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{cupcake_noir .01}
rotation theme: Men I mentally associate certain songs to and with whom I've had either teenie infatuations or full-blown love affairs with in the past year and a half
song title: Acrobat
artist: U2
language: English
you remind me of: "Kroger Boy"
comments: Kroger Boy is a mystery. He used to work the express self-checkout lane in the afternoons, but a few months later got promoted(?) to graveyard shift scanner. When he had been a daytime worker my mom would take me to see him, but once his shifts switched to the wee hours of the morning, I had to have friends take me to go visit him. Things for Kroger Boy pretty much went downhill after his schedule got changed around. He used to be this shy, OCD college(?) kid who slightly resembled Sean from "Boy Meets World" and got hit on by old ladies. When he started working nights, he looked like he had begun drinking and was angry all the time. Kroger Boy started putting on weight. He didn't make eye contact with me anymore, and this made me very sad. I've never had an actual conversation with Kroger Boy, but through our by-and-by banter me and him sort of became friends. I think if we had been good friends, he would have been someone I could trade mixtapes with, and "Acrobat" would have to be on at least one of those mixtapes. I think it would help him. It's my favourite U2 song, and it's always reminded me of him because I never knew why he started drinking or switched to the night shift, but I knew whatever caused it made him quite bitter, and I'm sorry I never took the time to ask just what that was.
song title: The Art Teacher
artist: Rufus Wainwright
language: English
you remind me of: ???
comments: ??? was my art teacher my junior year of high school. I had him for around three weeks when I decided to change classes because I couldn't stand his other students. My councelor sent me to an AP Art class that was open that same period as a solution. The first day of my AP Art class, I went in early only to find my new teacher, !!!, and ??? talking. Two minutes into their conversation, I knew what a mistake I had made. I went to my councelor and asked to be transferred back into ???'s class, but she said his schedule was "in flux" and another change wouldn't be possible. Less than a month later ??? was laid off. I was too embarasssed to say anything to him, and avoided ??? until the day he left.
A few months later, one of the art teachers still in staff (and unfortunately for me, not the teacher I had) was granted her request of personal leave for the entire second semester. Her classes were too large to be absorbed by my teacher, so a substitute had to be hired for remainder of the year. It was purely gossip when it got to me, but I have to admit, I was quite giddy when I heard ??? had been the one chosen for the job. In that little time that I did have him for a teacher, not only did he teach me more in his Art I than entire semester of !!!'s AP class could've given me, but me and him had a certain bond. We could talk about music, politics, even personal lives- and I hoped we could have those conversations once again. I actually counted down the days until the new grading period started and I could see him!
When he did eventually come back, he was so swamped with work I actually couldn't visit him for a week or two. I'd sneak glances into his window on my way to !!!'s class- never letting him see me, but I'd see him bent over his desk surrounded by stacks of papers, and I made myself promise I wouldn't pester him. And I didn't. I don't remember how it happened- I was wandering around some lunch period when he approached me, and, well, I saw him most lunch periods after that. I was glad to have our conversations back. I didn't get to be a part of too many during this time- I kept to myself mostly, and ??? was a good distraction from that. I think I went to visit him during lunch about once a week, and when I wasn't there, I was in the library making up procrastinated homework. On the whole that pretty much summed up my junior year of high school, but it wasn't without it's complications, that's for certain.
!!! was quite a pain. I disliked her from the beginning, and she repaid those feelings tenfold. It wasn't enough to make my grades themselves suffer, but she was merciless when it came to things like class critiques... I don't know what I did originally to get on her bad side, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't fight fire with fire. My semester exam was basically a 7-page paper on just how many ways she could kiss my arse, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is- we'd take every opprotunity possible to lash out at the other. I attacked her lax teaching, her false credentials, her personal "artwork". She chose ???.
Two of my classmates had gone to !!!'s room during a free period to make up some assignments when they say another teacher came to chat. The two students said they tried to listen in without being conspicuous, but apparently !!! noticed and asked them to please mind themselves. Beforehand the conversation had seemed pretty uninteresting to my classmates, but with this request they were no doubt intrigued, as they should have been. I imagine it isn't so unusual for a teacher to gossip about students, or even to gossip about other teachers, but gossiping about a student and a teacher together in a way that is reputably damaging is almost unheard of. But that's what my classmates reported to me- that !!! had dropped ???'s and my name together in this manner, and one other girl's as well. She had said that he was "too close to a few certain female students" and should be kept an eye on. The other teacher nodded in in accord and left.
