Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealer's Wheel

Bryan A. and I were on the road, probably stuck in I-80 traffic, on our way to a ski weekend in Tahoe.  In preparation for the trip, I had asked Bryan what his favorite song might be so I could create the perfect mix for our drive.  He said, "It's that song that goes, clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right."  I did some asking around and figured out it was Stuck in the Middle.  I was super proud of my Ski CD and I had a bunch of great songs, interspersed with little quotes from Austin Powers, like Shh! and Zip It!  We were cruisin down the road and I turned up the volume on Under My Thumb, a song I thought Bryan really liked (which has a story all its own).  Bryan was not showing me the appropriate level of appreciation and excitement.  In fact, he said something like this:  "Sure, this is a great song, but it definitely doesn't require blasting the volume."  I strongly disagreed. 

We made in to Tahoe in one piece and we were joined by Mitch, Vince, Tammy, maybe Juraj, maybe Laurel?  I honestly can't remember the specifics as we took a couple trips to that cabin over the course of a couple of years.  Jenny wasn't with us this time because she was busily laboring at home.  She labored and labored without realizing it was happening.  This is why Bryan received a phone call on the slopes to the effect of: "You'd better ski on down the mountain and hurry up.  The baby is on his way."  Unfortunately Bryan didn't make it for the delivery, but he has been there for every step of his son's life ever since!  I wasn't stuck in the middle, but I was almost stuck in Tahoe.  I must've gotten a ride with someone who might've even sung along with the music on my Ski CD.  In fact, since I don't remember whatsoever, let's just say they did!

Whenever, Wherever by Shakira

It is no wonder that I love throwing parties.  My mom has been throwing parties for as long as I can remember.  She also loves to cook and bake and I have so many memories in the kitchen with my mom and my sister.  My mom loved turning our time in the kitchen together into a party.  Her favorite music in the kitchen was the Mermaids soundtrack and we could often be found be-bopping around the kitchen, measuring, dicing, and mixing.

Not only did we have our own personal cooking parties, my mom also threw parties where the guests were encouraged to help out.  There were burrito bar parties and pasta parties, but tonight, we are going to a pizza party.  My mom had recently moved into her new house and since she went from an apartment to a house, the front room was furnished solely by a drum kit.  At this time, my mom was in a rock n' roll band and she played the bass guitar!  They practiced in her living room!  I know!  We started the evening by making 3 or 4 pizzas topped with all kinds of yumminess.  During dinner, I was tasked with selecting the music.  I chose a Rock compilation, going with the theme of the rockin' good time we were having, but unfortunately, Breaking the Law by Judas Priest came on, which is hardly dinner music.  My mom hissed at me:  "Jennifer!  Look around the table!  Change the music!"  Everyone was completely silent, eating quickly and aggressively, just like the music.  Ooops!  I then put the Chocolat Soundtrack on, but I was feeling silly, so I put the first song on repeat.  I was giggling by the third repeat and then Jared T. finally caught my eye as he had noticed, too.

After dinner, an energetic doing-dishes dancing party took place and we listened to Shakira's Whenever, Wherever in English and in Spanish, over and over and over again.  I remember most everything I said seemed to shock Nathan T. who would constantly exclaim: "Jennifer!  Ohhhhhhh my gosh!  You're so crazy!"  Jared didn't seem to shock so easily.   The evening later still turned into a drum lesson (for me) and some rock n' roll, including my mom on bass guitar.  I know!  I still find it hard to believe!  Food + my mom + music = a super fun party!

She's So Unusual & Yeah Yeah by Cyndi Lauper

Zoom in on a tiny town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.  I spent a very short time in my life living in Twain Harte.  It is in Tuolumne County and at the time, there was only one stoplight in the entire COUNTY, way away in downtown Sonora.  I attended a K-8 school with only 500 students and all of my friends lived quite a ways away, down windy, narrow mountain roads.  It was a glorious place to be 8 years old, but I imagine if we had stayed there through high school, I might've found it isolating or boring.  

