Like most families, Halloween and Christmas are big at our house.  Here, Lisa and the kids are on the Halloween side, while I'm with Santa.

I learned long ago not to try and convert any of them.  I think what happened at Disneyland once illustrates it best.  In one of the studios at California Adventure, you can use this machine to determine which hero or villain you are.

I was Tarzan.  All three of them were villains.

Oh, well.  They love me, anyway.

So as October winds down, I'm in a mad rush to get my Christmas station ready to go. Last year, I turned it on a little early, featuring Halloween songs up until November 1, and I may do that again, depending on how things go this week.

In the meantime, even though I've been listening to lots of new Christmas music to get ready (and figure out which new songs I'm going to add this year), I've tried to respect my family's love for the rapidly-approaching Autumn holiday.

So here's what shuffled out of my Halloween Playlist...

Danny Elfman "This Is Halloween"
Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear The Reaper"
Weird Al Yankovic "Attack Of The Radioactive Hamsters From A Planet Near Mars'
Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put A Spell On You"
The Dickies "Killer Klowns From Outer Space"
Brave Combo "Vampire Twist"
Jumpin' Gene Simmons "Haunted House"
Susan Sarandon "There's A Light Over At The Frankenstein Place'
David Bowie "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps"
Los Lobos "Grim Grinning Ghosts"

Are you getting in the spirit?  For either of these holidays?  I'm going to continue to try and prepare for both, as I much on this candy cane while trying to figure out where Lisa hid the Halloween candy...

Ken

I am now the Mayor of the Pacific Ocean.  At least, according to Foursquare.  If you don't know what Foursquare is, you can find out all about it HERE.   And if you're on Foursquare and want to connect, I'm the only Ken Kessler whose picture is a Christmas tree on a record.

I’ve been blogging, off and on, about trying to live my life as though I’d already won the lottery.  So much of it really seems to be about attitude, after that initial wave of rampant consumerism, of course.

While I would love to live in a huge, lottery-bought house on a magnificent stretch of private beach, I find that I really get a lot out of just taking an hour or so (sometimes even less, if that’s all I have), and just enjoy the sight.

It’s especially helpful after a string of days where I feel like I’ve been chained to my computers and my desk.  A little like Sir Paul said in “Band On The Run”, “Stuck inside these four walls, sent inside forever, never seeing no one.”  Well, I do get to see Lisa.  And the kids.  And various dogs.  And even the cat.  But you get the idea.

As long as I can remember, I’ve loved the ocean.  And while I’ve lived in a lot of places (check my Pinterest board if you want the details, almost every single one of them has been in a state that touched the ocean.  And all but one of those was the Atlantic. 

I was never Mayor of the Atlantic, though.  Probably because there was no Foursquare at the time.

For me, there is just something soul-soothing about the ocean.  It’s kind of like the way Danny Glover described the Grand Canyon in the movie of the same name.

“You ever been to the Grand Canyon? It’s pretty, but that’s not the thing of it. You can sit on the edge of that big ol' thing and those rocks, the cliffs and rocks are so old.  It took so long for that thing to get like that, and it ain't done either! It happens right there while you’re watching it. It’s happening right now as we are sitting here in this ugly town. When you sit on the edge of that thing, you realize what a joke we people really are.  What big heads we have, thinking that what we do is gonna matter all that much.  Thinking that our time here means diddley to those rocks. Just a split second we been here, the whole lot of us. That's a piece of time so small, it ain’t even get a name. Those rocks are laughing at me right now, me and my worries.  Yeah, it’s real humorous, that Grand Canyon. It’s laughing at me right now. You know what I felt like? I felt like a gnat that lands on the ass of a cow chewing his cud on the side of the road that you drive by doing 70 mph.”

I couldn’t find the clip on YouTube, so that’s pretty much from memory.  It may not be one hundred percent accurate, but you get the ‘gist of it.

I have some great memories of the Ocean.

I can remember catching a glimpse of it, as a kid, at Ocean View Amusement Park in Virginia.  You could see it, for a moment, when you rode the “Skyway” cars.  You could see more of it from the rollercoaster.

Much more recently, there was a trip to Virginia Beach with Lisa.  We were sitting in the hotel restaurant, and the sunrise sparkled on the water, shining like diamonds.

My family used to go to Myrtle Beach for vacations every summer, starting in the mid-70’s (I think).  Myrtle Beach was still a small town back then, and once you got out of the touristy downtown area, there wasn’t a lot.  It’s a hard to imagine that now, but I remember the second or third time we went, we stayed on “Condo row” and we were still too far away from the city to get pizza delivery.

