Reactor

Everybody knows that songs can trigger emotional reactions. Do you have any songs that trigger a physical reaction? I do. I really like the song “My Blue Heaven.” A cover of that song wasn’t the sole reason for picking up a Smashing Pumpkins boxed set (the one with the little lunchbox handle) back in the day, but was a contributing factor. Between the time I got the discs and the time I was able to start listening to them I came down with a nasty flu: an extremely high fever, aches and pains, and I think I was even a little delirious. To this day, that particular version of the song gives me ghost pains. Even a version of the song by a different artist can sometimes trigger a similar reaction.

Tonight as I was cleaning up around the coffee maker, I bumped it. I guess this caused it to lose power for a second, causing the display to beep and flash “88:88”. For a split second, my action-movie-conditioned brain kicked over to “flight” mode. And then I realized it was just a coffee maker and it’s now flashing “12:00” not counting down to minimum-safe-distance.

✻ ✼ ✻

People have asked why I cut my hair. There were a lot of reasons, stacking up over a few months, but I never sat down to enumerate them in writing. I was ready for a change. I was tired of getting lumped into a particular stereotype. It was getting in the way. In the fictional world of Lemony Snicket, Violet could tie her hair back with a ribbon and start tinkering with things. In the real world of Brian, I find that I am increasingly working with or on equipment or in positions where the hair just gets in the way, even tied back. It was hot. On the first nasty day of the summer, I was up on Hawthorne and almost strolled into Bishop’s and told them to chop it off. Driving with the top down, even with a ponytail, causes the hair to get tangled and knotted. After washing the hair in the morning and tying it back for work, parts of it were still damp after work. Those are just a few reasons off the top of my head.

Posted in: Dear Diary Music

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