267,494

That's the number of minutes between now and the scheduled start of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's show on July 31, 2008. JoMo's got me listening to some live versions of Bruce and The Band. I don't know where this post is going, but I really can't wait. It's not until the end of next summer, which seems so far away, as I'm still waiting for Spring Break. Bruce gives a shout out in a live version of Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, to his band, calling them, "heart stoppin' earth shakin' earth quakin' heart breakin' air conditioner jammin' lengendary" (credit to JoMo).

I have my ideal, optimistic vision of what I think that night will be like, I don't think The Boss will let me down. I expect Giants' Stadium to be heart stoppin' and earth shakin' that night.

I'm waitin', waitin' on a sunny day
Gonna chase the clouds away

Long live Rock & Roll.

----------------
Now playing: Bruce Springsteen - The River (Live)
via FoxyTunes

Update (January 29th, 2008)

I'm going to attempt to do the unthinkable. I just told JoMo that Sandy is near the top of my list, as far as Bruce songs go. I'm going to finally (since I've pondered it an innumerable amount of times) rank songs performed by The Boss. I feel like this is the kind of thing you just don't do, but I'm going to do it anyway. First, a couple ground rules. These are rankings based solely on how much I like the song, without any particular guidelines. I will be considering songs as they are performed by Bruce Springsteen or Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (as some songs are sans band), and no cover versions will be counted, however I will include songs not written by Bruce. Lastly, I will only consider studio versions, unless the only version of the song is live; all songs on the list, therefore, unless otherwise noted, can be assumed to be studio versions. Nomenclature is as follows: "Song - Album (Year of original release)" and all punctuation and capitalization is according Bruce's official site. Here goes nothing...

1. Jungleland - Born to Run (1975) Truly a masterpiece, a ballad, if you will
   
2. Glory Days - Born in the U.S.A. (1984) Makes me miss the 'Nock
   
3. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973) Bruce wrote this to be a "Live show-stopper..." he didn't want fans to forget this song; I won't
   
4. Thunder Road - Born to Run (1975) These first four are probably the least controversial amongst Bruce fans
   
5. Born To Run - Born to Run (1975) Bruce's last ditch effort to produce a hit; I'd say it worked
   
6. Jersey Girl (Live) - Bruce Springsteen Live 1975-1985 (1986) *Written by Tom Waits; performed live many times by Bruce, Bruce says the character in this song parallels the characters in Rosie and Sandy
   
7. Girls In Their Summer Clothes - Magic (2007) The video is great, too
   
8. 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) - The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (1973) If I counted the live version, this would be further up
9. Mary's Place - The Rising (2002)
   
10. Atlantic City - Nebraska (1982) The only song from Nebraska to make it on Bruce's Greatest Hits album, also happens to be the only on this list
    
11. Better Days - Lucky Town (1992) Up-tempo song, always gets me in a good mood, but then again so do most of the songs listed here
    
12. Born In The U.S.A. - Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
    
13. The Rising - The Rising (2002) Unlike the 22nd song on this list, "The Rising" is actually about 9/11, about firefighters climbing the stairs of the WTC, and going all the way up to Heaven
    
14. The River - The River (1985)
    
15. Dancing In The Dark - Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
    
16. You'll Be Comin' Down - Magic (2007)
17. Badlands - Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
18. Because the Night (Live) - Bruce Springsteen Live 1975-1985 (1986) *Co-written with Patti Smith
    
19. Growin' Up - Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
20. Prove It All Night - Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
    
21. Waitin' On A Sunny Day - The Rising (2002)
22. My City Of Ruins - The Rising (2002) Released shortly after 9/11, this song is actually about Asbury Park, not NYC
23. Hungry Heart - The River (1980)
24. Streets of Philadelphia - Philadelphia Soundtrack (1993)
    
25. Empty Sky - The Rising (2002)

Well that only kept me from writing my English paper (which is now due in about 8.5 hours, mind you) for a few hours. Much harder than it looks, and I still can't say I'm completely satisfied, but there's a nice set of my 25 favorite Bruce songs, in order. Enjoy (266,033 minutes now).

Smile!

Del comments that the AFC Championship game is meaningless, with respect to the entire world. JoMo, in response, gets existential. Sure the game doesn't matter, but neither do you or I, he'd tell him, in the scope of the history of the world. What difference would it make if I'd never been born? I'd tend to agree with both of them here. Sure, Del, the Packers losing to the Giants in the NFC game isn't the end of the world. JoMo takes it one step further, showing that even the seemingly important things in life aren't truly important. I agree with both pessimistic and cynical arguments. In fact, my Life post alludes slightly to this notion.

