She's baa-aack!

Yes, boys and girls, it's the comeback that nobody was clamoring for! I started this blog almost 9 years ago, and then kind of put it aside. Laziness, lack of inspiration, life getting in the way, pick whichever excuse you like best and I assure you it will be accurate. It has recently been suggested to me (I'm looking at you, Skye!) that I start a blog. I considered this for a moment, then the light bulb went off over my head as I realized I already had a blog! A neglected blog, but one nonetheless. 

So, considerable time has passed since my last post, and in skimming some of the oldies, I noticed that there was a whole lot of my son on there. He is now almost 18, and although I will still mention him, the overall theme of the blog now is me and my weird thoughts and observations. I'm facing an empty nest next Fall when he, hopefully, leaves for college, and I need to figure out who I am again, aside from "Mom". Need to shift the focus back on me, because I tend to put my needs aside to take care of my son and husband, and that has left me depressed in the past. 

Please allow me to re-introduce myself: my name is Lisa and I live in Southern Maine. Not the Maine you probably know from North Woods Law (if you watch that show, I don't), but closer to the city of Portland, that area. I grew up in a small town in  Downeast Maine that was so rural that we had to drive an hour to Bangor to see a movie or go to a mall, drive to another town to grocery shop, you get the point. If you have ever seen the original Pet Sematary film, then you will see the area where I grew up, as it was filmed there. Seriously, watch that film, then watch the documentary on the making of that film. Go on, I'll wait...….

Now back to me! I adore music from the 1980's, particularly the genre labelled New Wave. I don't really love to slap labels on the bands I love, because labels tend to unfairly lump them together despite their differences, and saying I like New Wave could suggest to some that I ONLY like New Wave, which is not true. I LOVE the music of Talk Talk, as many do, and have since the first time I heard the song Talk Talk on my little boom box in my rural, yellow bedroom, adorned with many  posters and magazine pinups of all my faves. The combination of Mark Hollis' beautiful, haunting voice and superb songwriting, Paul Webb,dancing around with that fretless bass and power drummer Lee Harris (and Simon Brenner's synths in some cases) made them one of my all-time favorite bands. I might talk about how I feel about the passing of Mark Hollis in a future post if the mood strikes, but not sure about that yet. Let's move on.

There was more room in my teenage heart than one band could contain, and I also fell in love with an obscure little band called Duran Duran! Not sure if you've heard of them, but I was a full-fledged, card carrying, unapologetic Duranie. They were, "like, Ohmigawd, sooo cute!", but I actually heard them before I first saw them, when Hungry Like the Wolf first hit the airwaves. That song was so damn catchy! Was living in Connecticut at the time, due to parents' divorce and Mom's remarriage, and was a lonely kid, so music became my companion. By 1984, I had been living back in Mai

ne for a year or two (another divorce), when my adolescent dream came true: Friggin' Duran Duran was bringing their tour to Portland, Maine!!! Huge deal at the time, because not many bands ventured to Maine to play, so we were starved for live entertainment. But wait, Portland was a 2-3 hour drive -from my little town, and there was no way my Dad would drive my friend and I there for a concert. My friend's wonderful Dad, who was like family to me (still is)stepped up and offered to drive us to the show and get a couple of hotel rooms. I don't know how loudly I screamed when they hit the stage, because I couldn't hear myself over the other deafening screams! In case you're wondering, Roger was my favorite!

Finally, there's U2, who I discovered at the time the War album was released. I bought that album as soon as I could save my allowance, and was a lifelong fan from the first listen. I immediately sought out their earlier albums and looked forward to each release after that. Went to a couple of shows during the Joshua Tree Tour (the 1987 one, not the latest one) and saw them a few times after that over the years. Always had the nosebleed seats, so I wasn't even sure if it was U2 I was seeing! In 2015, my U2-loving friend and I got to see them in Boston and this time, we were right up against the stage. I regressed to my teenage alter ego as soon as they hit the stage, and was mesmerized as we were so close to them. Let me tell you, Larry Mullen, Jr is even dreamier in person! I know, many people like to hate on Bono and U2. They say Bono is too arrogant, has a God complex, whatever, I have heard them all. Unless Bono one day goes to an animal shelter and slaughters all the puppies, I will still like him and still love U2's music. 

Okay, I have gone on long enough in this, my re-introductory post on my hopefully revitalized blog.

Until next time.....