What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found (and kept)?

Daily writing prompt

Let’s see now… there is only one thing that fits the spirit of this question fully that comes to mind. When I was a kid I had a paper route. One day while walking up Nelson Ave in Tewksbury I found a cassette tape on the ground. It was a C120 which you didn’t see too often. That means the tape was 60 minutes long on each side. You didn’t see them because in order to fit that much tape into the cassette they had to make the tape extra thin. Too thin, as it turned out. They used to wear out quickly and break easily. Anyway, I took this cassette home with me and gave it a spin. It had AC/DC’s Back in Black album on one side and Motley Crue’s Shout at the Devil on the other. The Crue record didn’t do anything for me, but Back in Black absolutely lived up to the hype. I kept that tape just as it was and played the shit out of the AC/DC side.

I just Googled the release dates of those two records. Back in Black came out in 1980 and Shout at the Devil came out in 1983. That means at the time I was at least 12 years old. That’s about what I remembered. The Crue record must have been very new when it was dubbed onto the tape.

That’s probably the most interesting thing I’ve ever found and kept. I can think of two more things that I found and bought. Both were at used record stores near Harvard Square. First, I found a cassette for sale that had a bootleg of a Big Dipper show that was originally broadcast by MIT’s radio station, WMBR. The station simulcast a show that they played on campus for some reason. That was awesome, but the bonus that made it extra memorable was a few demos that were tacked onto the end. Two members of Big Dipper had previously been members of The Volcano Suns. They never released anything officially, but this demo was definitely that Volcano Suns line up. It even include a song that Big Dipper would record themselves a few years later. It was like finding a little piece of gold.

At a different used record store near Harvard Square I found a copy of The Blake Babies’ self released first record, Nicely Nicely. At that point the record had never been reissued anywhere, so it was the real deal. I had to pay too much for it, but the price I paid was still less than what you pay for an album on vinyl today. I still have it. It’s upstairs in the living room with the rest of my vinyl collection.

So there you have it. One thing I found and kept and two things I found and bought. Nothing really interesting, but they were the first things that popped into my head when I read the prompt so there you go.

What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?

Daily writing prompt

Dumb question alert.

If you always try to skip one step in your regular routine, why is it part of your routine? If you always try to skip it, why not just delete it from your to-do list and have done with it? Are you a child who doesn’t get to set their own routine? If that’s the case then the question might make some sense, but if you’re an adult? If you are an adult and there is something in your routine that you actually try to skip, just don’t keep it in your routine. Simple.

Did A.I. come up with this question?

There are a lot of things I’d like to skip. I’d like to not have to exercise every day. I’d like to just roll out of bed and be lazy. I can’t though because if I do my recently redesigned innards will fall apart and I’ll destroy what healthiness I have right now. Same with my daily vitamins and tracking my food and drink and all that fun stuff. If I skip one of those daily routine steps then I get sick and I really don’t wan to get sick. That’s literally why these things are part of the routine, dig? Otherwise they wouldn’t be in the routine. That’s why I don’t try to skip any of those things.

I mean.. duh, right? I’m not taking crazy pills or anything, am I?

Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?

Daily writing prompt

This one is tough. I think I have really wracked my brains over it for maybe five whole minutes. I don’t think I have ever really met anyone famous. I’ve never met anyone infamous either.

I went to an in-store show at Newbury Comics in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA on the day Throwing Muses released their Limbo album back in 1996. I got autographs from all three members. Kristin Hersh, David Narcizo, and Bernard Georges. Are they famous enough? I mean, they absolutely are to me but does the rest of society consider them famous?

When I was really little my father took me to an autograph signing with two members of the Boston Bruins. This is back in the mid-70’s. I seem to remember it being at a car show in the parking lot of the Osco Drug store in Tewksbury, MA but that can’t be true, can it? The two Bruins were Stan Jonathan and The Chief Johnny Bucyk. They were both household names in New England at the time, and The Chief probably still is. He’s a total freakin’ legend in these parts. He’s probably the most famous person I’ve met, even if I don’t really remember it at all.

My Uncle worked for The Boston Celtics. I shit you not when I say that legendary Celtics head coach and general manager Red Auerbach was the best man at their wedding. Really. Had I been there, that probably would have been what I wrote about today. I think I was too young to go though so I didn’t meet him. I don’t think my Uncle counts as famous, but it is really freakin’ impressive when he shows off his two Celtics NBA Championship rings (1984 and 1986).

I guess when it comes to meeting famous or infamous people I have lived a pretty uneventful life.