Thom’s Thursday Thoughts Since Turning 35

So far, thirty-five has not been a great year for Thom’s Thursday Thoughts. Or is it that, so far, thirty-one has not been a great year for writing Thom’s Thursday Thoughts? Tom has had plenty of thoughts, but I’ve been relying a little too much on memory rather than writing them down. My memory, if you don’t know, blows.

Or could it be that at thirty-five and thirty-one respectively, Tom and I have finally settled into a routine (work/dinner/Netflix/book/bed) that provides very little new and interesting material?

I hope not.

But with Tom, as I mentioned in his last Thursday Thoughts, “new” is never the goal, unless we’re talking about cherry pants for fall. He’s become tired of technology, including our broken TV that rudely turns off every five minutes just as we’re getting into a show, and especially of his 2014 Motorola Android phone, which glows suspiciously when not in use and when loud noises arise, as though it’s recording our conversations. He’s deleted time-suck apps (goodbye, Instagram!) and is considering downgrading to a flip phone. Such is the circle of digital life.

Tom has also one hundred percent embraced the record player. Since its arrival, his record collection has increased tenfold, from three records to upwards of thirty, with more on the way.

On frequent rotation:
Southern Accents by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
If You’re Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian
King Curtis Live at Small’s Paradise (my favorite, because I like old time-y jazz)

“Then you’ll love this one CD I have,” he said, and shared with me the joys of Wynton and Ellis Marsalis’ Joe’s Cool’s Blues.

“Jazz from Peanuts?” I said.

“Yeah,” Tom said, “Snoopy is awesome.”

Tom is a multi-faceted guy. More classical records have made their way into his collection. They make our taco and fried chicken nights feel refined:

Beethoven’s Symphonie NR. 9, by the Wiener Philharmoniker
Handel’s Water Music by the Bath Festival Orchestra
Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B Flat by the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra (Which, is quite stressful and if you look it up on YouTube,  you’ll find it followed by comments like this one: “What a fantastic performance! Prokofiev would have been delighted with it. Thanks. I’m listening to it on the 75th anniversary of the invasion of the USSR by the forces of fascism, led by Hitler’s Germany.”) 

All good stuff.

“Your best stuff is always on the fly,” I said to Tom last night. I was contemplating what, if anything, I would write for a long overdue Thom’s Thursday Thoughts.

“Really? I think my best stuff is behind the fly.”

Classic Tom. I wrote it down before I could forget.

Anyway, some random thoughts Tom’s had since turning thirty-five:

• On using the word ‘fianceé’: “I don’t want to deal with that French bullshit.
• On the above Prokofiev record: “Yeah, the Russians get a bit moody.”
• On community service: “I don’t do it unless it’s court-mandated.”
• On the Kia Soul: “Ew.”
• On my wanting to go to Disneyland: “You don’t have Disneyland money. You don’t even have Disney Channel money.”
• On this one day when I worked seven hours:  “If you were in Ancient Greece they would call you ‘Betty the Industrious.'”
• On being blind vs. being paralyzed from the waist down (Tom prefers the latter): “Do you know how much being blind would suck? You would never know if there were bugs in your food.”

Thanks for reading, and Happy Thursday.