I don't know if ??? was ever aware of this, but I certainly wasn't going to talk to him about it. We were not involved in any sort of relationship that would be morally damning to either of us. I just knew that I wanted to stay out of any unnecessary fuss probably as much as he did, and tried to keep our friendship as cool as possible. He hosted a school club which met for one hour after school every week, and aside from these, I did not see ???. I would talk to him then and only then, and with this, the majority of !!!'s gossip stopped. I enjoyed the time we had together. and we kept up this way until the closing of the year.
I knew ??? would not come back after his substituting gig. ??? knew I would be transferred to another school for my senior year. He had become my best friend, and I wanted to see him as much as possible my last week. I skipped a couple of classes to see him before, but I think I spent the entire last half of the day in his room. His classes weren't doing much, so I sat on the floor behind his desk and talked to him while he sorted through the last of his papers.
You know those moments that as you're living them you know you'll remember them forever? That's what talking with him then was like. That whole afternoon. ??? had a nervous habit of tapping his fingers, and this occupied him in the long time we talked about his wife's pregnancy and the birth of his second child. I don't know if he even contemplated tears, but I fumbled with the sunglasses on the top of my head that he let me borrow to keep me from it. I was really going to miss him, and I still do.
I also still have his sunglasses. Awhile ago, he sent me an email tellimg me he wanted them back. I told him no, I liked them too much, and I needed them for the summer. He said one day, when we see each other again, a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and a 6-Pack of Coke would make up for the sunglasses. I said that sounded fair, but only if I got to sit and drink one of those Cokes with him. He agreed.
song title: Mr. Wonderful
artist: Shiina Ringo
language: English
you remind me of: I am R.
comments: So, R. isn't really "Mr. Wonderful'. Nor am I Shiina Ringo singing this song. But R. feels like a "Mr. Wonderful". And I feel the same as every other girl who has sung this song.
song title: Spread
artist: Andre 3000 (Outkast)
language: English
you remind me of: A certain Native American ex-vampire of mine
comments: ...Well. I think this one's pretty self-explanatory.
song title: Messenger Bird's Song
artist: Bright Eyes
language: English
you remind me of: Moose Sweater Boy
comments: If any of you remember Johnny Depp as Sam in "Benny & Joon"- that's Moose Sweater Boy. Even down to the Keaton obsession. And I'm willing to bet he's made grilled cheese with an iron at least once.
song title: Falling In Love Again
artist: Marlene Dietrich
language: German
you remind me of: German Ralf
comments: I was introduced to German Ralf by a mutual friend. This friend and German Ralf had become chummy via connections in their student exchange programs. German Ralf and I got to be friends when he did an impromptu rendition of "Falling in Love Again" with me in the middle of a cafe. Now, the singing alone would have been enough, but his Lola pose? That's love!
song title: Street Fighting Boy (Live)
artist: Jive Junk
language: English, Japanese
you remind me of: A Mexican...
comments: I'm one who usually has a good intuition about things. I buy decent X-Mas gifts, none of my childhood friends have turned out to be axe murderers or psychopaths, and when I make people mixtapes, they like the mixtapes. All except this Mexican. He likes punk rock and metal, so I offered to make him a mix of songs in that genre, but by Japanese bands. He was intrigued, and took me up on it. It wasn't until a few days after I gave him the mix that I heard him say anything about it. I was sitting on the floor next to him at school, just spacing out at things, and he's plugged into his iPod and bouncing his head, when he turns to me and goes- "mnenneh mehhrah todashite ebbeh, STREET FIGHTING BOY!"
My favourite moment concerning this song, however, came a few weeks later when we were on our way over to his house. We were standing at a bus stop in this really shady area of downtown Nashville and talking, when he said he wanted me to listen to one of his "Crunk Mariachi" bands (that's what I call them, not him.) I put one of his iPod buds in my ear and kind of danced with him to the song, but apparently the song wasn't fast enough and went to the next track (you guessed it!), "Street Fighting Boy".
Oh my goodness. I would give anything to hear that off-key half-assed Japanese again. And remembering dancing with him while all these seriously shady people were watching us, ah! I will remember that forever.
(And as I hinted before, "Street Fighting Boy" ended up being the only song my Mexican liked from that mix. He put all the songs from it onto his iPod, but he says he says the only one he ever listens to is that one.)
(next rotation: My Love For "Berusaiyu no Bara")
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