Birdhouse in your Soul- A Friday Flashback

As I enjoy writing and would like to blog more- just for the fun of it, I came up with the idea- "Flashback Friday".  Every Friday, I will post a blog that contains a special memory- recorded for myself or for prosperity.

In 1995, I was in the seventh grade.  Being an only child, and a willful one at that, I felt I was a much older soul than my fourteen years reflected.  At this time, I began to experiment with fashion and fall in love with rock and roll. I was cultivating my own unique sense of self and I am proud of it, when I look back.  I was finding myself, instead of blending in.  I was being creative.   See examples from this era below:

Becky Reed (Recky Bead) and I in seventh grade.  She is wearing my EOI t-shirt; I am wearing Jeremy Hyde's Mellowdramatic Wallflowers t-shirt (that band is a Tulsa insider thing) and rocking the blazing red lips.

Clockwise from bottom: Angelene (Ripley) Wright, Becky (Reed) Davis, me, Christine (Hastings) Adamack, and Corrie (Feyen) Karlovich.  This is the beginning of my wardrobe devoid of any color.  Straight black dress that I wore until it was nothing but a series of tattered threads and baby barrettes in my hair!

Again with the blazing red lips and that shirt is They Might Be Giants with the cover of John Henry on it.  To the left, you can see my photo collage of pictures, bands, music, etc.  This was about 3x5 ft and I had a very nice mom for allowing me to put all that crap on the wall!

This is a pretty typical shot of Christine, Corrie and me on my ugly couch (hey, it was free!).  I am wearing a shirt that I later realized had an extremely subtle vulgar suggestion!  I had NO idea at the time- and apparently the message was so subtle that my mom didn't notice either!  Eek- sorry!

Again, finding myself. Through a friend at the time, I discovered a some what esoteric radio station.  I say that because it was only on the air from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.  That's right, if you wanted to listen to it, you had to stay up all night!  It was called EOI- which stood for Edge of Insanity.  If you caught it between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m., you'd find a classical music station.  God bless. 92.1 fm.  Why yes, I did stay up all night and sleep all day when I got the chance.  I remember coming home from the seventh grade to sleep right away and waking at 12 to stay up and listen.  As much as I am an extrovert by day, there is an introvert inside of me.  I really treasured the time that was mine and mine alone.  No one bothered me.  The house was quiet.  I could write, scheme, dream- whatever I wanted.  I find that I still desire such time.  It's just harder to come by as I grow older.  This radio station- that turned me into a creature of the night, played indie, new wave, hard rock, oddities- you name it.  I cultivated a unique musical palette in those nights.  The music spoke to my growing pains and soothed me.  I was one of many followers who tuned in regularly and came to love the DJs: Deja and Mother T (her name is Teresa).  We all had call in names.  When I decided to call in a request one night, I lacked a call in name and blurted out "Sam I Am"- because Dr. Suess is a genius, y'all.  (really- I mean it!  I think I appreciate his work more as an adult!)

Anyway, one particular evening, I became aware of a concert I really and truly HAD to attend.  EOI had been publicizing Frank Black (of The Pixies) opening for They Might Be Giants!  Eek!  Every other 14 year old girl I knew was swooning over some ridiculous boy band, but me-- no, I was panting to see a sweaty bald dude (sorry FB) and two nerds playing accordions.  For those who know me well, this all makes sense I am sure.  EOI decided to do a ticket giveaway and I was poised!  You see, back in MY day, before the interwebs, a radio might offer a prize to a caller of a certain number.  Picture me sitting on my couch, in my pajamas, hand on my phone-- which looked like this:

Clearly, you are now jealous of my undeniable awesomeness, right?!  Don't lie.  But I digress, I sat with my hand on the phone- waiting for the announcement to call.  Aaaaannnnnndddd, finally, it was go time.  Busy signal, hang up, try again- ring!  Holy crap- it's ringing! "Guess what?" said the answering voice.  "What?" I said thinking I couldn't possibly win.  "You are the eighth caller!"  OH HOLY GOODNESS!  I WON!  I WON!  I WON!  Please, at this time, remember that this radio station aired 12-6 over night!  So, this good news came at 2 in the morning, when my mom was asleep!  I bounced around the house saying "I won, I won, I won!"  I got my mom's crystal stemmed wine glasses down from the cupboard and proceeded to poor chilled 7Up in one whilst continuing to recite "I won, I won, I won!".  The commotion awoke my mom, who at 2 in the morning, was incredibly groggy.  "Mom, guess what?!  I won!" Mom replies- not having a clue what I may have won, "That's great, honey, now go to bed". 

The next morning was a different story.  You see, mom remembered waking up and talking to me, but NOTHING else.  I proceeded to explain that I won tickets to see Frank Black and They Might Be Giants at the Cain's Ballroom and I was soooooo excited.  Then- BOOM, reality: "You're only 14 years old Lindsay!  There's no way I'm letting you see a show at the Cain's!"  This turned in to probably a week's worth of back and forth- teenager clinging to any sense of independence vs. mother trying to protect child.  In the end, mom decided I could go as long as I took a trustworthy friend with me, Corrie.   While every other girl my age has a concert story about being dragged to something their parents' liked or seeing the New Kids on the Block (nothing wrong with that at all), I was watching a Frank Black and Pixies at the Cain's Ballroom.  This is a favorite memory and the story of how a girl fell in love with the Cain's Ballroom.  I think I'd move into it, if they'd let me.

Post Script- In November 2011, I got a chance to see Frank Black again- this time, reunited with The Pixies.  I was super giddy, trying to explain it at work to people who were responded, "so is tonight when your going to see that band- the Fairies?"  Me: "you mean The Pixies?"  Yeah.  Luckily, my dear bff, Jill, was able to come with me.  As we listened to the music, it just felt like I was going home.  It sounded like home to me.

The Pixies- Nov. 2011 (Frank Black is the second from the left)

Jill and me- friends for 16 years!