Another time in Myrtle Beach, many years later, I brought my new family back east to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, siblings and their attachments and kids.  I went out on the patio of the condo where we were staying, and leaned against the rail to watch the waves.  Moments later, all on their own, my new daughter and son came out to join me.  That was a really nice five or ten minutes.

In high school, for junior-senior weekend, a bunch of us went to Atlantic Beach in North Carolina.  We were so excited when we got there that first night, that we ran out on the beach and broke out the Frisbee, only to sadly watch as it whirled out into the darkness somewhere over the equally dark waves.  Happy ending to that story, though, as I found it on the beach the next morning.

And when I lived in Florida, my brother and I went out past where either of us could stand, enjoying the sun, the surf and each other’s company.  When we came back in, everyone was pointing at the big dark shapes that were swimming in the waves between the beach and the sand bar.  Had we stayed out there much longer, they would have been between us and the shore.

I should add that we were both adults at the time.  At least chronologically. 

Another time in Florida, I reconnected with an old girlfriend, who I really thought I was going to marry.  We went out to Cocoa Beach (yes, the same place where Tony and Jeannie lived).  It was a clear night, and I think I saw a falling star out on the horizon.  The waves crashed on the shore in a kind of domino effect, sounding almost like a string of fireworks, pop-pop-popping from one end to the other.

There’s a place on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland called Thrasher’s.  All they make are French fries.  And they’re so good, people are lined up all day long to get them.

And just north of there, in Delaware, I stayed in a hotel that was so close to the water, when the tide came in, I literally felt like the waves were breaking right outside my window.

My first sunset on the ocean was with my cousin at Venice Beach.  It was overcast that day, but I still thought it was pretty cool.  I’d seen plenty of sunrises at the ocean, but never a sunset.  Depending where you are on the east coast, the sun usually sets behind the hotels, condos and other high-rises, so a lot of the beach can be in shadows by late afternoon.

I know for a lot of people, especially back east, the stereotypical image of Southern Californians is that we all live at or near the beach.  I know this because that’s what I always thought.

On a clear day, and there are a lot of them, you can see the ocean from our kitchen window.  But it’s a thin, shiny, kind of squiggly line on the horizon.  Comforting to know it’s there, but a letdown if you were buying the property because it said “ocean view” and that’s what you got.

By the way, you can't really see it in the picture, so don't hurt your eyes trying.
But I am extremely fortunate that, within about half an hour, I can be parked next to the ocean.

I can also pretend that I’m taking a CARE package to my son in college.  Here’s the view from the parking lot at his dorm.

Not a bad spot to sit and munch drive-thru, huh?  It can make a quarter-pounder taste like a steak!

Not only is the geography of the beaches on the Pacific much different than that on the Atlantic, the music associated with the beach is also very different.

In my first few trips to the beach on the left coast, I expected to hear the Beach Boys being piped in.  Back east, especially around the Carolinas, where I spent most of my life, beach music is different.  It’s a lot more Motowny than “Surfin’ Safari”, more Drifters than Jan and Dean.

In my first few trips to the beach on the left coast, I expected to hear the Beach Boys being piped in.  Back east, especially around the Carolinas, where I spent most of my life, beach music is different.  It’s a lot more Motowny than “Surfin’ Safari”, more Drifters than Jan and Dean.

They both mean the same thing to me, and that’s what I was listening to as I ambled along Sunset Cliffs Blvd, overseeing my constituents and basking in the glow of my new mayorship.

So here’s what shuffled out of my Beach Playlist…

First Class “Beach Baby”
Bruce Springsteen “Girls In Their Summer Clothes”
Sly and the Family Stone “Hot Fun In The Summer Time”
Seals and Crofts “Summer Breeze”
The O’Kasions “Girl Watcher”
Eddie Cochrane “Summertime Blues”
Janis Joplin “Summertime”
Rivieras “California Sun”
Go-Go’s “Vacation”
Jan and Dean “Surf City”

As I wish I had some of those hot, salty Thrasher's fries, I wish you some beach in your day, or whatever else gives you that just-won-the-lottery feeling!

Ken

P.S. – Hi Marvin!  It’s all there – the falling star, McCartney (from “Band On The Run”) and even some steak!

This is the 5th part of a five part travel blog, celebrating the seventh anniversary of the start of my new life.  If you want to read the other parts, and you really should, you can find them here --> Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

I was up, showered, checked out and back on the road by 3:30am, seven years ago today.  Once outside of Amarillo, getting up so early was an idea I immediately began to question.

