(no subject)

[wickedflea]

As a teenager I used to hang out at Backstage Music, the guitar store in Starkville, when it resided in a tiny unit in the Sack & Save shopping center. I'd sit around playing the intro to "Crazy Train" on guitars that I could never afford, pocket the picks when I was done, and enjoy the atmosphere. (It was a cramped, funky place, not like the saccharine music stores such as Guitar Center and all those, so there actually was atmosphere.) Every once in a while, I'd get to see local music stars like Rogers Stevens, who played in a cheesy but tight cover band called Rock Damage (later Concrete Jungle (!)) and went on to half-nakedly grace the cover of Rolling Stone as a guitarist in Blind Melon. But the coolest guy who frequented Backstage was Pine, a would-be bluesman who would come in and test-drive the acoustic guitars. Pine fancied himself an old-school juke-jointer in the mold of the many famous Mississippi Delta players, but there was one problem: he couldn't play or sing for shit. He'd come in, grab a guitar, and start yowling, "MY WOMAN LEFT ME . . . FOR A LOAF OF BREAD." Horrible stuff, and I'm sure the employees hated to see him coming, but I always enjoyed seeing old Pine. I was amazed at how he could always go completely unnoticed as he slipped a high E string off a guitar and into his pocket. It was only a dollar for a single string, but I guess he figured, why pay a buck when you can get one for free? Cool dude, that Pine.

I'm pretty sure I'm going back to rehab next week. Last few days to have a beer with me--get it while it's hot.

Comments

[ozmaofoz.livejournal.com]

I raise my bottle of zyrup to thee. Hey, we're all addicted to something.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

And some of us to practically everything. :) Thanks, my dear.

What's the Word?

[carocrow.livejournal.com]

Pine's woman was easy. A loaf of bread? She should have held out for some Thunderbird.

Re: What's the Word?

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

That's just how skank she was!

[buscemi.livejournal.com]

Rehab? Aw, man. I'm sorry. :/

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Mike. I think I'll be OK in the end, though. I just need to lift myself out of this shit for a while to have a chance with it. I'm tired of struggling with it on my own.

[wickedqueen.livejournal.com]

That sucks, dude. :/ We can be rehab pen pals if you want! Except I am not in rehab. I just work at wal-mart. So basically, I am in hell.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that'd be cool. :) I'll post contact info if I can.

Take good notes and write a Wal-Mart expose. I guess Barbara Ehrenrich has already done that, but the world needs a funny one! :P

[motherevol.livejournal.com]

YOU'RE MA BOY, FLEA!

Here if you need me. You know the drill amigo. ;)

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Thanks, mama. :) Send me a note if I can get an address posted up on here.

[motherevol.livejournal.com]

Always use: motherevol666@yahoo.com

I check my email more than my voice mail and it is the fastest way to get a hold of me in a pinch.

[theodicy.livejournal.com]

Always here, o Brudder Flea. Love ya.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sistuh. It means a lot.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Many thanks--I'm a-gonna try.

I'd only mentioned it explicity in a late-night post some months ago, so you're forgiven. :)

[cramped.livejournal.com]

Good for you for seeking some help when you need it. I'm here for a listening ear if you need it.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Lisa. Maybe I'll bend your ear one day soon. :)

[rufus.livejournal.com]

oh dude. well, at least you're getting on that shit right away. i join the people above me in rooting for you. And do post an address, if you can.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Many thanks--will do. :)

[mipplet.livejournal.com]

I'm proud of you for seeking out the help you need. I'm here for you if you ever need to talk. :)

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Mip. :)

[saying-things.livejournal.com]

You need to put all your stories together in a book. I'd buy it. Or at least steal it.

Boo rehab. I mean yay, but like, boo.

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Thanks--I'll hold you to that. That's one of the things I want to do when I get straight: doing more writing and going through the stuff I have to try to work up some sort of collection or longer narrative.

And yeah, I of course have mixed feelings about the other thing. I hoped like hell that I wouldn't have to do it again, but, well, here I am, and avoiding it isn't going to make it any easier. Florgnobbin.

[saying-things.livejournal.com]

We're like twin children of different mothers. I want to do that as well when I get my shit together. And I should probably go to rehab too. Well, I should quit drinking anyway. I don't do it as much as I was when I was in L.A. but still.

Good luck yo.

[hauntedskipper.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the quitting.
I stopped smoking again last month.
At first it soothed my stress from work but soon thereafter it was just something I did when I wasn't working.
It's funny how fast you lose the joy in something when you do it all the time.
Again, good luck, you're doing the right thing.