Isn’t it fascinating to think about how certain people have changed you? Sometimes the changes are good and sometimes less so. I think it’s pretty expected that my husband would have great influence on me, but I could have never predicted the many small, but influential ways. One standout is how I approach music.
When I was in college I hung out with music snobs. There’s simply no other way to say it. And I was content with listening to some old school hip-hop, punk rock and 80s pop with a healthy dose of Beastie Boys. Nothing I was drawn to could be defined as indie rock and certainly nothing fit any of criteria by which my friends were judging music. But here’s a skill I had. I could totally fake my way through a conversation about music, generally having no idea what was going on. I was noncommittal and tried to just follow the sea of opinions around me.
My last year of college I was writing for the entertainment staff of the school paper and later started freelancing for various sites doing book and CD reviews. (I didn’t have to fake my way through anything book-related.) I was assigned some very good CDs to review that made it so I had the first Kings of Leon album before its regular release. I could sing along with the Shins before any of my music snob friends knew who they were. And all of this occurred just as I was meeting Wonder Boy. Who is kind of a music snob. (He knows this.) So when Wonder Boy and I would start talking about music, I was well prepared to fake my way through long conversations. I was so much more believable thanks to the music I was reviewing! He bought it hook, line and sinker.
Over the past eight years I have gotten to the point that I no longer have to fake my way through any conversations about music. I can, dare I say it, lead these conversations. I would even go so far as to say I am a music snob. (I still like some Paper Boy and anything old by Beastie Boys.) This is totally thanks to my relationship with Wonder Boy. He introduced me to music in a nonjudgmental way and there was give and take in the conversations about who is good and who is not. (I do have some strange, horrible fondness for Katy Perry and I’m not sure he could bring himself to that level.) I always trend towards music with a lot of sugar and he likes his with a healthy dose of Prozac but where our tastes converge is great.
I love that when one of us emails the other with a concert listing there’s no question of the other person saying yes. (I once requested going with friends to Jimmy Buffett a few years ago and then made a drunken scene so I am pretty sure Jimmy Buffett requests would elicit a No Way but I think that’s the only one.) This is the reason we’ve seen 6 legitimate shows in the last 7 weeks. And why we now own earplugs. But it’s also why I have lots of great memories to look back on and one of the many reasons I’m appreciative to have Wonder Boy at my side.
This photo is only funny if you know Wonder Boy, but it’s a pretty perfect representation of him combining his nerdy traits alongside his deep love of cheese.