That’s crazy talk!

There has been a big shakeup in the psychology world this week! And certain people might not be very happy about their very important diagnosis getting the boot.

The new edition of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) will eliminate five personality disorders, including Paranoid, Schizoid, Histrionic, and Dependent. But the real biggie, the one getting all the attention (naturally), is Narcissistic Personality Disorder. *gasp* NO! How will all those narcissists deal with being told that they don't rate their own personality disorder any longer? This could be very damaging to them.

This decision is causing a lot of disagreement among psychologists and psychiatrists. The rationale is that a patient can be diagnosed with a personality disorder with elements of the various disorders that have been eliminated. A smorgasbord, if you will, of personality disorder symptoms. Practicing psychologists and psychiatrists feel that there is a wide gap between what researchers see in their studies and what they see in their practices, and are none too happy about this decision. Although psychology is a bit of a hobby of mine, and I've read a few books about it, I am by no means an expert, so can't really comment on whether this is a good decision or not.

However, as someone who has been accused in the past of being a narcissist, I can certainly comment on that. I'm really not sure what prompted this person to decide that I am a narcissist, since I really don't fit the pattern of Narcissistic Personality Disorder symptoms (RIP, NPD). I think all of us exhibit certain of these behaviors at times; I am definitely easily hurt, and can appear unemotional at times. However, there is a big difference between exhibiting certain behaviors that many of us show at times, and being classified as having a personality disorder. I can only put on my psychologist hat and wonder if that accusation wasn't a classic case of psychological projection. Hmmm. There is also a big difference between exhibiting a healthy sense of self and self-worth, having self-confidence, and being a narcissist. While looking for a picture for this entry, I saw several that portrayed President Obama as being a narcissist. I think that is just silly.

He is obviously very self-confident. What politician isn't? I would think it's a prerequisite for the job. As for myself—and no, I am not comparing myself to our President—I worked hard to get past my feelings of inferiority, my self-doubts and insecurities. Although I still have those things, I have tried to replace them with a stronger self-confidence and a faith in my own abilities. My job did a lot to help me with that. I was good at what I did, but a lot of that came from my dedication towards learning as much as I could and keeping up with changes. My supervisor placed a lot of faith in me, giving me extra tasks and pushing me to learn more. I'm pretty sure that she was happy with my efforts. I have never pretended to know it all. Good grief...my Bachelor's degree doesn't qualify me as an expert! But I think it's okay to have confidence in your abilities, knowledge, and experience, as long as you have the equal and ever-present realization that there is always, always more to learn.

Does that make me a narcissist? I don't believe it does, and I would be interested to see if any psychologist would diagnose me as such. I saw one several years ago, and I wasn't diagnosed then, so I'm not sure what the person I mentioned previously based their diagnosis on. However, they might be happy to know that both borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (not the same, but related to OCD) are still in the DSM!

A busy and booky week

Well, cut off my legs and call me Shorty, I haven't updated for over a week! It was a busy time over the holiday. Dinner with my family on Thanksgiving day, then the in-laws over for spaghetti on Friday, then Shane and Matt over yesterday for pizza and Rock Band. (Neither of them had played before, and I think they really enjoyed it! Shane mostly did bass, and Matt was a natural on vocals. As they would say, "Fun!") Since people were coming over, I had to do plenty of tidying up and cleaning in the preceding days. Today is finally a quiet day, so it's been football and getting caught up on reading.

Thus I have a couple of book reviews for you. First is Fatal Error, the penultimate (I always love a chance to use that word!) Repairman Jack novel by F. Paul Wilson. Jack is one of the best characters in modern fiction, in my opinion; he is a Fixer. If people get into trouble, a friend might refer them to Jack, and he looks at their problem and decides if he wants to tackle it or not. Jack is no gun-for-hire; he is more of a vigilante who evens the playing field for average, decent people who are being hurt or preyed upon by bad guys. In other words, Jack is a good guy who hates injustice, blackmail, and bullying.

