They say you always remember your first. This weekend, we’re going to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra play a Christmas concert in Philadelphia; their 18th annual winter tour. I was there for not only their first live performance ever (also in Philadelphia), but their second one up in NYC as well (um, yeah, a little bit of a fan, what can I say). Their music is a blend of rock with classical and traditional music mixed in. Their most well known song is an instrumental, Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24:
TSO (as Trans-Siberian Orchestra is more affectionately known) was, however, not my first concert experience ever. That honor belongs to Billy Joel/Elton John, back in the summer of 1994, after I’d just graduated High School (also in Philly; hmm, I’m seeing a pattern). I thought it would be fun therefore to go through other firsts that I can recall. Feel free to add yours in the comments.
First Record I Can Remember: Disney’s Robin Hood. It followed word for word along with the Disney movie, and to this day I can recite large chunks of it by memory.
First Cassette Tape I Recall Listening To: This is a tie between an orange cassette tape that had some Christmas songs on it, and a cassette of Kenny Rodgers greatest hits. (To this day, I have no idea where the KR tape came from, most likely my Dad’s.)
(This was definitely not on the cassette, given that it was released many years later, but I love the song.)
First Compact Disc I Ever Bought: Norman Lee Schaffer (self titled album). Did not yet have a CD player. Had been looking for his album on cassette, thanks to his music video for the single “The Way She Said Goodbye”. Loved the video and the song, so when I found the CD (in Tower Records in Philly) I jumped at the chance to buy it.
First Car Ever Driven: A 1980-something Dodge Caravan minivan, Yes, with wood paneling on the side. My mom mostly drove it to taxi us kids around. Nothing more I loved than laying down in the backseat with a book in my hand while we were on the way somewhere.
First Crush: Bo Duke. When I was about 6 yrs old. heh.
Second crush? Luke Skywalker. Specifically this scene from “A New Hope”; gets me every time:
First Place I Lived On My Own: Dumont, NJ (near Hackensack). I’m not counting college in this, and it does include roommates, because by “on my own”, I mean paid for my share of things like rent, food, & transportation. Lived there for … 4 or 5 months, then I moved down to New Brunswick with a different group of friends and cheaper rent.
First Video Game I Played: Super Mario Bros. on Nintendo. Unless you count arcade games, in which case most likely PacMan.
First Video Game I Bought: Duke Nukem 3D. Played this endlessly with friends at college — you could play against each other, and we had apartments that were back-to-back, so we drilled a hole through the wall & ran a network cable through so that our machines could all talk to each other.
First Job with a Paycheck: Working at a little mom & pop deli near my parents’ house. I worked summers when I was home from school, and after I dropped out of college I worked there full time for a little while.
First Trip Out of the Country: Niagara Falls, Canada. Summer before my Sophomore year of High School. My dad’s father had died, and was cremated, and wanted his ashes dumped over the Falls (he and my grandmother had honeymooned up there). We found a path that followed along the river out of the way of most of the tourists, and did as he asked.
First Pets: A chocolate lab, named Cocoa, and a tortie cat, named Mischief. Both already existed in the household when I was born, so they both count for first. According to stories by my parents, Cocoa would sleep under my crib, and would growl at people getting too close that she didn’t trust. Heh. She also, when my parents tried to let me ‘cry it out’ as a baby, would go to my parents’ bedroom and grab my mom’s arm and try to pull her gently out of bed, as if to say “Come tend to the baby!”
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by and tell us about your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper. Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
As always, this is an open thread, and nothing is off topic. What do you want to kibitz about tonight?