my first rock album was jimmy eat world's self titled
master piece. their hit song, the middle, was what
caught my attention. in the days of sony walkman's
and nick-at-nite, buying the album was the only way
i could get the song i wanted. i fell in love with riffs
and bridges, odd keyboard sounds and guitar solos.
catchy lyrics like, "if you don't, well honey, then you
don't," made lasting impressions on me. i rocked out
on air guitar every word and note of authority song.
i played and over played that album on my silver,
2-disc emerson. and to this day, i can still pick it
up and fall right back in love with those first words
of bleed american.
"i'm not alone because the tv's on now/i'm not crazy
because i take the right pills"
my first glimpse of true literature was a book called
the giver by lois lowry. it was on the AR list at the
middle school and had recieved such high reviews
that my mom bought me a copy of my own. it took
me a few months to actually pick it up and begin
the journey into that, what i imagined, sepia colored
community. imagery, sounds, tastes, touches, every
aspect of my creative imagination ran wild. from
those pages, i learned more about how a great novel
transports one into a completely different dimention.
places i never thought i could go were opened up
for my pleasure. unfortunately, the spine of the mass-
market paperback was broken due to opening it
just a little too strongly... but the pages have never
been turned down, and the cover looks brand new.
what amazes me just as much as the story itself is
the smell. the smell of those pages takes me back
to the 8th grade when i was in love with my best
guy friend, when i had finally learned all the lyrics
to jimmy eat world, and i was developing some
sort of fashionable look for myself. things were
changing, and those were the best and worst
moments of my early teen years. sure the hormones
were awkward, and i didn't really know how to
wear my makeup properly, and i couldn't date...
but i was opened up to what the world had to
offer, whether good or bad, i experienced a lot
of both sides of this crazy universe. i developed
a free mind, a free will, an intuition. i learned
new words (good and bad ones), i met new
people, i liked different music, i became a little
bit of what i am today.
that music spawned my odd flavor for pop-
punk and soft-rock, and that book showed me
how to capture my reader and create intense
plots.
it amazes me how just two small things can help
make a person who they are.
salt, sweat, sugar on the asphalt.
books