Unfortunately for Jack, he has also been noticed by a couple of mysterious forces in the universe: the Ally and the Otherness. These are not necessarily Good and Evil; the Otherness is simply antithetical to sentient life; the Ally often protects such sentient life, but is generally more apathetic. It's hard to distill it into a few sentences, because the series will ultimately consist of 15 novels, with connections in several more of Wilson's works. (By the way, I'm friends with Mr. Wilson on Facebook, and he's a really interesting and cool guy. Very accessible and responsive to fans!) It's amazing to me that he has kept this storyline consistent and expanding for all these years, and I'm very curious as to what sort of records he keeps in order to keep everything straight!

Anyway, these books are set very much in the natural world, but there is a significant overlap between the natural and the supernatural, with guardians and connections and mysterious orders who want to promote the Otherness and aid in its ascendancy on earth. There are no coincidences. Jack is not a supernatural being, and his tactics are definitely the ass-kicking kind. This, for me, is one of the most interesting aspects of these novels and of Jack. He is an average guy in height, weight, and looks, but also has an element of the Otherness within him. When he is confronted with those who wish to harm him or the ones he loves, that Other Jack makes an appearance...and you don't want to mess with that guy.

I think many of us have that darkness in us; a possibility in which our rage will overcome us. As decent members of society, we learn to discourage it and keep it under control. Jack does, too, but his job and his mysterious circumstances mean that sometimes that darkness is released. It frightens his girlfriend, Gia, but he protects her and her daughter fiercely from those who wish to harm them. I just think it's a really interesting psychological aspect to the story, and makes Jack a fascinating character in his complexity. I will really hate to see this series come to a close, but I hope Jack doesn't disappear completely.

Next is Stephen King's latest, Full Dark, No Stars, a collection of four novellas. It was a birthday present from my sister, Diana, so thanks, Di! I zipped through this in no time, and I believe I stayed up until 6 AM one night in order to read it. Sometimes you reach that tipping point where you just can't stop reading. I know some of you know exactly what I'm talking about!

This is a very aptly named collection, because these are incredibly dark stories. Cancer, murder, rape, more murder...King writes with a savage glee about some of the darkest of subjects, but I also feel a sense of humanity there. As if he doesn't want some of his characters to do what they do, but he can't stop them. The bleakness of these stories was almost too much to bear at times. I sometimes realized that I was sitting there with a horrified look on my face; this is not his typical horror fare, and is much more terrifying because of our knowledge that such things do happen sometimes in real life, and happen far too often.

As I've gotten older, I haven't lost my love of horror movies. However, I've found that what is more interesting and scary for me is how average people react to extreme situations, and how they interact with each other. (That is one of the reasons I love "The Walking Dead"...Episode 5 of 6 tonight! Hey...it's the penultimate episode in season one! Oh yeah...twice in one post. Awesome!) In a world where people are routinely brutalized in the name of religion, or executed for who they love, or mutilated in some sort of bizarre cultural ritual, such ordinary evil hits a little too close to home, and that makes it all the more terrifying.

I think what ties these books, and shows like TWD, together for me is that they force me to wonder how I would react in extreme situations. Would I have the courage of Jack to stand up to universal forces of chaos, or just to stand up for someone I love, even if it meant harm might come to me? In King's stories, would I have the courage of the woman in "Big Driver," or that of the woman in "A Good Marriage?" Would I do what was best for society and humanity even at the risk of my own peril? I hope I am never faced with such choices, but if I were, I want to believe that I would have the courage of my convictions.

Maybe it's silly to get so philosophical over a couple of novels, but that's just the way my mind works. I enjoy thinking about hypothetical and far-fetched situations, and think that it can help in how you might react to certain real-life situations. I think I'll just ask myself, "WWJD?"

What would Jack do?

Troll frag

Northeast has left a new comment on your post "Troll Patrol":

Hmmm . . . still no link to the document in question. Just incessant excuses for its absence. "The government must have seen it . . . TRUST them." "It's not his burden of proof." Yawn.

