This is what joy looks like

This is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Monday night in Washington, DC. The house lights are up, they're chugging through Born to Run, and tens of thousands of people -- including a couple of shirtless guys we saw jigging down on the floor -- are singing along at the tops of their lungs.

COOL.

We caught both the Sunday and Monday shows in DC -- and it was spectacular. These were my 19th and 20th shows, Rick's first and second. Yeah, yeah, I know. I don't even want to think about the things I could have done or the trips to Europe I could have taken if I hadn't spent the cash on Bruce Springsteen. But you know what? I really don't care.

Regardless of where you stand on the guy -- whether, like me, his rear end hung on the wall over your bed when you were in junior high, or you've thought the man-of-the-people thing has worn thin -- when you're there it's hard to deny that it's one hell of a show. The guy's 58 years old, and he was jumping up and down at the end of the 2-hour-and-20-minute set in a way that had me exhausted just looking at him. I've seen him from the back of football arenas and from the front row, mashed up against the stage, and it's safe to say I've never seen anyone play a room quite like him. Famously anti-war, he marked Veterans Day here in DC -- and last night he brought some wounded vets from Walter Reed to the show. Talk about altering the dynamic in a basketball arena.

The new album's not easy -- it's filled with familiar imagery of people struggling and disillusioned, trying to live decent, honorable lives in the face of bitter disappointment and not knowing which end is up. But it's also about making connections and finding meaning in each other -- nothing's ever perfect, but in the end we're all we've got. The songs are also catchy, filled with pop hooks, and taken as a whole, the thing rocks.

And live, you can't help but walk away feeling a little bit better connected to humanity. I took my parents to see Springsteen a few years back -- and bought them tickets to see him a couple of weeks ago in Chicago as a Christmas present -- and it sounds loony, but I seriously think it brought us closer. I may drive them up a wall, but now at least we can talk about Bruce Springsteen. (Incidentally, Mom, there's a rumor he's coming to Milwaukee in March -- so Happy Birthday.)

Do I sound like a sermonizing goofball? Yeah. Is the crowd at a Springsteen show whiter than any you'll see outside a standard-issue NHL game? Yes. Have I spent more time than I care to admit perusing the setlists online and trying to figure out what he's going to play in the rotating song spots (2, 7, 11, 12, 13, and the second song of the encore, by the way)? Definitely. Do I do these things furtively? Hell no. Embarrassed? Sure. Ashamed? Never.

Tramps like us...

Continued ...

Things I'm liking right now

Bits and pieces of things and stuff that are good and cool:

This list of the most terrifyingly inspirational songs of the '80s. Of the "You're the Best" song from Karate Kid, the author has this to say: "It is completely acceptable to do any damn thing you want to this song. Whatever it is you’re about to do, Joe Esposito took seven weeks out of his life back in the '80s to write a little ditty about just how badass you are at it." Well, yeah.

Straight Cash, Homey -- a collection of unfortunate jersey choices by sports fans across this great nation.


The awesome birthday present I got from Lisa, which includes some of the greatest screwball comedy of all time.

Season three of Bones. I don't know if it'll end up in the pantheon of great shows, but the folks there seem to nail the balance of character development and crime procedural better than just about anyone at the moment.

Seasonal weather. Yeah, I freaked out a little when I heard the local radio folks drop the phrase "wind chill" this week, but the leaves are pretty, the air is crisp and I like wearing long-sleeve T-shirts. Plus, I got a new winter coat a couple weeks ago, so I'm set.

Friends preparing to have children.

Pie. But really, who doesn't like pie?

Continued ...

Is it adult ADD, or am I just a spazz?

It's getting increasingly difficult to know. According to my not-in-any-way-extensive-Internet research, symptoms include:

• Distractibility
• Impulsive behavior
• The inability to remain focused on tasks or activities

So far, yes, yes, and yes.


Well, maybe not so much with the impulsive part -- unless you count stalking new bath and hair products during every trip to the CVS. Mostly it's just this creeping feeling that I really am beginning to understand what my grandmother meant when she used to go on (and on and on) ... OK, I forgot what I was going to say as I was writing this... oh yeah: when she'd talk about how quickly time goes by, and how it gets harder to keep up. Or, frankly, to recall what it is you were saying. Either way, lately it seems increasingly difficult to remember birthdays (I just couldn't be a bigger loser on that front -- sorry, friends and family), appointments, and to keep up with the laundry. And usually, all I really want to do is hang on the couch and watch Ace of Cakes.

Am I geezing? Has the fact that my hearing is fading after years of Bruce Springsteen shows started to creep in and distract from real life? Am I doomed to a future of never finishing another book, or being unable to tackle the towering pile of of New Yorkers mocking me from the corner? Do I just need a drink?

Continued ...