in stereo

What does it say about me that the best stereo of my adult life is the one in my new car? Seriously, I'm hearing nuances in old CDs, falling in love with new songs.

Gadget geek that I can be, it's never really extended to my music. I bought a CD walkman back in the day which I used on the New York subway on the way to and from work. I was gifted with an mp3 player when they first came out and used it commuting on the bus and metro, but when I hear music I want to sing along, so this could lead to potentially disruptive moments for others. I did use these devices, but have never really liked earphones. Too tinny, with an all-too-obvious tinnitus link. I prefer the iPhone's earbuds, but only like to wear them on a lunchtime walk—no longer than that.

No, home stereo is where it's at for me, but that too, has been problematic. I had a big CD/tape combo unit and downsized when I moved from New York to DC. But the smaller unit, a CD/cassette/radio which replaced it, gathers dust on a shelf. It works as a radio and not much else. Not sure what's wrong with its CD player, but it's all plastic crap, not worthy of repair or replacement. The tape player probably still works, if I still had cassette tapes.

When I was a teenager I had my own portable turntable (bright blue plastic!) that I could use to play records and singles in my bedroom. I think it had a built-in radio as well. Horrible sound. I mostly played my records on my parents' stereo when I was alone in the house. Yes, before my current car stereo, the best sounds I remember came from my parents' original stereo, which was partly constructed by my father. The turntable was a Garrard, which I think I may have "leant" to my cousin, along with my lps, as I couldn't afford to buy a new turntable at the time and he was and still is into vinyl. The tuner and amplifier was built by my dad, down to inserting the last tube, and he showed me how to connect it all up, clean and replace tubes, etc. So if anything went awry - one of the huge wooden speakers lost sound, e.g., I would know just what to do to tighten the wires and get it sounding just right. In fact, learning the "back end" of that stereo system is probably why the maze of wires behind my computer doesn't faze me as much as it could.

I was introduced to some amazing music on that stereo. As a small child I was serenaded to sleep with the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. My Dad loved classical music and played Chopin and Rachmaninoff, but also would throw us a bone with the more kid-friendly Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Grieg's Peer Gynt. My mom's Broadway recordings of My Fair Lady (with the original cast of Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews) and Pajama Game were also fun to listen to, as well as providing glimpses into her pre-married life in New York. But what I liked the best were their Ella Fitzgerald Rodgers & Hart Songbook and Sarah Vaughan Gershwin albums. I like to sing along.

My mom also brought rock and roll into the house with Revolver and the aforementioned Sgt. Pepper. Many years later I played the first albums of the Clash and the Police on that same stereo before I went off to college. And now I'm driving around and playing some of these old favorites and getting lost once again in bass lines and choruses, as my daughter sings along from the back seat. You can't go back in time, but I have been wondering lately if I should invest in a turntable and ask my cousin for those records back . . .

dad knew a thing or two

My dearly departed Pop used to refer to rock and roll (the Beatles!) as "banshee music." But the same man, who ran his own local newspaper, also encouraged me to write a music column for the paper (I was a teen at the time) titled Turntable Talk. Yes, those were the olden days (the 80s) when folks still bought vinyl, although cassette tapes were rapidly on the rise and Cds had yet to make an impact.

Dad also suggested that I write to the major record companies, telling them that I was a columnist and willing to review their albums. How cool was it when the (free) records started pouring in, and my musical knowledge and tastes expanded to include the Clash, Police, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, and countless other artists and one-hit (or even no-hit) wonders. I think my cousin has most of those records (that I kept). He's the only one I know who still has a turntable.

Somehow I think the old man would be proud that I'm still writing, occasionally, about music, if just on this blog. I hardly consider myself up-to-the-minute or a music expert on any level, but it's still fun to write and share an opinion, which is what Turntable Talk was about, back in the day, and the Internet is all about, these days.

what, me worry?

There's a lot of talk these days about carbon footprints and how we can all reduce them. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

I give this thought, from time to time, when I'm not swigging from my plastic water bottle or after I have forgotten (again) to bring the reusable bag to the supermarket, so opt for plastic. Sorry, it's easier to carry multi-plastic bags on the walk home...

The New York Times recently had a small piece on just these sorts of issues that prick our conscience and how not to think about them. I hate to admit it, but I love the idea. I am a worry wort by nature, so anything I can knock off my running list, is welcome. The Times has a short but interesting list, including reducing gas emissions, cell-phones, plastic bags, BPA and those plastic water bottles - all things that have crossed my radar. But wormholes? Wow, I never really was too concerned about them, unless it was during an episode of the much-beloved and sorely-missed Farscape.

I believe in global warming and Al Gore, but on a quest to simplify my life, I guess what I am really looking to do is to try to live the best way that I can, and if I can reduce some of these carbon footprints during my daily routine (like not running the water while I brush my teeth) than all the better. But I will not spend a half hour every night running around unplugging appliances to save some energy. My down time is too limited and too precious and I already have enough routines to follow in this hectic life. And it's such a pain having to reset that DVD clock, isn't it?

But I have compiled my own short list of ways to reduce waste:

• No more travel/meetings - there is such a thing as the conference phone - it's not necessary to use up gas, charge expenses, etc. Meet virtually.
• More flexible schedules - why are we still so married to 9-5? Traffic would be eased if folks could swing in later, or earlier, as desired. This goes for school schedules too. Different ages and classes could start at different times. School days could be a little shorter for younger children. Why are kids expected to pull 8-10 hour shifts like their parents?
• Remember to bring that reusable bag to the store. It's much better than paper or plastic.
  
• Close some of those Starbucks - oh, never mind, that's already happening...
• Don't cruise the gossip/entertainment sites - they might be fun sometimes, but it's such a waste of time and it exposes one to just how foul-mouthed and bored the average internet poster really is, not to mention the intellectual level of the subjects of the gossip.
• Adopt the $5 rule.