And then, irrelevant comments about the blog owner's rights and intelligence. Well, let's see. She proclaims herself a passionate advocate of peace and harmony, but then spends every other post calling conservatives stupid and evil. Ask her a simple question, and she goes on a hysterical rampage to "out" you while all her friends make threats of violence. But never answer the question, other than to call it ludicrous. Typical liberals.

I think I'll stick around and help educate you. You're welcome!

Well, this has all been an amusing diversion, but ultimately a waste of everyone's time. We all got a little outraged, and I'd like to thank my friends who had such nice things to say about me. I appreciate it very much. But we all have better things to do than spend time in engaging someone like this. Heck, even Northeast, who has spent the past two days obsessively checking this blog and its comments section (thanks for sending my stats up, though!) must have better things to do than waste his time with a group of people he obviously feels are "dumbasses." (As an aside, I see that my previous troll and her sister have also been checking obsessively over the past couple of days. I'm sure they had a good little chuckle over Northeast and his comments about me and my friends, which tells us everything we need to know about them. Perhaps the three of them can get together for a potluck, although I'm sure all the food and drink would taste decidedly bitter.)

A few things here. Northeast's continued harping on the birther "controversy" is fairly indicative of his mindset. It's old news, Skippy, thoroughly debunked. I haven't written anything about it for over a year (you can read my birther entry here, if you so choose) because it is a non-issue. His continued demands for me to produce the document are just...well, they're just silly. His patron saint, the lunatic Orly Taitz, has had numerous lawsuits thrown out of court, and has even been fined for frivolously wasting the court's time. If you're on the same team as Orly Taitz, Northeast, you might want to rethink your position. After all, bat-shit crazy can rub off on a person.

Yes, I do have strong opinions about some of the conservatives in the government and in the news, and what they are doing to my country. Yes, I think some of them are stupid (Christine O'Donnell), and I think some of them are evil (Sharron Angle). I think some of them are stupid and evil (Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, et al). I'm not the first to state these opinions, and I certainly hope I won't be the last. Everyone has the right to their own opinions, and since this is my blog, I choose to express them here. Northeast obviously has differing opinions; perhaps he will start his own blog, where he can express his own opinions. I'm sure he'll understand if I don't stop by to read it.

And if you think my previous entry was a "hysterical rampage," you really don't know me very well. And you don't want to. I'm fine with that, believe me.

I do appreciate his kind offer to stick around and help educate us, but I think he'll also understand if I don't take him up on it. I enjoy other viewpoints, and I have had several people express them here over the years. However, Northeast doesn't want a discussion; he wants merely to belittle and insult. You don't start an intelligent conversation or even a lively debate with someone by starting off with calling them an "ignorant dumbass." And you don't subsequently insult their friends by continuing to call them names. These are not the signs of someone who has any desire to engage in any sort of real discussion.

Since that is the case, as owner and proprietor of this blog, I have made an executive decision. I don't like to do this, because I loathe censorship, and I let 99% of comments that are left here stand. It's a rarity for me to do so, but I will be deleting all further comments from Northeast, or any other nom de plume he decides to use. His goal is not to further any dialogue; his goal is to kill it, and beat those who disagree with him into submission. (Remember my tip, Northeast...bag o' oranges!)

I'm not going to moderate comments, but I get emails for them all, and I will be deleting his as soon as I see them. You may still see them if you get here before I do, and I apologize for that. I'll see them all, but I'm cool with that.

You're welcome.

Troll Patrol

I really wasn't planning on addressing the lovely comment from a new troll, but there are a couple of things that are just too good to let by.

"You're an ignorant dumbass. Shut up and let me school you on this issue, and then retract this false and idiotic post."

I'm not even going to bother mentioning the birther issue raised by "Northeast." I've written about it before, it's a dead issue, and as Marty noted, it's astounding that there are still people so obsessed by this ridiculous rumor that this latest troll actually found my entry by searching for "Obama birth certificate." If all you do is search for blog entries by average bloggers like me, people who have no real influence in the broader sense, you just might have a teensy problem.