Not only was there no traffic, but there was no anything.  For miles.  In every direction.  I barely even noticed passing into New Mexico, feeling a little like I was the last human on the planet.

In those pre-dawn hours, this looks much more desolate.

This was the first day of this trip that I didn't have a particular plan.  I thought I would get to Phoenix in the afternoon, hopefully before rush hour.  If I still felt okay, I'd press on.  If I was dying, I'd find a hotel somewhere.  Phoenix is big, and I didn't think it would be a huge problem finding a place with a vacancy.

The sun finally came up, and I saw signs of civilization.  I admit that because of Bugs Bunny, I was planning to stop for breakfast in Albuquerque.  Just to be able to say I did.  And since I was headed west, I could even say I took that left turn at Albuquerque.

I'm sure people have stopped in places for worse, or sillier, reasons.

I randomly selected an exit and pulled into the parking lot of a small shopping center.  It was about 9:00am and I'd been on the road already for over five hours.  So I treated myself to an actual restaurant, instead of drive-thru.

The Owl Cafe.  They were hopping that morning.  Even so, I didn't have to wait long for a table for one.  It was nice to think that the "table for one" days were coming to an end.

The other interesting thing about the Owl Cafe was that this was the first time I had been anywhere that had Chorizo and Eggs on the menu.  There's a movie called "Midnight Run" (Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin) that's one of those movies my family really latched onto.  It's a good movie, and really funny.  It also has a lot of bad language, so if you don't like that kind of thing, you shouldn't watch it.

Anyway, there's a scene where there's a discussion of Chorizo and Eggs.  That was the first time I'd ever heard of it, and I'd never seen it on a menu anywhere.  So I had to order it.

For those who don't know, Chorizo is a Mexican sausage.

It was good, and if you're ever in Albuquerque, I recommend the Owl Cafe.

After a leisurely breakfast, I left the restaurant and saw that there was a Target nearby.  It was a Tuesday.  That's typically when new music releases come out.

Yes, that's the actual Target at that exit in Albuquerque.

I wandered over and not only did they have the one CD in particular that I was looking for, but they also had a second CD that I was sure wasn't coming out until the next Tuesday.

You didn't think the Christmas music thing was something new, did you?

I popped these two into my CD-changer and headed back out on the road.  The new music reinvigorated me, and the miles flew by.

The Grand Canyon!  I hadn't even thought about that!  I thought long and hard about taking a side-trip.  After all, I could still get to Phoenix by that night.

But as much as I wanted to play tourist, I wanted to get to Lisa and California much more.  So I passed all the exits and signs for the Grand Canyon and kept going.

Gassed up again during a brief, cold rain in Flagstaff.  I had thought it was always hot in Arizona.  And a dry heat, at that.  But I was lucky that this was the first bad weather I'd encountered on the drive, and it was brief, anyway.

I was starting to think that maybe Phoenix would be it for the day.  While I really wanted to get to Lisa, I also wanted to get to her alive.  And I was dragging.  I even started to convince myself that, if I stopped in Phoenix, I could still get up early the next day and be in San Diego by lunch, if not earlier.

Then I talked to Lisa.  And she told me how her mom (my future mother-in-law) had remarked that if I was going to get all the way to Phoenix, I should just go the rest of the way, since it really wasn't that much further.

And there it was.  I had to go on, now. 

So I got to Phoenix, and kept on going.

I got around the city close to 4:00pm, so I was able to beat most of the traffic.  I figured once I got past the city, I'd find somewhere to grab a bite and some caffeine.  Unfortunately, once you get past Phoenix, there's not a lot.  In fact, there were a few times, during that first hour after Phoenix, that I seriously considered turning around and finding a hotel for the night.

But I kept going.  And as the sun started to sink behind the mountains, I made it to Yuma, which is a small town right on the border of Arizona and California.

I was so relieved to finally be in California!  I wasn't sure what there was between Yuma and my final destination, so I exited and pulled into a Jack In The Box.  How very Californian!  There are even Palm Trees!

With my body and my car refueled, I got back on the highway.  I tried to pick up one of the radio stations Lisa listened to, but I was still too far away, so it was back to Brian Wilson and Brian Setzer.

As I drove, I had that stereotypical idea of California that I should soon be able to see the ocean on the horizon.  Crossing mountain after mountain, all I saw was more mountains.

