Bruce Springsteen and Understanding the American Dream

"You have to make up your mind whether you want to be a good citizen..,."  Ione Johnson, 6th grade teacher, Lewinsville Elementary School, McLean, Va. circa 1973

Ione Johnson, my 6th grade teacher was a force of nature. Standing approximately 5 and a half feet tall (or a little more) and just about as wide, Mrs. Johnson was the teacher you prayed you wouldn't get the next year when you were a 5th grader.  Tough and demanding, Mrs. Johnson expected alot out of her pupils, not only academically but from what she constantly harped on as "good citizenship".  If you did not act like a "good citizen" justice was swift and harsh in Ione Johnson's class.  She would place the offending "bad citizen" in the corner between the hinges and the class room door and then lean against it from the other side with all of her nearly 300 pound mass squeezing the bad citizenship and nearly the life out of her hapless victim.  I made sure I was a good citizen.

After matriculating from elementary school I went on to Longfellow Junior High, a holding cell for prepubescence adolescence for two years until the institution released its prisoners to the custody of McLean, Marshall and Falls Church High Schools.  It was in Longfellow Junior High when I made friends with one of the cool kids, Andy Littlejohn, who would go on to be one of my best friends.  Andy was also the first one to turn me on to a streetwise hipster songwriter and musician, Bruce Springsteen and his older siblings' record, "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" sometime around 1974 or '75.

Truth be told I did not pay a whole hell of a lot attention to Springsteen until late 1975, early '76 when I was over at Owen Thomas' house.  Owen was the coolest person I ever knew up until then.  He was a senior, was loved by all the girls and a very good tennis player.  Owen also strung racquets to make money.  It was while in Owen Thomas' bedroom/tennis shop (complete with parachute ceiling) watching him put the finishing touches on the strings to my Dunlop Maxply tennis racquet that I would hear the album that would change my life, "Born to Run".  Like most people who heard it I was mesmerized by the lyricism and memorized the lyrics to every song.  The album became my alter ego, so much so that at one point in the 9th grade that I even briefly dated a girl named Wendy.

Fast forward to my 51st birthday in November 2012.

Much like the election, I am still digesting last night's Springsteen concert so it's probably too early for me to get it completely in perspective.  After seeing Bruce and the E Streeters countless times dating back to my first show at Georgetown's McDonough Arena in the Fall of 1976 I thought nothing could amaze me anymore, but seeing one of my favorite bands, with my two children by my side,a few feet away from the stage and on my birthday is enough to reduce this writer to tears.

My senses are still overwhelmed by the aural onslaught, physical exertion, musicianship and sheer  perfectionism that goes into putting together a show like last night's three hour plus labor of love...(to be continued)

He's the One at 51!

The Great Roll Call ‏@Mghtyfieldofvsn

"She's the One" but today I turn 51 and taking my two kids to see the greatest rock n roll band the #Springsteen & E Street Band Thanks Pete!

  The Great Roll Call ‏@Mghtyfieldofvsn

What will Tag, Blip, Ditto, Dot, Rainbow, Blitzkreig and Xyklon do now their Dad is a complete failure? 

 

A Nickel And A Nail (In Romney's Chances)

They say good things come in threes.  Just a week ago I am fairly certain that the President would have been happy with just one lousy break, as in "What does a guy gotta do around here to catch a break?"  But just as things seemed to be spiraling out of control and thoughts of a Romney victory were beginning to look less like the desperate dreams of the lunatic fringe and more like a distinct possibility, it happened.  The proverbial game changer.

Just like the Protestant Wind swept in and destroyed enough of the Spanish Armada to sufficiently weaken it setting up the English victory at the Battle of Gravelines and saving Queen Elizabeth I's England, Hurricane Sandy swept past Florida and hit the Jersey Shoreline as hard as Snooki got punched in the bar stopping Romney's momentum in the polls and in the minds of the American people.  Unlike Snooki's one punch KO, Romney's campaign was hit by a flurry of blows, anyone of which was stunning in and of itself, but the combination of so many shots in quick succession may be too staggering for Romney/Ryan to recover from.

First it was the endorsement from Republican, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State Colin Powell.  Powell's endorsement is particularly devastating considering that he is one of the few and maybe only former high profile Bush Administration cabinet member who retains a favorable public opinion and reputation for candor  and honesty.  Then even more amazing, at least to me, was the cooperation and candor of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who praised and continues to praise the Obama Administration's handling of the storm and its aftermath.

So there is three good things and you are thinking the good luck streak is over when former Republican, now independent, Mayor of New York and America's Jewish Mother, Michael Bloomberg endorses the President and rubbed the noses of the know nothing Conservative Republicans whose mantra has long been that Global Warming is a hoax.

All the while candidate Willard is a voice in the wilderness , too remote for the public to hear or even care.

So that's four, what about the fifth punch?  The nickel was the revelation that there was little or no delay in responding to the storming of the Libyan "Embassy", and the nail in Romney's chance of ever becoming President came this morning in the form of the October economic and job numbers which were better than expected and showed slow but steady progress.  Forward.