Then there is the "shut up and let me school you" remark. Hey, got a tip for you, man. If by some chance you have a wife or a girlfriend (it's hard to tell for certain, but I'm pretty sure that Northeast is male), I hear that using a bag of oranges to beat them doesn't leave marks. That'll keep the little woman quiet, and she won't utter a peep when you "school" her.

I was especially amused by the demand to "retract this false and idiotic post." That's right...you come onto my blog, leave comments that are insulting to both myself and my readers, and you expect me to retract my post. That is simply delightful! I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you're a teabagger, Northeast, and if so, I'm sure you constantly howl about First Amendment rights. Here's a news flash, Skippy: this is my blog, these are my opinions, and there ain't no retracting going on here, other than your testicles retracting into your body cavity.

Finally--and this is what made me decide to write about this...and I am the Decider on my blog, thank you very much--here is the information that I found for that lovely flower of humanity, Northeast. That's right, at around 3:30 this afternoon, Northeast was leaving nasty comments via the computer system of the New York State Unified Court system. I wonder how their employer would feel about that?

Someone hold my tongue, because I’m tired of doing it

I was initially planning on writing about Sarah Palin and her assertion to Baba Wawa that she could beat President Obama in a Presidential election. It is sounding increasingly like she will be running in 2012, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to write about her in the near future; in the meantime, I'm just kind of sick of thinking about the silly bunt and the classy Palin family. I'll take a break while I can, and bide my time until the election gears up for real (should be any day now...actually, I think it's already started). You all know how I feel about Palin, so you know I'll have plenty to say when the time comes. Heh heh.

Instead, I'll write about a status update I saw from someone that I stand a high probability of seeing around the holidays:

"Kenya called. They want their idiot back."

As my Dad would say, "Oh, for pete's sake." I had to laugh. Is this really still an issue for this person? Really? There are several real and substantive issues that you could go after the President on...instead, you're still harping on the Kenya thing? I find that incredibly petty, and quite pathetic.

I do not like discord; I like to promote harmony and generally do my best to avoid confrontation. However, I am getting a little tired of sitting quietly while the conservatives around me feel free to toss out ridiculous remarks, and spew outright lies (I'll be waiting for a remark about the $200 million per day Asia trip...feel free to lob that one my way, and sit back and hear my response.) I'm in Indiana. I'm surrounded by conservatives (except for a few bastions of liberalism, including in the county where I reside, thank goodness). I am constantly subjected to hearing comments that I find abhorrent and false statements put forth as the truth. I think most of these people think that if they make remarks like that, everyone around them will agree and nod happily as they join in the liberal-bashing.

Guess what? There's a new sheriff in town. I don't know why they think they can get away with such comments without any opposition. Hell, everyone already knows that I'm a mouthy broad, and that I often speak up about things. Why should I hold back? They certainly don't. Maybe it's time they got a big pushback and realized that theirs isn't the only opinion. Sometimes, I think an opposing opinion is welcome. A while back at a Thanksgiving get-together, a relative by marriage (a distant one...very distant) said that he thought Hurricane Katrina happened to New Orleans because of all that "stuff" that goes on there. In retrospect, I wish I'd asked, "Gee, just what kind of 'stuff' do you mean? Please elaborate, and do so in detail." Ha! But I just said that I'd been to New Orleans, and that there are a lot of good people there. Both my sister and my Dad told me later that they really appreciated that I spoke up and said what I did. (My Dad actually told me that he admired me for speaking up, and that remains one of my happiest memories and proudest moments.) I suppose it's easy to condemn people when you never take the time to know them; that doesn't make it right.

I don't usually go in search of confrontation, but I'm done with shying away from it in the interest of peace and harmony. It's time that people understand that when they make such outrageous statements, or even a false statement presented as fact, there might be someone there who has another opinion and who will challenge them on their smug certainty. They seem to have no qualms about whether or not I might be offended, or anyone else might be offended. Why am I so concerned about pushing back? I won't bring anything up, but I will no longer be afraid of responding.

No more going along to get along. And if I hear that tired bullshit about wondering where the President's birth certificate is, I'm not going to hold back. It's ludicrous, and anyone who continues to bitch about it is a dumbass.