Then the sun sank and fog rolled in.  Maybe it was a cloud.  The elevation was pretty high.  Exhaustion really started to take it's toll, and I found myself gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter.  It was almost like some movie, with the fog coming right up to the edge of the highway.  I started to worry it would cover the road, and I'd wind up driving off the side of the mountain, never to be heard from again.

That last maddening stretch took the better part of three hours.  With visibility reduced, I couldn't drive nearly as fast as I wanted.  But soon, the fog started to dissipate, and I saw signs for my exit.  I almost couldn't believe that just four days before, I had been in Washington DC, and now I was pulling into the driveway of my new life.

And now I find it hard to believe that it's already been seven years.

I've lived in a lot of places.  In part, because that's the nature of radio; you're hired to be fired.  But I did the math recently and realized that, not only is today the seventh anniversary of the start of my new life with Lisa, but it also marks the longest I've ever lived at one particular address!

San Diego.  Where it's almost always sunny, except when we have a slight chance of a cloud.  You can click that, by the way, and see my Pinterest board of all the places I've lived.  Well, most of them, anyway.

Seven years.  I am so glad I finally got here.  I've been fortunate enough to have gotten lots of hugs over my life, especially during the last seven years, but the one that I got that night, seven years ago tonight, was my favorite.
'
In honor of the anniversary of my becoming a Californian, and because I listened to Brian Wilson quite a lot that day, some Beach Boys seems appropriate.  So here's what shuffled out of my Beach Boys' Playlist...

"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
"Sloop John B"
"Help Me Rhonda"
"California Girls"
"Surfin' Safari"
"Good Vibrations"
"God Only Knows"
"In My Room"
"Be True To Your School"
"Catch A Wave"
"I Can Hear Music"

Anyway, I hope you have something to celebrate today, and I really hope you have someone to celebrate with.

And Lisa, thanks for welcoming me in seven years ago.  And thanks in advance for the next seven.  And the seven after that.  Infinity.

Ken

This is Part 4 of my move west to start a new life.  You can find the previous posts here --> Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

I left St. Louis around sunrise.  I was hoping once again to have a lot of miles under my belt before I talked to Lisa that morning.

I also really wanted a breakfast biscuit from Hardee's.  BoJangle's would have been even better, but I was pretty sure I was out of their geographic range.  I didn't have Yelp or any other apps.  Or even a smartphone.  And I passed a few exits, hoping what I wanted would be just a little further on up the road.

I was also a little distracted, again, as the sun came up in my rearview mirror, over the Ozarks.  Another rare time I wish I had my camera. 

This picture really doesn't do it justice, but that's a little of what I was seeing roll away behind me as I headed west.  Add in some brighter colors, a bluer sky and the sun just up over the horizon, and you'd have a better idea of what I was seeing.

I was also a little distracted because I was really close to Hannibal, Mark Twain's home town.  Twain has always been one of my favorites, and if it wasn't out of my way, I probably would have stopped for an hour or three.

But I was a traveler, and not a tourist, and I was much more anxious to get to Lisa than to see Tom Sawyer's fence.

So I drove on.

As the sun went higher and the miles went by, I gave up hope of Hardee's, drove through a McDonalds and found a gas station.  Refueled and caffeinated, I got back on the road.

Eventually, I crossed out of Missouri, skirting the corner of Kansas and went into Oklahoma.

Since I had gone through so many states the day before, it was somewhat of a relief to finally get to a new one on this Monday seven years ago.  Since I was going diagonally across the state, I was going to be there for a while.  But at least I was out of Missouri, so it seemed like progress.

I consulted the AAA triptych and decided I'd go past Tulsa and keep going to Oklahoma City before I stopped for lunch.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I was really dragging by the time I realized that maybe it wasn't the best idea.

I decided I needed to get off the road for a bit when I did get to Oklahoma City, and exited at a busy looking area where I thought I could sit down to a real meal, where someone would bring me lots of iced tea.

I found a Lonestar Steakhouse, and could see a Best Buy on the street behind it.  So I stopped for a mid-afternoon steak, and then planned to add a couple new CDs to my player.

The first part of the plan went fine.  Great food and service.  I even fired up my laptop and checked my email.  It took a little longer than I really wanted it to, but I needed to break.

Road construction kept me from being able to get to the Best Buy, so I started my CDs over again and got back on the highway.

This was not the sign that greeted me as I crossed into Texas.  I kind of like it, though.  And for many who've never been to Texas, this is probably what you'd expect.

It was about another hundred miles before I was done for the day, and I got to Amarillo just as the sun was going down.  Exhausted (and possibly a little cranky), I weaved through traffic, driving directly into the white hot rays of the setting sun.