One of my best friends in Twain Harte was Porscha B. and in third grade, she had the brilliant plan to participate in the talent show.  I took the bus home with her after school and we discussed our act.  She had already decided on the song and I wholeheartedly agreed.  Cyndi Lauper was my favorite signer!!  Porscha was going to lip synch the words, I would be on the keyboards since I played the piano, her little brother was going to play the drums, and her younger sister would be on guitar.  We still needed a sax player and coincidentally, the cutest boy in our class played the sax in the school band!  Clint C. was smart and nice and he did his own hair - he used hair spray AND mousse.  Swoon!  I worked up the nerve to call him up and actually talk to him when he answered and he agreed to be in our skit.  It was all very exciting. The day of the performance, Porscha's older sister was on-hand to do our punk rocker make-up and fix our hair.  Clint rocked a mohawk, of course.  It was so cool and I think everyone really enjoyed our performance.

For some insane reason, in fourth grade I decided to follow up that performance by getting a bunch of the younger kids (grades K-2) from the after school program together.  My brilliant idea?  Lip synching and dancing stuffed animals.  I wish I were kidding.  We stood behind a table and held up a bunch of bunnies WHOSE LIPS DO NOT MOVE and earnestly moved them to the beat.  I am embarrassed for my 9 year old self. 

The Sign by Ace of Base

We're going to hang out in Germany for one more night, at least.  Tonight we're going back to New Year's Eve, or as it is called in Germany, Sylvester 1994.  I was going to a party that promised to be epic on so many levels.  I didn't call it epic back then, but I probably said that I thought it was going to be so so geil.  Sabse had invited our group of friends to her house.  What made this evening particularly exciting was that I had a brand new boyfriend - my first ever boyfriend!  It was such a new relationship and new experience, we weren't even French Kissing yet!  I had done so only once before in a game of Spin the Bottle earlier that year and I mostly thought it was gross.  Obviously it takes the right person, but at that Silvester party, we were still very innocent and cute and new.

Let's see, who was there?  Mostly girls: Nina, Christiane, Sabse, Manu, and I.  A couple boys:  Alex, Sabse's boyfriend, and Bastian, mine.  Possibly some other folks?  Let me know who I am forgetting!  We girls were really into The Sign and we played it over and over during the party, singing at the top of our lungs.  The party hat of the evening was the baseball cap for some reason and all of us girls were wearing baseball caps from Sabse's collection. There was drinking, dancing, singing, kissing, and oddly, I think I remember a Magic Eye Poster.

I had the best time - I had always wanted to attend a New Year's party with girls AND boys who were not family and it was everything I hoped it would be.  Shortly before midnight, we hiked up to the top of the Turmberg (a local "hill" with an old lookout tower and castle ruins).  There was an excellent view from the top and it was packed full of people, young and old.  Fireworks helped ring in the New Year and everyone was laughing and joyful and Happy New Year-ing.  We celebrated with gusto and headed back down the hill to Sabse's house.  Bastian walked me back to the S-Bahn station so I could return to my host family's home in Berghausen.  Welcome 1994!

Fields of Joy by Lenny Kravitz

It was the morning after another epic party at Niels H's house.  In an earlier post, I talked about the cool German kids.  Niels was THE coolest.  I was super intimidated by him for the longest time, but then I fell in love with his best friend and by extension, Niels became my friend, too.  He had long hair and he wore biker boots, but they were legit.  He rode a motorcycle!  He even picked me up once from the train station which was the only time I have ever ridden on a motorcycle.  I wasn't scared back then, but I am now. 