I'm loaded and ready for bear. Even a mama grizzly that happens to wander by.

Quite the quandary

Sorry I've been so quiet this week, but something is really weighing on my mind.

I don't want to go into too many details, but I feel the need to write about it, and maybe someone will have some advice for me. I think this is something I need to figure out on my own (and perhaps even on the fly), but any helpful hints would be welcome.

I recently had a phone conversation with someone I'm close to, and it turned into a discussion of how I need to be "ready." Well, it wasn't so much of a discussion as me listening to how the world is going to end soon, and I need to be ready so I can go to heaven. I would never hurt this person, not in a million years, so for once I held my tongue. (I can do it when I need to. Don't act so surprised.) I was told that I really should be baptized in order to make sure. I did say that this sort of thing is really very personal for some people, and I got a sharp retort: "Personal? What could be so personal that I shouldn't want to make sure people I love are going to heaven?" ::sigh::

A couple of things here. First of all, I have my own thoughts and ideas about religion. I've written a little about them here, but not in great detail. I have had many dealings with the topic over the years, and not all of them have been pleasant. In fact, I have come to realize recently that there are some things that I have blocked out, and I am just now remembering them. Want an example? My ex telling me that he thought I was possessed by a demon. Right. It's no wonder I've blocked stuff like that out. It's still hard for me to believe I had to deal with that. I can laugh about it now, but it was obviously traumatic enough at the time that it was lost to me for many years. Anyway, I have my own ideas about it, and suffice it to say that they don't jibe with those of the person I was talking with. I came to the realization quite a few years ago that I didn't believe a lot of the stuff that I was brought up to believe. My epiphany resulted in a strange mixture of discomfort and relief. Discomfort because I was breaking away from the indoctrination I'd received, but relief because...well, because I was breaking away from the indoctrination I'd received!

I don't feel the need to go into any more detail at the moment. However, you get the idea. If I were to say what I really think about this particular brand of religion, it would not be received well. There is a certain mindset there that these are things that will happen, it is all laid out in the Bible, and if I don't follow along, I won't be joining the rest of the gang in heaven. I am caught between Scylla and Charybdis (and I'm so excited to get to use that...it's a rarity). I don't want to hurt or worry this person, but I also can't pretend to be something I'm not. I can't enthusiastically jump on the bandwagon and say that I believe certain things that I don't believe. I just can't do it.

The other thing is that as we were talking, this person started to cry. Yes, they started to cry because they were so worried and frightened that everyone they love might not go to heaven because they aren't "ready." That pissed me off. Not at this person, but at the religion that put such fear into this kind and decent person that it made them cry. What kind of a cruel god would cause a person to burst into tears because they are so afraid that their loved ones will be tossed into the fiery pits of hell? Why would I want to be associated with such a capricious and malicious entity? All my life, I heard promises of the riches of heaven, how everyone will be walking on streets of gold. Why would I want to walk on streets of gold? Why is that even an incentive that is promised to believers? I don't like a lot of bling. And there will be no toil. Sometimes our struggles in life are what lead us to a greater understanding of the world around us, and a greater empathy for our fellow human beings. A little toil can be a good thing.

I'm not trying to make light of it, I just honestly don't get it. The whole paradise thing just seems silly to me, and the whole intimidation thing seems cruel. The certainty of apparently every religion that theirs is the only path to heaven isn't logical to me. The surrender of my mind and rationality to the unknown and unknowable goes completely against my grain.

I think you see my dilemma. How can I manage to not hurt this person but stick to my own convictions? The closest I can figure is to say that this is something that I find very personal and it is my decision to make. I guess I will be kind of forceful if I need to...not mean, but attempting to put a rest to it by saying that this is MY decision and no one else's, and that it is something that I think about often. (That is completely true.) This is weighing heavily on me, and is it any wonder that I get where John is coming from?

If there’s a Rock and Roll Heaven….

Not only do they have a helluva band, I was there yesterday!

