Tags
169 barber street, 40 watt club, athens georgia, blitzkrieg bop, catapult, death, fables of the reconstruction, lost youth, m1 abrams tank, memory, misspent youth, ramones, rem, sex drugs rock & roll, tommy ramone, university of georgia, well spent youth
Has it really been close to two weeks? My, oh my, time really does slip away. The recent death of the last Ramone, Tommy, set me to thinking, well, contemplating sort of, the completely existential existence thing we call life.
Youth, what a strange, fickle, ephemeral state, it is and though it doesn’t work as well as it once did, together we can take a trip down my memory lane.
During the Ramones heyday of the early eighties, I think I was spending a lot of time around M1 Abrams tank sights, living the dream of firepower, little money, and lots of partying.
After my stint with tank sights, I found my way back to Athens, Georgia, and University. An earlier attempt having resulted in a glorious flameout, my second effort would only be marginally better.
At the time a very popular local band, REM, was making good, and to my mind captured the moment best, “Ooh, we were little boys, Ooh, we were little girls”. HaHa, what a wonderful line! There was so much music, so much art, so many young, pretty people. The rent was cheap.
The food, and alcohol, and drugs, were even cheaper. I embraced everything, soaked it up, believed in it, cared not for the future, understood not the future. Went to class; didn’t go to class, fell in love; fell out of love; had lots of sex, had no sex; cared, didn’t care.
And, true story, became a character in a song, from an album, by a band.
Now, of course, it is a hazy, distant memory, though I do wonder if I’ll be like those elderly ones who remember way back when so clearly, as if it were yesterday.
Coulda shoulda woulda said:
I have also been having extreme sessions of reminiscing and it’s funny how memories are replayed differently. I have a friend who has a terrible memory and I always have to remind her of her antics and she loves meeting up with me bc I remind her of things. Then I think what a gift having the memory of an elephant is. I love that deep soulful picture. So poetic
LikeLiked by 1 person
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Naomi
Have you ever read Julian Barnes’ book Sense of an Ending? It is one of my all-time favorite reads, with Barnes exploring all kinds of questions concerning memory, life, love, just a beautiful, haunting work.
I am curious. What is driving your sense of reminiscence? Lord knows, I hope it is not death and dying, enough of that already…
HaHa, yep, I thought the picture of the M1 Abrams tank to be completely soulful and poetic too!
LikeLike
Jim said:
Great post. Boy, you leave the tension in the room, though. A character in a song from a band. Famous, nonetheless. 🙂
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Jim
Gosh, thanks, for the kind words, and yes, wasn’t it Andy Warhol who promised all of us 15 minutes of fame, which means, of course, I’m done for now…
LikeLike
bebe said:
Who is that handsome young man? Is that you? My! those eyes!
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Dearest Bebe
Yes, thank you, it is me, or it was me, I never know how to refer to past me, regardless, you are very sweet, very kind, and much too nice to say so…
GF
LikeLike
bebe said:
Well may I say, Dearest GF, entre nous, I’d have played beer pong on your quad any day.
Especially if I saw you in that M1. I always found a tank to be quite the fetching accessory to the right sort of man..
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Mme. Bebe
Effectivement, le M1 est le complice parfait, beaucoup d’amusement, très puissant, et très excitant, mais poignée avec le soin; cela peut aussi être extrêmement dangereux.
M. GF
LikeLike
bebe said:
mais oui-le bon type de l’homme
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Pourquoi oui, seulement le meilleur mon amour …
LikeLike
mistress maddie said:
What a nice post. My story sounds pretty much the same. How REM brought back memories, but I must say B52’S was more my mind! Now? Still B52’s drinks and sex, but these days no drugs, more my youth. I’ll be 40 in two years. Where did the time go? father time seems to swidle time faster I noticed or is that just me? But my recipe to stay youth minded has been nice cocktails, a good sex life and plenty of sleep. Hopefully that will work in the next decade as well.
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
My Dearest Maddie
Time definitely speeds up; I think our entire circle of pen pals would agree to that. The B-52’s are/were such a great band, one of the best to do dishes by. I was so fortunate to see them play more than once, even before they hit the big time, and though I couldn’t count any of them as close friends, they were, at least, good acquaintances.
Your recipe for a long life is a good one. I’m pretty sure the world would be a much better place if more of us mixed, then baked, then served, a steady combination of cocktails, sex, and sleep, no matter the order…
GF
LikeLike
sumowkowespotkania said:
wonderful post!
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Thank you. You are very sweet to say so. Time goes by, sometimes too slow, sometimes too fast, but it does go by…
LikeLike
Maison Bentley Style said:
Love Sense of an Ending. If you get the chance, watch ‘The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared’…think it’ll be up your farm track… xxx
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Mrs. MBS
Thanks so much for the tip regarding the “100 Year Man”. With the challenge of it being right up my old farm track, I am not wasting time in Netflixing the film and Amazoning the book; you have me completely intrigued.
We both know Julian Barnes is a beast, a baller, and a boss. I can think of no higher praise…
LikeLike
Tabitha said:
I’ve missed so much.
Adore the young pic, my hair was the size of a planetoid then, pvc jeans and white t shirts were never off my back and I did indeed shed a tear over spent youth and Tommy, whilst listening to, Don’t Come Close – all gone now, we are getting old, grains of sand all that. How to make it count now? Pour the bourbon.
LikeLike
Tabitha said:
Oh yes and I’m sizing you up with bebe and nodding approvingly.
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
HaHa, well, I think you and Mrs. Bebe are too, too nice and quite possibly too, too daft…
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Dear, Dear, Tabitha
Do you not absolutely love the eighties? What a great time it all was, all big hair, big shoulder pads, big eyeglass frames, and Duran Duran. I guess at some point, hard to say when it was, all of us started noticing that sand flowing through the hourglass, powerless to stop it and really, who would want to, just a journey after all, made easier by a neat jigger full of bourbon…
LikeLike
Tabitha said:
Oh and ‘played beer pong on your quad’ has boggled my old British napper.
LikeLike
thegentlemanfarmer said:
Oh, never having met Mrs. B and all, still, I suspect we would have been wonderful beer pong partners or adversaries, wouldn’t matter too much to us, just the joy of competition…
LikeLike