Silly Little Changes

In December my husband and I bought a new car. It was sooner than we had wanted to, but it was definitely time. My car had literally and metaphorically reached the end of her road; she screamed during right turns, smoked for the first ten minutes of a car ride, and shook harder than an earth quake at any speed over 45 mph. She was done. And I was a bit heartbroken. Having spent the last eleven years with my beloved Red Civic (that was her name. I know, really original)I think I actually experienced the five stages of grief upon leaving at the dealership where she would no doubt be shipped off to be picked apart and then crushed. I still get a sad face when I think about that.

Now, my new car is wonderful, it really is (we haven't gotten to the "she" stage of our relationship yet, but we're close). It's fast and it doesn't shake. The windshield wipers aren't being held up by an empty pack of gum. There are no loud noises or smoke wailing from where ever that stuff comes from. The seats heat up, I can start it from inside the house, it has a seat lift, a CD player, and an auxiliary thing that lets me listen to my iPod.

Yeah, a CD player. You read that right. My new car has a CD player and this is totally new to me. Before now a CD player in a car seemed really fancy to me. This is because my old car, a '97, only had a cassette player. But I'll tell you something--I really miss the cassette player.

It's not like I don't have every single one of those cassettes on CD and on my iPod. I do. I have them all, in three forms. Well, except for the mixed tapes. There is nothing close to replacing those. Anyway, all of that music I can listen to in my new car either on CD or on my iPod.

This longing for my cassettes has made me wonder what it is I miss about listening to them (particularly in the car...I never listed to them in the house after I got a CD player in 7th grade). Did I miss the feel and sound of it? The clunky popping sound the cassette player made when I pushed the cassette in? Or the hard-working zushing sound of fast forward and rewind? Maybe it was the just the slightly static overtone of analog recordings.

I also wonder if I miss what the cassettes meant to me. Most of them were the first items I had ever bought with my own money (except for the mixed tapes). I had saved my money, counted pennies, and hitched a ride to the mall with my mom just so I could have them. I listened to them in my room over and over and over and over. I knew the order of the songs on A side and B side, knew the producers, every member of the band, and all of the lyrics (except for much of Pearl Jam, which I love, but have still never been able to quite understand every word Eddie Vedder belts out). I examined the art work to the point of over analysis and--seriously--knew each cassette by its own smell. Yes, they all had a smell. It was pretty much the same smell, but most of them had a slightly unique and individual thing going on.

I still have them, of course. I don't know what I will do with them, but I know I can't yet face throwing them out or surrendering them to Goodwill. I love them. And I loved Red Civic.

Here are some picture of the sort of cassettes you could find Red Civic:

Seeing Michael Pollan

I am lucky enough to work at a university where I am able to participate as an audience member of guest speakers. Yesterday one of my favorite authors and food writers, Michael Pollan, was at Stevenson hosting a short Q & A for students and faculty. 

I was first introduced to Michael Pollan's work in graduate school when a chapter from his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, was being considered for inclusion in a new course reader.  Soon after, I read In Defense of Food and am looking forward to reading his latest book Food Rules! (when my sister finishes with it). I also recommend the PBS documentary, The Botany of Desire.  This is a very interesting documentary based on one of Pollan's first books--of the same title--that examines the relationship between humans and plants.  If you have Netflix you can instantly stream the documentary.

I have included a short TIME Magazine interview with Pollan: