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January 29, 2000 |
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Okay, broke down and got a couple of CD's. They arrived in the mail
yesterday. The first was Marc Anthony's self-titled album. It contains
the song "I Need to Know", which was played frequently during my last trip
to Florida, though I didn't know who it was at the time. I've only
listened to this disc once, although it did sound very promising.
Apparently, he has been a salsa artist for a while. Although I'm
a fairly big fan of Latin music, I've never been a big fan of
salsa. With this album he's crossing over popular music, so he
finally flew into my radar.
The second disc was Hadas by a group called Flans. Flans
is a group I'm very familiar with. There were years in college when I
spent much too much time listening to their music. If you're thinking that
you've never heard of them. There's probably a reason for that…
they're a Mexican group. What am I doing listening to Spanish music? I
speak Spanish; I'm trilingual afterall. [Keep up here!]
Anyway… Flans was a group that spoke to me when I was in college. They,
as much as anyone or anything, managed to bring me back full circle to my
Spanish roots. Their music bore a mix of happiness and melancholy that was
consistent with the person I was back then. More importantly, their
portrayal of young, idealistic (and often imperfect) love was one that
paralled too much of my life for those college years. I've grown since
(and past), of course. I'm not that boy I was in college. In a strange
way, I miss those days, although I would never hope to go back.
I wasn't sure what to expect from their new disc, Hadas, which
incidentally is Spanish for fairies. The group had broken up for
a few years, and I didn't even know they had gotten back together until I
searched the web for them. Ironically, I had heard one of their songs on
the radio while I was in Florida, and only guessed that it sounded awfully
similar to them.
The first thing I noticed, no lyrics… Why?! This is possibly one of
the most irritating things I can ever find on CD's. Although that was
quickly solved, browse the web and quick printout later. I listened to the
disc a couple of times while I was doing stuff on my computer. Not very
carefully… unfortunately. I may be fluent in Spanish, but I still have
to concentrate a little more than I would if it were in English.
I did finally get a chance to listen to the disc carefully. I suppose that
it lacked some of the exuberant youth that some of the older albums had,
though it was replaced with a sort of quiet confidence. I suppose that I
didn't know what to expect in terms of how it would affect me. Would it
remind me of my college days? Would it remind me of that young woman who
was ever present in my mind back then? Maybe their music has matured they
way I have over the years and we still share that common ground. It felt
like visiting an old friend that has grown up, in some ways still the old
goofball, but still maybe wiser and perhaps gentler than the one you
remember.
Or maybe it's just a new CD. [Sheesh!]
Spoke too soon about the damn ankle. Tried to do my forty-five minute run today. My ankle was being disagreeable. I was able to start the run, but things turned ugly very quickly. Maybe I'm being a bit over cautious, but I'd rather err in the side of caution, than spend weeks waiting for my ankle to come back.
Len asked if it was the same ankle I fractured a few years before. Uhmm… I had forgotten about that. This was the ankle I had broken while inline skating with Lucas, or more accurately while attempting to inline skate. It lasted for maybe about five minutes before I took that ungraceful tumble. [sigh]
Yes, it was that ankle. Maybe things will get better when the weather stabilizes a bit. I had problems with a broken collar bone for years following the injury. Maybe the reason I hadn't noticed before is because I had never been running before… something to think about.
Yes, I realize this must be incredibly boring to all of you, but bear with me while I'm trying to figure out why my ankle is suddenly taken to being defiant and disagreeable. I did at least stay on the treadmill for the duration at a walking pace.
I had to do some shopping and asked Len if he wanted to tag along. I had to shop for Ted and Allison's Christmas presents and Ted's birthday is also coming up next week. [Cut me some slack okay, we haven't seen each other for months!] We ended up going to Bellevue Square at first. I was incredibly hungry, to the point where I wasn't thinking coherently, so the first thing I did was grab some McNuggets. I eat them with barbecue sauce if you must know…
Now Ted is one of those people who is a nightmare to shop for… Why? Because just about anything that he wants he simply goes out and gets, so you have to shop the narrow line that is those items that he would want, but would simply never get for himself. None of which were coming to me, of course. So I decided to simply look through some Ted-ish stores, in the hope that something will simply jump out from the shelf and scream "buy me!". There were items that did indeed jump out at me, but unfortunately, they were for me. [Sigh]
Len is one of these individuals who refuses to get with the times… I mean… no cell phone and no pager. At times, he simply cannot be accessed. That's very irritating if you're trying to get in touch with him. What's worse, he also doesn't have call waiting at home. Who doesn't have call waiting these days? That's funny… he doesn't seem to drag his knuckles when he walks. We walked by a cell phone store and I talked him into picking up a few pamphlets.
I did eventually find something for Ted and Allison, although that should only cover me for Christmas, I still had birthday to shop for.
We followed up the mall with going to CompUSA. I ended up shopping for too many items for me and one item for Ted. I kept trying to call Allison in hopes of coming up with ideas for presents, but no one was home. So I picked up something that I knew he would like, but wasn't sure if he had. During the trip home, I get a phone call; it's Ted. I ask to speak to Allison for present suggestions. The gift I got… well, he already has it. I'll have to return the present since he already has it. [Damn!] But I got some good suggestions, but it means yet another trip. Wonderful.
January 29, 2000