I checked in and called Lisa.  My plan was to get on my laptop, find my next stop and get some sleep.  I'd had a steak for a late lunch and really didn't feel like going back out to forage for food.  Lisa made me promise I'd eat something, so I got some peanut butter and cheese crackers from the vending machine and called it a night.

My plan was to make it to Phoenix the next day.  If I left early enough, I could get there around dinner time.  And then there would be just one more trip to go.

I looked at my triptych again.  It only looked like another four or five hours to San Diego.  After all I'd already done, that didn't seem to be out of the question.  I didn't want to say anything to Lisa about it, just in case I was too tired by the time I got to Phoenix.  Sorry if I just put that song in your head.

So I asked for a wake-up call at a ridiculous time of the morning.  And for the only night I've ever spent in Texas, I didn't see any sites or get any barbecue.  Instead, I fell asleep just as "Two And A Half Men" was coming on.

I didn't have any ZZ Top in my road collection of CDs, but for some reason, I couldn't help but think of that little ol' band from Texas as I started to write this.  So here's what shuffled out of my ZZ Top Playlist...

"Just Got Paid"
"Concrete And Steel"
"Tush"
"Backdoor Medley"
"My Head's In Mississippi"
"Burger Man"
"Gimme All Your Lovin'"
"I Gotsa Get Paid"
"La Grange'
"Vincent Price Blues"

Had I know when I went to sleep that I was seriously considering driving a thousand miles on that next day, I might have done things differently the next day. 

Might have.

Ken

Welcome to part 3, as I celebrate the 7th anniversary of the beginning of my new life.  If you missed the earlier parts, you can find the first HERE and the second HERE.

I don't remember just how early I woke up seven years ago this morning, but I quickly checked out, gassed up and got on the road.

For those who aren't familiar with the geography, there's spike or panhandle at the top of West Virginia that sticks up between Pennsylvania and Ohio.  That was some of the most beautiful country I've ever driven through.

It's almost distracting, the breath-taking explosions of color as the leaves were all changing.  This is one of the few instances when I really wished I'd had a camera.  Of course, if I had, I would have been even more distracted, and might not have ever finished the trip.

I was able to do what I wanted, and crossed over into Ohio before I talked to Lisa that morning.  Moving off the eastern seaboard and into the Midwest made me feel like I was really on my way!

I lived in Cincinnati for a few years in the 1990's, and briefly thought about taking a slight detour, but as much as I would've liked to have gotten some Skyline chili and Graeters ice cream, I mostly wanted to get to California already.

So I continued heading west.

I'm pretty sure this happens to everyone, but it seemed like I spent the longest part of my journey that day driving across Indiana.  I'm sure that was just in my head, and I certainly don't mean any disrespect to Indianans.  Maybe I was just spoiled by waking up in Pennsylvania, and quickly going in and out of West Virginia, then talking to Lisa as I made my way across Ohio.

Next was Illinois, and I semi-pondered another detour.  I really love Chicago, and would love to have stopped to see the sites.  But Chicago was WAY off in the other direction.  It would easily have added an extra day to my trip.  And I was much too anxious to get to my new life.

I didn't really have that long to think about it, as I wasn't traveling across that much of Illinois.

And then I was finally in Missouri!  This was my last state for the day.  All I had to do was drive around St. Louis and I'd be done.  Since it was Sunday night, I thought it would be best to stay at a hotel on the other side, so I wouldn't have to fight St. Louis traffic on Monday morning.

By the way, you can see the famous St. Louis Arch from pretty far away.  For a while, it almost seemed like a mirage, and that even if I sped up, I still wasn't getting any closer to it.  I was also fortunate in that the National League Championship Series was going on, and even though the Cardinals were home, playing the Astros in game 4 of the series, I got in, around and out of St. Louis without dealing with Championship traffic.

Found my hotel, just west of the city, and then took some time for a treat.  I didn't want to stay out late, going to one of St. Louis' famous blues clubs.  Well, I did, but I knew it would be tough to get going early if I did.

But I certainly wasn't going to stop in St. Louis and not have ribs!

The night before, in Pennsylvania, when I had gotten online to find a hotel, I also looked up ribs.  The internet informed me that one of the best places in St. Louis was a barbecue joint called Charlotte's Rib (named for a local TV celebrity).  I was glad I did the research, as I heard someone asking the guy at the front desk for suggestions, and he told them he didn't know as he wasn't from the area.

