Category: Memory

Music…

Endless Summer Nights

Richard Marx

Richard Marx

and Words

Summer came and left without a warning
All at once I looked and you were gone
And now you’re looking back at me
Searching for a way that we can be
Like we were before

Now I’m back to what I knew before you
Somehow the city doesn’t look the same
I’d give my life for one more night
Of having you here to hold me tight, oh, please
Take me there again, whoa-whoa

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Upon graduating high school, I got a new-for-me car, a 1966 Ford Mustang.  The car was two years older than I and I named her Lisa.  She was painted metallic blue, as have been most of my cars.  Lisa had short bucket seats with running ponies; that option was called ‘Pony interior’.  Under the hood was a 289 V-8.  I loved that car.  While this may sound shallow, Lisa contributed to my identity for those years while I drove her.

Continue reading “She was two years older and my companion for years” →

Music…

Me And My Wine

High ‘N’ Dry

Def Leppard

and Words

Well I’m down in the alley of Sally and I’m feeling my way
And it’s four in the morning, I don’t have a lot I can say
I know I’m looking for some satisfaction
But there ain’t much news
Got some walking from a back reaction
I’m hanging down and loose

Me and the boys have been drinking
Feeling like this is the wrong time for thinking
All I can say is I’m doing fine with just me and my wine

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Def Leppard filled hours of my time.  I started listening to them in the 80’s before the release of Pyromania.  It started with this album, High ‘N’ Dry.  This was in the age before digital music when we still played cassettes tape.  I played this album enough times to wear it out; that’s right, with this physical media it’ll eventually fail.  The tape will either lose its fidelity or fail in some spectacular fashion.  I truly had this album committed to memory.

Continue reading “Is Def Leppard the world’s unluckiest band?” →

Music…

Pull Me Under

Images and Words

Dream Theater

and Words

Lost in the sky
Clouds roll by and I roll with them
Arrows fly
Seas increase and then fall again

This world is spinning around me
This world is spinning without me
And every day sends future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

One of the most distinctive offices in the team belonged to Curtis.  First, the lights barely illuminated anything in this room, if they were turned on at all.  Second, about half a dozen plants thrived at different key locations in this office; it had a jungle-like ambiance.  Additionally, a set of Space Muffins MIDI drums sat on the corner opposite the desk.  Next, within arm’s reach sat a set of over-the-ears headphones and an array of Vic Firth drumsticks.  Finally, a compact stereo played music astonishingly loudly for its size and the music played from CD’s that lined each of the desk’s drawers.

Continue reading “Remembering my mentor” →

Music…

Over the Rainbow

Alone In Iz World

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

and Words

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dream of
Once in a lullaby, oh

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of
Dreams really do come true-ooh-ooh
Someday I’ll wish upon a star

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I won’t tell you that I’m well-read.  Truthfully, I’m a notoriously slow reader.  In high school, a friend devoured books and always astonished me.  I handed him a book in the morning, and he’d return it by the afternoon.  It was during this time when I grew fascinated with the masters of words in science fiction and fantasy.  I would jot down lists of books that I may someday get through.  My mind soared with each word I read from the likes of Heinlein, Zelazny, Eddings, Moorcock, or Asprin.  It was during this time when I contemplated the idea of becoming a novelist.

Continue reading “Was engineering the write choice?” →

Music…

Another Day

Images and Words

Dream Theater

and Words

Live another day
Climb a little higher
Find another reason to stay

Ashes in your hands
Mercy in your eyes
If you’re searching for a silent sky

You won’t find it here
Look another way
You won’t find it here
So die another day

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I was in my mid to late twenties when I was first approached by a friend with an idea.  She had a dear friend who was young and was going through some struggles.  He was twelve and lived with his mom.  She asked if I would consider being his big brother, though it wouldn’t be in an official (sponsored program) capacity.

Honestly, it didn’t really occur to me how much she was entrusting in me, nor did I really think about what I was getting myself into.  I mostly remembered what it was like being a boy that age without a man with whom I might ask questions.  In that sense, my decision was easy.  That’s how I came to meet Lucas.

