I Will Never Tire Of These Three Things - Part 1

After we account for our families and close friends; our jobs and our homes, we are all defined by our stuff.  Not the material stuff, although some of us are “in there like swimwear” as my brother once put it; I mean the stuff we love.   There was too much time in my youth spent categorizing and complaining about all the stuff I did not like.  No one cared, no one should care, and it took precious time away from me finding other cool stuff.  With gray hair comes the wisdom of appreciation.   Now, I find all this stuff that has been around for years is part of my little story.  What everyone else thinks about it is of no concern; but I enjoy detailing these things just the same.  There are just things, it seems, I will always love.

Fried Chicken.  I have talked about fried chicken so much that an outsider would assume I weigh 600 pounds.  I do not.  Since I was a little kid, no meal has excited me more than fried chicken.  I used to have a recurring dream that I was pushed into a giant vat of fried chicken and I have to eat my way out. Steak, barbecue, duck, gumbo, Italian food, Mexican food, all take a back seat to fried chicken.  Words fall short of how I feel when I take a bite into that crunchy, juicy insanely delectable meat.  This is one of the many reasons I feel bad for vegetarians.  They miss out on this sweet treat of fried glory.  When I was a kid, my brother and I could knock out a 20-piece box of Popeye’s in an evening.  Now, with my wife’s perfected a recipe of her own, the leftovers must be wrapped and put away after dinner or I will sneak back for seconds or thirds.  I am at its mercy.  This is why my servings of the stuff only come every four or five weeks.  I’d be dead otherwise. 

Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique. For me, Pauls’ Boutique marks the true beginning of choosing music for myself.  I had been a classic rock fan in the eighties; forgoing most of the music of the decade with a few exceptions. In 1990 or so, most of my music collection was by artists that were my parents’ age. Whatever I did latch onto in my teenage years that was targeted to my age group I picked up and quickly set back down.  I listened to the first Beastie Boys record just like everyone else.  It was super-fun, but it was temporary and without an immediate follow-up most people though the group disappeared with ALF and Max Headroom. 

I read a review in Rolling Stone and they gave Paul’s glowing praise.  The Beastie Boys have glowing praise?  I bought the cassette the next day.  The tape itself was blue, the group was now on their own label through Capitol and to that point it was nothing  like I had ever heard before.  The hip hop was there, but there were more cultural references than a Dennis Miller special. Original musicianship mixed with classic rock beats, the Eagles and busy signals, the Psycho theme and funk, it was so layered and detailed.  I listened to that cassette for weeks, maybe years. I included it in mix tapes and mix CD’s.  In fact, there has not been more than a month or to in my life where I have not checked in and listened to at least something from that album in 25 years.  I really love all the Beastie Boys discography; but something about Paul’s Boutique hit me just the right way at just the right time.

The last half-hour of The Shawshank Redemption. TNT plays The Shawshank Redemption all the time.  We all know it.  We know how it is now an American classic.  It was overlooked when it was originally released and how it was a launching pad for Morgan Freemans’ narration career.  I love the ending so much.  It could be my favorite ending of anything.  My guess is that I have seen the whole movie two or three times, but I have seen the ending through cable reruns about fifteen times over the years.  I will pause the scene where Andy sits in his cell with the rope and waits for the lights to go out and it will stay paused until I have my chores done.  Everything that happens afterward is movie perfection.  The beautiful scene at the end of the rock wall in the Maine summertime…it is the best.  Wouldn’t you like to have a treasure buried for you right there?    I think I could watch that over and over 100 more times and still be emotionally affected.  One more thing that I can’t let go of that teaches me a little about myself.