It's 117 degrees outside right now. It's my one day off this week, and I can't even really leave my room. I hate this country. There is absolutely nothing appealing about Iraq. And it's just starting to warm up. I'm dreading the days when it gets up to 140. At night it drops to a low of 90. Fucking 90! That's not a low. I think Allah is so prevalent here because God took one look at this hell hole and walked away.
I've been listening to music more than usual lately. It's one of the few escapes, however brief and fleeting it is. But I haven't been focusing on the heavy, I-want-to-rip-someone's-head-off music, but more on the music that I grew up with. A lot of STP and Seven Mary Three. I've been hooked on this era of music because of the memories linked to it. It's like almost every song that I have from the 90's has a specific memory attached to it. I been think a lot of home since I've been away, and reliving those days back in Ramona, and all my friends that I haven't seen in years.
Whenever I hear "Come out and Play" by Offspring, I think about David Artadi, and the first time I hung out with him at Camelot. It was raining that weekend, so we spent a lot of time in the cabin listening to CD's that I had brought, or sitting out by the "Lake" and fishing. Trying to ditch his annoying sister...
"Water's Edge", by Seven Mary Three, makes me think of David Jones, and all the time we spent listening to that album that summer, over and over. Sneaking out in the middle of the night, just to go walk around. We thought we were so slick, sneaking out without Mom and Dale catching us...
Almost any STP song reminds me of the road trips to Vacaville, when Miah and I would go see our Dad. I remember the countless hours I spent, creating mix tapes one song and CD at a time. Driving up I-5 in the Mustang, windows down and music blasting...
Listening to Nirvana makes me think of being in my room (the shed) during Christmas time, freezing my ass off, reading one of the countless fantasy books I had. I remember the eclectic X-mas light setup I had, and being bundled up, the smell of incense burning...
I remember that whenever I was angry, I would throw in an Alice in Chains album, and fume to the ragged crooning of Layne Staley. I still do that, to this day.
Listening to Bush brings back the color and feel of a mid-autumn day in Ramona. The warm, full sunlight, the smell of loam beneath the oak and eucalyptus trees. The color of the green grass slowly fading to brown.
I've been praised for my seemingly astounding ability to remember things. Conversations from years ago, random numbers, sounds and smells, events that I had witnessed, all with sparkling clarity. I think most of that ability comes from the triggers my mind sets. There was a time that I felt I could smell the seasons changing, all based of similar smells from seasons past. I'm just grateful that I have these memories that can be so easily retrieved. I miss Ramona, even though every time I go back, it's changed, and a little of my childhood seems to die. But I miss the quality of the sunlight in autumn, and the smell of the loam. I miss my friends, all the ones still there and all the ones that have stepped out of my life. If I could, I would move back there and raise my family there, because even now, I don't think there are too many better places to do that.
I've been listening to music more than usual lately. It's one of the few escapes, however brief and fleeting it is. But I haven't been focusing on the heavy, I-want-to-rip-someone's-head-off music, but more on the music that I grew up with. A lot of STP and Seven Mary Three. I've been hooked on this era of music because of the memories linked to it. It's like almost every song that I have from the 90's has a specific memory attached to it. I been think a lot of home since I've been away, and reliving those days back in Ramona, and all my friends that I haven't seen in years.
Whenever I hear "Come out and Play" by Offspring, I think about David Artadi, and the first time I hung out with him at Camelot. It was raining that weekend, so we spent a lot of time in the cabin listening to CD's that I had brought, or sitting out by the "Lake" and fishing. Trying to ditch his annoying sister...
"Water's Edge", by Seven Mary Three, makes me think of David Jones, and all the time we spent listening to that album that summer, over and over. Sneaking out in the middle of the night, just to go walk around. We thought we were so slick, sneaking out without Mom and Dale catching us...
Almost any STP song reminds me of the road trips to Vacaville, when Miah and I would go see our Dad. I remember the countless hours I spent, creating mix tapes one song and CD at a time. Driving up I-5 in the Mustang, windows down and music blasting...
Listening to Nirvana makes me think of being in my room (the shed) during Christmas time, freezing my ass off, reading one of the countless fantasy books I had. I remember the eclectic X-mas light setup I had, and being bundled up, the smell of incense burning...
I remember that whenever I was angry, I would throw in an Alice in Chains album, and fume to the ragged crooning of Layne Staley. I still do that, to this day.
Listening to Bush brings back the color and feel of a mid-autumn day in Ramona. The warm, full sunlight, the smell of loam beneath the oak and eucalyptus trees. The color of the green grass slowly fading to brown.
I've been praised for my seemingly astounding ability to remember things. Conversations from years ago, random numbers, sounds and smells, events that I had witnessed, all with sparkling clarity. I think most of that ability comes from the triggers my mind sets. There was a time that I felt I could smell the seasons changing, all based of similar smells from seasons past. I'm just grateful that I have these memories that can be so easily retrieved. I miss Ramona, even though every time I go back, it's changed, and a little of my childhood seems to die. But I miss the quality of the sunlight in autumn, and the smell of the loam. I miss my friends, all the ones still there and all the ones that have stepped out of my life. If I could, I would move back there and raise my family there, because even now, I don't think there are too many better places to do that.
let's go.
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