Continue reading “Find another reason to stay” →

Music…

The Living Years

Living Years

Mike + The Mechanics

and Words

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that I’m a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I’m a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

It was an August morning in 1977 in Puerto Rico, my mom had called home from the hospital and my older sister answered the phone.  My shell-shocked sister repeated my mom’s words verbatim, “Don’t tell the little ones that dad died.”  This is the moment when I first found out my father had passed away.  I was nine years old, and in that instant, my whole world tumbled.

My mom returned to our house shortly after.  She barely exited the car before she collapsed in despair.  Both of my parents were pillars of strength and today all of that flew out the window.  My dad grew up very poor and became an apprentice in a kitchen in Hong Kong.  He was an excellent chef, and he was an unofficial mentor to many.  He was loved by many.

Continue reading “In the absence of my father” →

Music…

The Show Must Go On

Innuendo

Queen

and Words

Empty spaces, what are we living for?

Abandoned places, I guess we know the score, on and on
Does anybody know what we are looking for?

Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line
Does anybody want to take it anymore?

The show must go on
The show must go on, yeah
Inside, my heart is breaking
My makeup may be flaking
But my smile still stays on

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

There’s a tradition at Microsoft.  Upon your work anniversary you bring a pound of m&m’s to work for each year of service.  Yes, you read that right.  That’s one pound for first anniversary, two pounds for your second anniversary, etc.  Initially, I didn’t participate in this tradition for my first few years at the company.  In fact, I subsequently started to do this on my 18-year anniversary.  That year, another teammate celebrated his own 18-year anniversary at that time and there were 36 pounds of candy in that hallway.  It was epic.

I first remember shopping for those 18 pounds of m&m’s with my (now) wife.  When she then asked how I was planning to dispense them, I simply responded with “Oh, I was just going to put them in a bowl.”  She was horrified and insisted that I come up with something different.  I still had a few weeks to plan.  Finally, this is when the idea of the water jug started; that was my personal twist on the tradition.

Meanwhile, through the years there were a number of milestones.  On my 23rd anniversary, I marveled at the fact that I had lost 23 pounds since the year before.  The weight certainly felt heavy when I was carrying it, yet I was carrying on my person a year before.

Moreover, there were a couple instances where I ordered some custom m&m’s and threw them in with the rest of the bunch.  Yes, you can do that and print practically anything on them.  They start at $50 for two pounds.  I joked that custom m&m’s are more expensive than lobster.

For a number of years, I even weighted the jug at the end of each day out of morbid curiosity.  I tabulated the results and sent out the graph.  In short, the trend showed that consumption started strong and then slowed.  Finally, as we approached the end of the jug (and it was mostly the plain m&m’s left), the rate jumped again.  I was never sure if it was a function of the plain m&m’s or people just wanted to complete it.

For decades, I simply put one figurative foot in front of the other and continued to work, day after day; the years accumulated.  I continued this tradition through my 28-year anniversary.  Enclosed is a picture of the jug with 28 pounds of m&m’s; that’s a five-gallon jug.  That was in July 2019.

Continue reading “The show must go on” →

Music…

Promise Me

Show Me

The Cover Girls

and Words

It’s been so very long
Since you held me in your arms this way
And all this time that you’ve been gone
I’ve thought about you each and every day

So now you’ve returned
And you want to try our love again
But frankly I’m concerned
That you will hurt (Hurt me) like you did then

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

It was the summer of 1986.  Looking back, I remember very little from that summer.  Everything from the moment I graduated high school until the time I started college was little more than a blur.  I occasionally waited on tables, although I wasn’t very good, pathetic actually.  I may have had more jobs, though I don’t know where or when they might have been.  There was also my first real car, a 1966 Mustang, painted metallic blue; I loved that car, although she broke down more often than I care to admit.  I remember dancing the night away at parties, occasionally until the sun rose.

Continue reading “One dance that lasted four years” →