I admit I had misgivings when I drove into the strip mall parking lot.  It seemed out of the way, and a little too ordinary.  I mean, I kind of expected more from one of the best rib places in St. Louis.  Something more ostentatious.  Maybe with a giant pig out front.

I needn't have worried.

The ribs were truly outstanding, and the seasoned fries were delicious, yet unlike any I'd ever had (and almost anyone can tell that I've had plenty).  Not to turn this into a restaurant review (seven years later), but if you're ever in St. Louis, you should put Charlotte's Rib high on your list of things to do.

I found my way back to the hotel, booked my next stop and said goodnight to Lisa.  I was now half a country closer!

Seems like I should have been listening to the blues on the way to St. Louis, but one of my most vivid memories of this leg of the trip is crossing a bridge in West Virginia, marveling at the spectacular display nature was providing me, and hearing "Telegraph Road" coming out of my car's speakers.  I may very well be the only person who connects Dire Straits to West Virginia.

Here's what shuffled out of my Dire Straits' playlist as I wrote this...

"Skateaway"
"So Far Away"
"Telegraph Road"
"Down To The Waterline"
"Romeo and Juliet"
"Sultans Of Swing"
"Twisting By The Pool"
"Heavy Fuel"

Only three states tomorrow, but more miles than I'd ever driven in one day.  Time for a nap!

Ken

This is part 2 of 5.  You can catch Part 1 right here!  In case you want to know what's going on.  There won't be a test.

When I left off, the night of 10/14 was turning into the morning of 10/15. 

That last night at work dragged by.  My car was packed, down in the parking garage, and when 10:00am finally came I was ready to roll!

Then I started remember half a million things I needed to do at work.  I wasn't exactly leaving; I was transitioning.  A better job, with better pay, but with the same organization.

I was lucky.

I worked for a radio network, writing and producing for their morning show.  When I went in to give notice, the show didn't want to lose me, so they made a deal to hire me directly (with help, actually, from my soon-to-be former boss).

This almost never happens in radio.  I really was very lucky.

So I needed a ton of things off of my work computer, which in my haste to get everything else done, I'd completely forgotten about.  If you've moved from one city to another even once, I'm sure you can relate.

I spent more time than I wanted to, loading up an external hard drive with all my stuff.  In my over-excited state, I made dumb mistakes and this took much longer than I wanted it to.  Or than it needed to.

Finally, I was able to toss it, my laptop and my headphones into my car, and finally hit the road.

I had tried to plan as best I could, knowing I'd get a late start.  And that I'd be tired.  So that first day, seven years ago, I had a short goal.  I just wanted to get out of the states where I'd been living, so I could really feel like my new life was beginning.

I had worked in DC, first living in Maryland and then in Virginia.

I was exhausted, forced to stop at a Hardee's to load up on Dr. Pepper.  The jolt of sugar and caffeine helped me keep going.  And then I passed the sign that instantly reinvigorated me.

It's hard to describe how good that felt.  Suddenly, it all seemed real.  The old life was back there in my rearview mirror, and I was really on my way.

I chased the last rays of sunlight west, and briefly considered dumping my plan and going further that first day.  The lack of sleep started to take its toll, though, and once I started seeing signs for Pittsburgh I was ready to call it a day.

When I was three-going-on-four, we lived in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, which is just outside of Pittsburgh.  I don't remember much about it.  In fact, I only remember two things clearly.

I remember that one night in the winter, there was a deer standing in the snow on our front lawn.  This is not that deer.  Or our lawn.  But he (or she) did look right at us, watching from behind the curtains inside, and then took off into the nearby woods.  Which looks like what this deer is about to do.

The other thing I remember is that my favorite show was Sid and Marty Kroft's H.R. Pufnstuf.  If I remember right, in the episode pictured above, Jimmy was trying to get off the island and go home, and the witch was after Freddie.

Obviously, with images of snowy deer and talking flutes in my head, it was time to get off the road.

So I did.

I had a reservation at a Hampton Inn just off the highway, checked in and got on my laptop to book my next night's stay.  My plan was to get up at the crack of dawn and get to St. Louis in time for dinner.

I was also talking to Lisa often on my cell as I traveled, and wanted to at least be in Ohio by the time she woke up the next morning.

I listened to a lot of Maroon 5, Dashboard Confessional and Styx on that first day.  The Styx was actually Dennis DeYoung, performing the Music of Styx with an orchestra.  Amazingly, I didn't get sick of any of the music on this trip.  In part, because I had so many CDs with me, but also, I think it was due to how excited I was to be on this journey.

