(Sunday Paper, Year IV, Issue 47)

I’ve written this before, and many of you know that I’m in awe of the people with HSAM - Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory.

Those people, when given a date, can recall exactly what they did that on that day, what they were wearing, and mundane details that us pea-brained folk lose almost instantly.

(Just kidding. Sort of.)

I like to think I have ‘Pretty Decent But Nowhere Near Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory.’

You know, because I remember people’s birthdays and stuff.

But I love the idea of the importance of the ordinary date.

I’ve always been a fan of the ‘On This Date In History’ section of the newspaper. It’s fun to see what important event took place years ago on that particular date.

But any day of the week I’d take any day of the week - give me a random date and a random event that happened on that date.

And I’ve found this aspect of my satellite radio trial in the new car just fascinating.

The biggest stations in my rotation these days are Tom Petty, E Street (Bruce Springsteen), and Pearl Jam. (With a still-healthy dose of Billy Joel mixed in, but his channel doesn’t add anything to this particular conversation.)

Those stations play a heavy rotation of live music - sometimes entire concerts’ worth - and they always say the date. And I’m fascinated with the other things that happened the day that Pearl Jam played in Australia - what was I doing?

When Bruce Springsteen was in Boston in November 2007, where was I that night?

If I had HSAM, I would know…but as it is I don’t know what I was dong on March 28, 2016, when Springsteen was apparently performing in New York City.

I do know about one date, though - the one you see pictured above, which was quite a thrill to discover on a drive back from New York last month with a live performance of ‘For You’, and then again this past Thursday afternoon when I heard back-to-back songs from that live show, including ‘Spirit In The Night,’ and felt badly about leaving the car when I got home because I wanted to listen to the whole concert from July 7, 1978…

…that was the day I was born.

Writing

*Nothing to report, good or bad this week. But I am feeling better about things than I was last week.

Comedy

*The next Comedy Night at Exhibit ‘A’ is coming up fast - December 14th, 7:30pm. December’s headliner is Bethany Van Delft, who you may have heard on The Moth storytelling podcast. I can’t wait. You can buy tickets here.

*You may or may not remember I am headlining the January show. January 11, save the date, hope to see you there too.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

*I have been waiting all week to tell you how much I enjoyed this profile of Tom Hanks in last week’s Sunday New York Times. (I actually didn’t love the actual writing of the article, but I loved the sentiment in it.) I love that Tom Hanks is so kind, and that Mr. Rogers was so kind. I try to be kind. I wish everyone was kind.

*I’m going to also throw in here that I immensely enjoy the Bruce Springsteen live performances. Man. I was driving back from a show this week and heard a concert from September 27, 1985 (what was I doing that day?!! I wish I knew!!!) in Los Angeles and it. was. amazing. That aforementioned 2007 Boston show was great too, and I think I only heard one song from it. I’ve seen Springsteen a couple of times live, I think, and I don’t remember appreciating it, I don't think, as much as I wish I did.

*Gosh. What are the chances that out of all the dates in the year and all of the years these past 41 years that the day I was born would be featured so prominently on a satellite radio station. It’s wild, right? (Also, I think I’ve heard two separate recordings from that day - one is labeled West Hollywood and one Los Angeles. As I’ve imaginarily reconstructed Bruce Springsteen’s day from July 7, 1978, I figure he performed live at a radio station early in the day and then had a concert later that night.)

Thoughts On Dog Ownership

*This was one of those weeks where I got Tate out for walks a good amount of times and she has been really well-behaved and it felt like we had things figured out.

Notes

*Friday night we went to the middle school production of Matilda, in which our oldest daughter performed. It was pretty great. Drama is the newest thing the girls are showing an interest in, and I’m happy about it because a) I’ve thought for a long time they would be good at it, and b) it seems to make them (or her, at least, for now) happy. Selfishly, I’m also glad because it is the most entertaining of their endeavors to sit through. (I always joked when I taught that I got my culture through the middle school musicals. I guess, seeing as how I had not seen Matilda until Friday night’s production, that this is still true.)

*I also had to pick up my daughter after the Saturday night performance and I figured the show was so good I got there early for pick-up and watched Act II again.

*Kicked off a busy Saturday with a 6-mile run in the morning with Team Framingham. 35-ish degrees for the run - my ideal temperature range….it was a good run. I think my strategy is going to be to train with Team Framingham and see what happens with the waitlist…but pretty actively look for another way into this year’s marathon.

*Oh, quick question: Do you know of another way into this year’s marathon? Any marathon numbers that can be had? I’m sure they’re next to impossible to obtain, but I’ve never been in this position before. I’m ready to do it. Is there a charity looking for a runner or a runner who’s not able to do it this year? Let’s make it happen.

*Hey! Give my Facebook page a Like, will ya? Also, you can follow me on Twitter here. Thanks so much.

*How busy was this weekend? On Friday, I forgot to do my push-ups. I remembered during the musical and made a mental note to do them before bed so as not to lose my streak. And then the musical ran later than I expected and I just plum forgot.

*Oh man. Leaf collection by the city ends this week, and the big tree on the corner still has lots of leaves to go. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to get a new sticker for my car until 2020…but I think I’m going to have to make a trip to the Department of Public Works (twist my arm!) in order to make a few more leaf bag trips before the snow comes…I snuck in a bit of raking on Saturday, but with rain forecast all day Sunday I don't think I can pick up what needs to be picked up.