had to man up and face them: a dirty playing surface, warping, scratches that were either the result of my own carelessness, or in making a bad call and loaning them to the wrong friend - and mind you, I replaced a few LPs due to that mistake.

I miss everything about Vinyl now that she's gone. I know that if I were to run into her, it would be just like the old days - even better for having learned the hard way that we had a good thing going all along. I can't say that we'll get back together for sure - or that we wont. Never say never. I'll have a bit more to say about the cheaper, easier ladies that are recorded music, in future posts - but today, my heart yearns for Vinyl. I hear she's doing well these days, and that makes me happy for her.

There are times when I annoy myself

There are times when I annoy my own self - probably others too, but in this case, I'm talking about no one else being around to be annoyed by me, but me. It's a tiny little thing that is a split second of A.D.D. in the grocery store, where my eyes are on the exact thing I want to buy on the shelf and I grab it - only to find that once I'm home, I've taken the wrong item off the shelf. In the instant I realize that I actually bought something that is, at best, close to what I wanted, my mind goes back to being in the store and seeing it on the shelf. For a nanosecond my mind wandered onto the next thing I was going to buy and that was all it took for my hands to grab something I didn't want. Is it the end of the world? Nope.

My latest shopping fuck up? Bathroom tissue - but it's really not my fault. There, on an end cap display, was a convenient reminder that it was indeed time for me to replenish my supply. I don't really dwell on such matters for long, I do what I gotta do and that's the end of my thought process on matters like this. That last flippin thing I thought, would be that when I got home with said supplies, that what I actually bought, was some marketing brain donor's learning impaired idea to bulk package miniature rolls of toilet paper. Shit. Fuck. Damn. How the hell was I to know this? The package looked to be the same size as what I usually buy, and for the same dollar amount. A no-brainer - all that matters is that the name brand is anything but something like "Top Value", "Good Buy" or "Dollar's Worth" - pick any name brand bathroom tissue and I'm in, done - generic brands of bathroom tissue? Suck it, you might as well try using snowflakes. A bit disappointed that what I bought was a bulk pack of mini rolls - but I'll live with it and change rolls more often, but really? Who the hell looks for and buys this kind of stuff? I guess if I were going backpacking/camping and wanted to conserve valuable pack space...but in the world of bathroom tissue, I tend to go with the theory of it being better to have and not need, than to need and not have. I'll live. I'm just a bit surprised that any company would package something like this the way they did - I'll uh, look closer next time out.

Wow - I just wrote a flippin' paragraph about bathroom tissue. Talk about blah. Then again, I've also written an entire post about junk mail - which I still find a bit annoying. I think it should basically be illegal, because I think it's basically littering in someones mailbox. Of course once that litter is in my mailbox, it's my responsibility to do something with it. I suppose this comes to mind because I had a coworker recently ask me to bring her all of my junk mail coupons. Seems she has recently started coupon-ing. What's the word I'm looking for here....oh yes, NO. Sorry, but walking this crap to the recycle bin is more than I want to do with it, and more than I should have to do with it. Put it in my car and give a ride with me into work? Nope, not gonna happen. There's enough clutter in my car on any given day, I'm not about to feed that monster. Now if you happen to be standing beside me when I open my mailbox and discover pages of crap I neither asked for, or want....it's all yours sweetheart, and you're welcome.

Short & sweet

I don't have much time to write today, seeing as how I kind of slept in. I suppose one of the perks of day job(s) is that I can do that pretty much any time I choose to - but I rarely do so. I noticed a few things this morning, a morning that has quickly blended into early afternoon...which of course happens when you sleep in.

