Author: Frank

Music…

The Reflex

Seven and the Ragged Tiger

Duran Duran

and Words

You’ve gone too far this time
But I’m dancing on the Valentine
I tell you somebody’s fooling around
With my chances on the danger line

I’ll cross that bridge when I find it
Another day to make my stand, oh woah
High time is no time for deciding
If I should find a helping hand, oh woah

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I got horrifically poor grades during my freshman year in high school.  I didn’t try to get poor grades; I simply didn’t care.  At that stage of my life, I simply drifted.  I moved like a car when we lift our foot off the brake.  I moved but barely and with no purpose or destination.  Neither angst nor frustration filled me.  If anything filled me at all was apathy.  I’m surprised that it didn’t end up more horrifically, but even in my apathy, my mind captured facts and some subjects came naturally.

On my second year in high school, I turned things around.  Truthfully, I can’t tell you precisely what changed, though I have some educated guesses.  That return to academics started with an uncharacteristically practical class:  typing.  Each morning, I wondered into the second-floor hallway with the business classes.  Entered a large, brightly lit room with small desks arranged into neat rows.  Each desk held an IBM Selectric typewriter; this was my main tool of the trade for one hour each morning.

Continue reading “One keystroke at a time” →

Music…

Start Me Up

Tattoo You

The Rolling Stones

and Words

If you start me up
If you start me up I’ll never stop
If you start me up
If you start me up I’ll never stop

I’ve been running hot
You got me ticking, now don’t blow my top
If you start me up
If you start me up I’ll never stop
Never stop, never stop, never stop

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On a late evening in 1995, I remained at work until what was an absurdly long day.  Today, I’d have to make an exception and leave before I intended to leave the office.  I needed to go to the grocery store and stock up on supplies so that I may continue the death march.  While most consider the need to do such a grocery run involves staples like milk, juice, and bread, this was far more basic.  At this point, most of what I bothered to go home to do was to shower and sleep.  The basic needs translated to soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent.  While I’d definitely get some food items, they’ll run out before my next need for soap or toothpaste.

Initially, I had not decided to return to the office after my grocery run but nonetheless contemplated it.  I gathered my things into my backpack and slung it over one shoulder.  As I walked out the building to my car, I stopped and chatted briefly with teammates who similarly stayed late continuing to work.  I asserted that I needed to go to the store for items that I absolutely needed.  Their initial look of both contempt and betrayal subsided to be followed by envy.  However, in my insistence to leave for such luxuries as toothpaste, I could gather a few items for them while they resisted making a similar trip.

Continue reading “The Start of an Era” →

Music…

In The Dark

Don’t Say No

Billy Squier

and Words

Life isn’t easy from the singular side
Down in the hole some emotions are hard to hide
It’s your decision, it’s a chance that you take
It’s on your head, it’s a habit that’s hard to break

Do you need a friend?
Would you tell no lies?
Would you take me in?
Are you lonely in the dark?

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

In my early childhood, the closest we got to personal music was a boombox.  Generic gray boxes with cassette players, radios, and extending antennae filled the room with tinny sound from reels of magnetic tape.  Back then, the only headphones you could get were bulky over-the-ear units that resembled the Princess Leia hairdo circa A New Hope.  These ‘portable’ units had battery compartments that housed a half-dozen D-cell batteries.

Upon hitting the 1980’s, the Sony Walkman transformed how we consumed music.  Suddenly, we could each listen to music individually even among others.  It was a package small enough that we could reasonably carry with us.  However, my family was poor, and I could not afford the price tag of a Sony Walkman.  As such we often shopped at the Thunderbird Swap Shop, where we found off-brand and irregular items.  The point of compromise was a knock-off cassette player that I found at one of those vendors.  No warranty, of course, that vendor may not be there the following week.

Continue reading “Will you love me in the dark?” →

Music…

Bring Me To Life

Fallen

Evanescence

and Words

How can you see into my eyes like open doors?
Leading you down into my core where I’ve become so numb
Without a soul, my spirit’s sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back home

(Wake me up) wake me up inside (I can’t wake up), wake me up inside
(Save me) call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up) bid my blood to run (I can’t wake up) before I come undone
(Save me) save me from the nothing I’ve become

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Shortly after the turn of the millennium (yes, I know how that sounds), a song got persistent airplay.  I mean this literally; it was played consistently on the radio.  The radio station pumped that music through the airwaves and into the radio, which I listened to most frequently in my car.  I spent many evenings driving the Western Washington freeways for just the feel of the road.  Naturally, the music added to that bliss.  Mostly, I played my own music.

