My turntable is broken. The auto-return function doesn’t work anymore, so if you don’t pay attention the cartridge will simply sit there in the last groove and spin endlessly until you cut the power and bring everything back to square one. It’s somewhat tedious, and it could prove to be very costly – Shure cartridges aren’t cheap and I know that at some point I’m going to burn through a diamond tip because my ass was too lazy to turn over a Burt Bacharach record. But as I stare at my tracking light, the sounds of Exile on Main Street – “Soul Survivor” specifically – long since dissipated, I take a deep breath. I move the needle back. “When youre drunk in the alley, baby, with your clothes all torn And your late night friends leave you in the cold gray dawn. Just seemed too many flies on you, I just cant brush them off. Angels beating all their wings in time, With smiles on their faces and a gleam right in their eyes. Whoa, thought I heard on sigh for you, Come on up, come on up, now, come on up now. May the good Lord shine a light on you, Make every song you sing your favorite tune. May the good Lord shine a light on you, Warm like the evening sun.” Right now she’s lying in bed watching The Notebook. I guess, for all intents and purposes, you could say we just had a fight – she was burnt after a long day and my head has been swimming ever since the defense attorney for an accused murderer informed me that she was planning on subpoenaing my notes for an ongoing trial I’m covering. She had a specific point to make and I didn’t like it and it kind of escalated from there. And then it became one of those scenarios where the things that each of you are projecting onto one another from previous relationships shine through, and it’s a bad scene all the way around. I could use this space to talk about how much I love her, but that really only needs to be summarized into three little words. She. Completes. Me. Our personalities couldn’t be more different, and yet that’s why, 99 percent of the time, they’re so compatible. I learn from her, and she from me. And she’s so selfless about things. One of the first pieces of furniture that we put together was the four-shelf record cube that houses my albums. I’m looking at it right now. She picked it out for me and every time I reach into it to pull out an old slab of vinyl, I smile because I know that she’s forever linked to that. And, if there is a God in heaven, I’m hoping that I never lose sight of those things – the wonderful life that we’re building together. This is uncharted water for me. I’ve never fished this particular stretch of water before. But my days of hiking up and down through the mountains looking for that perfect hole are behind me. I like this particular stretch I’m on right now. I landed a good one here on some San Francisco and a little bit of Bruce Springsteen. For the first time ever in my selfish existence I’m content to just grab a chair, listen to the way that the water meanders, and feel the sun beat down on my face. This is it for me. I’ve found my Nirvana. Amber Shiree Dixon (Adams) (Maybe Someday Campbell) – I love you with all of my heart. When I was picking up the U-Haul truck to move our stuff in, I had a rather large African-American gentleman that smacked of Reverend come up to me after he learned I was moving in with my girlfriend. And he offered one piece of advice. “Be honest. That’s the only thing that you need to remember.” I’ll never forget that. Just don’t ever forget how much I love you and how much I appreciate our new life together, even if sometimes I vocalize it the way I’m supposed to. I’m learning here, kid. Baptism by fire. I’m giving it all I’ve got Captain. Maybe Mick can say it better than I: Always in a hurry, I never stop to worry, Dont you see the time flashin by. Honey, got no money, Im all sixes and sevens and nines. Say now, baby, Im the rank outsider, You can be my partner in crime.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 06:23:01 +0000