I've liked Styx for a long time.  Their music used to remind me of good times in high school (when Paradise Theater and Kilroy Was Here came out).  Now, a lot of what I hear from them reminds me of an October evening in Pennsylvania, when I was driving toward the sunset, toward Lisa and toward my new life in California.

So here's what shuffled out of my Styx playlist as I wrote this...

"Light Up"
"Crystal Ball"
"Best Thing"
"Lady"
"Renegade"
"The Grand Illusion"
"Too Much Time On My Hands"
"Not Dead Yet"
"Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)"
"Sing For The Day"
"Snowblind"
"High Time"

A little over 600 miles to go tomorrow.  I better get some rest!

Ken

This week, and this week only, I'm going to do something a little different. 

My life dramatically changed seven years ago.  For the better.  I didn't have a smartphone then.  Or a blog.  Or even a MySpace page.

Even so, many of the details are still very vivid.  It's not exactly live-blogging.  It's more like live-reflective-blogging.  Then again, that's kind of what a lot of blogging is, so maybe it's just blogging.

At the time, I was living in Northern Virginia, looking forward to shedding my old life.  Especially since I had a new life waiting for me in California.

Here's where I stayed that last night, seven years ago tonight.

It was nice, but it didn't really matter.  I had a deal and they had a vacancy.  It was very pretty, and at this time of year there were beautiful autumn colors and falling leaves.  I had a nice dinner in the bar, and the room was great.

I was too excited to sleep much, though.  And I had to get up at night to go into work.  My job was from 2:00am to 10:00am.  I was training someone new, though my mind was on the road, over the hill and far away.  Very far away.

I was exhausted but also really exhilarated.  While I wasn't quite hallucinating bright blue horses and shiny yellow dinosaurs (or even hephalumps and woozles), I was constantly thinking about my stuffed Saturn in the parking garage, and my AAA triptych on the passenger seat.

For some reason, as I think back on this, the J. Geils Band song "Musta Got Lost" is stuck in my head.  While I didn't get lost, at any point on this journey, I did feel like I had been lost before this, and had been for a very long time.

I had a ten-disc CD changer in my car at the time, but didn't take any J. Geils Band with me.  But I did have that player filled, and a box of CDs in the trunk, to keep me entertained.

I'll get into that music tomorrow, on the officially anniversary of the start of this trip.  In the meantime, here's what shuffled out of my J. Geils Band playlist...

"(Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party"
"Looking For A Love"
"Angel In Blue"
"Sanctuary"
"Come Back"
"I Do"
"Land Of A Thousand Dances"
"Whammer Jammer"
"Musta Got Lost'
"Just Can't Wait"
"Stoop Down #39"

Many of those are actually quite appropriate, but that's just a coincidence.

Leg 1 of the trip starts tomorrow!

Ken

P.S. - Hi Marvin!  It's all there - over the hill and far away. bright blue horses and falling leaves!

It's Orson Welles fault that "The War of the Worlds" (by H.G. Wells) became a Halloween tradition.  His Halloween 1938 broadcast panicked the population, as many truly believed we were being invaded.

Almost forty years later, Jeff Wayne put together a fantastic musical version, narrated by Richard Burton and featuring Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), David Essex and Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy).

This one is my tradition.

Every year, as the calendar turns from September to October, I break out my double CD (which replaced the cassettes I made of the records in the 80's).  A slight chill in the night air (even in San Diego) and the sounds of a Martian invasion mean Halloween to me.

I was excited to hear recently that Jeff Wayne is revisiting this project with an all-new cast for 2012.

This new one stars Liam Neeson in Richard Burton's role, with Gary Barlowe (Take That), Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs) and Joss Stone!

While I am looking forward to that, which is due out around Thanksgiving this year, I will always love the original!

No shuffling today.  I've been listening to it straight through.  And the album has been posted on MySpace, so even if you don't have it, you can listen, too.

You can click on the above picture, which will take you to a MySpace page where you can listen (and even buy it if you want)!

And remember, just because they said the chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, they still come!

Ken

I was 15 in 1980, when John Lennon turned 40.

It was exciting, as one of my favorite Beatles was releasing a new album.  I say "one of" because, from time to time, each have been my "favorite".  But I was a kid and I was a Beatles fan, so I was sure that since John was coming out of retirement, it meant there was a chance they would get back together.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt that way.  And since I was 15, I didn't understand anything about the reasons they split up, or what they had each done on their own during the 70's.  It just seemed obvious to me that this was a new beginning, and that we just might be close to new Beatles music!

