Familiar
I recently picked up “The Revenge of Analog” from the library. I’d been looking forward to reading it after seeing it referenced in a few other books I’d enjoyed. I was hoping for some sort of long form reminiscence. I got a series of sales pitches instead. All business and no heart. 🤷♀️
Spent the first day in Wisconsin on Lake Michigan, at a park, conducting a sidewalk track meet, and watching my niece perform in her high school’s rendition of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Before the play, another niece took a crack at designing her Halloween costume in my sketchbook. We spent the next evening realizing her vision out of cardboard and crayons.
A walk down town. Buying a new charger. Learning the finer points of nerf. A subtle sales pitch. Frankie’s for gifts. Stardust for cassettes. A walk back home. Visiting with family. More nieces and nephews. Birthday party. Mincemeat pie. Chats. Costumes. Cards. Dirty clubs. Late night snacks.
It’s funny how familiar a place you’ve never been can feel.
The last day was devoted mostly to travel.
Nice to be back home on familiar trails.
…
Animal Companionship by Advance Base is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s the audio version of cold gray sweater weather. The last song, “Answering Machine” is the perfect closer to a perfect album. Kills me every time.
I am trying very hard to not just dump pages of praise for this album. It’s so dang good. You should give it a listen. Wait for an overcast day or the sun to go down. Even better if it’s cold enough to see your breath. Pairs well with a warm beverage, animal companion, and small to moderately sized midwest American cities.
It reminds me of sitting in the parking lot of a Blockbuster behind the wheel of an old Buick on a depressingly gray day. The sign on a nearby Pizza Hut flickers periodically. No vision of the future. No vision of the past. Just your own frozen breath condensing on the windshield slowly obscuring the scene. You could turn on the car to run the heat but then you couldn’t afford cigarettes. You can’t feel your toes. You have to return some tapes before your break ends and you go back to a job that pays far too little for the life you offer in trade.
Why do I miss any of this?
It’s perfectly tuned for the cold gray weather we’ve been having
Look, I can’t recommend it enough.
I’m pretty excited about the new album on the way.
Unfortunately they can’t all be winners.
The second day was mostly devoted to visiting with family, celebrating a birthday, and pie. Lots and lots of pie.
I have a lot of family in Wisconsin. I was able to see 10 nieces and nephews while I was there. The second day we even got to celebrate a birthday party for one of them.
Thanks for introducing me to Advance Base! I hope Wisconsin treated you well.