I'm not going to turn my back on my initial argument, as I still believe that the small things shouldn't get you down. Theres' no reason to let them, they are insignificant and you'll forget about them a little ways down the road. That being said, embrace the good small things in life. Just as there's no reason to let the bad things hurt you, there's no reason to not let the good things give you joy. Will you forget about those good things in a day or two? Yes, of course, but why not still gain happiness from this moment? I may've been frustrated at the end of the NFC Championship game, but I knew there was no reason to be disappointed over it for too long. Giants fans, though, take joy from the win, bask in the glory (while you still have the chance, since you'll probably be on my side of the fence in about two weeks).
(Update 2/3: I stand corrected, Big Blue won the big one.)

You have trouble sleeping at night, then wake up with barely enough time to get ready, then spill coffee on your shirt, then get stuck in traffic, then hastily lock your keys in your car, before finally getting to work one Monday morning. A string of minor bad things things can lead us to conclude that we're having a "bad day." That may be so. You wake up feeling refreshed, enjoy a nice steaming cup of coffee, hit every traffic light green, and get a good parking spot as you arrive at work 5 minutes early, one Monday morning. Most people would still not qualify this as a "good day." In comparison to a Saturday, it might not be a good day, true. Take joy in the small things and let them cheer you up, for sometimes that's all we have.

Let all those small things put a smile on your face. Be happy when your day is through and you can slowly drift off in a nice warm bed. Be happy when there are short lines at the dining hall. Be happy when your class goes by quickly. Be happy when the cool summer breeze smells just right. Be happy when... be happy when something, anything, gives you the slightest reason to be happy. Dismissing a joyous occasion as irrelevant in the broad view of this earth or your life does no one any good.

Smile, and be happy.

I'll end with a quote:

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive. - Eleonora Duse

Perfection.

Perfection - the state of being without flaw or defect. No, this isn't about the 18-0, Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots. Their record is perfect, yes, but this is about real perfection. If you ask a group of people what perfection is, or about the state of being "perfect," you're likely to get many different answers. In more or less words, most people would also probably tell you simply that perfection does not exist. I can recall times when I would fail at something when I was younger (yes, it's happened), and my mom would sometimes tell me, "Well, no one's perfect." It's my opinion that she was not entirely right (not entirely wrong, either, though).

Ask one thousand women to describe their perfect man, and you'll get one thousand different answers. You see, perfection does exist; perfection is in the eye of the beholder. A perfect America for me would not be a perfect America for you. Opinions can be similar, surely, but no two people envision the exact same thing. Ask a panel of ten artists to draw a dog, and you'll get ten very different pictures. Can it be agreed upon that all ten pictures represent a dog? Sure. But are all ten exactly the same? No. In this sense, everything is subjective, as no one sees everything from the same perspective as someone else. This could clearly be applied literally to everything, but for now let's stick to the idea of perfection.

A warm summer night with a steady cool breeze; July 31, 2008, in East Rutherford, NJ. That might be perfect, for me. Perfection does exist. That scene is perfect, for me. Perfection is subjective, though, because it may not be perfect for you. Something that is perfect for a single soul is not perfect for everyone. Perfection is not something that all are supposed to agree upon. Perfection is simply what's right for me, and what's right for you.

The last example may not be the best, though, and now I'll shoot myself down. I'll still hold on to the notion that perfection exists, and that it's highly subjective, but that scene I described is not perfect, to me. Often we find something that, with a little work, a little bending, fits our mold for "perfect." Is that thing truly perfect, then, or are we contorting it in our minds to see it as so? That night I described (aside from the weather) has been more-or-less given to me, and I deemed it to be perfect.. Had you asked me six months ago what my idea of a perfect night was, or the perfect setting for a Bruce concert, that scene is not what I would've detailed for you. We all-too-often view something that is magnificent and decide that it is perfect. That night might be the closest to perfect that I could ever have. Perfect, though, would mean I would not be 200 feet away from the stage in a stadium; perfect might be sitting in the sand of Asbury Park 15 feet from the band, with the stars glistening overhead.

Believe in perfection, for it does exist, but don't force the label on something that isn't perfect.

