I was reminded of how sometimes nothing is better than driving in the car, blasting music, and clearing out the cobwebs in your mind. I drive a lot. It's the downside, in my view, of living in Los Angeles. You have to drive...I'm not a big fan but my boy goes to school 9 miles away, which can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes (this morning) to get to. He rides horses about 45 minutes away on Saturdays. His friends live all over the Valley, and our friends live all over the city. I drive, mostly back and forth...
Most of the time Cole is with me, and like his father and I, he's a fan of music and while his taste is diverse, he often locks into one or two CD's that he's willing to listen for a number of weeks. Right now it's a rotation of the Hairspray soundtrack and two Laurie Berkner CD's. I could kill myself...Hairspray was okay for the first few times but after about 100, it's just nails on a chalkboard. And Laurie Berkner, well, she's all right for little kids music. I can tolerate her occasionally. But two discs for running on a month and I just want to scream. The worst part is that her catchy little tunes worm their way into the depths of my brain and I can't stop humming them.
I should point out that I have a fairly serious humming problem...I subconsciously hum pretty much all of the time. I hum whatever is my head, even when it is completely different than what's on the radio. I hum when I chew. I just hum. I'm rarely aware that I'm doing it and it both endears me to and irritates Dan. My brother does too. I think my dad might have too. Maybe it's genetic?
Anyway, for the past weeks, months, I've been tuned to NPR...The political beast got the best of me and when I was alone in the car I craved news...This morning however, I threw in a compilation disc of 70's punk rock - No Thanks...and while it's a compilation of sort of hits and best of type songs, they're great...they're best of for a reason and while maybe not representative of what my favorite tunes by the bands might be, it's one stop listening and I had the best 40 minute traffic groove in a long time! Windows down...radio blasting...singing loudly...bopping in my seat...making a general nuisance of myself ambling down Ventura Blvd...But tell me, who can sit still while listening to the likes of Nick Lowe, -Ray Spex,the Stranglers, the Jam, Mink DeVille, Stiff Little Fingers, the Damned, The Stooges, Undertones, The Clash and Blondie? NOT ME!
