A LOT HAS HAPPENED TODAY, considering that I didn’t wake up until one this afternoon.
Alright, it’s not my fault I slept in as late as I did. I stared at this computer screen until six and didn’t fall asleep until eight. My sleep schedule is so out of whack, I am slowly becoming convinced that I am part robot, part bat, part crazy semi-insomniac chai-inhaling hyena. Or something.
After a pizza party with my good ol’ softball team this afternoon, I had a bit of time to kill and wound up at the Goodwill. This second-hand store has appropriately been dubbed “The Rich Poor Store” by thrifting friends and I because of their sickly overpriced apparel and household items. I don’t expect a pair of pants with conspicuous stains to come for free; then again, they shouldn’t be $6, either. Not that I was considering purchasing something with a questionable spot on it, but you get the point.
Today I was delighted to come across a slightly retro and somewhat nostalgic collection of cassette tapes. Among them: Madonna, Whitney Houston, TLC, Paula Abdul, Boyz II Men, even my good brother Yanni that used to ring through the Christen house in my younger days. I feel remorse for cassette tapes, because much like their second-cousin the VHS, they are near obsolete. No one sees a cassette and thinks, “OY! I gotta have that for my Walkman!” No. You know what cassettes are good for? Paperweights, art projects, space-wasting, and dust-collecting. They suck as bookmarks. They don’t even taste good on a sandwich.
It makes me really sad to see these things, you know? It’s not like they had any clue Steve Jobs and Dee VeeDee were going to come along and make their lives miserable. I mean, really. You don’t see me stealing wheelchairs from the nursing home. Same difference! These things were brought into the world to make life more bearable. They were awesome in 1990. They can’t help it that they suck!
What does one do in this scenario, seeing a helpless heap of audiocassettes? Keep the dream alive. Paula Abdul was in my hands, and I “Straight Up” just about bought her. Then I noticed something a little farther down on the rack, a little ditty titled “The Joshua Tree” by a small Irish group named something like “U2.” I could recall listening to this soundtrack a hundred times, more notably falling asleep to it’s smooth melodies on a car ride to the cities.
Thoughts upon the siting:
a) “HEY BONO HEY!”
2) “I think I have a tape player in my car.”
iii) “How much am I willing to pay for this?”
6) “This is totally going against everything my new iPod stands for.”
Alas, an album with three hits and a place on Rolling Stones’ Greatest list has no home at the Goodwill. It’s like seeing Prince hanging out at a cesspit. What the heck? You have no idea how it happened, you just know it isn’t right.
I gladly slapped down $0.54 for the cassette, to a cashier who nodded her head in agreement of my purchase. Upon retreating to my vehicle I was quickly soothed by the blissful chords of In God’s Country and Where the Streets Have No Name.
In other excitement: A wonderful Christmas present from my sister, who has a God-given talent of wonderful gift-giving. Among the goods were this t-shirt (to wear if life is getting me down), this collection of short stories (praised by David Sedaris), and this awesome, awesome book (by David Sedaris’s quirky sister!) A gift so wonderful that is made me feel twice as bad for getting her a pair of shoes that she already had for Christmas. Yikes! Thanks, Kace — !
So, today’s awesome:
0. Pizza Part-ay
1. U2 cassette
ii. Hospitality Under the Influence
c. The Jaws of Life
4. Loving Life shirt
9. Epic coffee outing with one M. Field (Holla)!
and 10. Seventy-four days until European extravaganza! Eeeeyay!
That’s all for tonight —
xo
jc
approximatelyes.com 