I mentioned that a small group of family was heading out on Friday on a road trip to Cleveland, where we'd pay a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Me, Shane, and Matt rode over together (thanks for driving, Shane!), and my sisters Diana and Sue (this was Sue's birthday), Di's husband Tom, and my niece Jana (Sue's daughter) rode in another car. When we saw their vehicle pass us, then encountered them a couple more times on the highway, I of course had to make the joke, "Looks like we got ourselves a convoy." Shane, Matt, and I are children of the seventies...what can I say?

No problem on the drive over, and we all made great time...almost exactly four hours to get there. We met up at a restaurant I found online, just about a quarter of a mile from the Hall. Nothing fancy, but plenty of decent food and quiet enough that we could all talk without shouting. At one point, there was a lively discussion about this year's nominees for induction. I said Alice Cooper needs to be in, also the J. Geils Band...Diana said "And Donna Summer." I said, "What? That's not rock and roll. That's disco." I'll cop to listening and dancing to some of that shit once in a while now (I still think "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor is a great song), but I really don't think you can consider Donna Summer "rock and roll." I believe it was Matt who said that it has electric guitar in it, so it qualifies. We were all laughing by this point! Again, children of the '70s...I still remember the whole "disco sucks" sentiment then, when it was a battle between punk and disco. I'll take punk any day.

After lunch, we made our way over to the Hall. I was so excited by this time that I could hardly contain myself. The building is a beautiful piece of architecture, designed by I. M. Pei. (He's the guy who did the pyramid at the Louvre.) But I was there for the rock stuff, man!

View Full Album

I'm afraid that photos and videos are not allowed in the exhibit areas, so was able to take some only in the vestibule. They did have some fun stuff there. One of the first things we looked at was a display case of various guitars...and the first one we saw was from the B-52s' Ricky Wilson. Shane, Matt, and I got verklempt. Ricky died of AIDS some years ago, and is still missed. In the same case was Johnny Cash's guitar. Then there was a Ted Nugent guitar, which we did not exclaim over, and in fact, completely ignored. I did not take a picture in protest. Kind of silly, I know. But I parted ways with Ted when he praised Sarah Palin's "herculean work ethic." I guess he missed that whole part where she fucking quit. Herculean work ethic, my ass. Well, she's good at shoveling shit, so I guess you could describe that as Herculean, since that was one of his tasks. Hmph.

I had to get a picture of Shane in front of Joan Jett's Jaguar, because Shane's car is a VW Jetta, which he named Joan. Get it? Joan Jetta? I just love that. I also got pictures of us in front of the CBGB marquee. That was the club that was probably identified with the punk/new wave movement more than any other, at least in the States. Artists like Blondie, the Police, the Ramones, Talking Heads, and the Sex Pistols all played there. It was the mecca of punk. I got pictures of the ZZ Top Eliminator car, and my favorite picture from the day is me, Matt, and Shane doing the ZZ Top finger point in front of the car. Shane wondered how many people per day do that shot! I don't care if we didn't think of it first...it makes me grin every time I see it!

View Full Album

When we headed into the exhibit hall, we kind of split into the groups we had in the two cars. Not surprising, because we're sort of different eras when it comes to music. I actually wandered off by myself for a while, but hooked up with Shane and Matt again pretty quickly.

Here are some of the highlights for me:

