Autumn Souvenir

Travel bans. Insurance catastrophe. Sexism. Racism. Mocking the disabled. Cuba. Climate change. The wall. Russia. Endless lies. I could on for, literally, ever. This is the most disengaged I've been from politics and the daily happenings in DC in at least two decades. The fact that 62M Americans voted for this monster remains, now many months in, impossible for me to stomach. I simply can't understand the utter lack of humanity, decency and empathy that has swept over this country. We should be utterly embarrassed and disgusted by this man's "leadership." He is a bad human being and he governs without a sliver of self reflection or integrity. And I'm embarrassed to say that I'm so distraught by where we're at that my only solution has been to tune out. Turn it off. I see an article that includes his name and I pass. Every time. So what do I do? Or what have I done? Well, as many have responded, I'm trying to be a better person in my daily life....

When I lived in San Francisco, I went through a period where, at least once a week, I'd listen to an entire record without any interruptions. No checking of the phone, nothing. I can still recall what it felt like to listen to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska like that. The songs and stories came alive. It was like watching Indian Runner but being inside of the movie. Like many short-term ideas, after a few months, it faded. I kept reminding myself about the exercise, but I never went back. It's probably been about five years. I mean, I still listen to music every day, but it's often how we all listen: headphones on the run, in the car, in the office, in the background. Then, this evening I got home after a sweltering day in the sun, on a day that I never do well with, and I saw this gorgeous Big Star record sitting on my shelf. This is the "test pressing" that was released on Record Store Day 2011. I remember waiting on the Amoeba line in SF with only ...