Knowing when to start #1

When I was a kid, the Missoula County Library had a Bookmobile that puttered around town all summer. There was a summer reading contest, and you got Dairy Queen stuff depending on how many books you read.

The girl who won the whole thing was named Bronwyn Smith. Pretty incredible name. She won the whole thing, and she got a MEDIUM SUNDAE. You can get WHATEVER YOU WANT, and you get a medium anything?

I was eleven. I would go to the Bookmobile to get sports books. I was really into sports.

My favorite teams were the Sixers and the Raiders. I got some crappy bio of Dr J.  Someone actually wrote a book about the 70s Raiders teams. Not that they didn’t deserve it, with Ken Stabler and Fred Biletnikoff and Dave Casper and Cliff Branch and Ray Guy in there. Someone wrote it, the Bookmobile had it on a shelf, and I read it.

I would read the Pro Basketball Handbook for the year cover to cover. Jack Sikma was 6’11”. George Gervin was 6’7″, as was Wes Unseld, who outweighed him by 65lbs. Stuff like that.  It’s all still in there someplace.

One day, I went in there, climbed in that weird old green van, and the regular old librarian lady wasn’t around. In her place was this willowy, super duper cute girl, maybe 25 I guess, slender and very pretty.

It made me feel funny to look at her. At this moment, it makes me feel funny to think about how funny it made me feel.

Pale, clear skin with a few freckles. Fine features, no makeup. Long, straight, dark brown 70’s hair pulled back in a ponytail. Green eyes, black rimmed glasses. Could not give a fuck about the Bookmobile—thrilling. Even I could tell she didn’t have a bra on. Black t-shirt with Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Cheap Trick typed down the front of it.

People don’t realize what they do to other people sometimes. How you can imprint on someone.  Like a bomb drop.

THIS WAS COOL.

One of those moments. A lot changed.  

Nerding on sports vanished. I had always liked girls, but clearly I was missing something. I had always liked music, but I didn’t have any Cheap Trick records.

I got All Shook Up a little over a year later.  That record had a big impact on me, in that it was such a disappointment. It made me realize that every record a band puts out is super fucking important, because you only get to make so many of them and your name is on every one of the sons of bitches FOREVER.

That said, I have seen Cheap Trick play Just Got Back live, at a Harley dealership in Orlando. It was awesome.

This entry was posted in Music, Uncategorized and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Knowing when to start #1

  1. Richard says:

    I enjoyed that story greatly. Thanks for changing the course of my thoughts today.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *