More on Books and PAX East

The previous post was all about books. (GO READ IT.) I have some particularly fond memories of Book It because not only did I have a crazy appetite for books, but also because my mother worked for Pizza Hut for a while during my upbringing. (Not to mention I KICKED ASS at reading COMPETITIVELY. Because Book It was definitely a competition.) Amy and I seem to be on the same page with this: rewards for doing something I enjoy? YES PLZ.

But I've been thinking more and more lately about associations I have with certain books and certain albums. Especially books from high school...

When I was a sophomore, I read a book by Tom Robbins called Another Roadside Attraction, and at the time I had just really gotten into a band called boyhitscar. The book and the album mixed together perfectly, and I essentially listened on repeat to their album while reading this book. Tom Robbins was my favorite author for several years, and this book introduced me to him.



Between junior and senior year, I was given a long list of choices for summer reading. I had to choose one book each from two different categories, and then select a third the choice of which was left to me (subject to some constraints). The third book, the one I chose, I've never been able to remember, but I definitely remember the other two: Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha and Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf. The two albums I had been listening to were The Mars Volta's De-Loused in the Comatorium and Hot Hot Heat's Make Up the Breakdown.


The Mars Volta's album particularly fits Steppenwolf, a very strange album for a very strange book, but I also associate the album with Memoirs. The Hot Hot Heat album doesn't fit either book at all, but I guess I just listened to it so much that it's always stuck with me.


Any time I think about these albums, I think about these books, and vice versa. Without fail. Do you guys have any associations like this?

IN OTHER NEWS: This weekend I will be acting as representative of TT.TKO at PAX East. If I'd had more foresight when I bought my pass, I would have tried for a media pass, but I'll have CDs and business cards hoping to draw us some attention.

I'm excited but nervous. This is a huge convention, and I've never been to anything like it... Yikes. This will also be my first time in Boston, so I have that to look forward to. Anyway, I hope everyone has a good weekend, but you definitely won't have as much fun as me.

The Persistence of Memory

Memory's a funny thing. Remember in school, when you'd pull an all-nighter before a big test, cramming all those dates and names and facts into your head? You'd ace the exam, but come finals week, it was like Greek to you. Unless, of course, you were studying for Greek class, in which case, it was like math, or chemistry, or Spanish. Anything but what you needed to remember.

Then there are the things you'll never, ever forget. I'm not talking about the time you were pantsed in front of the girl you had a crush on in the middle of 7th grade gym class. I'm talking cold, hard facts, useless stuff, taking up valuable space in your brain.

I could recite my 13-digit bank account number in my sleep. It's helpful when filling out deposit slips, I suppose. I could rattle off the LOST numbers even half-drunk, which would have come in handy if I'd actually played them in Mega Millions last week and walked away $150 richer. I still remember my college boyfriend's old cell phone number-- useless on several levels, especially in this age of the digital address book. Who needs to memorize phone numbers, anyway?

Some people have a high school locker combination they'll always recall, but I would sometimes forget mine over long weekends, so that's definitely something that didn't stick with me. I, like many others, however, can never forget the jingle from the Empire Carpet commercials-- "800-588-2300, Empire...today!" So that makes at least two phone numbers I still remember but will never call.

At any given moment, I can list six of the seven dwarves. The caveat is that it's always a different combination of dwarves-- you know how it goes. Put me on the spot, and my dwarf-listing abilities under pressure might knock that number down to four or five.

Like many others of our generation, I will forever remember the lyrics to hundreds and hundreds of pop songs from the mid to late '90s. Put "Semi-Charmed Life" on the jukebox at a bar and watch everyone try to act cool, like they don't know every word. They do. They all do.

I'm usually decent at team trivia, pretty good at play-along-at-home Jeopardy. But I think it would help if I could clear out some of the useless to make room for the trivial. There are $30 restaurant gift cards at stake here, after all. I don't think the trivia guy or Alex Trebek are ever going to ask me to sing the Empire Carpet jingle, but if they do, I'm all set.

If they ask for seven dwarf names, though, I might be screwed. Lazy's one, right? Homely? Creepy?