Writer's Block

They say that writer's block is the best cure for writer's cramp. What, then, is the best cure for writer's block?

I've never been a particularly creative person, and rely on random inspirations to write. I write about things that I mull over in my head, and I'm not much of a creative writer. I write what I think, I write what I see, and I write what I believe.

Allow me to just let this spill out for a few minutes, get my aggravations off my chest...

Lately I've had trouble finishing what I start. I feel as if I have a good idea, I'll have a solid idea in my head, and can even find the motivation to start writing. When I come to the end of my rope of inspiration, though, I feel as if the piece is incomplete. The original thought is still there, and the inspiration is still present, but I feel like the last stitch required to tie all of my thoughts together is awry.

I currently have four Blog entries that are still in the "draft" phase. Maybe the ideas were never worthy of being written in the first place. Maybe I just haven't finished cultivating the idea in my head. Maybe there's simply nothing else to say. Maybe my standards for my own writing have increased. I don't know what the problem is, but nothing I write is seeming to please me any longer.

It's quite frustrating.

Looking Back: Best Year Ever

Well, this December thirty-first was very different from the last. A while back there were talks of going in to the city to see the ball drop, but that didn’t happen. A large, glowing ball that takes a mere minute to descend 77 feet, after hundreds of thousands of people wait in the cold for several long hours. Sure it’s purely a symbolic event, with no true significance, but I feel like it’s one of those things that everyone should try to go and see at least once in his/her life. I suppose I’m a sucker for sentimental things like that. I believe, for example, that everyone should see the sun rise on the east coast, and set on the west coast at least once. Instead, though, we stayed in good ol’ Pequannock. The night had true promise, but failed to deliver.

Well this was supposed to be a recap of my projected (to be fair, and clear, this projection was not made by me) best year ever, and I just wrote a lengthy paragraph essentially about one day, the last day. Now I’ll start back at the beginning and try to work through the year with some more concision than previously employed.

January 1^st, 2007. I wrote the Blog entry that seems to necessitate this one, the one that was critically acclaimed (if I may characterize the comments left in such a way) by my peers. It gave me some confidence, something I rarely have much of, in my writing. Unfortunately I haven’t found much inspiration to write since that night, which bothers me to an extent, but that’s not important now.

To cut to the chase, the first half of the year seemed to fly by. Second semester seniors; we were almost there, the air was thick with the angst of graduating and leaving PTHS. AP exams flew by, and before you could say “Great Gatsby,” prom had come and gone. We were quickly approaching the finish line, and there was no turning back. Yearbooks were distributed, signed, and read. The last days of school were soon upon us. With the exception of Volonnino’s research project and some other minor tasks, schoolwork was more or less a thing of the past. The last few days were full of emotion, and promises to keep in touch, some sincere, others not.

June 15^th, 2007. We received nothing. No diploma that day. In a grand ceremony, though, we had graduated, we were high school graduates, we were alumni of PTHS, we were free for the moment, destined for bigger and better things. “Glory days, well they’ll pass you by…in the wink of a young girl’s eye.” It was true. Gotta love The Boss. Next came the summer, the shore, and graduation parties. Next came the goodbyes. From the gazebo to Outback, the emotions were indescribable.

August 29^th, 2007. I remember lying in a bed, unable to sleep. I was thinking. If you know me, then that sounds like most other nights of my life. This was different though; I was in a hotel room in Boston, and I was moving in to my dorm room the very next morning, I was hours away from the college life, but it still hadn’t hit me. I don’t think it ever did hit me, I just was there one day, and on my own, and everything was fine.

October 13^th, 2007. I awoke to a phone call from Mike Del Moro, and a greeting by him, Annie, Steve, and Joe. It was a great surprise. We didn’t actually do much that day, but it was nice to see the faces (and the hair) and hear the voices.

Thanksgiving came and went, and we all looked forward to once again unpausing our Pequannock-lives in December. Sure enough, that time came too. Our first semester of college was done. Some of us changed a lot, some hardly at all, but when reunited, life seemed to resume where we last left off. I met a lot of great people during my first semester, and I hope that trend continues, though I will never be able to forget whence I came.

It was a great year. I'd even go so far as to say it was my best year, ever. I had a blast. A lot of firsts, and a lot of lasts, and a lot more to come...

Memories and friends are both very precious, and neither should ever be forgotten. Thanks for the memories, and I'll never forget this year or the people I've spent it with.