Life on Tape
For the trip up to Omegacon, I brought some tapes along for the drive. Yes, I am sufficiently technologically backward that my vehicle does not have a CD player, let alone one of those... MP4 players? Is that what the kids are fiddling around with these days? Anyway, I found myself not wanting to listen to NPR for two hours straight so I dug out some tapes.
Man, these are old. A lot of these I haven't heard in ten years. Cripes, maybe even fifteen years. And I was kind of startled that some of them actually hadn't degraded that much. Oh yeah, some of them had decayed noticeably, but while the overall audio quality wasn't CD level, I found myself not minding much.
They were so old they were new. I had completely forgotten about a lot of these songs. It was refreshing and, this might sound weird, kind of scary.
For me, the Eighties encompassed high school, college, and the first few years after college stumbling around with my mouth open gaping at the horror of it all. It was a really rough time for me. Eighties nostalgia never really worked for me. Oh sure, some music, some movies, some TV... those were fun. But in general it just calls up some painful, awkward, lonely, terrified, clueless memories.
I don't want to remember what it was like then. I am remembering it now. But I'm remembering how much I liked these albums more.
I feel kind of weird about this. People collect CDs. They collect old vinyl. Seriously, who in hell listens to old, faded, squeaky tapes any more? Cassettes are, well, junk. You can't even find them in garage sales now.
Well, you don't want to get mixed up with me Dottie. I'm a rebel, a loner.
I think I'm going to paw through my stuff and stick a few of these tapes in. Maybe walk into Cheapo with a twenty and walk out with ten tapes. It's not like anyone else is clamoring for them. And I could use the companionship.
Man, these are old. A lot of these I haven't heard in ten years. Cripes, maybe even fifteen years. And I was kind of startled that some of them actually hadn't degraded that much. Oh yeah, some of them had decayed noticeably, but while the overall audio quality wasn't CD level, I found myself not minding much.
They were so old they were new. I had completely forgotten about a lot of these songs. It was refreshing and, this might sound weird, kind of scary.
For me, the Eighties encompassed high school, college, and the first few years after college stumbling around with my mouth open gaping at the horror of it all. It was a really rough time for me. Eighties nostalgia never really worked for me. Oh sure, some music, some movies, some TV... those were fun. But in general it just calls up some painful, awkward, lonely, terrified, clueless memories.
I don't want to remember what it was like then. I am remembering it now. But I'm remembering how much I liked these albums more.
I feel kind of weird about this. People collect CDs. They collect old vinyl. Seriously, who in hell listens to old, faded, squeaky tapes any more? Cassettes are, well, junk. You can't even find them in garage sales now.
Well, you don't want to get mixed up with me Dottie. I'm a rebel, a loner.
I think I'm going to paw through my stuff and stick a few of these tapes in. Maybe walk into Cheapo with a twenty and walk out with ten tapes. It's not like anyone else is clamoring for them. And I could use the companionship.