Nostalgia

Do you ever have those things that pass by during the day that just take you back to some memorable moments of your past? It could be a sound, a song, a smell, or a structure, or a place. I've got a few of those things and for lack of anything worthy to write I figured I would share them. Call it, The Romantic Comedy that is Adam, Act 2...

There's the song..."No Such Thing" by John Mayer. It's a fun summer song that isn't all that great but it was his first big hit on the airwaves. When I hear it come on the radio it takes me back to the beginning of 2002. I don't have the best memory about events and when they happen but this one I do. I had just moved out to Los Angeles to pursue acting. I was working at a Nordstrom's Department Store at the edge of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills (needless to say I did pretty well on the commissions). The store was located at the end of a village type outdoor mall which had retailers on one end (nordstrom's, tommy bahama, gap, abercrombie) and a movie theater and on the other end the famous LA Farmer's Market (yes, they have a farmer's market). It looked like something off of a Disney movie set. It had a trolley that went from end to end dropping off and picking up shoppers and also had a beautiful pond in the middle of the area complete with a mini-Bilagio dancing musical water fountain. One evening after just getting off work I was standing on the top parking deck overlooking all of this with the sun setting and "No Such Thing" came over the speakers for the fountain. It was a song that has now taken me back to a time when I was care-free and sky was the limit for my dreams. It takes me back to my time in LA.

There are two things that take me back to my High School days, the song "Eye of the Tiger" and the sound of metal cleats walking on pavement. I'll explain.
Almost every game we had a guy who would listen to "Eye of the Tiger" while we were getting dressed or on the road in the bus. It's a great song, especially for motivation. Think about it. You've got a bus full of red blooded American boys hopped up on adrenaline and hormones ready to take on their opponents. When you let us loose, if you had given us battle axes and swords it could have been a battle scene straight out of Braveheart.
The sound of metal cleats on pavement. Underarmor does it no justice in their ads, click clack. I hate those commercials. You see our baseball field was next to our school and every day we would get dressed for practice or games up at the school and have to walk down to the field. As we walked down to the field we had to walk across one of the teacher's parking lots. 20 guys with metal cleats walking across the pavement and across gravel. It's a weird noise most people wouldn't pick up on, but it's distinct and it's a great one. The good ole high school days of fun in the sun and no responsibility.

Sometimes it's a smell. For me, the scent of Cucumber Melon lotion takes me back to college. I was in young love with a girl I was dating for most of my college time and that was the scent she wore. It's kind of attributed to her. It's almost impossible to smell it in the air and not think back to that time of young love and her. It was one of those times when all the world was right and nothing could bring you down.

I know I'm sappy at times. And the next one probably won't help me much either, but the songs of Bryan Adams. "Summer of '69" "Please Forgive Me" and "Cuts like a Knife" take me back to middle school. I had a crush on a girl named Meg. We were good friends and every day after school we would take the bus over to the elementary school where both of our moms worked. We would hang out in one of the rooms playing board games or doing homework and she had just gotten his tape. We would listen to it almost every day, even though hearing them now, we probably shouldn't have been listening to some of them. Those songs take me back to a more simpler and innocent time.

There are many more, but this has gotten a little long. So, what are your nostalgic moments? Is it a song, a scent, a movie, a place, a picture? What takes you back?

What a Day!

Today was one of those days that you long to have on your day off.  There was nothing pressing to do, no chores needing to be finished, no responsibilities, and total freedom.  Let me set it up for you.  

First, I slept in til about 9:30am.  I didn't have anything pressing to do so I just laid in bed and watched tv until 10:30am.  I finally got up, took a shower, and got ready to go play a cheap round of golf with a new friend.  This was a portion of what made it a great day.  

I love to play golf but it's so expensive that I don't really get to play that often.  I've played with more frequency and have been pretty good but when you play as sporadic as I have lately you never know which player will show up, Tiger Woods or Tazmanian Devil? 

My new friend is an older gentlemen in the church that I met through our golf tournament last month.  He is retired and works at the golf course only a couple of days a week as a Starter and gets free golf and guests only pay $16 (cart fee).  This is a pretty nice course so I was happy to get to play for so cheap.  We had a good time.  Neither of us played all that great but we had some good shots here and there and had fun getting to know each other.  Playing a round of cheap golf on a nice course with a fun guy is enough to make me a happy man.  But that's not all...

As I got off the course I got a text from a dear friend who wanted to meet up just to talk and catch up on life.  We've both been busy and haven't got to talk as much as we use too.  We met at Starbucks and hung out like old times, laughing and catching up.  We also were joined later by some other friends which added to the laughs and good time.  

So now, I'm here at the house UNWINDING from such a stressfully hard day with a belly full of Cashew Chicken from the local Chinese restaurant.  

I'm a simple man of simple means.  Man!!! it's been a good day!