For starters, it's still Winter out there, as evidenced by the snow on the ground. Doesn't matter - the first amazing thing I noticed when I took the dog out for his morning constitutional, was a big lung full of clean Winter air. That's worth pausing a minute to enjoy, at least to me. I come inside to read a blog post written by a friend/coworker, and it seems fitting in my own morning today, a day that has me thinking of people that I've shared parts of my life with, some of whom I get to see on a semi-regular basis, some of whom I'm connected with via an ever expanding spider web of a social networking site (you can figure that one out) - community indeed. Regardless, this connection is something I like to keep with me. Suffice it to say that it's a very good feeling and while I don't want to elaborate upon that today, I feel that it's a blessing and it's my responsibility to both notice and appreciate such a blessing.

Then I notice my lanky hound in one of his not-so-rare acts of steeling. Bentley is fond of stealing and eating any/all of the following paper products: Kleenex, or any brand of facial tissues, toilet paper (this is why my bathroom door is always shut) and paper towels - any brand will do. Usually, I find out about stuff like this at the end - and being a responsible dog owner, that's a huge DUH to figure out. This morning I caught him trying to stick his snout in my left pocket in order to pluck the paper towel I tucked there as I sat down to write with my breakfast on my desk. Not today my friend, not today. What can I say - my dog is an opportunist and I suppose it's a blessing that he doesn't have a fondness for eating currency. Been there, done that with a dog - but that's a story for another day, when I have more time. Have a great Thursday everyone. Here's a nod to my family and friends, and staying at least reasonably connected despite years gone by and miles in between us. Peace!

Why blame the groundhog?

Good Monday morning! One cup in and I've yet to venture outside - but I know a lanky hound that will change that, any minute. Can't help but notice the numerous posts on a popular social networking site with remarks about how the groundhog lied. Really? It's northeast Ohio, this time of the year is full of surprises from the weather - and no matter what it throws at me, and mind you I am not especially fond of rain this time of the year, I'm not going to let it influence my great mood!

I'm sitting here typing this with a great cup of coffee, meanwhile on the stove top, there are potatoes simmering - just waiting to be done enough to add onion and some of the fresh, house made corned beef that the awesome executive chef Rick Bennett gave me yesterday - leftovers from St. Patrick's Day brunch. This leftover corned beef also kind of made me stop at the store for some marbled rye bread, thousand island dressing & some sauerkraut. While I've got Irish blood in my veins, St. Patrick's Day is not a holiday I observe - it's not as if I can't, or don't drink, but St. Paddy's Day is at the top of my list for least favorite holidays given what the masses traditionally do on that day. Right underneath it would be New Year's Eve.

Nonetheless, I couldn't resist the idea of a homemade Reuben sandwich with the corned beef I was given. Turned out to be a good choice for a relaxing evening at home, a bit of television and getting to bed early enough to put my sleep pattern back in the normal range. This, in turn, allowed me to get up early today - and I love mornings. On this one, I knew going in that I'd make corned beef hash with some of the leftovers. I'm so not a fan of cold & rainy mornings, but there is simply no flippin' way that weather is going to sour my mood when I'm off to a great start like today. Once the potatoes were done enough to add the onion, my great mood elevated even more - strange as it may sound, there's something amazing about it when you add the onions and the smell starts to waft through the kitchen - mind you I'm a hungry man right about now, but hot damn does this smell make me feel great - cold rainy morning be damned. Call me crazy, over enthusiastic...whatever, but how can a day go bad when it starts with a breakfast of this magnitude? Easy. It can't.

As if I needed more greatness to pile on top of this, I'm listening to some great new music - Reed Wiley's Too Blind To See, a gift from Sonic Bliss Productions. One good turn deserves another, I'm a man who loves to reciprocate acts of kindness, particularly when they revolve around things I'm passionate about - such as music. After a bit of searching for the perfect token for returning such a kind gesture, I'm actually excited about sending it off and the hope that my return serve has anywhere near the impact that its inspiration has had on me. I love practicing acts of kindness. Having said that, it's time to enjoy this freshly made corned beef hash and get a few things done around here before I hit the gym. I hope everyone has a great start to the week. Don't let the weather stop you, and there's no sense in blaming the groundhog - he'll never man up.