• I thought the Jim Morrison section was fantastic. My friend Tony in Cleveland told me to be sure to look for Morrison's report cards, and I found them. What an incredibly bright young man! Anyone who thinks he was just a dumb rock star is very mistaken. I also enjoyed the correspondence between Morrison's father, a Navy admiral, and the chief of police in Miami concerning Morrison's arrest for indecent exposure. Shane, Matt, and I found it interesting and rather touching that although the elder Morrison didn't support Jim's rock career, and they became estranged, the Admiral told the chief of police that Jim was basically a good kid and did not intend to cause trouble. It was some interesting insight into was what obviously a difficult family relationship.
• I had meant to bring an Ian Hunter CD with me so that we could play "Cleveland Rocks" in the car, but I forgot. So it made me smile to see Ian Hunter's piano on display, the one on which he composed that song! Apparently it's the unofficial theme song of Cleveland.
• I loved the stage costumes, and they had a ton of them. Everyone from the Who to Bowie to Queen to P-Funk (as you can imagine, the P-Funk clothing was quite entertaining) to Stevie Nicks. Seeing her flowing dresses and platform boots prompted Matt to give a dead-on impersonation of her stomping on a treadmill in the video of "Stand Back." (Go to the 1:49 mark to see that, if you don't remember it.) I think I snorted with laughter when he did that! I remember seeing pictures and video of so many of my favorite artists wearing those very same clothes.
• We watched a 12-minute video about...video! When MTV began, it was truly the golden age of music videos, and for anyone my age, I know that it had to shape our listening habits. Shane said he has about 20 videotapes full of videos...I think we need to make sure those get transferred to DVD, because can you imagine how much fun those would be to watch? Anyway, the three of us sat there and watched the video, a rapid fire montage of images throughout the years. We called out the artists names as we recognized them, and it was fun to see how many we remembered! We came by that area again later, and there was no one else there, so we acted out some of the video clips, including..."Vogue." Yes. Oh man, I was cracking up, and I snorted again!
• I was interested to see the original cover of the Beatles' "Yesterday and Today," the one that is referred to as the butcher cover. In this shot, you can see the smiling lads are surrounded by dismembered dolls and pieces of meat. I think I recall reading about that before, but didn't remember much about it. Very edgy for its time, and after complaints, the cover was yanked and replaced. The original cover is one of the most highly-prized pieces of Beatles memorabilia.

• One of the temporary exhibits was about Bruce Springsteen. I've never been that much into Bruce. Calm down, calm down...I like him just fine and think he's an amazing artist. But for whatever reason, I just never became a rabid fan. What I thought was neat was seeing how many scrapbooks he kept. There were several there that he himself had created. I could just imagine a young Bruce cutting out articles about himself, and pasting them into his scrapbooks. I thought it was a charming, personal aspect to one of the biggest stars ever in rock music.
• My personal favorite was the Rolling Stones section. They were playing Stones footage on a few monitors, so the music was there as I looked at the displays. I loved seeing the stage outfits from several of their tours, including Mick's football outfit, and his American/British flag cape, which he is wearing in this short video that shows just how fucking awesome Keith Richards is...still one of my favorite video clips! (By the way, congratulations to Keef for having the #1 nonfiction book in the country...beating that little girl Glenn Beck who is at #2. That makes me happy...which makes me think of the Stones song "Happy," sung by Keith. But I digress.) They also had lighting fixtures from the Steel Wheels tour, which was really cool for me because that's the tour that Shane and I saw them on, in Indianapolis in 1989!

It was a fantastic experience for me, and I feel like I only scratched the surface. We didn't have time to read everything in depth, so I just tried to hit the things that were nearest and dearest to me. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more punk memorabilia, but I think they rotate things out, and I know they have temporary exhibits. I also didn't see a lot of Kinks memorabilia, although they did have one of Dave Davies' guitars. They are inductees now, but still not as well known as they should be. An amazing band.

After a stop in ye olde gift shoppe (check out my new 45 rpm mousepad...how awesome is that?), we said our goodbyes to family and headed out into a cold, rainy day. We eventually left the rain behind, and had an enjoyable ride back that included lots of fun talk and discussion. It was a bummer to get back close to home and find snow on the ground. I had to brush about two inches off of my car, and although most of the highway was fine, when I got to my exit, it was a sheet of ice. I had slowed way down because there were cop cars there, and that was because there were a few cars that had slid off. It was scary slick. Of course, this week, it's supposed to get up close to 70°. Go figure.

Anyway, it was an amazing place, and I'm so glad that I got to see it with Shane. We've been music buddies for decades now, and it was wonderful to share that with him. If you've been there, share your favorite parts. If you haven't, and you love rock and roll as much as I do, plan a trip. I guarantee that you will love it as much as I did!

Rock on, citizens.