Again, I was 15.  And even though, as a teenager, I knew everything, I really didn't know anything.

"Double Fantasy" came out, and I was a little disappointed.  John was really on only every other song, while Yoko had the other ones.  I didn't know that, at the time, John had had enough of all the harassment in the press about him and his wife, so he'd decided that they would always be photographed together and that his albums would also be half hers.

There weren't CDs back then, so listening to the album meant listening to the whole album.  Or getting up every three or four minutes to skip songs, which risked scratching the record.

My feelings toward that album changed a lot a couple months later, when we lost John.  And even though it's been thirty-two years, I still feel a little sad at the sound of those first three tings of the triangle at the beginning of "(Just Like) Starting Over".

I don't want to turn John into some kind of saint, though I know that's the tendency when we lose someone young, with so much promise and potential never realized.  Certainly there would have been more music.  Would there have been that fab reunion?  Would we have had the chance to see John on tour?  Would he have made the shift into the MTV generation of the 80's?

And what about today?  Would he still be recording?  Maybe performing with one or both of his sons?  Would he be a judge on "American Idol"?

There was no Facebook in 1980.  No Internet.  Even so, John has a presence here.  There's an official website, where you can read about John, watch videos and even buy stuff.

There are also official Facebook and Twitter pages.  He even has his own YouTube channel!

There's also a website with a live video feed from the Imagine Peace Light Tower in Iceland.  While John may or may not have been involved with an online store or social media site, this seems like something he would have done.  Not only does that site have the video feed, but there's a rotating image of the Earth, showing spots where others are viewing that page, all over the globe.

John would have been 72 today.  That's a little hard for me to wrap my brain around.  I'm already older than he ever got to be.  And so is Julian.

I'm doing my best to celebrate John today, and not mourn.  He gave us such amazing gifts during his career, with and without the Beatles.

Happy Birthday, John.

So here's what shuffled out today from my John Lennon playlist...

"Working Class Hero"
"Hound Dog" (live)
"#9 Dream"
"Power To The People"
"Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out"
"Instant Karma (We All Shine On)"
"I Saw Her Standing There" (live with Elton John)
"Mind Games"
"Ain't That A Shame"
"Nobody Told Me"

Ken

It's been one of those weeks.

You ever have those?  When everything is so jam-packed and busy that it's a flurry to Friday, and when you get there, you feel like you got zero accomplished during the week?

Maybe it's just me.

It's funny.  I've really been enjoying getting reconnected to so much of the music I love.  And as the week came to an end, I had this feeling of being overwhelmed.  To the point where I almost couldn't figure out what I wanted to listen to.

That probably sounds silly.  But as I get ready for the annual re-launch of my Christmas station (www.SoundsofChristmas.com), I feel like I'm listening to so much that when I carve out half an hour for myself, I'm not even sure what I want to hear.

Those are just my Christmas CD's.

I don't think it's ambivalence.  I think it's more of trying to make that thirty minutes count.  It feels like the other 23 1/2 hours of the day are spoken for, but this half hour belongs to me.  So how do I want to spend it, before I plunge back into the fray?

In the last month or so, since I started blogging more, I've built over sixty playlists.  Some by genre.  Some by artist.  Some by time period.  A couple are just particular albums that I still love, from start to finish.
 
It's like a trap.  I worry that I'll use up my free time listening to one band, when I could've been listening to another.  Or I could've been listening to my 2000's playlist instead of hearing the Rolling Stones for the umpteenth time.  Then again, maybe I feel like playing something comfortable and familiar like the Stones.  Or the Who.  Or even Billy Joel.  Maybe some classic blues.  Or a trip back to high school with that '80's playlist.

Then there's the danger that the indecision takes too long, and I listen to nothing.  Choosing not to decide is still a choice.  Maybe I should listen to Rush.

There's a chance I didn't get enough sleep this week.

Finally, since today is his birthday, I decided on Steve Miller. 

Maybe that's a silly way to figure out what I was going to play, but if you knew how your favorite radio stations really chose their playlists, you wouldn't ridicule me.  Probably.

So here's what shuffled out of my Steve Miller Band playlist...

"Fly Like An Eagle"
"Jungle Love"
"Gangster Of Love"
"Quicksilver Girl"
"I Want To Make The World Turn Around"
"Hey Yeah"
"Dance, Dance, Dance"
"Heart Like A Wheel"
"Wild Mountain Honey"
"Rock Me Baby"
"Abracadabra"

Hope you had a great week, and are able to make some time to reflect on the pompatus of love!

Ken