I had the good fortune of being invited on a short trip out of town today. My friend had a gift certificate to a bowling alley in another city.
Was there a good chance we might have bowled, if the lanes weren’t reserved until later? I’m not sure.
I had a delicious chicken tenders wrap with hot sauce, lettuce, etc., and tater tots for my side, with some jalapeño ketchup.
Conversation was fun. Some of it got rather heavy, about stuff my friend had recently gone through with an ex, and hadn’t told me as much about, until today. But I didn’t mind being there for her, to listen.
This part may sound rather odd, but the bathroom was SO adorable. Two full-length mirrors. A full-on vanity area set off from the sink and the bathroom stalls. Fun and funky artwork. A sign on the wall opposite one of the mirrors that said something like, “You are so pretty.” Seating areas by both the vanity room and the stalls. Pillows and everything.
From there, we drove to a large pond. I was focused on the view from my side of the car– a lone, deadwood trunk jutting up toward the darkening sky, ducks swimming near the opposite bank.
My friend directed me to look the other way, at the sunset.
I didn’t get out to take pictures like she did, but it was beautiful. Her good friend, our driver, had said the sky looked “kind of gothic.”
Layers of deep pink clouds in stripes, cutting across the gaps between the trees by the main road. The trees looked solid black, backlit as they were.
From there, he drove us both back home.
But there was music, and conversation, all along the way.
And before we’d all gotten together, I had time to eat some leftover pizza, add to my current work in progress, and create a fresh spring collage for my Facebook cover and computer desktop. That’s the featured image you see with this post.
One of the funnier observations I had tonight:
A former coworker had once described the eighties, and hair metal, as “Bon Jovi was a slut.” Did I disagree with her out loud or only in my mind? I was thinking of “I’ll Be There for You,” which always makes me cry when I sing along, and maybe “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
Tonight, I heard a whole other side of Bon Jovi that I’d somehow forgotten all about! Color me shocked. I believe I owned both Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, in junior high. How I could overlook “Lay Your Hands On Me” and “Bad Medicine” is beyond me. Especially given that I still recalled the lyrics, once I heard them play.
Even some of his songs that feel closer to “love ballads,” have a strong aura of spicy passion. Like “Born to Be My Baby.” I listened to more when I got home, for science.
So, my friend may have rhetorically had a point. That, I found greatly amusing. I’ll have to share those thoughts with her, at some point.
But her description of that era was made with love, not in any kind of shaming way. I mentioned having read Bon Jovi’s reflections that he hadn’t had much of importance to say back then, not knowing nearly as much about life, in his wild twenties.
Unless I’m mistaken, that was the height of his career. “Important” or not, those songs received a lot of love.
Some of the most seemingly unredeeming, borderline-sleazy hair metal songs are incredibly entertaining. To me, anyway. I realize not everyone loves that genre the way I do. A fellow teaching assistant during my undergrad years couldn’t stop talking about how much she HATES Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
I’ll admit at times the songs seem a guilty pleasure, or something I consume ironically, at odds with their messages. It is, after all, possible to write about romantic or erotic longing without putting anyone down.
Maybe the difference is, expressing yearning, implies a more reverent attitude toward the one you love or desire. This, I think, contrasts starkly to exposing how desperately your partner or partners must want you, because of your raw sex appeal. But I guess it’s still fun to project oneself into that mindset, and feel that sense of power.
I took something kind of funny and turned it into a somewhat serious intellectual debate. I do that at times. Guess I’m feeling philosophical tonight.
DAMN, Bon Jovi! Maybe others would disagree since the lyrics don’t get super explicit, but I’d rate the vibes five chili peppers.
Then again, I would, given my track record of adoring long-haired musicians. Only had a fleeting shot with one of them, and it never went anywhere. But there are some great memories mixed in with the pain.
Even considering everything I did today, I still feel kinda like MEH dissatisfied with my accomplishments and seizing of the day. I poked at my story a little bit after having returned home, but I was tired and mostly just vibed to Spotify, with the cat.
She’s in repose in one of my purses at the moment, I believe, which is why I can type this. Otherwise, she’d be on my desk, taking up too much space for me to fit the keyboard on it. Everyone’s a critic.
What’s the final message of today?
I’m grateful I got out of the apartment today, out of my routine, out of town, out to dinner, out in nature, even if the eventual nip in the air encouraged staying in the car.
I’m also thankful my friend pointed out the sunset.
And for shared conversation, and good music, that resonates with the past.
Some of those times may have been rough, looking back, but I can always project love toward those former versions of myself, if I need to. There’s something healing in that.
Since I can’t give you “my” sunset, here are a couple I found, that are utterly stunning.
Love me some fairy lights! They feel so whimsical. And sunsets on the beach. The very epitome of magic.
And this one, in the clouds, which, now that I’m thinking about it (because everything lately with me relates back to vampires), recalls a sequence in The Lost Boys.
The vampires are soaring through the California skies, but the shots taken in the clouds also evoke the passion between Star and Michael as they make love in the gloriously-gaudy canopied bed inside the cave. It’s only once we hear the telltale sounds of the vampires returning to their den, just ahead of sunrise, that we realize the clouds were more than a metaphor.
There are also some very funny memes about the ridiculous number of times someone says “Michael” or “Mike” or “Mikey” throughout the film, but I never found a concrete, verifiable number. Maybe that’s a project for a lonely night?
Anyway, here’s the second photo, what looks like an aerial shot.
I got out in the daylight. I socialized. I ate great food. I road tripped. I saw deer off to the side of the road, deep in a field out in the country. We even drove past a horse surprisingly close to the dirt road we were on, just enclosed in a small yard in front of someone’s house, it looked like. And, the distant ducks, at the pond.
I appreciated the sunset and eighties-era sexuality.
I even made time for solitary creative pursuits at home, and did a small amount of tidying up, before leaving.
Even in my moodiness, I have to admit, it was a pretty good day.
Hopefully, I can carry some of this emotional momentum into tomorrow.
Good night!
All the Bright and Sparkly Things 
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