Years

I've had a lot of memorable years. 1985 --- graduated from high school. 1997 --- bought my first house. 2003 --- got married. But out of all of them, 1989 was the most memorable so far. I graduated from college that year, but that's not why it's memorable. 1989 was notable for no other reason than it was my best and worst year combined. It was bad because I was dealing with the seering pain of having my first love dump my ass and knowing she was right in doing it because I was lame. So every morning that year began like this: "Hmm. This is a nice sunny day. Oh yeah. Diane dumped me. Fuck!"

Instead of jumping off a cliff, I dealt with it by spending a lot of time with Dave and Rob. Dave and Rob are two completely different guys who were really interesting when you put them together. I'm not sure where I fit in this mix other than tagging along into their scene. But I forgot all about my stupid problems when I was with them. Rob had a mixer board, a microphone, and a collection of 8,000 records and CDs at his house. So about once a week, Dave and Rob would record their own fake radio show onto cassette tapes. Dave loved Euro-dance music and Rob favored American guitar music. So they'd sit down in front of the board, trade off playing songs, and exchange smart ass comments between playing music you couldn't possibly hear on a real radio station anywhere in the nation. I was nothing more than a special guest during these sessions, posing as a bus repairman that they'd interveiw. And I never chose songs because I was just there to learn. Dave would play stuff like Propaganda and then Rob would keep it real by playing the Beat Farmers or maybe a cut off Country Dick Montana's solo effort. They both got a real radio show at UT later that year, but it wasn't quite the same as the tapes they made at the house on Harriet Court.

So I got some perspective and life lessons in 1989 --- and an appreciation for the Woodentops. Thanks Diane, Dave and Rob.