More shallow thoughts

I went to the dentist this past Saturday. The hygienist (who I've known for at least 20 years) asked me if there were any changes to my medical history. I told her that yes, actually, there's a rather major change. 

"I'm having gender reassignment surgery," I said. She made the rarely used "I don't believe you and I'd like to punch you" face (last employed by Joe Biden during the Vice Presidential debate). 

"Just kidding, silly, I have cancer," I said.  I think she was still picturing what I'd look like as a woman. 

Anyway, as I embark today on 25 days of chemo and radiation, here are more thoughts collected in, as Bob Ryan might say, the desk drawer of the mind...

• Can you imagine the special little hell that living in Ohio must be in early November? Mailboxes overflowing with political flyers, constant robocalls, and endless attack ads on television...it's almost worse than living in Ohio.

• And just how did Ohio become the fulcrum of our national electoral process? This presidential race is so close, there could literally be one guy in Ohio whose vote decides the fate of trillions of dollars, the lives of our soldiers, the direction of the world economy, the futures of abortion, healthcare, welfare and immigration law, among other nation-defining issues. All decided by a person who couldn't find a way to get out of Ohio.
  
• I don't understand why this isn't a topic of constant national debate: what in the hell is a grape nut?
  
• On Halloween, my brother-in-law and his wife brought over their adorable new baby. While we were visiting with them, our new kitten, who is roughly the same age as the baby, was jumping around, playing, eating, and executing guerilla-style attacks on the dog. A baby can't do any of those things. It never occurred to me that, when we're babies (or in Congress), animals are far more advanced than us. I'm not sure what this means, but I think it might portend the election of our first cat president someday. "I, Mr. Snuggles, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President..." 
  
• The people who make Red Berry Special K have a serious problem with their red berry to Special K ratio. Nothing gets the day off to a bad start quite like a bowl of 2,000 Special K flakes with one red berry. I want that bowl to be lousy with red berries. This is why the terrorists hate us.
  
• Our local supermarket chain is called Johnnie's Foodmaster. It was just announced that Johnnie's, one of the last family-owned chains in the state, has been sold to Whole Foods. That's quite a transition. Johnnies is sort of run down and crappy, and the meat department clearly relabels old unsold meat with new dates (at least at our location). I cannot picture this place as a Whole Foods. I'm pretty sure I won't be allowed to shop there anyway, as I don't own any yoga pants. 
  
• Cindy and I went to a nearby Whole Foods to check out the prices and selection, an experience I will sum up thusly: no Oreos or Doritos, but 15 different kinds of salmon. It's amazing to me that so many people want to shop at a place where they pay a premium for an all-organic selection that's focused on production methods that preserve the environment, then load up their purchases in a Lexus SUV the size of a condo.
  
• Congratulations to Twix for winning the title of "Most Valuable Halloween Candy" for the 15th consecutive year. That said, I've noticed that their "Fun Size" is steadily getting smaller. It's now more like "Meh" size.

Chemotherapy music reviews

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE - PSYCHEDELIC PILL:

As a lifelong fan of Neil Young, particularly his Crazy Horse albums, this was a sad experience. What do you get when you combine a rusty old Crazy Horse with Neil Young's increasingly cringe-worth lyrics (sample verse:
"I used to dig Picasso
I used to dig Picasso
Hey now now, Hey now now 
I used to dig Picasso")?

You get two doses of chemotherapy

MIGUEL - KALEIDOSCOPE DREAM:

I seriously doubt that I've spent more than ten minutes listening to R&B music since "Thriller" came out. But, on a recommendation, I checked this out. It's pretty fantastic. Warning: there are some lyrics, and song titles, so explicit on this album that I got the vapors and passed out on my fainting couch.

3.5 doses of chemotherapy


THE BOB DYLAN PROJECT (continued)

My journey through Bob Dylan's entire catalog, in order, continues...

Dylan followed his debut with "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" (1963), "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (1964), and "Another Side Of Bob Dylan" (1964). Like the debut, the songs feature Bob Dylan mostly without accompaniment (just his guitar or piano and harmonica), and all are filled with songs that are now part of Americana itself: "Blowin' in the Wind", "Masters of War", "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "My Back Pages," among many others. 

I've come to the realization that my experiment--to better understand what makes Dylan's music important, and to figure out how one evaluates a new album by an acknowledged master--is perhaps fatally flawed. One simply cannot listen to "The Times They Are A-Changin'" or "Blowin' in the Wind" with fresh ears. It's impossible to recreate what it meant to hear these songs, in the context of the times, and the impact they had not just on lovers of music, but on the very conscience of the nation.

The closest I can come to understanding it is this: before Dylan's early records, the Beatles wrote only charming little pop songs about girls and other sunny topics. Then Lennon heard Dylan, and realized that there was a whole other purpose for music. Without Dylan, we'd perhaps only know the Beatles as that minor band that wrote "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Love Me Do."

Coming soon, when does Dylan start working with a band (or THE Band), and can listening to Dylan's catalog ever sound like a new experience?