word association

Sometimes, when I ask my students to play word association, they just don't get it.  Although, I think everyone gets word association; we just might not want to share the associations that our mind makes with the world.  Everything reminds us of something.  It's how we relate to the world around us.  But sometimes, you might not know where a memory is coming from or how it is being associated.

And what is it about music that can bring back memories that you didn't even know you still had stored up in your little noggin?

I got a text from my coworker about Glee.  I started a Glee club at my school and the universe put in my path a partner in this endeavor...  not just someone who is willing to help out, but a bona fide musical person who sings and teaches and plays and writes music.  This person is so excited about Glee club starting this week that I've become accustomed to her excited texts about the songs we should sing and ideas of how we should structure our meetings.  So, then I thought to myself about what songs I wanted to do with Glee.  I put on some music and began to listen to whatever came my way from my library and pretty soon, I was memory trippin'.

What's funny is how you will associate a memory to a song.  This song may never have even hit the ears of the person it reminds you of, but in your mind- in your memory, that person is completely intertwined with this song.  Still the Same, by Bob Seger reminds me of a friend who I don't think cared one way or another about this song.  Every time I hear it, though, memories of this person come flooding into my mind.  They come in a vignette-type of slideshow, starring this person and the theme that makes up her life as I've interpreted it.  Pictures of her laughing and walking around and doing everyday things just kind of float around with the song.

Every time I hear Dangerdoom, I think of one of my ex-boyfriends.  He had mentioned that he liked them, so every time I hear it, I think of that summer we started talking.  I think of my blue 1994 corolla that I drove around in the summer that I got to know him.  I can feel the Portland summer as I listen to Dangerdoom, hearing the ring of my phone (before smartphones) go off as he calls me.  For some reason, I am always driving south on 33rd, right by that grocery store with the yellow sign whose name escapes me.

Bob Marley's High Tides brings me even further back into the late 90s.  It reminds me of college and a boyfriend I had when we were just getting to really know each other.  I think about his room in Delhi, New York.  I can remember the fall weather as we walk to his place from the dorms where I lived.  He had stone floors in his kitchen and a really big living room.  There was this sadness about him that I worried about and wanted to make go away so these lyrics became my message to him... "in high tide or in low tide; I'm gonna be your friend.  I'm gonna be your friend."

David Bowie reminds me of Portland.  My friend and I would play Bowie on the jukebox at Slabtown.  I bought my first Bowie CD my first year living there, living in Northwest.  I would play it on my stereo, which was huge and I had shipped all the way out from New York.  We don't have to do that anymore.  I haven't bought a CD in a long time and I no longer own a stereo.  Times change, huh?

I guess the truth is, you don't know what two things you are going to be associating in the future.  You might not know it, but just because you watched Will and Grace a few times, your then roommate  thinks about you every time she ever hears anything about Debra Messing... true story on my part.  Or you sing American Pie one time at karaoke and you will forever be remembered as the girl dressed up in the vintage red, white, and blue tennis dress singing that song because you thought there was supposed to be a superhero party that night.  

When I want to remember carefree spring days of driving around with my friends when we had not a care in the world, I'll always just ask for Mistadobalina...  ooh ooh Mistadobalina!

December in Montauk

Yesterday, I was supposed to have lunch with a coworker at delicious Pies and Thighs. I don't go to Pies and Thighs very often for fear that if I did, I would gain 45 pounds and have to have a triple bypass by the time I hit 37. So, when I do go, I am completely looking forward to it, ready for it, and it is oh so worth it. However, I forsake eating a delicious buttery chicken biscuit with honey and hot sauce at Pies and Thighs to take a road trip with some friends, thinking in my head the whole time: this better be worth missing pies and thighs for!

What can I say? I love food. I love eating food in. I love eating food out. I love meeting up with someone who is equally as passionate about food and eating together. Though I am becoming astutely aware that food doesn't need to be a hobby and I don't need to indulge quite as often as I do. So, what was the thought that finally brought me to my decision to cancel the buttery indulgence I had planned and head to Montauk? Well, I can't remember building the best memories ever whilst stuffing my face. It feels wonderful at the time and is a lovely way to pass an afternoon, however, the times that are etched in my memory as times well spent are those times I get out. They're the times that my friends randomly rent a car and we just go, with little plans, if any. And that's what yesterday was. My friend suggested it and I decided yes. I packed my cameras (one that I would soon find out had a dead battery) and hopped in the car with my bagel sandwich for what would become a lovely, relaxing, refreshing, head-clearing day.

