by During this self-imposed November challenge it has been especially rewarding to hear from old friends, several of whom I didn’t even know were following along until they commented. Here are some of their thoughts:
Excellent Media Experiences Eric in Austin writes: “I would cut two lawns on Saturdays and collect those checks before returning home, making myself a killer melt in the toaster oven, cracking a root beer and reading my favorite Sporting News columnists, who I realized were some of the country’s best sports writers culled from their local city papers. No one told me to do this: I liked sports, saw these publications in “The Smoke Shop” where I bought candies and comics, saved money for a subscription and then enjoyed (the SN would arrive Thursday, and I’d carefully consume it over the next week)….Today, to generalize, content is ever-present and often/always floods all around us. I have to muster my willpower to not look at my phone at night so I can reward myself with Yankees and NBA scores and analysis in the morning. I have to avoid texts and my son’s face if I’m going to make it to my morning enjoyment.
Eric continues: “I did not have my own stereo — a combination of lacking an older sibling, comparatively low musical passion (i.e., I was not into a specific genre at that point — would later get into some bad ones, e.g., hair metal) and lack of engineering aptitude. When I saw all the tubes, connections, wires and components on a classmate’s killer stereo I toned down my birthday and Christmas requests for a system. And then boomboxes happened and that’s what I jumped on.”
In My Room Mac in Nashville: “Some Girls – one of my favorites and in my opinion most underrated albums of all time.” Cath in Michigan replied earlier, “These kick so much ass I can hardly comment… But I must. The two best features: Rolling Stones Hot Rocks, and your drinking a Stroh’s.
Words x 46 Several of you wrote nice comments, some expressing surprise at the longevity of this journal. Bob in Austin loved the kitchen table image: “Stacks of history right there! My name’s in there somewhere.”
Sentimental Hygiene (Warren Zevon) Bill M in Indy, the last of the full-grown gentlemen, writes: “Just a note to say how much I am enjoying your daily installments. I especially connected with your take on the whole exhilaration of buying a new album and the spot on observation of how much of a douche most record store clerks were. Michael was all about the Zevon stuff.” For Michael, here’s an outtake from my initial Warren Z. thoughts:
“She has a young man waiting.” -Tenderness on the Block (1978)
“Tenderness,” co-written with Jackson Browne describes a pretty daughter coming of age quickly — “trying to run before she can walk” — and delivers this snapshot of paternal futility:
Daddy, don’t you ask her when she’s coming in
And when she’s home don’t ask her where she’s been
Three years later Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby,” brings us the point of view of “all the guys on the corner” from what could serve as the exact same night-on-the-town narrative:
I know I’m gonna know her
But I gotta get over my fright
Well, I’m just gonna walk up to her
I’m gonna talk to her tonight
“Somebody’s Baby” was Browne’s biggest chart hit (peaking at #7) and a bit of a disco-flavored afterthought for him when he contributed it for the “Fast Times” soundtrack, yet it and “Tenderness” seem like two sides of the same empowering/bleak coin.
Eugene My thanks to Steve W, who got in touch regarding both Brother Eugene and Jim Short. Here’s Steve on Brother Eugene: “I had detention once and he tapped me to drive him [instead] to the vacuum cleaner store for some repair parts. He was very watchful of the time and said he wanted to get back to MHS well before it ended so I could get out early as a reward for my service. Of course I’d have gladly done it even if it took all day. He was so much fun to be around.”
Steve is older. He was a neighborhood friend, a mentor to me when I chose to attend Memorial rather than Bosse, and he also worked at the DQ. Steve’s family had the area’s best basketball driveway+goal combo for serious pickup games that would last past sundown, into the chill of a Midwestern November evening (until my Mom would lean out our door and ring a cowbell!). He has also felt the sting of the unstoppable, Jim Short left-handed hookshot, i.e. “Trash!”
Steve also recalled Brother would pronounce “schedule” as, “shed-jewel”… Since writing the Eugene thing I was able to remember an additional, “matched pair” of terms from the Brother Eugene lexicon:
You’d enroll in his US History as a junior, and then as a senior you’d take Brother’s psychology class. Thus most seniors taking Psych were with Eugene for two years. However some became Eugene’s students only as seniors — after missing the junior-year history section with Eugene. He referred to these seniors directly as “The Neophytes,” in contrast to the rest of us, whom he called “Old-timers.”
ADDING 12/14/21: Someone pointed me to the Eugene edition of the Memorial fundraising periodical, Memories. Within are numerous remembrances and I wanted to single out a terrific story (which I’m going to paraphrase here): Eugene was also the school’s de facto COO. When the cafeteria chairs had reached the clear end of their usefulness in 1985, he ordered a couple hundred replacements — and hired a man to assemble all of them after school the same day they arrived, replacing the original/worn chairs for the next morning.
The assembly of each was straightforward; a new chair consisted of a molded plastic top mounted atop a tubular steel base. The next morning when the students in US History entered Eugene’s classroom, one of the assembled chairs was perched, on display, atop Brother’s desk at front.
Evidently, there were two possible ways to assemble the chairs: the first way placed the user in an uncomfortable position, having to lean back and brace his or her feet on the floor so as not to slide off.
The second way was the correct configuration.
All of the chairs had been assembled using the first approach. Brother calmly began the hour with the customary quick prayer for that class. However, instead of a history lesson that morning, Eugene took the opportunity to use the chair assembly to deliver an impromptu lecture. Its theme: “The merits and advantages of making smart decisions in life.”
Overtime (Basketball Extras) Here’s yet one more coaching idea, and it’s a great one that I am stealing from a coach I watched in person last weekend. (The Level here would be – Middle School and up): When the other team subs out their point guard, immediately PRESS. Have a hand signal or a one-word signal to let everyone know. Instant turnover!
Social Media & Other Diseases I wanted to and should also have included the following:
- Always be positive online. (Be a fountain, not a drain)
- Stay on message and fact-driven
- Unhealthy mindsets do not hijack yours
November Challenge Regarding James Kramer Short (1964-2004), I heard from people I hadn’t corresponded with in years and continue to hear about this entry. (So glad I published it, It was definitely 17 years in the making.) Many great stories of a brilliant young guy who left too soon. My thanks to friends Mac, Foz, Eddie, JC, Steve W, Barclay, Greg and others. Steve: “It made me a little sad but more so appreciative of the universe we lived in as kids.”
A Parting Thought I no longer remember dreams, but there are always exceptions. Early this month, I knocked on a door and Jim Short opened it. In the dream he was safe and sound, happy to see me and in his prime, probably 28-30 years old. He thanked me for the nice words about him that I had written. I said “you’re welcome,” and then I woke up.
RIP Debbie Hirsch (1964-2021). I’ve just heard the news.
Stuart Wade 
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