Niels threw the best parties.  They reminded me of something I'd seen on Beverly Hills, 90210.  His bedroom was like his own private guesthouse.  He had two rooms of his own and his own bathroom and the rooms were somewhat removed from the rest of the house.  He also had access to the yard.  The party was certainly a lot of fun, but today we are going back to the morning after.  I had spent the night and in the morning it was just me, Bastian, and Niels.  Yes, Mom and Dad, I spent the night (innocently, believe it or not!) at some boys house with my boyfriend.  I remember Niels brought in breakfast: cappuccinos, fresh rolls with jam, butter, and different wursts.  He was playing the Lenny Kravitz Mama Said album which began with Fields of Joy.  The album had come out before Are You Gonna Go My Way, a popular song at the time, and I loved that we were listening to something that wasn't super trendy that I hadn't heard 100x before, or possibly ever.  I felt impossibly sophisticated.  A grown-up breakfast, listening to very cool music, no parents, with just my boyfriend and my favorite boy friend.  I showered and got ready for the day there and I just remember feeling like I was so safe in that place, with two people who would do anything for me.  I was the picture of contentment.  I didn't even have to worry that I was going to get in trouble because I was breaking a rule.  I don't *think* I lied to my host mom.  In fact, I think she was out of town and my host sister was in charge.  So that explains that!

Lithium by Nirvana

The two years I spent as a student at MIIS were a wonderful time in my life, but my most favorite memories come from the very first semester.  Due to the nature of the MBA program and the Institute itself, I feel like our class created a special bond.  The students in the 2-year program were scheduled to take the core classes during our first semester and since we were such a small class, we all had the exact same schedule that first semester.  This means that we spent a lot of time together - we ate lunch together and often dinner, we studied together....and since we all really liked each other, we hung out together most of the time, too.  It was also the semester of the Danes.  There was a large group of students from Denmark who were all super friendly and generally just a blast to be around.  In fact, I felt like the dynamic of our class changed when they went back to Denmark at the end of the semester.

For two years, I could always count on something fun to do. Nick and I would usually decide who was driving to whom each weekend, based on the better party!  Today, we're going back to a party at Stacy H's.  It was a house party and I don't think it was for any particular occasion.  It was just new friends, hanging out, drinking, talking, and laughing.  At one point in the evening, a little impromptu dance party burst out.  One of the songs that came on was Lithium, an oldie but goodie.  This is a song that gets everyone on the dance floor, including Nick.  I remember Gabe R. out there dancing, and maybe Mark F, too, but what I most remember is Nis H.  During the chorus, Nis would bust out this perfect air guitar.  I just loved watching him rock out, playing tribute to this truly epic song.  I wish I could do it justice, but sadly, all I have is my memory!  Yeah Yeah Yeah!

Money for Nothing by Dire Straits

My dad loved this song.  He simply could not get enough of it.  When it first came out, he played it as often, as loudly, and as embarrassingly as he could!  
 

The LOUD:
His favorite place to play this song was in his new company car - an '85 Thunderbird.  He loved that car - it was kind of sporty and it was a 2-door.  It was kind of an odd choice for someone who might be driving clients around, but he loved it.  It had a digital speedometer and I particularly liked that I could see if we were ever approaching 88 miles per hour.  Sadly, we never were.  My dad thought the car was super cool and so did I.  He loved playing Money for Nothing in that car.  He loved how it started out so quietly, then built up, getting louder and louder.  He would start with the volume already turned up, so that by the time the song escalated, your eardrums were ringing. He thought it was hilarious when we would cover our ears and squeal with excitement and possibly because we were being audibly tortured.

The EMBARRASSING:
One evening we went out to Mountain Mikes for dinner.  There was a jukebox and he went over to check out the selection. To no one's surprise, a few minutes later the familiar strains of Money for Nothing started playing.  The song ended and ... Money for Nothing started playing again.   It ended and.... for the third time - Money for Nothing!  My dad is giggling into his pizza at this point. 

Something happened to that tape so I purchased a new copy a few years later for his birthday or Christmas or something.  He didn't listen to it much and I was disappointed because I was really proud of that gift.  He confessed later that it made him think about my mom and the divorce which made him sad.  I felt badly about that, but I reminded him of these memories and how clearly happy the song made him.  I wonder if it worked?