In two words, I could sum it up:
WORTH IT.

We headed out in our Zipcar and ate breakfast right away. Opening up the day with sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches on toasted sesame seed bagels proved to be a very smart decision. Again, I don't eat sausage very much for the same reasons I don't indulge in Pies and Thighs very much, so it was a lovely little treat. We drove the few hour drive through Long Island, all the while listening to excellent music. I loved that we mostly listened to music from my high school and college days... Paperboy, Snoop Doggy Dogg, The Breeders, then, finally: A Tribe Called Quest. Most of the good music was from a mix called Forgotten Fresh- amazing.

The thing that was cool about the music (which I had nothing to do with until the very end, suggesting A Tribe Called Quest) was that we were driving through my island... my stomping ground. I grew up on the west end of the south shore of Long Island. Us Long Island kids drove around listening to music in our teens. It's what we did. And that was the music we listened to, amonst others: Digable Planets, De La Soul, Del the Funky Homosapien, Grand Puba, Wu Tang, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins...

We drove through small towns that had a charm completely opposite of anything considered charming anywhere in New York City. We stopped for hot chocolate and snacks and then soon parked the car.

We walked a short distance on the beach, taking in the view, talking, taking pictures, and breathing in fresh ocean air. It was way windy and the cold air was hurting my ears- but I managed to get some beachy footage.

All in all, our Montauk day was lovely:

hey there, mr. blue skyyyyyyyyy

A friend and I just ate at a little taco place nearby and on the walk home, since it is cold and drizzly out, talked about getting warm at home. I decided that the best thing that I could do between now and my 8:15 zumba class (because I am continuing my path to infinite awesomeness) is to put on my exercise clothes, get super cozy, blog and relax. I put on a playlist I made a while back and each song is bringing me back to a particular time and place... which is the great thing about music; it has that effect on us all. Nobody was in that exact moment in time and space, in my mind at the moment that each of these particular songs were playing. And since you know I'm all about sharing these days, I share a bit of my playlist and a few (condensed) memories. Here goes:

1. Martha Reeves/ Heat Wave - reminds me of this artist dancing in his studio setting up his equipment

2. ELO/ Mr. Blue Sky- reminds me of last September 25th at a birthday party, a friend dj-ing, this song came on and we all danced until 4am. It was a great night.

3. Built to Spill/ Else- a bar in Portland with this guy I was beginning to fall for (we didn't date until a year and a half later). We listened to this song and talked with our friends around us.

4. Cocorosie/ Tekno Love Song- a friend of mine filmed me at a restaurant when we were both learning how to use iMovie. He set footage of me looking into a camera to this song at a Polish diner and sent it to me. It was really cool.

5. Rilo Kiley/ Bulletproof- last summer, when I first started working at the cafe, a friend of mine loved Rilo Kiley and we used to listen to it nonstop while we worked.

6. Quasi/ Bon Voyage- Portland. Toyota Corolla. Nonstop.

7. Holly Golightly/ There is an End- reminds me of watching Broken Flowers in my bed with a gentleman that I dated.

8. Rachel Portman/ Never Let Me Go- a friend and I went to see Never Let Me Go with Carrie Mulligan and this song is beautiful. It reminds me of the movie and the friend that I saw it with.

9. Camera Obscura/ Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken- February 2009, listening to this on vinyl in the morning while a good friend of mine and I drank french press coffee and ate oatmeal with greek yogurt and fresh blueberries in Los Angeles.

10. Grandaddy/ Final Push to the Sum- reminds me of all my time in Portland being one giant blur of running, learning, drinking, teaching, dating, crying, laughing, experiencing, and not remembering all the people I meet over time. The lyrics make you think that... this song is about moving on, but sometimes a little too quickly. But the really amazing thing about this song is that it encapsulates that feeling ONLY in Portland. It doesn't cross over to NYC. Weird.

So, there it is! A sampling of a playlist and my memory with each song. I'm going to leave you with a song to listen to and feel happy about. Farewell for today.