How about an anecdote?

Picture me in a used record store, late in 1991. I’m looking for my usual fare, rare or imported singles, special editions, what-have-you. One question on my mind is, “Are there any new singles from Robert Plant’s latest album?” I’m delighted to spot something with part of the album’s name on it… but the joy is short-lived. It’s just some CD from some goofy Seattle grunge band. I mean, the album cover features a naked baby in a swimming pool? Whatever!

I briefly owned a copy of Nevermind some years later, and overall I didn’t think it half as good as Robert Plant’s Manic Nirvana. Different strokes, I suppose.

I grew up with a sort of background-radiation level of exposure to Led Zeppelin, but after hearing “Little By Little,” the single from Plant’s third solo album, I started paying attention to his post-Zepp career. He’s hardly one of my idols, but during the 1980s and into the ’90s his music fit in nicely with my styles and sensibilities. Well, the sound of it, anyway. You know me, I don’t pay attention to the words much… and with Robert Plant you’re not always guaranteed understanding even when you can make them out.

With that in mind, please enjoy “Down To The Sea” from Fate of Nations, the aforementioned single from Shaken ‘n’ Stirred, and “Watching You,” the closing track from my preferred dose of Nirvana.

Next week we’ll tackle some dark and moody music for which I get to blame a girl.

I may not be writing here very often, but that’s mainly because breaks from the routine are rather unusual anymore. Nobody wants to read post after post about my routine, right? Right. We’re all on the same page, then.

Anyway: Yesterday was a definite change of pace. I left work at 3pm and headed to the kids’ place so I could attend Alex’s birthday party at Ultrazone. I went ahead and gave Alex his present right at the apartment.

He’d been talking about saving up his babysitting money to buy a network adapter for the Playstation 2, so my bright idea was to pick one up for him. Great, but the only places I could find them were either disreputable online venues (uh, NO) or stores that said they carried the devices but were sold out. Never mind that, new, the things go for $99.

For a whopping thirty dollars more, I could just get him the “Silver” edition Playstation 2… which comes with a built-in Ethernet port. Problem solved, and he gets a fresh console into the bargain. Never mind that I can finally take “my” PS2 home… something for everyone, really. It was on what could best be called “indefinite loan” since we kept getting the kids more games, and I wasn’t about to take the console back and leave them nothing, was I?

We left for the party, but the original plan was to take little Bryant to his father’s place in Vancouver first. After 5pm. Through rush hour traffic. Wendi decided to go with another plan after a few minutes in stop-and-go, so Alex and Erica and I were deposited at Ultrazone to await the guests while she made the long slog north and back.

After some initial worry that nobody was going to show up, over the course of half an hour after the party was supposed to start we greeted three of his friends from school (one from the drama group and two from the strategy gaming club, if I have things correct) and two golfing buddies from his church. All together there were nine of us, which made for a good “laser tag” group.

Everyone was astonished to see Alex’s chin, by the way. Wendi insisted that he shave off the thick mat of a beard that he usually sports. He actually looked like a teenager again. Go figure!

There was trouble with the pizza order, so the folks at Ultrazone gave us an additional game round beyond the two that the “party pack” came with. This means that over the course of an hour or so we all ran around in the dark with bulky chest packs, “firing lasers” at one another. (Our host pointed out that the words “shooting” and “guns” are verboten. Oh, political correctness, you’re so adorable.) Everyone had a great time, especially during the second round when our entire group faced off against another entire party group. We took seven of the top eight spots in individual scoring, and I led the pack by several thousand points over the #2 player. Go me!

The third round was just our group playing as three teams of three, but by that point I’d been running myself ragged more than I’m used to and really slowed down a lot. (All that root beer and cake probably didn’t help.) Erica, on the other hand, had her best game ever and came in second place overall. Way to go!

Everyone agreed that it was a great party, and most importantly Alex was completely delighted. I think we’re wrapping up his sixteenth year on this planet in grand style. He deserves it.

Wow. I haven’t really done much around here, have I? I mean… yes, the music project. Which is much more fun to do now that I’m not dreading a weekly recording session, I should point out. So, what’s going on in my life and at random?

• Family drama levels are higher than usual, thanks to financial drama (as yet unresolved) coupled with younger rugrat drama (mostly resolved). One of these months I’ll be able to go without suffering panic attacks brought on by money issues… right?
• Summer has truly arrived. The air is often moist enough to drink and the heat is as oppressive as I ever want to deal with, thus my air conditioner is mounted and running most of the time when I’m in my room, awake or asleep. On the upside, I found a way to mount the rig which doesn’t bother me so much. Previously it was sort of hanging on by the strength of the sliding window structure itself. Now it’s considerably better balanced and braced, and I sleep much easier at night. Less stress is a very good thing.
• I’m still not seeing enough of my friends other than Kyla and the roomie. Some of this is my own damned fault for not making a point of pestering people to make plans, and some of this is due to extenuating circumstances. (Let’s say, somebody coming down with the Killer Death Crud? For weeks? Bah!)
• Apparently my domain still shows up on website blocking lists as pornography, as noted today by friend karawynn. I’m fairly certain that this is all thanks to The Imperial Princess of Cute and her cleverly-named “thingie.” Not much I can do about that, sorry. It’s not like I’m going to insist she change it at this late date.
• The new season of anime has begun and… I simply don’t care. Nothing on offer grabs my attention in the slightest. This is okay, however, as there’s still “Daughter of Twenty Faces” and “Allison To Lillia” and “Macross Frontier” and (yes, even) “Blassreiter” to finish off before autumn arrives. By the way? If you’re interested in moderately-mature discussion of current running anime series, I may have a forum for you.
• I’m starting to think that I need to ease up on the Twitter and start saving up material to post here. After all, the Twitter stuff isn’t under my control and doesn’t contribute to the journal archives. There’s also that whole pesky “if you don’t update very often you will continue to lose readers” thing…

I’m sure I forgot a few things. I also deliberately left out a few things that aren’t entirely fit for the public record. Such is the way of the little grey journal. It’s past my bedtime (I’m only up this late because it took longer than expected to come up with the track listing for this week’s Project) and I must get horizontal very soon.

Until next time, “Be excellent to each other.”

Not that she’s likely to notice this post, but I’m going to wish my sister a Happy Birthday anyway. She’s… well, let’s say “a handful of years” younger than I am, so I’ll always get to call her my “kid” sister. Ah, the joys of being the big brother!

Her only online presence is, of all things, a MySpace page. Sorry, but I’m not going to dignify that wretched hive of scum and villainy by making a direct link. If you’re familiar with those environs, her username is ‘goddesskiriel’. Feel free to send her birthday wishes and remind her that she should try to stay in touch with her family on occasion…