It took me about 10 song shuffles to find my groove while working out tonight.
I was on the bike and peddling like a wussy until I found some Dylan and then I just snapped into it. "Hurricane" came on and I rolled right back to the early nineties, back into a dark faux wood paneled living room in a jalopy of a house that I shared with several cool girls.
We would sit in slumpy lumpy old chairs that we rescued from the curb and listen to Dylan.
Books would be open and dinner would be cooking and we would be smoking Meigs County gold and the world was pretty darn slow.
I can't even think about that song without fury.
I can't even believe I was so old before I started thinking about social injustice.
I was busy trying to pretend I was reading James Joyce and stalking long haired boys and then I had to realize how wide and deep and awful the world was.
I think I only started paying attention to history well in to my future.
Me and my friend M would sit with our constant Diet Cokes and sing in that junky living room.
We loved the song. We loved to nod to each other like old men during our favorite parts and take long drags of our Parliament Lights in unison.
I think we made silent promises to make the world a little bit better.
And tonight I found that the song makes me pound out on the bike. I rode like a banshee and for one small moment I forgot and sang out loud for a line or two- all breathy and low.
had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
And the old guy beside me with the running shorts so scant I saw his ass cheek looked me right in the eye and nodded.
Old man nods are my favorite.
11 comments:
i LOVE this!
Amy I just love this post.
oh yes that's good...old man nods are the best. so validating.
i came into history and got all infuriated and determined later in life too girlie...now i'm all about making up for lost time.
xo
I love brief but meaningful connections with people who don't match.
When I think of that time of my life, I imagine sitting on the girly striped couch in my all girl group house, flipping my Rachel out of my eyes as I flipped catalog pages. My roommate Megan would always dog ear the pages - even if it wasn't her catalog. Megan and I once got into a fight because she bought the same shoes I had purchased weeks prior. I felt very strongly about my individual style back then. Such different priorities...
yup.
and then the world is never the same.
i like old man nods just about as much as cowboy hat tips and a "ma'am".
little nod...
I love this, too! I often wish I could go back to school just to relearn the history I once ignored. I was so focused on the present back then that I just didn't get it. But the old man nod, well that is past perfect.
Old Man Ass Cheek is the primary reason I avoid the gym at all costs.
That's awesome. Those kind of moments are too few and far between. Man, I love the way your write. I'm coming back more often.
Amy...
s i g h
I love the way you write.
The song that really gets me going on my runs?
Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA.
There, I said it. And I'm still holding my head up high. What can I say? The girl can sing, and she appeals to my current experience of being new in town.
So I'll leave you your Dylan and I'll keep on rocking with my Miley. But I don't think I'll be getting any old man nods for my choice in music.
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