Occasionally, I tuned the radio.  I darted back and forth among half a dozen preset stations in the car.  The radio DJ’s will normally announce the name of the song and artist either immediately before or shortly after the song plays.  Strangely, for this particular song the DJ’s persistently neglected to mention either one.  One station very maddeningly simply referred to it as ‘the song’.

Continue reading “Finding ‘The Song’” →

Music…

Unstoppable

This Is Acting

Sia

and Words

All smiles, I know what it takes to fool this town
I’ll do it ’til the sun goes down
And all through the nighttime
Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah, I’ll tell you what you wanna hear
Leave my sunglasses on while I shed a tear
It’s never the right time
Yeah, yeah

I put my armor on, show you how strong I am
I put my armor on, I’ll show you that I am

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

Professionally, I’ve always worked as a computer geek.  It started in 1991 when I came to Microsoft.  As such, we had no official dress code; they didn’t impose any restrictions.  Most dressed comfortably.  For me, that mostly meant jeans or shorts and t-shirts.  Occasionally, I wore tank tops.  Other times, I wore long pants (like khakis).  However, the shirts that amused me most were the superhero shirts.  Afterall, who wouldn’t want to be a superhero?

Over the years, I’ve attended my share of meetings.  Naturally, we occasionally chatted about topics other than work.  During one such meeting, we observed as I wore a Superman shirt, and a teammate wore a Batman shirt.  As we packed up our belongings to leave that meeting, I made a suggestion in semi-serious jest.  I said, “We should coordinate a day when we all dress like superheroes”.

Continue reading “We are superheroes” →

Music…

Cuts Like A Knife

Cuts Like A Knife

Bryan Adams

and Words

Drivin’ home this evenin’
Coulda sworn we had it all worked out
You had this boy believin’
Way beyond the shadow of a doubt, yeah

Well, I heard it on the street
I heard you mighta found somebody new, yeah
Well, who is he, baby? Who is he?
And tell me what he means to you, oh, yeah

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

I performed astonishingly poorly on my freshman year in high school.  While I definitely could’ve gotten better grades, I basically didn’t care.  I spent much of that year ditching school, though doing nothing of consequence.  It’s not as if I spent it doing drugs or the like; I honestly can’t tell you how I spent that wasted time.  Interestingly, I do have an educated guess as to what triggered that disastrous year, but I won’t bore you with that today.  It was really by pure chance that I only failed one semester of one class (World History); I could’ve done a lot worse damage.

However, once I started my sophomore year, my trajectory drastically shot upwards.  I discovered that I could easily remember details from the lessons; all I needed to do was attend class.  I only missed one day of school that second year; that day was after a bike accident.  Those grades were slightly elevated by my class selection (fewer honors classes), but not by much.

Continue reading “Lessons in the classroom and beyond” →

Music…

You Belong With Me

Fearless

Taylor Swift

and Words

You’re on the phone with your girlfriend, she’s upset
She’s going off about something that you said
‘Cause she doesn’t get your humor like I do

I’m in my room, it’s a typical Tuesday night
I’m listening to the kind of music she doesn’t like
And she’ll never know your story like I do

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.

On a weekend afternoon, we finish our shopping at the local Trader Joe’s.  The modestly sized market sits a few minutes from our home.  Some employees recognize us and greet us.  They often play 80’s music, which consistently brightens my mood.  While we don’t spend a whole lot of time in the store, I’ll spend the short time, anticipating the next track, and furiously trying to recognize the song as quickly as possible, much like my own personal game of Name That Tune.

Today, their music threw me a curve.  They played a song that I didn’t immediately recognize, though it certainly sounded familiar.  A woman’s voice sung clearly and optimistically.  I no longer cared that I had lost this little mental contest, I needed to know.  I had an educated guess, but the response from Shazam confirmed my suspicion.  This was Taylor Swift.

Continue reading “Swift Integrity” →